Katie Viggiani is co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Complex Litigation + Advisement practice group and a partner in the firm’s New York office. 

She specializes in the defense of complex commercial disputes and consumer class actions, crafting strategies that look beyond a single dispute to further clients’ holistic goals inside and outside the courtroom. Katie is a versatile commercial litigator who represents U.S. and international companies in courts and arbitral tribunals throughout the country. Her clients include technology, retail, e-commerce, healthcare, and financial firms from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.

Consumer Class Actions and Privacy Litigation

Katie regularly represents companies against consumer class actions, including ones asserting privacy claims based on novel theories of liability. She has defended companies against claims under federal wiretap statutes, the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, the California Invasion of Privacy Act, and other privacy laws. She also defends companies in high-profile cases involving data security issues and the handling of sensitive information. 

Mass Arbitration, Mass Torts, and Multijurisdictional Claims

Katie has extensive arbitration experience. She helps companies navigate mass arbitrations—the coordinated filing of a large number of nearly identical claims—guiding companies to favorable resolutions and outcomes, including in cases involving parallel class actions. Katie’s practice also includes defending corporate clients in serial mass tort and class action litigation filed and pending in multiple jurisdictions. In 2023, The Legal 500 recommended Katie in Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action Defense.

Enforcement Actions and Trial Experience

Katie also represents clients at the intersection of enforcement actions and civil litigation. She has represented clients facing regulatory investigations and enforcement actions involving securities fraud, benchmark manipulation, market manipulation, tax evasion, and accounting brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. 

Katie was also part of a trial team that represented the founder and former CEO of a high-tech company in a criminal prosecution alleging stock option backdating and improper revenue recognition. The team achieved two separate criminal trial victories, obtaining acquittal on six counts and a hung jury on the one remaining count.

More About Katie

Katie maintains an active pro bono practice with a particular focus on indigent criminal defense, civil rights work, and legal issues facing the LGBTQ+ community. She was a founding member of the firm’s NY LGBTQ+ Affinity Group and is an active member of the MoFo Proud Network and the firm’s Women’s Strategy Committee.

Katie earned her J.D. from the UCLA School of Law, where she was a managing editor of the UCLA Women’s Law Journal. While in law school, Katie worked as a law clerk for the Los Angeles County Public Defender and was a member of UCLA’s Criminal Defense Clinic.