Derek G. Howard is Senior Counsel to Minami Tamaki LLP, providing the firm with more than 25 years of experience in complex litigation, including expertise in class actions, business fraud, deceptive practices, breaches of fiduciary, elder abuse, ethical duties by corporate entities, and antitrust practices in major consumer-oriented industries.

Mr. Howard has served as co-lead counsel in nationwide class action cases and obtained substantial awards through both jury verdicts and pre-trial settlements. He has prosecuted precedent-setting class action cases against major Fortune 500 corporations, attaining newsworthy and groundbreaking monetary settlements.

For the last four consecutive years, he has been honored as a "Super Lawyer" in Law & Politics Magazine, representing the top three percent of practitioners. As a result of previous verdicts and settlements, Mr. Howard has also qualified as a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

Mr. Howard’s speaking engagements cover current developments in the topics of electronic discovery, financial abuse and fraud on the elderly, investors, and trust beneficiaries. In conjunction with his membership in the Sedona Conference Working Group 1, Mr. Howard's practice includes ongoing writing and editorial work on novel issues concerning discovery of electronically stored information (ESI) in complex litigation.

Mr. Howard has been co-lead or associate counsel in the following class action   and consumer cases: Heartland Communications v. Sprint Corp. 161 F.R.D. 111 (D. Kan. 1995), a consumer remedy class action on behalf of pay phone operators;  Herlinger v. Sunbeam et. al. (Marin Sup. Ct.), a nationwide consumer class action resulting in changes in warnings and practice in propane barbecue industry; Nickel v. Bank of America 290 F.3d 1134 (9th Cir. 2002), a   nationwide class action recovering damages for improper trust fees; Fisher v. Bank of America (N.D. Cal. 2004), a nationwide class action recovering   damages for improper trust investments; Seaman v. Wells Fargo (S.F. Sup.Ct.),   a nationwide class action recovering damages for improper trust fees; Banks v. Northern Trust (L.A. Sup.Ct. 2005), a nationwide class action recovering   damages for improper trust fees; Guyette v. Viacom, Inc., a consumer class action resulting in refunds to cable television subscribers; Wininger v. Synthetic Industries (N.D. Cal. 2001), involving a class member realizing an increase in value in private investment; In re Ipod Cases, (J.C.C.P.   No. 4335), which alleged misrepresentations in connection with iPod batteries; and In re Coordinated Natural Gas Cases I, II, III and IV (San Diego Sup.Ct.). These cases have produced hundreds of millions of dollars in cash settlements for class members.  Current active cases where Mr. Howard is involved include Co-Lead Counsel in Richtenburg v. Wells Fargo trust litigation, the TFT-LCD (Flat Panel) Antitrust Litigation (Minami Tamaki LLP serves as Liaison Counsel), Liaison Counsel, In Re Flash Memory Antitrust Litigation; the Clayton Act merger litigation involving the Continental-United merger Malaney v. United et al;  Executive Committee Member in the In re Transpacific Passenger Antitrust Litigation and  Executive Committee Member in the case entitled In re Medical Capital Securities Litigation.

Speeches and publications include: Comment: "Nuclear Plant Construction   after Pacific Gas: a Pyrrhic Victory for the States?" 14 Golden Gate University Law Review 39 (1984); "Survey: Interference Torts," which the American Bar Association published through its Antitrust Section Committee on Business Torts and Unfair Competition; Interview, America's Premier Lawyers Series (2006) discussing impact of new class action legislation; Presenter and   Co-Author, AL I-ABA, Lawsuits from Both Sides Now, Representing Estate and Trust Beneficiaries and Fiduciaries (2008); Presenter, LegalTech 2009, New York, and LegalTech 2010, Los Angeles "May It Please the Court... Defending   a Search and Production Protocol-a Trial Technology Experience"; Presenter,   Legal Assistance for Seniors, Conference on Elder Abuse, "Current Developments   in Financial Fraud and the Elders--How to Protect Elders and their Assets," Oakland, California (2010), and Panelist, Sedona Conference Work Group 1 on   Electronic Document Retention and Production (2010); Co-Chair The Donald L. Galine Annual Tahoe Seminar, Consumer Attorneys of California; Panelist Masters/Legends   (Depositions)(2011). Mr. Howard received his undergraduate education in 1980 from the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his Juris Doctor in 1984 from Golden Gate University in San Francisco in 1984, and a Masters Degree in Sport Management in 2009 from the University of San Francisco. Before entering private practice, Mr. Howard clerked for the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska for the Hon. John H. Dimond and was then appointed as Legal Research attorney for the San Francisco Superior Court.

Mr. Howard has served as a Special Master in Marin County, is on the Board of Governors of the Consumer Attorneys of California, and is a member of the American Association for Justice, the Sports Lawyers Association, the Bar Association of San Francisco, and the American Bar Association's Section of Antitrust Law and Unfair Competition.