Professional experience
Nancy L. Stagg is a Principal in the Southern California office of Fish & Richardson. Her practice emphasizes the defense of consumer class actions, unfair competition and false advertising litigation, as well as a wide variety of business and intellectual property litigation, including trade secret litigation. Ms. Stagg also has a background in product liability litigation. Ms. Stagg has represented numerous publicly-held and private companies in nationwide and California class actions as well as in FTC, Attorney General and District Attorney investigations and actions. Her clients have included biopharmaceutical companies, consumer electronics manufacturers, product merchandisers, magazine marketers, automobile warranty companies, banks, credit card companies, and telecommunications providers. In addition to her trial and appellate expertise, Ms. Stagg also has significant experience in addressing e-discovery issues, in handling arbitrations and mediations, and in litigation-avoidance strategies.

Ms. Stagg was selected by her peers to be included in the 2010, 2009, and 2008 editions of The Best Lawyers in America in the specialty of Commercial Litigation. She is listed in the 2007-2009 editions of San Diego Super Lawyers for Business Litigation and Super Lawyers - Corporate Counsel Edition for 2008. In the 2009 edition of San Diego Super Lawyers she was also listed as one of the Top 25 Female San Diego Super Lawyers. In 2006, Ms. Stagg was named as one of the San Diego's "Top Ten" attorneys by the San Diego Daily Transcript. She was also listed in The Legal 500 US IP and The Legal 500 US Litigation in the area of Trade Secrets Advice and Litigation (2007 edition).

Litigation examples
Currently represents hard drive manufacturer in nationwide class action alleging breach of warranty and unfair competition claims for alleged product failure.

Currently represents biopharmaceutical company in defense of trade secret action.

Represented manufacturer of laptop computers in nationwide class action alleging product failure.

Phelps v. Provide Commerce, Inc.: represented online floral provider in nationwide class action alleging false advertising. Case settled at mediation.

FTD v. Provide Commerce, Inc.: represented online floral provider in action for unfair competition filed by competitor. Case successfully resolved.

Perlan Therapeutics v. NexBio, Inc.: Defended biopharmaceutical company in trade secret, unfair competition, patent and Lanham Act case. Obtained judgment of dismissal for defendants.

Kushner v. AT&T: Defended long distance service provider in nationwide class action alleging false and misleading notice of certain charges. Case dismissed upon summary judgment. Judgment affirmed on appeal.

Shahin v. Time Warner Cable: Trial counsel for employer in discrimination and negligent hiring action filed by consumer over alleged acts of an employee. Obtained judgment in favor of employer after five-week jury trial.

AT&T Wireless v. Worldwide Wireless Network: Trial counsel for telecommunications company in breach of contract and fraud action against dealer. Received $1.2 million arbitration award.

Light v. AT&T Wireless: Defended telecommunications company in defamation and invasion of privacy action. Obtained judgment of dismissal and award of costs.

Ocean Garden Products v. PSK Oceanos, S.A.: Trial counsel for seafood exporter in breach of contract action involving alleged damages of $9 million. Obtained defense verdict after jury trial.

Cal Cel v. AT&T Corp.: Defended telecommunications company in state court action filed by competitor alleging antitrust, trade libel and other unfair business practices. Case resolved after successful summary adjudication motion severely limited plaintiff’s damages.

Fineman v. Chart House Restaurants: Defended national restaurant chain in multi-million dollar breach of contract action, involving food safety and accounting issues. Defense verdict after eight-week trial.

Pro Bono: Represented minority plaintiff in Federal civil rights action against local governmental entity and individuals based on mistaken identity resulting in false imprisonment. Successfully defended against summary judgment motion. Subsequently negotiated one of the largest reported settlements in California for false imprisonment claims.

Other: Represented plaintiff in highly publicized personal injury action involving negligent security and premises liability issues. Tried case in ten-week jury trial in Federal District Court in Nevada. Obtained $6.7 million jury verdict, including punitive damages award. Award affirmed on appeal.

Published opinions
Perlan Therapeutics, Inc. v. Superior Court (NexBio, Inc.) (2009) 178 Cal. App.4th 1333

Coughlin v. The Tailhook Association, Inc., et al.., 112 F.3d 1052 (9th Cir. 1997); Coughlin v. Hilton Hotels, Inc., et al.., 879 F.Supp. 1047 (D. Nev. 1995); and Coughlin v. The Tailhook Association, Inc., et al.., 818 F.Supp. 1366 (D. Nev. 1993).

Selected publications
California Bar Journal, "E-Discovery: What You Need To Know Now" (March 2007).

Bar admissions
Admitted to the bar in California and to the U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Central, and Northern Districts of California, and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Federal Circuit.

Additional information
Chair, Fish & Richardson Diversity Initiative (2007-present).

Lawyer Representative for the Southern District of California to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference.

Master and Director, William B. Enright Chapter, American Inns of Court.

Director, San Diego County Bar Foundation (Member, Governance Sub-Committee).

Member, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California Merit Selection Panel for Appointment and Reappointment of Magistrate Judges (2009).

Member, San Diego County Bar Association Leadership Outreach Council (2009).

Board of Governors, Association of Business Trial Lawyers, San Diego Chapter (2007 - 2009).

Recipient of the Manuel Wiley Pro Bono Award, State Bar of California (1997).

Member, Board of Trustees, California Western School of Law, (1992-1993).

Finalist, Mentor of the Year, Stevie Awards for Women in Business (2008).

Honoree, San Diego Business Journal, Women Who Mean Business (2008).

Honoree, San Diego YWCA Tribute to Women & Industry (2007).

Advisory Board, Run Women Run (2008 - Present)