SAN FRANCISCO (January 22, 2020) – Morrison & Foerster, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce that Jessica Grant has joined the firm in its San Francisco office as a partner in its Class Actions + Mass Torts Practice Group. Ms. Grant’s practice focuses on a variety of commercial litigation matters including class actions and product liability. She also has extensive IP litigation experience in complex matters involving patent, copyright infringement, and trademark issues.
Ms. Grant has tried more than a dozen high-stakes matters for both defendants and plaintiffs, most as lead trial counsel. Ms. Grant also has significant experience negotiating settlements, including prior to litigation. All of the cases she has tried for defendants have either resulted in complete defense verdicts or verdicts significantly below what the plaintiffs sought. For example, Ms. Grant served as lead trial counsel for one of the world’s largest semiconductor chip makers and several other defendants against a plaintiff seeking more than $450 million for alleged fraud, unjust enrichment, breach of contract, and related patent claims. After the jury deadlocked on liability, the district court dismissed all state law claims against the defendants.
Representative matters on which Ms. Grant has been a lead trial lawyer advising plaintiffs include representing the State of New Hampshire in a statewide products liability case against one of the world’s major oil companies that resulted in a unanimous jury verdict and an award of $816 million to the State and representing more than 116,000 class members in a California wage and hour class action lawsuit against one of the world’s largest retailers and obtaining a $172 million jury verdict.
“Jessica is an outstanding addition to our already strong class actions and product liability groups,” said Tiffany Cheung, co-chair of the Morrison & Foerster’s global Litigation Department and co-chair of the firm’s Class Action and Mass Torts Practice Group. “Her proven track record as a trial lawyer and work on complex, high-profile matters will greatly benefit our clients as they navigate challenging litigation issues.”
Ms. Grant has received both national and regional recognition for her work. Among the accolades, she was recently listed in Benchmark Litigation’s Top 250 Women in Litigation, has previously been included in the National Law Journal’s list of Litigation Trailblazers, and has twice received the California Lawyer of the Year Award from California Lawyer Magazine.
“Jessica further cements our position as a destination litigation and trial practice in the San Francisco Bay Area,” said Stacey Sprenkel, head of the Morrison & Foerster’s Litigation Department in San Francisco. “Her award-winning work and success in representing both plaintiffs and defendants will help us effectively counsel clients in protecting their products and their brands.”
Ms. Grant’s coming to Morrison & Foerster also highlights the firm’s commitment to adding exceptional lawyers in the San Francisco Bay Area market. Other additions to the litigation team in the Bay Area over the last year include Jina Choi, former head of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office, and antitrust partners Eliot Adelson and Bonnie Lau.
“MoFo is renowned for its powerhouse litigation team, longstanding tradition of having some of the top trial lawyers in the U.S., and market-leading position in the Bay Area,” said Ms. Grant. “I am delighted to join the firm and to work with my new colleagues in trying cases.”
