Sanny Kataoka joined Validant as Corporate Counsel in 2015, bringing deep expertise from her 15 years as a litigator specializing in business and employment disputes. Appointed Chief Legal Officer of the Validant Group in 2021, Sanny leads the Validant Group legal department and oversees the organization’s legal, compliance and enterprise risk management functions.

A native of San Francisco, Sanny has worked with several large technology clients as well as numerous small-to-mid-size company clients on business matters ranging from employment discrimination and wrongful termination claims to contract disputes and product liability claims. As an associate at large Bay Area law firms, she also litigated civil matters in state and federal court as well as before administrative agencies.

As a law student, Sanny served as a judicial extern for The Honorable Saundra Brown Armstrong of the United States District Court, Northern District, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District. She is fluent in Cantonese and can speak some Mandarin. Sanny holds a Bachelor’s degree with high honors in Mass Communications from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, where she was a Joseph Drown Foundation Scholar.