Janet defends clients in complex (often multi-plaintiff) tort and commercial disputes in state and federal courts. She often works on multi-district litigation, class actions, and coordinated actions, serving either as national and lead counsel or as regional or local counsel as part of a broader legal team. Her clients include pharmaceutical and medical device companies (from start-ups to large global companies), managed care companies, and higher education institutions.
High-stakes litigation suits Janet's ability to craft strategies that help drive the client’s litigation and business goals forward. She is a zealous advocate and an aggressive litigator who also stays carefully attuned to circumstances that demand a more nuanced approach. She manages legal teams that range from two to 120 lawyers and often span offices across the United States or around the globe.
After two years and 60+ trials as a Los Angeles deputy district attorney, Janet’s first complex tort litigation was the Silicone Gel Breast Implant litigation in California where she was among the youngest members of the trial team. Since then, she has been a member of trial teams for defendants in the Diet Drug, Heart Valve, Male Hormone Replacement, and certain managed care litigations.
Janet currently serves as a member of Reed Smith’s Executive Committee, the firm’s global governing board, and as co-chair of Reed Smith’s global Life Sciences Health Industry Group. She is also the chair of the firm’s Talent Committee and former chair of the Audit Committee. Janet also served as co-chair of the Global Commercial Disputes Group. Diversity and inclusion is one of several prioritized commitments that Janet shares with the firm. She is a founding member of the firm’s Women’s Health Products Group and its Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council. Janet also joined Reed Smith’s partnership with the Association of National Advertisers in the #SeeHer movement. She frequently speaks on mentoring, implicit bias, and how diversity and inclusion impacts our legal and healthcare systems. She previously served as the Managing Partner of the Los Angeles office and as the director of Complex Litigation and E-Discovery. Janet is always striving to find ways to use technology to make the practice of law more efficient, effective, and relevant.
Janet also believes in the value of working with clients in pre- or non-litigation counseling matters, including corporate internal investigations, government investigations in the fraud and abuse area, corrective actions, compliance with FDA regulations, assessment of promotional materials and medical education, clinical trial contracts, adverse event reporting, standard operating procedures, U.S. and foreign regulatory audits, development of best practices for electronic data management and e-discovery in U.S. and foreign jurisdictions, litigation risk assessment, document retention policies, foreign data privacy laws and corporate quality systems training.
She has served on the boards of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus. Janet has also been recognized as a Most Influential Minority Lawyer, Super Lawyer and is AV-rated by Martindale.
Janet's Story
Janet is a second generation Korean American whose parents immigrated to the United States in the 1960s. She was born and raised in Los Angeles and attended public school often as the only Korean American student in her class and sometimes the entire school. She is the first in her extended family to become a lawyer. As a volunteer Los Angeles city attorney, Janet’s first jury trial was a routine driving-under-the-influence case, but it showed her how much fun it can be to use facts and law to present a case to the jury.
Janet has been at Reed Smith (and Crosby Heafey prior to its merger with Reed Smith) for more than 30 years working her way up from associate to partner while raising a family. She has been (and sometimes continues to be) the only diverse counsel or diverse woman counsel in the courtroom. At the same time, Janet has been a serial room parent and chair of the school PTA. She is grateful for the many mentors at the firm, including its many women and diverse lawyers. They have helped her develop her legal skills, confidence, and her advocacy voice while providing opportunities to lead. These same people have helped build Reed Smith’s community.
