SAN FRANCISCO, August 17, 2020: Morgan Lewis partner Joan Haratani was named the 2020 recipient of the Amel Zenoune-Zouani Rights & Leadership Award by the International Action Network for Gender Equity & Law (IANGEL). The award honors individuals who have achieved professional excellence and have worked to promote women's rights, social justice, and gender equality.
IANGEL is an international network that strives to connect volunteer lawyers to advance gender equity and protect the human and civil rights of women and girls around the world. Joan accepted the award—named for a young Algerian woman slain by extremists in 1997 for refusing to give up her law school studies—during a virtual seventh anniversary gala that commemorated the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage. In receiving the honor, Joan credited the “powerful reservoir of courage” she draws upon as the daughter, granddaughter, and niece of Japanese Americans interned by the US government in a bleak camp in Wyoming during World War II.
Joan’s practice spans state and federal law, including the Alien Tort Statute, California’s Unfair Competition Law, pharmaceutical and medical device liability doctrines, and national mortgage foreclosure issues. A co-lead counsel on some of the largest mass tort litigations, Joan defends her clients in class actions, from product liability litigation, to complex licensing agreements, to trade secret indemnity issues. Joan, a longtime leader in the Asian American legal community, was the first woman of color to serve as president of the Bar Association of San Francisco.