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MoFo Challenges Ban on Abortion Counseling and Care for Veterans

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On May 15, 2026, MoFo filed a federal lawsuit representing Minority Veterans of America to challenge a new rule from the...

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On May 15, 2026, MoFo filed a federal lawsuit representing Minority Veterans of America to challenge a new rule from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that bans abortion counseling and reinstates a near-total ban on abortion care for veterans and their dependents, even in cases of rape, incest, or serious threats to the pregnant person’s health. The lawsuit alleges that in adopting this rule, VA violated the Administrative Procedure Act. Specifically, it argues that VA abused its discretion by relying upon a flawed legal analysis that it is prohibited from providing such care, and that it acted arbitrarily and capriciously for several reasons, including by failing to adequately explain its reversal of a prior VA rule in 2022 which determined that providing limited abortion services and counseling was necessary care. San Francisco litigation partners Daralyn Durie and Aileen McGrath, together with associates Alissandra McCann (DC) and Alexandra Avvocato (NY) and co-counsel from the National Women’s Law Center and Democracy Forward, lead the representation. Our client, Minority Veterans of America, is a nonprofit whose mission includes ensuring that minority veterans receive comprehensive and equitable access to VA health care. It is suing to represent the interests of its members. One member’s sworn declaration—included in the court filing—describes the threat that her current pregnancy poses to her health and demonstrates the harm of the challenged rule’s prohibition of abortion counseling and its near total ban on abortion.Read the <a href="https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Minority-Veterans-of-America-Petition-for-Review.pdf" target="_blank">petition</a>.

MoFo Challenges Ban on Abortion Counseling and Care for Veterans

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Daralyn Durie is among the top trial lawyers in the country, acting as go-to trial counsel for both plaintiffs and defendants. Daralyn’s exceptional track record has earned her consistent recognition from leading national publications. Chambers has listed her among the top 10 intellectual property lawyers in the U.S. and Law360 has recognized her as an “Icon of IP” and an MVP. Benchmark Litigation reported that “going against her was like going against a boxer in which you know you’re going to get hurt.” She’s a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and an inductee into the California Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame.Daralyn’s legal career began at Berkeley Law, followed by a clerkship for the Honorable Douglas Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She became a partner at a litigation boutique in 1999 and, in 2009, co-founded Durie Tangri, a premier litigation boutique that later combined with Morrison Foerster in 2023.In addition to her courtroom successes, Daralyn is actively involved in the legal community. She is a board member of the National Women’s Law Center, a past president of the Northern California Association of Business Trial Lawyers, and served as an adjunct professor at Berkeley Law, where she taught civil trial advocacy.Life SciencesDaralyn has decades of experience in the life sciences sector. She spearheaded the enforcement of Genentech’s Cabilly family of patents, which generated billions of dollars in licensing revenue. She served as lead counsel in the Herceptin biosimilar litigation and recently achieved a plaintiff-side jury verdict of $178 million in a patent infringement case involving melanoma therapy.TechnologyIn the tech sector, Daralyn recently won defense jury verdicts for Aptiv (USB hubs), Activision (in the Eastern District of Texas), and Redbubble. She served as lead counsel for Google, defending Google Books from copyright infringement claims. Following extensive litigation on copyright and antitrust issues, Google prevailed on summary judgment, resulting in Daralyn being named an Attorney of the Year by California Lawyer magazine.

Daralyn Durie

Partner

Aileen McGrath is a leading appellate attorney and partner in Morrison Foerster’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice. She represents clients in high-stakes appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit, the California Supreme Court, and appellate courts across the country, with a particular focus on California appellate litigation.Known for her exceptional legal writing, strategic acumen, and oral advocacy, Aileen is described by clients as “extraordinarily knowledgeable,” “one of the best writers I have ever seen,” and uniquely skilled at crafting “the most effective strategy” in complex, bet-the-company cases. (Chambers USA)A broad range of sophisticated clients turn to Aileen to lead their appeals. Aileen has a robust track record, including arguing in the U.S. Supreme Court and leading many other Supreme Court matters at the merits and certiorari stages. She has also argued multiple appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and California Courts of Appeal and led representations at the California Supreme Court.Aileen’s appellate practice encompasses a broad range of areas, including:<ul><li>Class actions and consumer protection litigation</li><li>Constitutional law and civil rights cases</li><li>Labor and employment disputes</li><li>State and local government litigation</li><li>Administrative law (state and federal)</li></ul>In addition to her appellate work, Aileen is a trusted legal advisor known for her creative problem-solving and strategic collaboration with clients. Before joining Morrison Foerster, Aileen served as Co-Chief of Appellate Litigation at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. She also served as Deputy City Attorney on the Complex and Affirmative Litigation team, acting as lead counsel for San Francisco in numerous significant matters at all levels of the judiciary, including the U.S. Supreme Court and California Supreme Court.Aileen served as a law clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer of the U.S. Supreme Court and then-Chief Judge Michael Boudin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. She also served as a chambers attorney at the California Supreme Court for Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar.Aileen is an active member of the Bar Association of San Francisco and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers Northern California chapter. She maintains a robust pro bono practice, and she has been recognized by the International Municipal Lawyers Association and the California County Counsel’s Association for her dedication to local-government public interest work. She regularly guests lectures about oral advocacy and effective appellate writing at law schools across the country, including Yale Law School, UC Berkeley School of Law, UC Law San Francisco, and American University Washington College of Law. Aileen also frequently speaks publicly about the U.S. Supreme Court and the California Supreme Court.Aileen earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where she was awarded the prestigious Sears Prize, recognizing the top two students in her class. She also served as president of the Harvard Law Review. She received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Columbia University.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><ul><li><a href="/resources/video-audio/240109-george-sheetz-county-el-dorado" target="_self">Sheetz v. County of El Dorado</a> (44:10) Argued on behalf of California local government in a U.S. Supreme Court property-rights case with significant national implications for land-use planning.</li><li>Successfully opposed a U.S. Supreme Court petition for certiorari in a Fourth Amendment case involving a circuit conflict.</li><li><a href="/resources/video-audio/220726-teresa-armstrong-v-michaels-stores" target="_self">Armstrong v. Michaels Stores, Inc.</a> (12:57) Argued and won a Ninth Circuit appeal in a case seeking to upend the standard for analyzing waiver of the right to move to compel arbitration.</li><li>Viqual Medical Technology LLC v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. Argued and won California appeal defending a complete summary judgment victory on behalf of the country’s largest integrated healthcare system in a $900M+ trade secret case involving wearable medical device technologies.</li><li>In re: Décor Holdings Argued and won a Second Circuit victory in a bankruptcy appeal challenging the assumption and assignment of a package pickup and delivery contract to a third-party purchaser in a Chapter 11 proceeding.</li><li>Successfully defeated class certification on behalf of a leading telecommunications company, and successfully led appellate representation to defeat plaintiffs’ Rule 23(f) petition for Ninth Circuit interlocutory review.</li><li>Served as lead counsel to a leading multinational provider of database, cloud, and enterprise technology solutions in a Ninth Circuit appeal, successfully defending final approval of a putative privacy class action settlement.</li><li>Successfully represented American Indian tribe before the Second Circuit in a significant Indian law case challenging New York State officials’ operation of state highway across tribe’s reservation.</li><li><a href="https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/media/audio/?20191202/18-17308/" target="_blank">City & County of San Francisco v. Barr</a> (10:43) Successfully challenged federal government’s denial of Byrne JAG funding for sanctuary cities, including briefing and arguing appeal before Ninth Circuit and opposing petition for certiorari.</li><li>Successfully briefed and argued appeal in landmark California water rights case challenging the operation of the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir.</li><li><a href="/resources/video-audio/210301-jesica-rivera-v-merrick-garland" target="_self">Rivera v. Garland</a> (00:00) Argued and won a Ninth Circuit immigration victory in a case seeking asylum for a mother and her young daughter who fled gang violence in El Salvador.</li><li><a href="/resources/video-audio/250123-twin-metals-minnesota-llc-v-united-states" target="_self">Twin Metals Minnesota LLC v. United States</a> (59:03) Argued high-profile D.C. Circuit appeal on behalf of a coalition of environmental organizations defending the dismissal of a mining company’s lawsuit threatening to undo government efforts to protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness region.</li><li>Defeated petition for en banc review in D.C. Circuit appeal challenging Department of Interior’s tribal land trust decision</li><li>Successfully defended local government retail ordinance against a dormant Commerce Clause challenge.</li><li>Served as key drafter of the U.S. Supreme Court merits briefing in Hollingsworth v. Perry, which secured marriage equality in California.</li><li>Defeated election challenge to a San Francisco ballot initiative.</li></ul>

Aileen McGrath

Ali Young is an associate in the Government Contracts practice in Morrison Foerster’s Washington, D.C. office.Ali’s practice focuses on a full range of government contract litigation and compliance matters including bid protests, contract claims and disputes, small business compliance and disputes, and mergers and acquisitions. She has represented clients in both pre- and post-award bid protests before the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Court of Federal Claims (COFC). She has also assisted clients draft requests for equitable adjustments and certified claims and has litigated claims disputes at the COFC and the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA).Ali’s practice additionally includes counseling clients on a variety of regulatory and contractual compliance issues, particularly in small business matters such as and size determination and appeals at the SBA's Office of Hearings and Appeals, mentor protégé joint venture agreements, and socioeconomic status eligibility.She has worked on a number of mergers and acquisitions involving the purchase of government contracting concerns or related assets, including performing due diligence, negotiating purchase agreements, and counseling on post-transaction structures.Ali has taught several seminars on various small business matters and organizational conflicts of interest.Ali graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2013, receiving her B.A., magna cum laude, in Political Science and History. In 2017, she earned her J.D. with honors from the George Washington University Law School, where she received the Patricia A. Tobin Government Procurement Law Award for excellence in the area of government contracts law and served as the editor-in-chief for the International Law in Domestic Courts Journal. Ali was also a Thurgood Marshall Scholar.Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Ali practiced government contracts law at a mid-sized law firm. While attending law school, Ali clerked at a large Washington, D.C. law firm in the government contracts group, and interned at various international human rights non-profit organizations.Ali is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.

Alissandra McCann

Associate

Alexandra Avvocato is a member of Morrison Foerster’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice.Alexandra’s practice focuses on appeals and critical motions in federal and state courts across the country. She has briefed appeals on a wide array of subjects, including commercial disputes, consumer class actions, securities, and intellectual property. Alexandra has presented arguments in the US Courts of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Federal Circuit and the New York Appellate Division, First Department.Before joining Morrison Foerster, Alexandra served as a law clerk for Judge Michelle T. Friedland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and for Judge Ronnie Abrams of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.Alexandra received her J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she served as an executive editor for the Harvard Law Review. Alexandra received her B.A. magna cum laude from Columbia University in English and Comparative Literature.Alexandra is a member of the Federal Bar Council's Second Circuit Courts Committee.

Alexandra Avvocato