Derek G. Howard is the founder of The Derek G. Howard Law Firm Inc. in Mill Valley, California. He has more than 35 years of experience in complex litigation on behalf of consumers, employees, trust beneficiaries, athletes and coaches. He has served as Co-Lead Counsel in many nationwide class action cases and obtained substantial awards through jury verdicts and pre-trial settlements. Mr. Howard’s practice has primarily involved prosecuting class actions and complex cases against major Fortune 500 corporations, attaining newsworthy and groundbreaking monetary settlements.
Since 2007, Howard has been elected by his peers as a “SuperLawyer” in Law & Politics Magazine, representing the top three percent of practitioners. In 2016 and 2020, he was named one of the Top 100 Superlawyers in Northern California. As a result of previous verdicts and settlements, Howard has also qualified as a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. In both 2014 and 2015, he was a Finalist for the Trial Lawyer of the Year Award from the Consumers Attorneys of California. In 2018, he was named one of the Top 100 High Stakes Litigators in Northern California.
Howard started with the national law firm of Pillsbury Madison and Sutro in 1986, specializing in antitrust and complex litigation on behalf of Fortune 500 companies. In 1999, he co-founded Murray & Howard LLP and was a managing partner until 2010, when he joined San Francisco-based Minami Tamaki LLP, Of Counsel until 2015.
Howard graduated in 1980 from the University of Pennsylvania, with double majors in Political Science and Urban Studies. After two years working in the Special Investigations and Organized Crime Units with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, he earned his Juris Doctor in 1984 from Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco. He received a Master's Degree in Sport Management in 2009 from the University of San Francisco.
Howard has served as a Special Master and Discovery Facilitator for the Superior Court of Marin County, and for seven years has served on the Board of Governors of the Consumer Attorneys of California. Since 2014-2015, he has been an Adjunct Professor at the University of San Francisco Sport Management Graduate Program.
