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Lawyer Profile

Image of Mona Z. Hanna

Mona Z. Hanna

Michelman & Robinson, LLP
  • Recognized Since:
    2015
  • Recognized in:
    Commercial Litigation
    Insurance Law...
  • Website:
    http://www.mrllp.com
  • Location:
    17901 Von Karman Avenue, Tenth Floor
    Irvine, CA 92614
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Mona Hanna is the Managing Partner of Michelman & Robinson, LLP’s (M&R's) Orange County office, where she is a member of the Commercial & Business Litigation, Labor & Employment and Class Action Departments. Her practice focuses primarily on the advertising and digital media, financial services and insurance industries. With over two decades of trial experience, Ms. Hanna is an exceptionally versatile litigator who represents her clients in a wide variety of commercial and employment litigation, with a specialization in defense against unfair competition, consumer and employment class actions, and business practice claims.

Ms. Hanna is an insurance industry authority. She has defended a number of insurance companies against class actions alleging unfair business practices. Ms. Hanna has been immensely successful in her defenses, having secured favorable outcomes which include denials of motions for class certification, outright dismissals of matters and significantly reducing potential settlement exposure.

In addition to resolving a number of consumer class actions, she has successfully handled dozens of trade secret cases in which former sales personnel or executives have sought to compete against past employers. Ms. Hanna routinely defends advertising and financial industry clients against all employment-related disputes including professional negligence. 

Ms. Hanna has successfully argued matters before both the state and federal courts of appeal, resulting in numerous landmark published decisions. She strategically and aggressively represents employers in the courtroom and through arbitrations and mediations. She counsels management on how to avoid costly litigation and drafts, and reviews and implements contractual agreements and personnel policies. She has litigated virtually every kind of employment-related matter including wage and hour class actions and lawsuits surrounding wrongful termination and sexual harassment.

Ms. Hanna is Founder of the Women Attorneys of M&R (WAMR) and a member of M&R's Executive, Recruiting, and Diversity, Multiculturalism and Inclusion Committees. She is also Chair of M&R's Class Action Group.

Community Involvement

Ms. Hanna sits on the Smart Women’s Circle for Working Wardrobes, an organization that has helped thousands of individuals overcome various obstacles so they may assimilate back into the workforce. She was elected to the Orange County Bar Association’s (OCBA’s) 2014 Board of Directors by the 7,500 member-strong organization. 

Education

Ms. Hanna earned her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, where she was nominated for outstanding Moot Court Brief and for outstanding oral presentation in the Moot Court competition. She earned her B.A. in Political Science, summa cum laude, from California State University of Los Angeles, where she was named Most Outstanding Political Science Undergraduate. She was also on the Dean's List and a member of the Political Science Honor's Society and Pre-Law Society.

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  • Lawyer Bio
  • Client Comments
  • Firm Details
  • News & Media
  • Case History

Lawyer Bio

Mona Hanna is the Managing Partner of Michelman & Robinson, LLP’s (M&R's) Orange County office, where she is a member of the Commercial & Business Litigation, Labor & Employment and Class Action Departments. Her practice focuses primarily on the advertising and digital media, financial services and insurance industries. With over two decades of trial experience, Ms. Hanna is an exceptionally versatile litigator who represents her clients in a wide variety of commercial and employment litigation, with a specialization in defense against unfair competition, consumer and employment class actions, and business practice claims.

Ms. Hanna is an insurance industry authority. She has defended a number of insurance companies against class actions alleging unfair business practices. Ms. Hanna has been immensely successful in her defenses, having secured favorable outcomes which include denials of motions for class certification, outright dismissals of matters and significantly reducing potential settlement exposure.

In addition to resolving a number of consumer class actions, she has successfully handled dozens of trade secret cases in which former sales personnel or executives have sought to compete against past employers. Ms. Hanna routinely defends advertising and financial industry clients against all employment-related disputes including professional negligence. 

Ms. Hanna has successfully argued matters before both the state and federal courts of appeal, resulting in numerous landmark published decisions. She strategically and aggressively represents employers in the courtroom and through arbitrations and mediations. She counsels management on how to avoid costly litigation and drafts, and reviews and implements contractual agreements and personnel policies. She has litigated virtually every kind of employment-related matter including wage and hour class actions and lawsuits surrounding wrongful termination and sexual harassment.

Ms. Hanna is Founder of the Women Attorneys of M&R (WAMR) and a member of M&R's Executive, Recruiting, and Diversity, Multiculturalism and Inclusion Committees. She is also Chair of M&R's Class Action Group.

Community Involvement

Ms. Hanna sits on the Smart Women’s Circle for Working Wardrobes, an organization that has helped thousands of individuals overcome various obstacles so they may assimilate back into the workforce. She was elected to the Orange County Bar Association’s (OCBA’s) 2014 Board of Directors by the 7,500 member-strong organization. 

Education

Ms. Hanna earned her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, where she was nominated for outstanding Moot Court Brief and for outstanding oral presentation in the Moot Court competition. She earned her B.A. in Political Science, summa cum laude, from California State University of Los Angeles, where she was named Most Outstanding Political Science Undergraduate. She was also on the Dean's List and a member of the Political Science Honor's Society and Pre-Law Society.

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  • Education
  • Bar Admissions
  • Affiliations
  • Award List
  • Additional Information
  • Lawyer of the Year Badge
  • Lawyer of the Year Badge

Education:

  • California State University Los Angeles, BS

Bar Admissions:

  • California, State Bar of California
  • California, Los Angeles Bar Association
  • California, Orange County Bar Association

Affiliations:

  • Orange County Bar Association - Board of Directors, Business Litigation Chair, Labor & Employment Chair
  • Women’s’ Association of Villa Park - Member
  • Working Wardrobes (Smart Women's Circles) - Board of Directors

Named "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers for:

  • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants, Orange County (2018)
  • Litigation - Insurance, Orange County (2017)
 

Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for work in:

  • Commercial Litigation
  • Insurance Law
  • Litigation - Insurance
  • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
 

Awards:

  • 2015-2017 Best Lawyers in America USA Guide - Commercial Litigation, Insurance
  • Super Lawyers 2006-2016
  • Super Lawyers Top Women Attorneys in Southern California
  • Super Lawyers Top 50 Attorneys in Orange County
  • Trial Lawyer Honorary Society, Member
  • Litigation Counsel of America, Member
  • Lead Counsel on Daily Journal's 2014 Top Defense Verdict
  • Daily Journal's 2015 Top Women Lawyers in California
  • 2017 Best Lawyers Insurance Litigation “Lawyer of the Year” for Orange County

Additional Information:

Managing Partner
Ms. Hanna is the Managing Partner of M&R's Orange County office
Chair, WAMR
Ms. Hanna is the founder and Chair of the Women Attorneys of M&R (WAMR)
Chair, Class Action Group
Ms. Hanna is Chair of M&R's Class Action Group
 

Lawyer Client Comments

Firm Details

Image for Michelman & Robinson, LLP View Firm Profile
Michelman & Robinson, LLP
http://www.mrllp.com
 
Headquarters
10880 Wilshire Boulevard, 19th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 299.5500
4 Office Locations
in 1 Country

United States

United States

California

California

Irvine, CA

17901 Von Karman Avenue, Tenth Floor

Irvine, CA 92614

United States

(714) 557.7990

Get Directions

Illinois

Illinois

Chicago, IL

200 South Wacker Drive, Suite 2900

Chicago, IL 60606

United States

(312) 638.5671

Get Directions

New York

New York

New York, NY

800 Third Avenue, 24th Floor

New York, NY 10022

United States

(212) 730.7700

Get Directions

News & Media

Featured Publications

Cover for our Southern California publication

Lawyer Case History

Unfair Competition Defense

Ms. Hanna represented a former executive VP (defendant) of a title insurance company (plaintiffs) against allegations that he breached his contract and stole trade secrets. The defendant was hired by the plaintiffs with a promise of receiving 5% ownership, but left to go back to his former employer, a competing title insurance company, after the promises didn’t come to fruition. Plaintiffs accused our client of wooing its customers, claiming $14 million in lost profits, and $250 million lost value to the company. After a seven-week trial, a jury found against the plaintiffs on its claims, and awarded M&R’s client $50,000 on his breach of contract counterclaim.

Insurance Employment Class Action

A prominent insurance brokerage was held liable for violating California’s wage and hour overtime laws, among related issues. Facing a $42 million judgment, the client retained M&R. After conducting in-depth analysis, M&R designed a defense around the argument that the $42 million judgment should be reduced to $1.2 million because of a conflict in federal and state employment laws that were being misapplied by the plaintiffs' lawyers. Specifically, the plaintiffs contended that pursuant to California’s Business & Professions Code section 17200 (Unfair Competition Laws), it could expand the “class” under federal law. M&R countered that the United States Congress changed the law in the 1930’s, and again in 1949, to prohibit the expansion of federal law as being applied in this case. After intense litigation regarding the legislative intent, the federal court agreed with M&R’s argument, limiting the judgment to $1.2 million. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit upheld the ruling.

Insurance Consumer Class Action

M&R successfully defended a national insurance brokerage against a class action alleging that the recording of customer telephone calls without proper disclosures was a violation of California statutes. At that time, California courts were interpreting this type of conduct as illegal and holding to the statutory damages of $5,000 per call. In this case, there were approximately 600,000 alleged calls and potentially billions of dollars in statutory damages. M&R designed a defense predicated on the legislative intent of the statute dating back to 1967, arguing that the statutes at issue were designed to protect against “industrial espionage.” After intense argument, the court agreed with the defense and dismissed the case in favor of our client. 
 
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