Stuart C. Plunkett is a partner in Morrison & Foerster’s San Francisco office, where he is a member of the Litigation Department.

Mr. Plunkett’s practice focuses on complex business litigation. He has represented a variety of clients at all levels of state and federal courts across the country, as well as in arbitrations and mediations. He has litigated complex antitrust and unfair competition disputes in a variety of contexts, including numerous cases arising out of California’s “energy crisis” of 2000-2001. Mr. Plunkett also has significant experience representing clients in consumer class action matters, in contract actions, and in a variety of other commercial disputes. His cases have included representing an energy company accused of anticompetitive behavior in multiple states, including allegations of price fixing and market allocation, defending a financial services company in a class action against claims that it had not complied with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, representing a medical device company accused of antitrust violations in the enforcement of its patents, representing a consulting company in a breach of contract action, and defending an international mining conglomerate in an environmental and human rights case brought under the Alien Tort Claims Act. Mr. Plunkett has advised clients and managed cases at every stage of litigation, from the inception of a lawsuit to pleading challenges, the handling of large-scale electronic discovery, trial, appellate proceedings, and settlement negotiations.

Mr. Plunkett also has a significant pro bono practice. He successfully defended a municipality at a jury trial against an individual seeking a substantial award for personal injuries, obtained asylum for a client who had been persecuted for his sexual orientation, argued before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in a habeas action, represented a builder of low-income housing in San Francisco, defended a municipality in a free speech case, and represented civil rights organizations and same-sex couples in litigation arising out of the same-sex marriage debate in California.

Mr. Plunkett attended the University of Minnesota where he received his B.A. in Mass Communications in 1992. He received his law degree, cum laude , in 1995 from Northwestern University School of Law. Mr. Plunkett was a member of the Order of the Coif and served as editor-in-chief of the Northwestern University Law Review . After graduation, Mr. Plunkett clerked for the Honorable Walter J. Cummings of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Mr. Plunkett joined Morrison & Foerster as an associate in 2000 and became a partner in 2004.

Mr. Plunkett is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of California. He is a member of the California and San Francisco Bar Associations, the American Bar Association, and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, and he has completed litigation and trial advocacy courses with the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.