Claire Doan
Managing Director, Head of Litigation
As a managing director and the Head of Litigation at H/Advisors Abernathy, Claire Doan specializes in high-stakes litigation, crises, and reputational challenges. She provides counsel to senior executives as they navigate complex legal matters, drawing on a rare blend of skills rooted in her prior roles as an in-house external relations executive and an investigative journalist.
Previously the chief communications architect for the University of California (UC), Claire directed system-wide strategic communications, media affairs, and crisis response efforts across the system’s 10 campuses and six top-ranked academic medical centers. While serving as UC’s primary spokesperson, she also spearheaded communications strategy on myriad high-profile litigation matters, including those involving sexual harassment and discrimination, medical malpractice, labor, IP disputes, COVID-19, and admissions (e.g., Varsity Blues).
Claire’s background as an Emmy and Edward R. Murrow award-winning investigative reporter lends an additional dimension of media-engagement expertise to her client counsel, especially involving the reputation and stakeholder management considerations inherent in litigation.
Representative Experience
• A large public utilities company on a discrimination lawsuit from former in-house attorneys
• A global company contending with allegations of discrimination from its celebrity partners
• An asset management company defending against multiple government investigations
• A leading cybersecurity firm with ongoing crises and reputation-management challenges
• A semiconductor company in an IP battle with a competitor colluding with a patent troll
Education
• Harvard Business School, Executive Education in Crisis Leadership
• Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, M.S. in Journalism
• University of California, Berkeley, B.A. in Mass Communications
Memberships and Affiliations
• Arthur W. Page Society
• Asian American Bar Association (AABA)
• National Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)
Languages
• Vietnamese