Aya Kanda is an Associate in the San Francisco office and practices estate and trust litigation.

Aya was admitted to the California State Bar in 2019. She received her B.A. degree in Rhetoric (with a focus in public discourse) from the University of California, Berkeley in 2013, and her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 2019. During her time at Hastings, Aya received the “Best Brief” Award in her Moot Court course and served as staff editor for Constitution Law Quarterly and as Academic Chair for the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (“APALSA”).

Prior to joining Harrison, Aya was an associate attorney at Barulich Dugoni Suttmann & Cummins Law Group, Inc. in the litigation practice. She also worked at the Internal Revenue Service’s Office of Chief Counsel in San Francisco, taking responsibility for two cases and making a special appearance in Tax Court. She conducted research on California laws regarding special needs trusts and expatriation laws and income tax treaties between the U.S. and abroad, both of which were submitted to other departments as advisory memoranda. Aya worked as a law clerk at Archer Norris, PLC in Walnut Creek and as an intern for both Moskowitz, LLP in San Francisco and the Law Offices of Bernadette W. Connolly in Santa Clara.

Aya speaks Japanese, and in her spare time, she enjoys boxing and playing the piano.