Zach ZhenHe Tan, a member of Morrison Foerster’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice, focuses on federal and state appellate litigation, including in the U.S. Supreme Court, federal courts of appeals, and California appellate courts. 

Before joining Morrison Foerster, Zach served as a law clerk for the Honorable Goodwin H. Liu of the Supreme Court of California and in the appellate practice of another international law firm.

Zach earned his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he served as a notes editor of the Harvard Law Review. While at Harvard, he also served as academics and clerkships chair of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association. Zach received his LL.B. from the National University of Singapore with highest honors.

Representative Experience

• Sheetz v. County of El Dorado (U.S. Supreme Court) Represented a local government in a U.S. Supreme Court property-rights case with significant national implications for land-use planning
• Capital Power Corporation, et al. v. FERC (D.C. Cir.) Assisted independent power generators in challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s orders eliminating hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for reactive power
• Prestige Insurance Group, LLC, et al. v. Allstate Insurance Company (11th Cir.) Defended a nationwide insurance company in a breach-of-contract action on appeal, convincing the panel to uphold the district court’s decision
• Lee F. Adams v. M. Todd, et al. (11th Cir.) Represented a Florida prisoner in appealing a district court’s dismissal of deliberate indifference claims under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, successfully convincing the panel to vacate the district court’s decision
• Devised strategy and drafted briefs that convinced a New York appellate court to unanimously reverse a trial court’s multimillion-dollar damages determination and vacate its liability holding in a breach-of-contract dispute
• Defended major internet platform companies against claims related to unlawful third-party content in federal and state court, securing motions to dismiss based on Communications Decency Act Section 230 and then defended the rulings on appeal
• Represented a nationwide insurance company in an action challenging a novel retroactive refund ordered by the California Insurance Commissioner. Defended a favorable trial court ruling before the California Court of Appeal