Mari Henderson is a partner in Quinn Emanuel’s Los Angeles office. Ms. Henderson has tried more than 30 cases at trial and arbitration, including securing complete defense victories for corporate clients facing sensitive reputational allegations of harassment and discrimination.
Ms. Henderson has tried a wide variety of high-stakes cases, with tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in dispute, in state and federal courts across the country. The cases cover subjects ranging from breach of contract to racial harassment to bank fraud. Because of her unique trial skills, Ms. Henderson is frequently engaged in the months before trial to act as trial counsel, including in an high-stakes employment case that was ranked one of the top defense verdicts of 2024 by the Daily Journal.
As a former criminal prosecutor, Ms. Henderson brings special expertise to defending corporations in fraud-related claims and defending high-profile individuals in both criminal cases and civil cases stemming from criminal allegations. She utilizes her experience as a prosecutor to both represent defendants accused of sexual misconduct as well as to obtain justice for victims of assault. During her tenure as a district attorney, she frequently prosecuted child molestation, sexual battery, domestic violence and assault cases and obtained both verdicts and plea agreements that ensured protection for the victims.
With a background as an on-air news reporter, Ms. Henderson advises clients navigating both the court of law and the court of public opinion. She helped spearhead the firm’s Crisis Law and Strategy practice group, which provides legal and public relations assistance to companies and individuals facing sensitive reputational issues. She has also been engaged to handle sensitive press-heavy cases, including by conducting broad-ranging internal investigations for companies and faith-based organizations.
Ms. Henderson also frequently appears on-air as a legal analyst.
- Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences
- Cruise LLC
- General Motors
- Hillsong Church
- Lil Uzi Vert
- Megan thee Stallion
- Menzies Aviation
- Pacific Gas and Electric
- Roc Nation
- Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Western America
- Tesla, Inc.
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Southern California
- X (formerly known as Twitter)
- Obtained a complete defense verdict for Menzies Aviation in a racial harassment employment case. Critical for the defense was illustrating that Plaintiff’s claims were not credible, and instead had been manufactured (and enhanced over time) for litigation purposes only when he knew that his job was threatened due to his inability to obtain documentation required for airport employees. Through cross examination, Plaintiff was caught in multiple inconsistencies and untruths. In sharp contrast to Plaintiff and his witnesses, HR witness credibly explained the Company’s zero tolerance policy, process for submitting complaints, and that they never had been made aware of any purported complaint by Plaintiff. The plaintiff dismissed 10 out of his 11 claims on the eve of trial, and at the trial, after less than two hours, the jury returned a complete defense verdict.
- Defended Tesla, Inc. in a California federal court retrial of the largest single plaintiff race discrimination verdict in U.S. history. The plaintiff alleged he was subject to racial discrimination while working as an operator at a Tesla factory. Initially, we successfully achieved a remittitur reducing the original $137 million verdict (comprised of approximately $7 million in compensatory damages and $130 million in punitive damages) to a total of $15 million. The plaintiff rejected the $15 million remittitur and proceeded to a damages retrial. Based on the liability verdict from the first trial, the Court instructed the jury that it had to award both compensatory and punitive damages. Following a week-long trial which was largely limited to the same evidence that was presented to the jury in the first trial, we reduced the damages award by 98% to $175,000 in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages.
- Represented the University of Pennsylvania in seeking sanctions against a law professor for racially discriminating and harassing her students and former students. Over a weeklong faculty senate trial, Ms. Henderson examined multiple students witnesses. These witnesses were apprehensive about participating and sharing their painful experiences, including about being told they only got into an Ivy League school because of affirmative action and that Blacks are genetically inferior. Ms. Henderson earned their trust and guided them through emotional examinations that were key to the decision.
- Represented Cruise LLC, an autonomous vehicle company, in connection with a criminal investigation stemming from an accident that led to the suspension of Cruise’s operations in California. Negotiated a favorable deferred prosecution agreement for the company with the Department of Justice and helped author a 195-page report following a comprehensive internal investigation.
- Defended a former CEO arrested on claims he sexually assaulted an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota. Months later, the local county prosecutor declined to file criminal charges so the alleged victim sued him civilly, with reference to a demand exceeding $1 billion. He turned to Quinn Emanuel to defend him in the civil case, which settled very favorably in Fall 2022.
- Conducted an internal investigation on behalf of Hillsong, an international Charismatic Christian megachurch, accused of mishandling a report of sexual misconduct by an employee. We interviewed church members and then presented findings and recommendations to the board.
- Conducted an internal investigation for a religious community that then U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney-Barrett belonged to, after it faced the national spotlight over allegations its leadership failed to act swiftly in response to child molestation by a former member. Our team conducted nearly two dozen interviews in a matter of weeks before reporting back with findings and recommendations moving forward. The team deftly devised a strategy for the community to communicate with its membership while withstanding the glare of media scrutiny.
- Successfully defended University of Southern California (USC) in a case brought by its former football coach, Steve Sarkisian. Sarkisian sued for wrongful termination, disability discrimination and retaliation in connection with his October 2015 firing. We litigated the case through arbitration and won, resulting in a complete defense verdict.
- Represented a federal criminal defendant in connection with his prosecution for conspiracy to commit bank fraud in a case in the Southern District of New York. The Government alleged our client and co-conspirators caused U.S. banks to process approximately $156 million of card transactions for a popular online marijuana delivery marketplace. The indictment asserted the content of those transactions was intentionally concealed from the U.S. banks issuing the cards. Although both defendants were convicted and are appealing their convictions, we secured an extremely favorable sentence: while the Government urged a sentence of 30 years and a fine of $1 million, after briefing and argument, the court sentenced our client to only 2.5 years and a $100,000 fine.
- Represented Pacific Gas and Electric Company in defense of wildfire-related mass tort claims involving thousands of plaintiffs, including subrogated insurers, government entities, and homeowners, asserting approximately $2 billion in damage claims.
- UCLA School of Law
(J.D., 2015) - Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism
(M.S., Journalism, cum laude, 2010)
(B.S., Journalism, cum laude, 2009)- Dean's List
- The State Bar of California
- United States Court of Appeals:
- Ninth Circuit
- United States District Court:
- Central District of California
- Eastern District of California
- Northern District of California
- Southern District of California
- Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office:
- Prosecutor, 2017-2020
- NY1 News:
- On-Air Reporter, 2010-2012
- “Alternatives to Prosecution: Rethinking Traditional Prison-First Criminal Prosecution,” Quinn Emanuel, 2020.
- “The Impact of New Legislative Reforms: A Practical Guide for Lawyers,” The Jewish Federation Legal Network, 2021.
- “A Sea Change to Peremptory Challenges in California: The Effects of AB-3070,” The Recorder, 2021.
- “Ripped from the Headlines: True Crime in the City of Angels and Beyond.” Harvard Westlake Legal Alumni Association, 2022.
- Member, Harvard-Westlake Legal Alumni Board
- On-air legal analyst; appeared on ABC News Good Morning America, Access Hollywood, E! News, KTLA, CNN, Oxygen, Investigation Discovery, Reelz, Law and Crime Network, Daily Blast Live.