Our deeds and shared values define our culture. As a firm, we are equally passionate about delivering legal excellence and making a difference in the world. MoFo+ shares news and thought leadership from our lawyers and their teams who are proud to contribute to the legal profession and the communities we call home.<h2>About Morrison Foerster</h2>Morrison Foerster is a leading global law firm that transforms complexity into advantage for its clients. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, banks, consulting and accounting firms, and Fortune 100, technology, and life sciences companies. Highlighting the firm’s commitment to client service, leadership in market-changing deals and impact litigation, and values-based culture, Morrison Foerster has been repeatedly recognized as one of the top 10 firms on The American Lawyer’s A-List. Year after year, the firm receives significant recognition from Chambers and The Legal 500 across their various guides, including Global, USA, Asia‑Pacific, Europe, UK, Latin America, and FinTech Legal. Our lawyers passionately care about delivering legal excellence while living our values. Morrison Foerster has a long-standing commitment to creating a culture that respects and celebrates differences, while providing an inclusive environment. The firm has achieved Mansfield Certification Plus since 2018 as a result of successfully reaching at least 30 percent women, communities of color, and LGBTQ+ lawyer representation in a notable number of current leadership roles and committees. The firm also has a long history of commitment to the community and society through providing pro bono legal services, including litigating for civil rights and civil liberties, improving public education and fostering the wellbeing of children, advocating for veterans, promoting international human rights, enforcing the right to asylum, and safeguarding the environment.

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Jennifer K. Brown is Senior Pro Bono Counsel at Morrison & Foerster LLP, with responsibility for the overall direction of the firm’s pro bono program. Ms. Brown also develops pro bono opportunities and promotes lawyers’ participation in the firm’s offices on the east coast of the U.S. as well as in China, Hong Kong, and Singapore.Before joining Morrison Foerster, Ms. Brown was vice president and legal director of Legal Momentum, the nation's first women’s rights legal organization, originally known as the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund. There, she directed cutting-edge litigation and policy advocacy focused on employment discrimination, domestic violence victims' rights, and sexuality and family rights. Previously, she served as the reproductive rights director with the Civil Rights Bureau of the Office of the New York Attorney General and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney with the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.Ms. Brown brings to the firm her deep knowledge of public interest legal organizations and the most pressing civil rights issues of the day. She has, as well, a rich array of litigation experience, having represented individuals as well as federal agencies and the public, from both the plaintiff and defense positions, in trial and appellate courts. As Senior Pro Bono Counsel, she applies this knowledge and experience to multiple goals: encouraging the firm's attorneys from all practice areas to bring pro bono projects to the firm; easing the way for attorneys to undertake meaningful pro bono service; and working with legal service and public interest organizations to identify creative ways to tap the passion and intellect of the firm's lawyers to pursue the public good. Recent achievements include collaborating with a legal services organization to represent individuals whose claims for unemployment insurance benefits are challenged, and forming a project to represent disabled individuals who are seeking federal disability benefits.Ms. Brown received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1993, where she was essays editor of the Yale Law Journal (1992-1993) and was awarded the Benjamin Scharps and Israel H. Peres prizes for outstanding writing. Ms. Brown’s publications include, "The Nineteenth Amendment and Women's Equality," 102 Yale Law Journal 2175 (1993) (student note), and "Life and Death with Joan," in AIDS: The Women, Cleis Press, 1988.

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Senior Pro Bono Counsel

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As senior pro bono counsel, Jennifer manages and promotes the pro bono participation of lawyers on the East Coast.

Jennifer K. Brown

Natalie Kernisant is Morrison Foerster’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer.Natalie provides strategic leadership to advance recruiting and retention of diverse talent at the firm, as well as providing client development support in the area of diversity and inclusion. She works closely with the firm’s Diversity Strategy Committee co-chairs Alexis Amezcua, Purvi Patel, and Mark Whitaker, and Women’s Strategy Committee co-chairs Carrie Cohen, Julie Park, and Stacey Sprenkel.Natalie joined Morrison Foerster in November 2013. She was appointed to the newly created role of Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer in December 2020, having previously served as the firm’s Global Director of Diversity and Inclusion.Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Natalie served as Human Resources Manager for Risk Management within Global Banking and Markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Before that, she practiced trademark and copyright law and then served as the Special Projects Manager in the Office of Institutional Policy & Planning at Harvard Medical School overseeing the school’s 2011 accreditation process.In 2021, Natalie was named by Crain’s New York Business to its list of Notable Black Leaders & Executives 2021. The special section recognizes black men and women who have impacted New York City in major ways and sets out to honor their professional, civic, and philanthropic achievements. In 2023, Natalie was recognized as one of Savoy Magazine’s 2023 Most Influential Executives in Diversity & Inclusion. She was also selected to Law360’s Diversity & Inclusion Editorial Advisory Board, whose goal is to provide feedback on Law360’s coverage as well as expert insight on how to shape future coverage. Additionally, she was recognized in the Financial Times 2023 North America Innovative Lawyers report as one of seven individual “Change Makers” in the legal industry for her strategic leadership of the firm’s efforts to interrupt unconscious bias and advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace. In 2024, Natalie was named as a Change Driver in the Annual Diversity Awards of World IP Review (WIPR). The annual Diversity Awards recognize those who have made exceptional contributions to diversity and inclusion in the field of intellectual property.During Natalie’s tenure at MoFo, the firm has received multiple <a href="/culture/diversity#page-section-4" target="_self">diversity and inclusion awards and recognitions</a>.

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Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer

Natalie Kernisant is Morrison Foerster’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer.

Natalie Kernisant provides strategic leadership to advance recruiting and retention of diverse talent at Morrison Foerster, as well as providing client development support in the area of diversity and inclusion.

Natalie Kernisant

Dorothy L. Fernandez is Pro Bono Counsel based in the Denver office of Morrison & Foerster LLP. She is responsible for managing and promoting the participation of lawyers in the firm’s extensive pro bono program which includes, among other things, providing free legal services to low-income individuals, advising nonprofit organizations and assisting in other matters that serve the public interest. Dorothy’s primary focus is on working with lawyers in the firm’s Austin, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver and Tokyo offices.In 1999, Dorothy joined Morrison & Foerster as an associate in the Securities Litigation, Enforcement and White-Collar Criminal Defense Group. She was elected a partner of the firm in 2004. Dorothy handled complex litigation at the state, federal and appellate levels and was responsible for drafting key dispositive motions in some of the firm’s largest securities litigation matters. In addition, she had an active pro bono practice and represented clients in individual matters, as well as cases addressing the treatment of children in foster care and the rights of LGBT individuals.A dedicated advocate for the LGBT community, Dorothy has served as co-chair of the board of directors of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and she also served on the board of the Pride Law Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides scholarships to law students working on issues related to the equal rights of LGBT citizens and people living with HIV/AIDS.Dorothy currently serves on the board of directors of Centro Legal de la Raza, a nonprofit based in Oakland.Dorothy graduated from Stanford University in 1992 with a B.A. in psychology. She earned a J.D. in 1996 from Harvard Law School, where she was a member of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and co-chair of HLS Lambda. She has taught as an adjunct instructor at both Golden Gate University Law School and Santa Clara University Law School.

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Pro Bono Counsel

Dorothy works with lawyers in our Denver, Los Angeles, and San Diego offices on various pro bono initiatives.

Dorothy L. Fernandez

Rachel Williams is pro bono counsel based in Morrison & Foerster’s San Francisco office. She is responsible for managing and promoting the participation of lawyers in the firm’s extensive program of providing free legal services to low-income individuals, to nonprofit organizations, and in matters that serve the public interest. Rachel works primarily with lawyers in the firm’s San Francisco, Palo Alto, London, Berlin, and Brussels offices. She is an active member of the Disaster Legal Assistance Collaborative and the board of directors of OneJustice. Rachel joined the firm in 1999. Prior to becoming a pro bono counsel, Rachel was a litigation associate in the firm’s Palo Alto office and worked on attorney training and development initiatives. Before law school, Rachel worked for various nonprofit organizations, was an investigator for the public defender’s office in Seattle, and served as a Coro Public Affairs Fellow in New York City.

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Rachel is responsible for managing and promoting the participation of lawyers in the firm’s extensive program of providing free legal services to low-income individuals, to nonprofit organizations, and in matters that serve the public interest.

Rachel P. Williams

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In honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, on March 4, 2020, New York-based litigation associate and MoFo Women’s Strategy Committee membe

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The Advancement of Women in the Legal Profession and Beyond: A Conversation With Professor Melissa Murray

The Advancement of Women in the Legal Profession and Beyond: A Conversation With Professor Melissa Murray | MoFo+

In honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, on March 4, 2020, New York-based litigation associate and MoFo Women’s Strategy Committee member <a rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" href="https://www.mofo.com/people/katie-viggiani.html">Katie Viggiani</a> interviewed the esteemed New York University Law School <a rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" href="https://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.overview&personid=40825">Professor Melissa Murray</a>.A Yale Law School graduate and an award-winning scholar who frequently appears on major television networks, Melissa has been published in respected periodicals including The New York Times and The Washington Post. In MoFo’s New York office, she spoke with Katie about women in the legal profession and a major case over a Louisiana abortion law that was being argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on the very day of her visit.An Abortion Law Being Argued Before the Supreme CourtIn the hours before Melissa would take the stage to do a fireside chat with Katie, the Supreme Court was hearing arguments in <a rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" href="https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/june-medical-services-llc-v-russo/">June Medical Services v. Russo</a>, an enormously impactful case over the constitutionality of a Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to obtain admitting privileges at local hospitals—an issue right in Melissa’s bailiwick.“If this strikes you as legal déjà vu to you, it should,” Melissa remarked. “A very similar law was at issue in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, a case the Supreme Court heard in 2016. It was a 5-to-3 decision, with Justice Breyer writing for the majority. The Court struck the law down,” Melissa said, rattling off the case’s details with an ease that most people can display only when asked to recite something as familiar as their home address.In Whole Woman’s Health, the Court made it clear that when abortion questions are at issue, the Justices must do more than accept the legislature’s explanation as to why they passed the law, Melissa explained. They must also deeply question whether the professed benefits of the law are commensurate with the burdens it imposes on the women affected.“When the Court took this up in 2016 in Whole Woman’s Health they determined that the admitting privileges requirement actually did not have the professed correlation to increases in abortion patient’s health,” Melissa said. “They Court also noted that it’s often difficult for abortion providers to get admission privileges in Texas because obtaining admission privileges there requires an abortion provider to actually practice in the hospital system and admit a certain number of patients per year.”Because abortions so rarely need to be performed in hospitals, abortion providers don’t usually send enough patients to the hospitals to qualify for these admission privileges.Melissa also noted that “One of the really interesting things about the petition [for certiorari in the Louisiana case] is that the Court actually included an additional question that neither of the parties had raised: whether the abortion providers were the appropriate parties to be bringing this suit, as opposed to abortion patients.”“I think the Court’s inclusion of the standing issue suggests the interest—by at least some members of the court—to have a kind of procedural exit ramp for this case,” Melissa said. “This is an election year. Abortion is certainly a hot-button issue that could incite women to go to the polls. And a way to prevent the Court from becoming a flashpoint in electoral politics would be to decide this case on a jurisdictional question, to say that the parties were not the appropriate parties, that they lacked the appropriate standing.”The Louisiana case is currently stayed (i.e., temporarily suspended). If it passes, two of Louisiana’s three remaining abortion clinics would shutter.Transcripts from the parties’ June Medical Services v. Russo arguments before the Supreme Court weren’t yet available when Melissa met with Katie, and the Supreme Court can take as long as three months after an argument to hand down a decision. Stay tuned.<img sizes="(max-width: 765px) 100vw, 765px" height="573" width="765" src="https://media2.mofo.com/v3/images/blt5775cc69c999c255/bltab7866609a9f988c/6287fd6a1cd65960bcff05c4/img_0290-scaled.jpg?format=auto&quality=60" class="aligncenter wp-image-4538" loading="lazy" type="asset" sys-style-type="download">Members of our New York office pose with Professor Melissa Murray to celebrate International Women’s Day.