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Headshot of DHKL attorney Katharine Fisher Trabucco

Katharine Fisher Trabucco

Katharine Fisher Trabucco represents tenants, consumers, employees, and people with disabilities in impact litigation and structured negotiations.  At DHKL, Katharine has:

  • Served as a key member of the trial team in Munguia-Brown v. Equity Residential, obtaining a ruling after an 8-day bench trial that landlord Equity Residential’s percentage-based late fee was unlawful under California law, followed by a $43 million class settlement for nearly 200,000 California tenants, which received final approval on July 24, 2026.
  • Served as class counsel in the companion case Van Cott v. Equity Residential, securing a $2,934,620 settlement – the full value of the restitution sought – for Equity tenants charged unlawful late fees between 2022 and 2024.
  • Helped secure a comprehensive settlement establishing a $24 million damages fund – the largest ever in a disability-access class action against a place of public accommodation – in Nevarez v. Forty Niners Football Co., a certified class action requiring extensive barrier removal at Levi’s Stadium.
  • Obtained certification of a class of California consumers, defeated summary judgment and summary adjudication through novel applications of California’s Automatic Renewal Law, and obtained a class settlement for $16 million on the eve of trial in Siciliano v. Apple, Inc., a case challenging Apple’s subscription practices.
  • Litigated Uzair v. Google LLC, an Automatic Renewal Law class action challenging Google Play’s subscription disclosures, obtaining class certification and a $5 million settlement.

Katharine has been selected by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star from 2018 to 2025, and was named one of Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Civil Rights & Plaintiff Employment Lawyers for 2026.  In 2026, Katharine and the Munguia-Brown v. Equity Residential trial team received the Daily Journal’s California Lawyer of the Year (CLAY) Award.

Katharine joined DHKL in 2016 as a Social Justice Fellow and became a partner in 2025.  Prior to joining DHKL, she was a Fellow in the Gender Equity & LGBT Rights and Work & Family Programs at Legal Aid at Work.  She received her law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law and her bachelor’s degree from Emory University.

Education

  • J.D., University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, 2015
  • B.A., Political Science, International Studies, Emory University, 2012

Bar and Court Admissions

  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Awards

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Federal Bar Association
  • Disability Rights Bar Association
  • National Lawyers Guild
  • American Constitution Society

Prior Employment

  • Law Clerk, Brayton Purcell LLP, 2014
  • Legal Intern, East Bay Community Law Center’s Clean Slate Program, 2013

Representative Cases

  • Munguia-Brown, et al. v. Equity Residential, et al., No. CV 16-01225-JSW-TSH (N.D. Cal.) (after an 8-day bench trial, obtained a ruling that Equity Residential’s late fee of 5% of monthly rent (minimum $50) was “null and void” under California Civil Code section 1671(d) and violated the Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200; DHKL and co-counsel subsequently secured a $43 million class action settlement, finally approved on July 24, 2026, requiring Equity to provide refunds and account credits to nearly 200,000 California tenants charged the late fee between September 3, 2010 and April 30, 2024); see 2024 WL 1530571 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 4, 2024) (Post-Trial Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law); 2017 WL 4838822 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 23, 2017) (class certification order); 337 F.R.D. 509 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 18, 2021) (discovery order finding that defendants waived attorney work product protection); 2020 WL 6130887 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 19, 2020) (discovery order finding that defendants waived attorney-client privilege); 2019 WL 3779523 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 12, 2019) (order granting in part plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment); 2021 WL 4951460 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 25, 2021) (order expanding class action, dismissing defendants’ extraneous debt claims against the class, and denying defendants’ motion for summary judgment on its voluntary payment doctrine defense).

  • Van Cott v. Equity Residential, No. 4:25-cv-02358 (N.D. Cal.) (companion case to Munguia-Brown on behalf of Equity tenants first charged the unlawful late fee between October 29, 2022 and April 30, 2024; secured a $2,934,620 class action settlement – the full value of the restitution sought – which received final approval on January 9, 2026).

  • Nevarez, et al. v. Forty Niners Football Co., et al., No. 16-CV-07013-LHK (N.D. Cal.) (certified class action under the Americans with Disabilities Act and California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act for injunctive relief and damages arising out of defendants’ failure to build Levi’s Stadium in compliance with federal and state disability access standards, ultimately resulting in a comprehensive settlement agreement requiring extensive, systemic barrier removal in the Stadium and its related parking lot and pedestrian right of way, policy changes to ensure that people with mobility disabilities may fully and fairly obtain accessible seating, and establishing a damages fund of $24 million, the largest ever in a disability access class action against a place of public accommodation, finally approved on July 23, 2020).

  • Hines v. City of Portland, No. 3:18-cv-00869-HZ (D. Or.) (finally approved September 27, 2018); Muehe, et al. v. City of Boston, No. 1:21-cv-11080 (D. Mass.) (finally approved November 2, 2021); and Curran, et al. v. City of Oakland, No. 3:23-cv-02354-RS (N.D. Cal.) (finally approved December 4, 2025) (assisted with class action settlements requiring the Cities of Portland, Boston, and Oakland to install, remediate, and maintain thousands of curb ramps and sidewalks to make their pedestrian rights-of-way accessible to people with mobility disabilities).

  • Siciliano v. Apple, Inc., 2013-I-CV-257675 (Santa Clara Cnty. Super. Ct.) (in case challenging Apple’s in-app auto-renewing subscription practices under California’s Automatic Renewal Law, obtained certification of class of California consumers, defeated Apple’s motions for summary judgment and adjudication, and settled for $16 million on the eve of trial, finally approved on November 2, 2018).

  • Uzair, et al. v. Google LLC, No. 18-CV-328915 (Santa Clara Cnty. Super. Ct.) (class action challenging Google Play’s automatically renewing digital subscriptions under California’s Automatic Renewal Law, the Unfair Competition Law, and the Consumers Legal Remedies Act; obtained certification of a class of California consumers and secured a $5 million settlement, finally approved on July 27, 2026).

  • Raul Garcia v. RKJD Invested Group, Inc., Case No. C15-02068 (Contra Costa Cnty. Super. Ct.) (wage and hour class and PAGA action on behalf of a certified class of hourly employees at a Denny’s franchise location; obtained preliminary and final approval of a class action settlement, finally approved on May 11, 2017).

Representative Publications

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