Tara K. McGrath is a partner in the Litigation Department of Morrison Foerster’s San Diego office.

Tara McGrath is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Investigations + White Collar Defense practice and a former U. S. attorney for the Southern District of California. She advises companies, boards, nonprofits, education institutions, and executives on high-stakes investigations, enforcement actions, and crisis situations.

Tara is a trusted advisor in complex, multidimensional matters, with particular strength in navigating parallel civil, criminal, and regulatory proceedings. She counsels clients facing investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as companies managing internal investigations, enforcement exposure, and critical decision-making, with a particular focus on national security concerns, regulatory risk, and environmental enforcement.

Drawing on her experience as U.S. attorney, Tara brings a leadership and strategic perspective to advising clients on how enforcement actions develop, escalate, and resolve. She regularly engages with senior leadership and boards to assess risk, respond to government inquiries, and manage high-stakes situations where legal, operational, and reputational considerations converge.

Tara also advises companies on climate and ESG-related enforcement risk, including compliance, disclosure obligations, and emerging areas of regulatory scrutiny. Her approach reflects a broader view of climate as a public safety and accountability issue, particularly for companies operating in regulated industries or critical infrastructure sectors.

As a U.S. attorney, Tara led one of the Department of Justice’s largest and busiest offices, overseeing enforcement across a wide range of criminal and civil matters, including organized crime, fraud, cybercrime, corruption, environmental violations, and national security violations. She played a key role in DOJ-wide initiatives addressing emerging threats and coordinated complex, multi-agency investigations.

Earlier in her career, Tara served for more than a decade as an assistant U.S. attorney and DOJ trial attorney in San Diego and Washington, D.C., where she handled numerous high-profile investigations and trials and argued multiple times before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Tara also served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps and has held leadership roles in various civic and professional organizations. She has received multiple awards from the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense recognizing her work in enforcement, litigation, and national security. Tara earned her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and received her B.A. cum laude in political science from Boston College.