Drawing on his expertise in environmental health, William (Bill) Tarantino’s practice focuses on environmental and consumer protection law, with an emphasis on hazardous substances, mass torts and consumer product safety. Mr. Tarantino has argued motions in state and federal courts for a variety of complex litigation matters, including product liability and mass tort claims, California’s Unfair Competition Law actions, and environmental contamination disputes. He has successfully led clients through private mediations and arbitrations and has significant experience in California state and federal appellate courts.
Mr. Tarantino also has broad experience in consumer class action and false advertising litigation, particularly with respect to claims of health or environmental benefits. In 2009, he was selected to serve as vice chair of the Committee on Private Advertising Litigation of the American Bar Association's Antitrust Section, and he is an active contributor to MoFo’s Private Surgeon General Class Action Defender blog.
Mr. Tarantino is recommended by Legal 500 US (2011–2014) in the areas of product liability and mass tort defense and he is described as “an experienced counsel who is an excellent leader and has great knowledge of the law.” For the past three years, San Francisco Magazine has recognized Mr. Tarantino in its “Super Lawyers – Rising Stars” list for his work in environmental and consumer litigation. In 2014, he was chosen as the exclusive winner of the Client Choice Award for Environmental Law in California and as a “Rising Star” in Environmental Law by Law360. Mr. Tarantino has an active pro bono practice and currently serves as a member of Morrison & Foerster’s Pro Bono Committee.
Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, Mr. Tarantino clerked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX Office of Regional Counsel, where he assisted in the prosecution and resolution of cases brought by the U.S. Department of Justice for violation of hazardous waste and water quality laws.
Mr. Tarantino received his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center with honors, and completed the Law and Public Health program sponsored by Georgetown University and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Through this program, he earned a master’s in public health as well as specialty certification in environmental health risk assessment from the Johns Hopkins Risk Sciences and Public Policy Institute. At Georgetown, he was an executive editor of the Georgetown International Environmental Law Journal and received the CALI Award for Excellence in International Environmental Law. In 2000, he studied law at the Universidad de Mendoza, in Mendoza, Argentina, as an international law fellow. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
