Meghan McMeel

Partner ( San Francisco )

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First and foremost, Meghan McMeel is a litigator. She relishes the role of courtroom advocate and approaches every aspect of the job with equal measures of tenacity and common sense. Having entered the field of product liability early in her career, she possesses as much trial experience as many lawyers with considerably more seniority.

Meghan always enjoys taking on new missions and new responsibilities, tackling them with confidence and working hard until every issue is resolved. She has extensive experience advising manufacturers with environmental and product liability issues, successfully defending their products and reporting to government agencies. She has represented large corporations at trial, filing evidentiary motions, preparing witnesses, and arguing motions. She has handled litigation for multiple product manufacturers, including day-to-day litigation, mediation, expert preparation, discovery issues, motion practice, and settlement negotiations.

But she doesn’t stop there. Meghan has experience in white collar criminal defense matters, including internal investigations, regulatory inquiries, and debarment proceedings. She advises, investigates, and litigates Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) cases.

Although she’s a tireless advocate, Meghan also believes in the power and value of good-faith negotiation. And while she realizes that the judicious application of a carefully measured amount of whiskey and water may not solve most problems, it never hurts to try.
 

Experience

 Representative Engagements

  • Drafted Consumer Product Safety Commission Reports and Health Canada Reports for clients involved in voluntary recalls, including world-wide coordination with other reporting agencies, review of relevant documents and data for production to the agencies.
  • Represented client in employment-related mediation involving particularly sensitive public relations issues in a discrete manner resulting in a prompt multi-termed resolution.
  • Represents clients in product liability and mass tort litigation at a national level, including advising and implementing strategic initiatives.
  • Successfully challenged the admissibility of experts and expert testimony on behalf of a client involved in novel, and potentially mass tort, litigation, successfully shutting down future claims.
  • Represented clients as trial counsel in federal court, including drafting and arguing substantive motions, participating in mandatory settlement conferences, and preparing pre-trial filings.
  • Argued and won a contested summary judgment motion in Los Angeles, California in asbestos litigation.

Credentials

Education

DePaul University College of Law, J.D., 2012, CALI Supreme Court Litigation and Trial Advocacy
DePaul University, B.A., Political Science, French, 2006, with honors

Bar Admissions

California
Oregon
Washington
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington 

Professional Memberships

American Bar Association
Civil Rights and Social Justice Section, Chairperson
Thurgood Marshall Award (2019)
Tort Trial and Insurance Section
Toxic Torts and Environmental Law General Committee, Co-Chair (2017-2021)
Queens’ Bench
Bar Association of San Francisco
State Bar of California
Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation (2020-2023)

Teaching Appointments

University of California – Hastings College of the Law, Adjunct Professor of Law

Publications & Presentations

“The Role of Courts in Managing New Theories of Remedies: The Debates on Medical Financing, Social Inflation, Phantom Damages, and Other Emerging Trends,” (co-panelist) Law & Economics Center (LEC) Civil Justice Fest (November 16, 2020)

“Kik Ruling is a Step Toward Securities Law Clarity for Crypto,” (co-author) Law360 Commentary (November 13, 2020)

“Evolving Strategies for Vapor Intrusion Risk and Associated Personal Injury Claims,” (co-panelist) Perrin Conferences Environmental Risk & Litigation (October 22, 2020)

“Social Inflation, Punitive Damages, and U.S. Litigation Trends: Where are claims and verdicts headed?,” (co-panelist) Lloyd’s Market Association (September 22, 2020)

“Social Inflation, Punitive Damages, and U.S. Litigation Trends: Where are claims and verdicts headed?,” (co-panelist) Lloyd’s Market Association (June 8, 2020)

“Sponsors, Influencers & Career Engineering for Legal Counsel," (panelist) Women, Diversity & Change, The Women in Law Summit Series, Chicago, IL (June 6, 2019)

“Sponsors, Influencers & Career Engineering," (co-panelist) The Women Diversity and Change Summit, San Francisco, CA (November 7, 2018) 

“Recent Developments in Toxic Tort & Environmental Law,” (co-author) American Bar Association, Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal, Chapters in 2015, 2016, and 2017 editions regarding household duty claims in the context of asbestos liability and talc litigation

“Potential Regulatory, Environmental, and Litigation Issues with Alternative Power Generation,” (moderator) American Bar Association, Toxic Tort & Environmental Law Committee, Phoenix, AZ (April 6, 2018)

“Understanding and Protecting Privilege,” (co-presenter) CLE Presentation, San Francisco, CA (Jan. 16, 2018)

“Construction Defects,” (contributor) DRI CLE Presentation, San Francisco, CA (Nov. 2014)

“Cloud Computing – Professional Conduct and Ethical Implications,” (co-presenter) CLE
Presentation, Chicago, IL (Sept. 12, 2013)

Community Service

Equal Rights Advocates, Steering Committee (2018-2020)

The Raphael House

The Volunteer Center, Board Member (2015-2016)