Kathleen Herkenhoff
Kathleen leverages decades of complex litigation experience to secure recoveries and governance reforms for institutional investors, pension funds, and consumers.
Kathleen leverages decades of complex litigation experience to secure recoveries and governance reforms for institutional investors, pension funds, and consumers.
Kathleen Herkenhoff is a veteran complex litigation attorney with more than 30 years of experience representing government entities, institutional investors, pension funds, and individuals in securities, consumer, antitrust, and shareholder derivative litigation, as well as representing both individuals and classes in employment and data privacy matters. She has appeared in courts nationwide, at both the state and federal level, and has frequently litigated before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. As senior counsel in DiCello Levitt’s San Diego office, she brings a proven record of success of more than $1.5 billion recovered for clients and advancing corporate governance reforms.
Kathleen has secured leadership appointments in a number of high-stakes securities and consumer class actions, achieving appellate victories and delivering meaningful results for investors and consumers harmed by corporate misconduct. Known for her meticulous preparation, strategic insight, and keen ability to frame complex cases, she ensures that cases advance efficiently from complaint through discovery, briefing, and resolution.
Among her recent achievements, Kathleen co-chaired the Law and Briefing Committee in In re Apple Device Performance Litigation, successfully defending the $310 million settlement on appeal, and represented the CalSTRS public pension fund in In re Facebook Derivative Litigation, in which she successfully defeated defendants’ attempt to obtain dismissal of the case on demand futility grounds. She also played a central role in securing her former firm’s leadership position in In re FTX Cryptocurrency Litigation with a focus on the claims against the auditors that historically provided services to the various FTX entities.
At the outset of her legal career, Kathleen served as a staff attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where she prosecuted securities fraud and insider trading cases, securing a $22 million judgment in a complex offering fraud. She then joined a large class action litigation firm, where she served as a partner and helped to obtain recoveries exceeding $1 billion in litigation involving HealthSouth ($671 million), AOL Time Warner ($618 million), Mattel ($122 million), Honeywell International ($100 million) and many other corporate entities, including large value recoveries and enhanced corporate governance improvements in shareholder derivative actions.
In 2010, Kathleen spearheaded the launch of a boutique firm’s California office, managing its securities class and shareholder derivative actions through early 2017. In that role, she secured leadership positions and obtained multimillion-dollar settlements in cases such as In re Diamond Foods Inc. Shareholder Derivative Litigation and drafted innovative Foreign Corrupt Practices Act-related reforms in In re SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc. Shareholder Derivative Litigation, which a judge described as “the most detailed and extensive corporate governance changes” she had seen in a derivative settlement.
Kathleen’s background also includes serving as a partner at a law firm focused on employment litigation—including individual, class, and PAGA actions—while continuing her securities and consumer work. Prior to joining DiCello Levitt, Kathleen worked on behalf of a local government, allowing for additional insight into the effective defense of public entities. Her passion, however, has always been in practicing in the field of securities class and shareholder derivative actions. One of her fondest memories in litigation to date was successfully arguing before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to defeat a writ by a competing movant to the appointment of her former firm’s client as Lead Plaintiff in a securities class action.
