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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Editors’ note: Today, we publish Part II of New York-based litigation associate and MoFo Women’s Strategy Committee member Katie Viggiani’s interview with the e

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Women Are Gaining Ground… But For the Right Reasons?

Women Are Gaining Ground… But For the Right Reasons? | MoFo+

Editors’ note: Today, we publish Part II of New York-based litigation associate and MoFo Women’s Strategy Committee member <a href="https://www.mofo.com/people/katie-viggiani.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Katie Viggiani</a>’s interview with the esteemed N.Y.U. Law School <a href="https://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.overview&personid=40825" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Professor Melissa Murray</a>. Here Professor Murray addresses women in the legal profession.In addition to teaching courses at NYU Law School on subjects including constitutional law, and reproductive rights and justice, Melissa is faculty director of the school’s <a href="https://www.law.nyu.edu/centers/birnbaum-womens-leadership-network" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network</a>, an organization working with both law students and law firms to explore how best to help future generations of women lawyers thrive and lead.She reacted to each of the statistics concerning the advancement of women in the legal profession cited by her interviewer with genuine excitement tempered by a healthy dose of skepticism.For instance, Katie brought up the three female justices currently sitting on the Supreme Court—more than there have been at any other time in history. “But,” Katie added, “there have only been four out of 114 ever.”“Three female justices. That’s great. That’s huge,” Melissa responded. “But only 30% of the federal judiciary is composed of women. It’s even bleaker at the state level, where many of the judges are elected.”When Katie brought up the unprecedented fact that the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/elanagross/2020/02/11/the-journals-at-the-top-us-law-schools-are-all-led-by-women-for-the-first-time/#13b4574737b9" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">editors-in-chief of every one of the top 16 law schools are currently women</a>, Melissa responded, “That’s not just parity. That’s a supermajority. That’s really something to celebrate.” But she also recounted her experience at a <a href="https://www.law.com/2020/01/21/women-hold-editor-in-chief-positions-at-the-16-most-elite-law-reviews/?slreturn=20200220072528" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">conference in Washington, D.C.</a> inspired by the woman-editor trend.“At the conference we discussed what has made [the fact that all of the top law school’s journals’ editors are women] possible,” Melissa said. ““Of course it’s evidence of the moxie and persistence of these women,” she said. “But some of the issues these women were raising were interesting. The work of being the editor-in-chief of a law review seemed to have changed substantially. They are now responsible for creating a warm environment and cultivating an atmosphere where people could work effectively and efficiently together. That is really different from how the editor-in-chief role was imagined when I was in law school.”Melissa had a similar reaction when Katie brought up the fact that, this year, 38% of law school deans are women: the job is very different these days.“I served as the interim dean of Berkeley’s law school for 17 months, and it was the hardest 17 months of my professional career,” she said. “The amount of granular, student focused work that a law school dean has to do is significant.”Melissa described counselling students in the Middle East over the phone when the travel ban went into effect about how to get back into the United States and about what to do if their credit cards no longer had any credit on them to buy a ticket.“These kinds of things would likely have been unfathomable to deans 20 years ago,” she said.“Law schools are more financially precarious than ever,” Melissa explained. “There’s a lot of cost-cutting, a lot of interaction with campus that perhaps law schools didn’t have to do in quite the same way years ago. So part of me celebrates that the number of law school leaders who are women has increased, but another part of me wonders whether that’s because the role has become incredibly demanding and taken on a dimension of housework that’s less appealing for some.”A Plausible ExplanationDespite her concerns, Melissa didn’t seem at all discouraged. The child of emigres from Jamaica, Melissa had a grandmother who insisted that each of her five girls, one of whom was Melissa’s mother, “at least graduate from high school.” When Melissa’s mother, a nurse, attended Melissa’s Yale Law School graduation, “she was sobbing,” Melissa recounted. “And I was mortified,” she laughed.Melissa’s mother explained that she was so emotional because she “never imagined having a daughter who would become a lawyer.”Comparing her experience to her grandmother’s, Melissa pointed out, “That’s just two generations. So the change has come quickly. And I think when it comes that quickly, it’s hard for institutions to catch up, even if they have the best of intentions.”