Tara Coughlin is an associate in Morrison Foerster’s San Francisco office and a member of the firm’s Litigation Group.

Tara’s practice focuses on general litigation, including complex disputes and regulatory matters.

Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Tara worked across law firm, government, and public interest settings on matters involving civil rights, public policy, and government-related issues. Before law school, she worked at the ACLU of Northern California, where she assisted with complex civil litigation by conducting legal research and writing, drafting pleadings and public records requests, analyzing local and state laws, and supporting discovery and case development. During law school, she interned in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, supporting complex and affirmative litigation through legal research and writing. She also served as a student attorney at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, litigating matters through dispositive motion practice and appeal, securing favorable rulings on motions to dismiss and for summary judgment, authoring an appellate brief for the Massachusetts Appeals Court, achieving multiple settlements, and later overseeing case strategy as Housing Practice Area Head.

Tara earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she served as article selection editor for the Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and policy committee member for the Women’s Law Association. She received her B.A. with high distinction, in sociology, with a minor in political economy, from the University of California, Berkeley.