Charlene (Chuck) Shimada

Charlene (Chuck) Shimada is a partner in Morgan Lewis’s San Francisco office where her practice concentrates on securities litigation defense, corporate governance, class actions, and complex commercial litigation. She represents issuing corporations, officers and directors, underwriters, and public accounting firms, not only in private litigation, but also in government investigations and proceedings. She has been elected to The American Law Institute and named by Benchmark Litigation as one of its distinguished “Top 250 Women in Litigation” for 2017–2020. She has also been recognized by Chambers USA, Best Lawyers, The Legal 500, and Super Lawyers.

Chambers USA ranks Chuck, highlighting her “notable strengths acting for underwriters defending significant securities class actions, alongside wider strengths advising individual and corporate clients in litigation and regulatory investigations.”

A pioneer in the legal field, Chuck was the first Asian Pacific American woman partner in a major San Francisco law firm. She was also the first woman litigation partner, as well as the first woman of color partner, at a premier California firm known for its elite litigation practice. She served as the office managing partner of the firm’s San Francisco headquarters, one of the first women of color to hold that position in any major US law firm. She also served as the co-office managing partner of the San Francisco office of another international law firm.

In addition to her practice, Chuck is active in professional and civic affairs. She served as a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco’s board of directors, co-chair of the Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representatives Committee, and president of the Berkeley Law Alumni Association.

Throughout her career, Chuck has fought for women’s rights.  She was a founding member of the Bar Association of San Francisco’s No Glass Ceiling Task Force, which since 2001 has been helping participating firms increase their number of women partners and leadership opportunities. She also co-founded Women In Securities (WISe), a network for women securities litigators that seeks to promote their development and advancement. She is a leader of the Northern California chapter of the global women’s organization Women In Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) and a member of the Attorneys Advocacy Project.