Isabelle S.

Business Litigation/Professional Liability/Securities
Orange County, CA

Isabelle S. obtained her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1998 and was the Executive Editor of the Hastings Law Journal.  She was an Extern to the Honorable Ernest Goldsmith, Judge of the Superior Court of San Francisco.  Isabelle obtained her B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1994.

Following law school, Isabelle joined the law firm Fenwick & West LLP, and then in 2002 joined the Irvine office of Howrey, LLP (formerly Howrey, Simon, Arnold & White), becoming a partner in Howrey’s Global Litigation Group in 2006.   At Howrey, Isabelle focused on complex business litigation, with a particular emphasis on professional liability disputes and securities matters.  Isabelle has represented and counseled law firms in legal malpractice disputes, and Fortune 500 companies and start-ups in securities class actions, derivative suits, internal investigations, corporate governance, contract disputes, antitrust litigation, merger and acquisition disputes, unfair business practices, and trade secrets.  In 2006 and 2007, Isabelle was named a Southern California Super Lawyer Rising Star by Law & Politics Magazine.  She also was named Pro Bono Partner of the Year for Howrey’s Irvine office.

Isabelle’s publications include: “‘It Was My Understanding There Would Be No Patent Law!’ Why State Court Judges And Legal Malpractice Attorneys Should Dust Off Their Patent Law Books” OC Lawyer (May, 2013); “Friends With Benefits: When Does Socializing Between the Bench and Bar Warrant Judicial Disqualification?” (OC Lawyer, 2012), “U.S. v. Ruehle: An Example of the Frailty of California’s Presumption of Attorney-Client Confidentiality.” Orange County Lawyer Magazine (December 2009); “A Lawyer’s Ethical Obligation upon Receiving Inadvertently Disclosed Privileged Documents: Avoiding Malpractice, Sanctions, and Disqualification in the Face of Uncertain Rules.” ABTL (Fall 2005); and “Lawyer? Trespasser? How an Overly Broad Subpoena Can Turn Civil Discovery into Snooping in Violation of Federal Law.” ABTL Report (Fall 2003).

Isabelle also has presented on topics such as “Legal Malpractice: How to Avoid Becoming the Client” for the Orange County Bar Association Business Litigation Section (December 7, 2007) and “Whistleblowing: What You Need to Know, What You Need to Do.” Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (Spring 2005).

After Howrey’s dissolution in March 2011, Isabelle became a freelance lawyer with Montage Legal Group. She is currently a member of the OCBA Professionalism & Ethics Committee.  Isabelle lives with her husband and three children in Orange County, CA.