Brianna Howard is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, where she teaches legal research, writing, and advocacy. She is also a litigator at Ballard Spahr LLP with more than 10 years of experience litigating in state and federal courts across a range of industries, including consumer products, retail, technology, life sciences, financial services, cosmetics, and fashion. She represents companies in high-stakes complex commercial and consumer disputes involving product liability, false advertising, breach of contract, fraud, unfair competition, data privacy, and other complex business and tort claims.

Howard has extensive experience managing complex, multi-party litigation involving significant legal and business risks. Her matters have included large-scale consumer product disputes, multidistrict litigation, coordinated proceedings, class actions, and other high-volume claims. She also advises clients on regulatory matters, including government investigations and business risk assessments involving consumer products and services. Howard maintains an active pro bono practice, including work assisting children, asylum seekers, and victims of domestic violence.

Howard is actively involved in the legal community and has held leadership positions in the American Bar Association Section of Litigation and Young Lawyers Division, as well as other national and local legal organizations. She currently serves as Social Media Co-Chair for the ABA Section of Litigation and previously served on the Section’s Council. In 2026, she was recognized by The Recorder as a Lawyer on the Fast Track in General Litigation. She has also been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch in Commercial Litigation, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants, Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants, Intellectual Property, and Litigation – Real Estate.

Howard is also an author and speaker on litigation and emerging legal issues. She co-authored Class/Collective Actions in the United States, published by Practical Law, and has written for publications including Forbes, TechCrunch, and VentureBeat. She has served as an editorial board member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Los Angeles Lawyer magazine and as an ambassador for the California Minority Counsel Program.

Howard earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her JD from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly Hastings College of the Law). While in law school, she externed for the Honorable Saundra B. Armstrong of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. She also served as executive editor of the Hastings Women’s Law Journal (now the UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice), a board member of the Black Law Students Association, and a board member of Hastings Moot Court. As a moot court competitor, she was named National Champion, First Place Oralist, and Second Place Brief in the Cardozo/BMI Entertainment and Media Moot Court Competition.