Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP, a preeminent trial firm based in San Francisco, is pleased to announce the addition of Johanna Calabria as Chief Operating Officer. Calabria, formerly a practicing litigator, managing partner, and most recently a business management consultant, will oversee the firm’s business, IT, and administrative operations.
“Johanna has strong credentials, and we’ve been impressed seeing her in action over the past few months,” Keker’s Managing Partner Laurie Carr Mims said. “At first supporting us as a consultant, she has been highly effective in finding solutions that align our business resources with our mission for delivering excellent client service. More importantly, her manner and leadership have earned the respect of the firm’s management committee, partners, and professional staff leaders.
As a consultant, Calabria advised law firms on operational, financial, and business management initiatives and assisted in-house legal departments including Fitbit, Google, Pano AI and Scale AI on a variety of legal matters. Prior to that, she helped launch Durie Tangri, a technology focused litigation boutique, serving as its managing partner for nearly a decade while also maintaining a successful litigation practice.
“Keker has an excellent reputation for being a great law firm and a great place to work in the Bay Area,” Calabria said. “It has outstanding foundational principles, and I am excited to build upon the systems that support great lawyering and empower people to grow and thrive professionally.”
Calabria serves as Board Chair at the Katherine Delmar Burke School in San Francisco and previously served as Secretary and board member of the Mill Valley Library Foundation and on the Diversity Equity & Inclusion Task Force for the City of Mill Valley. She earned her undergraduate degree from Cornell University and J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Originally from Venezuela, she is a native Spanish speaker.
Calabria is already hard at work as the firm onboards its largest class of fall associates. Her arrival follows that of former federal prosecutor Andrew Dawson, who rejoined Keker as partner in the white-collar and criminal defense team.
About Keker, Van Nest & Peters
For more than 45 years, Keker, Van Nest & Peters has litigated complex, high-stakes civil and criminal cases throughout the nation. The firm takes the cases where companies, products, and careers are riding on the result. Our clients are high-profile individuals, as well as some of the world’s most successful companies, including Genentech, Google, Instacart, Lyft, Major League Baseball, Meta, Netflix and Qualcomm. The firm’s areas of expertise include intellectual property, professional liability, class actions, commercial litigation, antitrust, white-collar defense, and appellate.