Morgan Chu

A native of New York City, Morgan Chu has served Los Angeles-based Irell & Manella LLP as an attorney since 1977 and as a Partner since 1982. Since 1985, he has sat on the Executive Committee, and he also acted as a Managing Partner for six years.

Morgan Chu received the Chambers USA Award for Excellence as the nation's Outstanding Intellectual Property Lawyer, and The National Law Journal recognized him as one of the Top 10 Trial Lawyers in the United States. Additionally, 65,000 of the legal expert's peers voted him as the top Super Lawyer in Southern California in a poll by Los Angeles magazine.

Morgan Chu earned a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), co-founding the institution's Asian American Studies Center while still a student. At Yale University, he received a Master of Studies in Law. He completed his Juris Doctor at Harvard University, where he edited the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and graduated magna cum laude.

Acting as a Ross Traphagen Distinguished Alumni Speaker at Harvard University in 2003, Morgan Chu has participated in several symposia at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Law School. Since 2004 and 2009, respectively, Morgan Chu has served on the UCLA Board of Governors and Harvard Board of Overseers. He also sits on the Board and Executive Committee of the world's largest pro bono public interest firm, Public Counsel Law Center. The Founding Chair of the University of Southern California Intellectual Property Law Institute, Morgan Chu sits on the organization's Executive Committee. As far as pro bono service, he worked for six years to win a conviction reversal for a death row inmate, the first such reversal in two decades upheld by the United States Supreme Court since California reinstated its death penalty in 1977.