Two Firm Leaders Named Top Women Lawyers in California

Michele Johnson, Global Chair of Latham’s Litigation & Trial Department, and Judith Hasko, Global Chair of the firm’s Life Science Licensing Practice, have been named among California’s Top Women Lawyers 2019 by the Daily Journal in its annual report honoring female attorneys at the top of their respective areas of law.

In her published profile, Johnson was recognized for her lead role in the groundbreaking defense of pharmaceutical company Puma Biotechnology in the first federal securities class action to reach a verdict in nearly 10 years. The high-profile defense-friendly jury verdict reached in February 2019, which awarded miniscule damages on a US$1.3 billion claim, as well as the substantive rulings in the matter “impacts every case in the securities litigation category going forward – not just our pending cases but those filed across the country,” Johnson stated. She was also honored for her recent work in “a busy practice that includes a mix of securities class actions and shareholder derivative cases, corporate control and governance crises, bet-the-company civil disputes, and mergers and acquisitions litigation.”

Hasko’s published profile focused on her innovative and complex work in commercial transactions involving biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostic companies – including her advice on immuno-onocology and other drug deals during the past year valued at up to US$12 billion. Hasko noted that she practices in “a high-risk, high reward industry, and there’s a lot going on in that space… People are realizing that sometimes if you combine cancer drugs there can be synergistic effects, and a lot of deals are structured around that premise.”

Both partners have appeared in previous Daily Journal Top Women Lawyers reports and continue to advise clients on market-pacing matters while also taking on their leadership roles at the firm.