practice areas
honors + affiliations
1999 Recipient, William Griffin Mentoring Award
2002 Recipient, John J. Meehan Alumni Fellow Award, USF School of Law
Member, American Bar Association
Member, State Bar of California
Member, San Francisco Bar Association
Member, American Health Lawyers Association
Member, California Association of Health Plans
Member, America’s Health Insurance Plans
Board of Counselors, University of San Francisco School of Law
bar admissions
- California
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Courts for Northern, Eastern, Central, and Southern Districts of California
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- San Francisco
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One Market, Spear Street Tower
San Francisco, CA 94105-1596
Phone: 415.442.1333
Fax: 415.442.1001
Molly Moriarty Lane is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Litigation Practice and Managing Partner of the San Francisco office. Ms. Lane focuses her practice on complex litigation in California state and federal courts across a range of industries, including the retail, technology, healthcare, and financial services sectors. Ms. Lane represents clients through the entire litigation life cycle, from pre-litigation counseling to trials and appeals.
In the retail and technology sectors, Ms. Lane has a strong background in class and individual claims for breach of contract, business torts, unfair competition, trade secret theft, antitrust, defamation, and copyright violations. She obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a semiconductor company after a two-week trial in Orange County Superior Court in connection with claims for fraud and breach of contract arising from a pricing agreement.
In the healthcare sector, Ms. Lane represents health plans, health insurers, prescription benefit management companies, and related entities in a wide variety of matters, including consumer and unfair competition class actions, claims for bad faith denial of benefits, policy rescission actions, pharmaceutical litigation, and general commercial disputes. She recently represented a health plan in several consumer class actions filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of individual health plan members whose policies were rescinded for misrepresentations or omissions on their applications.
Ms. Lane received the 2002 John J. Meehan Alumni Fellow Award from the University of San Francisco School of Law and is a member of the school's Board of Counselors. In addition to her national and local bar memberships, Ms. Lane is a member of several health industry groups, including the American Health Lawyers Association, the California Association of Health Plans and America's Health Insurance Plans.
Ms. Lane is admitted to practice in California and before the U.S. District Courts for Northern, Eastern, Central, and Southern Districts of California and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Selected Representations
Retail and Technology Matters
- Representing a video game retailer in a California Business and Professions Code §17200 class action alleging that the retailer did not disclose that certain downloadable content may not be availablein connection with used video games.
- Represented an electronic payment company in a series of class actions alleging violations of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, California unfair competition law, the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, conversion, unjust enrichment, and money had and received.
- Represented an electronic payment company in connection with claims for defamation and intentional interference arising from statements made by the client's president and CEO.
- Obtained defense judgment for the client after a two-week trial in the United States District Court for the Central District of California in connection with claims for breach of contract, fraud, quantum meruit, and breach of warranty of authority in connection with an alleged agreement with plaintiff involving the reconfiguration of two aircraft in Saudi Arabia.
- Represented a telecommunications company in a licensing dispute filed in two competing jurisdictions alleging cross-claims for breach of contract, copyright violations and declaratory relief.
- Represented a telecommunications company in Texas state court in connection with claims for breach of a settlement agreement with a competitor.
- Defended a telecommunications company in connection with claims for breach of contract, fraud, unjust enrichment, and declaratory relief filed by two individuals seeking compensation for services rendered in connection with uncovering fraud.
- Represented a semiconductor company in Santa Clara Superior Court in a case alleging fraud, breach of contract, and unfair competition in connection with a licensing agreements between the parties.
- Representing a health plan in a representative action filed by the Los Angeles City Attorney alleging claims for violations of the California Unfair Competition Act based on the health plan's rescission of member policies.
- Represented a health plan in a class action filed on behalf of publicemployees who alleged that the plan used an overly restrictive definition of "medical necessity" for purposes of determining health insurance coverage. Case dismissed on demurrer and affirmed on appeal.
- Represented a health plan in a class action filed in San Francisco Superior Court on behalf of network providers whose contract rates were allegedly revised without proper notice.
- Represented a health plan in Los Angeles Superior Court in a class action filed in connection with the plan's mid-year revision to health insurance benefits.
- Represented a health plan in Los Angeles Superior Court in a class action alleging improper denial of pre-natal care based on medical necessity grounds.
- Represented a health plan in a class action alleging the plan used and enforced arbitration provisions that did not comply with provisions in the Insurance Code and Knox-Keene Act.
- Represented a health plan in a class action alleging over-application of deductible and co-pays.
- Represented a health plan in a case filed by a former contractor alleging claims for antitrust violations, unfair competition, tortious interference with a contract, and intentional infliction of emotional distress arising from plaintiff's termination.
- Represented a health plan in cases alleging bad faith and breach of contract arising from alleged malpractice by network providers.
- Represented a health plan in arbitration filed by a large health care provider alleging breach of contract and fraud arising from failure to pay over 6,000 claims for services provided.
- Represented a health plan in Alameda Superior Court in a bad faith case arising from alleged failure to reimburse the plaintiff for services provided by an out-of-network provider.
- Represented a prescription benefits management company in a class action alleging unfair competition arising from the PBM's alleged practices in connection with the receipt of rebates from pharmaceutical manufacturers and the alleged manipulation of Average Wholesale Pricing for pharmaceutical products.
- Represented prescription benefit management companies in connection with a class action filed on behalf of independent pharmacies alleging violation of the California unfair competition law and California Civil Code section 2527 for PBM's alleged failure to publish fee studies. Case dismissed on demurrer and affirmed on appeal.
- Represented a prescription benefit management company in a class action filed on behalf of independent pharmacies alleging failure to reimburse in compliance with the Oklahoma Third Party Prescription Act.
- Represented a prescription benefit management company in a class action filed on behalf of similarly situated pharmacies alleging that the PBM improperly reimbursed the pharmacies for brand name prescription drugs based on a monthly, rather than a daily, updated Average Wholesale Price for those drugs.
education
- University of San Francisco School of Law, 1990, J.D.
- University of California, Los Angeles, 1987, B.A.
