Joan M. Haratani

Partner

Joan M. Haratani is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Litigation Practice and is the co-chair of the firm's Retail Practice Group. Ms. Haratani has an extensive trial and pretrial practice, with an emphasis on complex commercial and product liability disputes. She has expertise in complex licensing agreements and trade secret indemnity issues and has served as co-lead counsel on some of the largest mass tort litigations in the nation, as well as the largest pending class actions of which she obtained a dismissal at the federal court level (affirmed by the ninth circuit). Her recent cases involve contract and preemption analysis and in-depth knowledge of the popular Alien Tort Statute, one of the oldest statutes in the nation.

Ms. Haratani has developed a subpractice in law concerning medicines and devices, and for more than two decades, has represented either pharmaceutical or medical device companies. She represented a major pharmaceutical company in litigation that concerned an artificial hormone given to pregnant women and served as a first chair trial lawyer. Ms. Haratani was one of the lead national counsels in litigations involving the possible contamination of a blood product with Hepatitis C, severe allergic reactions to natural rubber latex, and variety of issues concerning medical devices (ranging from surgical equipment to implantable intraocular lenses).

Recently, Ms. Haratani successfully resolved a complex commercial insurance recovery matter and a complex trade secrets dispute on behalf of a medical device company, and was one of the lead lawyers in a high-exposure products liability case ($50M in compensatory damages alone) involving a food product. She has served as a member of a national litigation strategy team for a Fortune 100 company and has obtained a complete defense verdict after a lengthy trial for a medical device manufacturer.

Ms. Haratani is recognized as one of the "Top 100 Lawyers in California" and as a "Top 75 Women Litigator" by the Daily Journal. In its ranking of the firm's Products Liability Practice, the 2007 edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business described the group as being "[f]ull of intelligent attorneys who really deliver" and noted that Ms. Haratani "draws praise from clients for her tenacity and ability to look at a case from a business perspective." She is a Northern California Super Lawyer (2004-2011) and was selected by the corporate members of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association as a "Female Litigator on the Rise" in Diversity and the Bar.

Ms. Haratani is a member of the American Bar Association, House of Delegates, and is the Recent Past President of the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF), the first female of color president of BASF in its then 134-year history. She is also a past President of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area, past Regional Governor of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, past Co-Chair of the Committee in the ABA Science and Technology Section, and a past Chair of The Asian Pacific Fund. Ms. Haratani served as Chair of the Bar Association/Law Firm section of the State Bar of California's Inaugural Pipeline Task Force.

Ms. Haratani is a former Advisory Committee member of the ABA Conference on Minority Law Firm Partners and Majority-Corporate Law Firms and has been recognized as one of the 500 most influential Asian Americans in America by Avenue Asia Magazine. She also has been listed in California Law Business as one of "California's Top Rainmakers."

Ms. Haratani has received numerous awards for both her practice accomplishments and service on behalf of women and minority practitioners. She is a recipient of the ABA's Spirit of Excellence award, the Anti Defamation League's Distinguished Jurisprudence award and the Thurgood Marshall award. Ms. Haratani received the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area's award for "Exceptional Legal Advocacy." She also has received a rating from Martindale-Hubbell signifying the height of professional excellence and has been recognized for the highest levels of skill and integrity.

Ms. Haratani is a frequent lecturer on topics of diversity, and she is a past board member of several philanthropic organizations, including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Northern California. She is also currently a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (by nomination only), a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation (by invitation only), the Defense Research Institute, and California Women Lawyers. She is a past member of the board of directors for the California State Bar Foundation and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights. 

Ms. Haratani is admitted to practice in California and before the state and federal courts of California.