Blanca Young

Blanca Fromm Young is a litigation partner in the San Francisco office of Munger, Tolles & Olson. Ms. Young’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, with an emphasis on civil fraud, products liability, antitrust, and intellectual property disputes.

Ms. Young represents corporations and executives in civil fraud disputes arising under the False Claims Act (FCA). Ms. Young’s FCA work includes litigation, appeals, internal investigations, and counseling. She has handled FCA matters in a broad range of industries, including the financial services, insurance, education, and energy industries. Ms. Young’s representative FCA matters include:

• A major for-profit educational institution and its executives as lead counsel in multiple qui tam actions, FCA investigations, and state attorneys general investigations. Obtained and successfully defended on appeal dismissals of multiple qui tam actions.
• A major financial institution as lead counsel in a qui tam action relating to mortgage servicing contracts with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Disqualified one of the relators, obtained dismissal of the case, and defended the client in a successful appeal.
• Allstate as defense counsel in a series of qui tam actions alleging fraud in connection with flood insurance claims handling after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, all of which were dismissed.
• General Electric as defense counsel in a qui tam action alleging non-compliance with government contract requirements relating to electrical turbines. The case settled favorably shortly before trial.

Ms. Young has substantial experience representing clients in products liability, antitrust, and intellectual property disputes, and other complex commercial litigation. Representative matters include:

• A pharmaceutical company in antitrust litigation over so-called “reverse payment” settlements.
• A major tobacco company in a three-month bench trial involving claims of false advertising and unfair competition, resulting in a defense verdict.
• A manufacturer of dry cleaning solvent in multiple lawsuits concerning soil and groundwater contamination in California.
• Major record companies in various actions for copyright infringement against internet music services, including a damages trial relating to the LimeWire service that resulted in a $105 million settlement.
• A manufacturer of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment in Johnson v. American Standard, in which the California Supreme Court adopted the “sophisticated user” defense and upheld summary judgment in favor of the client.

Ms. Young is committed to pro bono work and public service. She serves as co-chair of the ABA Section of Litigation’s Trial Evidence Committee. Ms. Young is a member of the San Francisco Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral and Information Service Committee, which helps provide access to justice by connecting members of the public with lawyers qualified to offer representation in specific areas.

She is a past member of the San Francisco Bar Association’s Judiciary Committee. In 2011, Ms. Young received an Award of Merit from the Bar Association of San Francisco for her efforts to secure funding for San Francisco’s courts during a time of fiscal crisis.

Ms. Young’s pro bono work focuses on criminal justice and access to justice. She has represented individuals in habeas proceedings in state and federal court. In connection with a Blue Ribbon Panel on Transparency, Accountability, and Fairness in Law Enforcement, Ms. Young led a working group investigating the San Francisco Police Department after the discovery of racially biased text messages sent by San Francisco police officers.

A former co-chair and current member of the firm’s Diversity Committee, Ms. Young is also deeply committed to promoting diversity and inclusion within the firm and in the legal profession. Ms. Young has been named to the Northern California Super Lawyers Rising Star list every year from 2011 through 2016.

Ms. Young received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Yale University. Ms. Young received her J.D. from UCLA School of Law, where she graduated second in her class. While at UCLA, Ms. Young served as a comments editor on the law review and taught an undergraduate class on legal and philosophical problems related to the punishment of crimes. After law school, Ms. Young served as a law clerk to the Honorable William B. Shubb of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

Education:

• UCLA School of Law (J.D., 2001); comments editor, UCLA Law Review
• Yale University (B.A., magna cum laude, 1998)

Bar Admissions : California