Leading Supreme Court and Appellate Partner Aileen McGrath Joins Morrison Foerster in San Francisco

(July 30, 2024) – Morrison Foerster, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce the arrival of Aileen McGrath as a partner in the firm’s Appellate and Supreme Court Group in the Litigation Department, based in the San Francisco office. McGrath brings to the firm nearly two decades of experience representing clients in high stakes appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court, California Supreme Court, and appellate courts across the United States.

McGrath joins Morrison Foerster from another prominent global firm, where she was a partner in its nationwide Supreme Court and appellate practice. She has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and led many other matters in that Court. Over the span of her career, she has also argued multiple appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and California Courts of Appeal. Notably, McGrath recently argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in a property-rights case with significant national implications for land-use planning—one of only 61 cases the Court heard this past Term.

“Aileen is a highly skilled appellate lawyer and strategist who brings to the firm top-notch experience in the U.S. Supreme Court as well as in federal and California state appeals,” said Deanne Maynard, co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice. “Aileen’s stellar national appellate credentials, coupled with her deep expertise in both the Ninth Circuit and the California state appellate courts, further strengthens our appellate capabilities and will be invaluable to our clients on the West Coast and beyond.”

Before moving to private practice, McGrath served as co-chief of appellate litigation in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. There, she briefed and argued appeals in the Ninth Circuit and California Courts of Appeal, drafted multiple merits briefs, petition-stage briefs, and amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court, and supervised all aspects of the Office’s appellate work in state and federal court. Earlier in her career, McGrath clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court and for then-Chief Judge Michael Boudin on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. She also served as a Chambers Attorney for Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar on the California Supreme Court.

“I am thrilled to join Morrison Foerster’s market-leading Appellate and Supreme Court Group,” said McGrath. “MoFo’s preeminent reputation, in California and nationwide, provides the ideal platform for me to continue to grow my practice. Having worked across the table from MoFo lawyers in many previous matters, I am excited to now call them my colleagues.”

McGrath is recognized by Chambers as a leading California appellate practitioner and by Legal 500 as a Next Generation Partner in Supreme Court and Appellate. McGrath is also a thought leader and speaker in the legal community in California and across the country. She earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where she was president of the Harvard Law Review and was honored with the 2005 Sears Prize (awarded to the top two students in the class). She is admitted to practice in California.