Angelica A. Zabanal

Associate

  • Angelica A. Zabanal
  • Phone: +1 213 689 7427

    Angelica A. Zabanal - LinkedIn Import to Address Book

  • Duane Morris LLP
    865 South Figueroa Street, Suite 3100
    Los Angeles, CA 90017-5450
    USA
  • Duane Morris LLP
    Spear Tower
    One Market Plaza, Suite 2200
    San Francisco, CA 94105-1127
    USA
  • Duane Morris LLP
    260 Homer Avenue, Suite 202
    Palo Alto, CA 94301-2777
    USA

Angelica A. Zabanal practices in the area of litigation and privacy. Ms. Zabanal has experience with commercial litigation and general liability, with an emphasis on a result-oriented approach to complex disputes. Ms. Zabanal is also a Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States, and she counsels clients on privacy matters, including the implementation of the California Consumer Privacy Act and the California Privacy Rights Act. Ms. Zabanal is a member of the firm’s Technology , Cannabis, and Fashion, Retail and Consumer Branded Products industry groups. Ms. Zabanal has been recognized as a "Rising Star" by Super Lawyers, an honor awarded to only 2.5% of attorneys under the age of 40.

Ms. Zabanal has represented companies in complex litigation actions. In 2016, Ms. Zabanal served as third chair for a jury trial in Los Angeles Superior Court representing a national insurance company client in qui tam litigation combatting white-collar fraud. Her team secured an $11.5 million judgment and permanent injunctive relief for their client after prevailing against defendants involved in a scheme to defraud insurers.

A daughter of Filipino immigrants, Ms. Zabanal was born in Los Angeles and raised in Hawai'i. She is fluent in Tagalog. Passionate about inclusion and diversity, she serves on the Executive Board of the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California (FBANC) as Treasurer, and she is the Chair of the FBANC Women’s Committee. Ms. Zabanal is also the Young Lawyers Vice Liaison for the Law Practice Management Committee of DRI. In 2019, she served as a Mini-Reunion Co-Chair on the Stanford Ten Year Reunion Homecoming leadership team. Ms. Zabanal was a 2018 Fellow of the New Leaders Council and she has served as a board member of the Alameda County and Mid-Peninsula (Palo Alto) chapters of the ACLU-Northern California.

Ms. Zabanal is a 2014 graduate of the University of Hawai’i William S. Richardson School of Law, where she was a member of the Stetson International Environmental Law Moot Court Team; founded Law for Youth Empowerment, a law student organization dedicated to juvenile justice; and served as Vice President of the Filipino Law Students Association. She served as an extern to Justice Simeon R. Acoba, Jr. (ret.) of the Hawai’i Supreme Court and as an intern to Chief Counsel Anthony Lang of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Honolulu Division. Ms. Zabanal graduated, with honors, from Stanford University in 2009.

Areas of Practice

  • Technology Transactions, Licensing and Commercial Contracts

  • Fashion, Retail and Consumer Branded Products

  • Commercial Litigation

  • Cannabis

Admissions

  • California
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

Education

  • University of Hawai'i at Manoa, William S. Richardson School of Law, J.D., 2014
    - CALI Excellence for the Future Award
    - Dean's List
  • Stanford University, B.A., 2009
    - With Honors in Ethics in Society
    - Major: Political Science
    - Minor: Drama-Dance Division

Experience

  • Duane Morris LLP
    - Associate, 2019-present

  • Selman Breitman LLP
    - Associate, 2017-2019

  • Knox Ricksen LLP
    - Associate, 2016-2017

  • Mason Tillman Associates
    - Senior Research Associate, 2015

  • Gooru
    - In-house Legal, 2014

Professional Activities

  • Filipino Bar Association of Northern California (FBANC)
    - Executive Board Treasurer, 2020-2021
    - Executive Board Secretary, 2019-2020
    - Co-Director of Community Outreach, 2018-2019
    - Chair, Women’s Committee, 2017-present

  • DRI
    - Young Lawyers Vice Liasion, Law Practice Management Committee

  • International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) 
  • National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)

  • Asian American Bar Association (AABA)

  • Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF)

Civic and Charitable Activities

  • New Leaders Council, Oakland Chapter
    - 2018 Fellow

  • American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Northern California
    - Board Member

Honors and Awards

  • Selected by the California Legal Awards as a "Lawyer on the Fast Track," 2023
  • March 2020 Pro Bono Hero of the Month, Duane Morris LLP

  • Listed in Super Lawyers Rising Stars

Selected Publications

Selected Speaking Engagements

  • Panelist, "I Take it All Back," California Lawyers Association Webinar, December 9, 2022
  • Speaker, Stanford Alumni Women's Impact Network, Filipino American Heritage Month, October 29, 2022

  • Moderator, Redefining "Success":  Pursuing a Meaningful Legal Career, Community Engagement, and Personal Well-Being, Filipino Bar Association of Northern California’s Annual Evening with Fil-Am Attorneys, October 23, 2019

  • Introductory Remarks, "Getting More Color on Top: Successful Strategies to Promote Diverse Associates to Partners," CMCP, 2019 Annual Business Conference, September 11-13, 2019

  • Speaker, DRI Webinar – Reverse and Mutual Mentoring for Lawyers: The How and Why, November 15, 2018

  • Speaker, DRI, 2018 Annual Meeting, Law Practice Management CLE Session, San Francisco, CA, October 17 - 21, 2018

Representative Matters

  • Won a complete defense decision for a mortgage loan servicer from the San Francisco Superior Court against claims that it had negligently handled a loan modification application, with the judge finding that the client did not owe a duty of care to the plaintiff and that, even if it had, there was no evidence it had breached this duty.

  • Obtained a judgment of dismissal on claims for Wells Fargo, which had faced millions of dollars in exposure, in Contra Costa Superior Court (California) following a new trial in a lender liability case involving real estate habitability, in a litigation which lasted nearly eight years.

  • Obtained summary judgment for Crusader Insurance Company against the insureds, a bar owner and the building owner, and against the claimants, with respect to insurance coverage for wrongful death claims arising out of a San Francisco bar’s security guard/doorman shooting of a prospective patron after denying the victim entrance to the bar.

  • Served as third chair in a jury trial for an insurer client combatting white collar fraud in qui tam litigation. Obtained an $11.5 million judgment and permanent injunctive relief for their client after prevailing against defendants involved in a fraud scheme.