Kathleen MacFarlane Waters

Partner

Kathleen MacFarlane Waters is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Litigation Practice and leader of the Los Angeles Litigation Group.

Ms. Waters serves clients in healthcare and banking industries with a focus on large scale commercial disputes and class actions. She has significant experience in the life science and healthcare fields, representing large health insurance companies, a nationwide dialysis provider, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and medical devices companies. In addition, her experience with banking industry includes acting as counsel for a large banking institution on a set of cases arising from the Washington Mutual receivership.

Ms. Waters has first chair trial experience and has served on national counsel teams in matters pertaining to silicone breast implants, latex, fen-phen, and asbestos litigation for various defendants. Her work includes the development and implementation of national strategies that involve conducting extensive discovery, pleading and motion practice, case management, mediation, and trial preparation. Ms. Waters' background also includes asbestos litigation and she is currently involved as part of a national counsel team for silica matters.

Ms. Waters’ product liability cases often involve complex scientific issues. As a result, she has significant experience with evidentiary challenges under Daubert. As part of the national counsel team in multidistrict litigation, she has supervised local counsel in many states and has appeared as trial counsel in California, Massachusetts, and Ohio. She currently serves as counsel for a large healthcare company defending contractual and complex commercial disputes.

Among her other responsibilities, Ms. Waters is the Leader of the Los Angeles Litigation Practice. She also serves on the Recruiting Committee, the Associate Professional Development Committee, and is the chair of the Professional Evaluation Committee for the Los Angeles office. She also serves on the firmwide Legal Personnel Committee.

Ms. Waters is admitted to practice in California and Massachusetts.