Dean N. Kawamoto

Many of Dean’s cases involve complicated financial transactions, sophisticated institutional and government clients, large-scale discovery, extensive expert analysis, and massive damages. Dean’s litigation experience is broad, and includes litigation involving public health, systemic corporate fraud, financial services and securities transactions, consumer protection, product liability, environmental remediation, and professional liability.

As a partner in the firm’s Complex Litigation Group, Dean plays an important role in many of Keller Rohrback’s largest cases. In the multi-district Opiate litigation, Dean has played a lead role in developing the case against a major generic opioid manufacturer and has also worked closely with the experts in the case. He was also part of the Keller Rohrback team that successfully sued Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche for engaging in a massive fraud to cheat emission standards by using “defeat devices.” Dean is currently part of the litigation team representing several of the Federal Home Loan Banks in litigation against dozens of issuers, underwriters, and sponsors of private label mortgage-backed securities worth $13 billion. He was also part of the trial team that successfully objected on behalf of the firm’s clients to the $8.5 billion settlement between Bank of New York Mellon and Bank of America over Countrywide’s massive mortgage liabilities--the only objection that was sustained by the trial court. Most recently, Dean was appointed by the Honorable Judge William Orrick as co-lead counsel for In re JUUL Labs, Inc., Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, the multidistrict litigation against JUUL Labs, Inc. and other defendants for actions relating to the vaping epidemic among minors.

Dean also has an extensive background in environmental law. He has performed climate change research in the Arctic Tundra. He also worked for the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, where he was in charge of issues relating to water pollution and the Clean Water Act. During law school, Dean was a research and teaching assistant to Professor Daniel Esty, the former Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. He also served as an adjunct instructor of environmental law and policy for the University of Southern California.

Dean served as a clerk for the Honorable Wm. Matthew Byrne, U.S. District Judge for the Central District of California, and he was previously a Professional Staff Member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and a Legislative Aide to Senator Lincoln D. Chafee of Rhode Island.

Recognitions

Honors & Awards

•Member of team selected as Consumer Attorneys of the Year, Consumer Attorneys of California, 2024
•Selected to Super Lawyers list in Super Lawyers - Washington, 2023-2025
•Selected to Rising Stars list in Super Lawyers - Washington, 2014-2015
•Recipient of the Clifford Chance C.J. Hamson Prize for thesis on class actions
•John Gardner Public Service fellow
•Recipient of the Departmental Citation for Integrative Biology (awarded to the top graduate in the major)