Overview
Betsy Aronson has litigated some of the most-watched cases of the past decade. A born leader and savvy trial lawyer, Betsy plays an integral role in every case she takes on, regularly securing major wins for her clients.
Betsy maintains a robust and diverse practice representing a broad cross-section of clients—both plaintiffs and defendants—that include Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, and individuals. She is experienced in matters involving antitrust violations, artificial intelligence, complex business disputes, professional malpractice, pharmaceutical litigation and more.
LANDMARK RESULTS
Betsy was a key member on a team that led the City of Baltimore to obtain a $266 million dollar jury verdict against McKesson and AmerisourceBergen in the City’s nearly seven-year lawsuit against opioid distributors and manufacturers. Including the verdict, Baltimore — which forged its own path by bringing in Susman Godfrey and proceeding outside the federal opioid multidistrict litigation — has recovered more than $700 million (the $266 jury verdict plus over $427 million in settlements with other defendants). Leading up to trial, Betsy successfully argued several discovery motions and summary judgment motions and took and defended numerous depositions, paving the way for the case to reach trial.
Working at the helm of a major legal malpractice action, Betsy secured a confidential settlement with a major law firm on behalf of the firm’s former client in a case with damages estimated at over $630 million. Betsy argued before the Massachusetts Business Litigation Division on several occasions, including a crucial summary judgment hearing that led the court to deny the law firm’s summary judgment motion and permit the case to go to trial. Read more on this case in Bloomberg, Reuters, ABA Journal, and Law360.
Betsy successfully argued to certify a class of bond issuers in a $12 billion antitrust dispute pending in the Southern District of New York against major banks alleging that the banks engaged in a conspiracy to inflate interest rates on municipal bonds.
Betsy previously represented WeWork founder, Adam Neumann, against SoftBank after SoftBank withdrew its offer to buy up to $3 billion in WeWork stock from Mr. Neumann and other shareholders. This lawsuit represented one of the largest individual claims to be litigated this century. The litigation was placed on an expedited schedule in the Delaware Chancery Court. A week before trial, the case settled as reported by media outlets throughout the world. The New York Times’ coverage of the lawsuit can be accessed here and here.
BACKGROUND
Betsy joined Susman Godfrey after serving as a law clerk for The Honorable Kimba M. Wood of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and The Honorable David S. Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Betsy graduated magna cum laude and Order of the Coif from New York University School of Law, where she was a Furman Academic Scholar, Butler Scholar, Pomeroy Scholar, and served as an Articles Editor of the NYU Law Review. Prior to law school, Betsy worked as a middle-school teacher in Texas with Teach for America. She earned her undergraduate degree cum laude from Tufts University.
Notable Representations
- Chegg, Inc. v. Google LLC (D.D.C.). Represents Chegg, Inc. in an antitrust action alleging that Google has unlawfully maintained and exploited its monopoly in search to misappropriate publisher content for use in Google’s generative AI products.
- City of Baltimore Opioid Litigation (Circuit Court for Baltimore City). Represents the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore in public nuisance litigation against manufacturers and distributors of opioids. Betsy’s team secured a $266 million jury verdict on behalf of the City of Baltimore against McKesson and AmerisourceBergen. They have also secured a historic over $400 million in collective settlements from with Allergan Finance, LLC, Walgreens, Cardinal Health, CVS, and others.
- Philadelphia et al. v Bank of America Corp. et al.(S.D.N.Y.). Represents the City of Baltimore as the named class representative of a certified class of municipalities and other issuers in a $12 billion antitrust dispute pending in the Southern District of New York against numerous major banks related to their price-fixing of bond rates. Secured class certification for plaintiffs in a class action alleging that major banks engaged in price fixing conspiracy to inflate interest rates on municipal bonds.
- Adelman v. Proskauer (Suffolk County Superior Court-Business Litigation Session, Massachusetts). Secured a confidential settlement on behalf of Proskauer’s former client, after defeating the firm’s motion for summary judgment. This closely watched case was written about in Bloomberg, Reuters, and ABA Journal.
- SL 4000 Connecticut LLC v. CBRE (New York Supreme Court, New York County). Helped secure dismissal of claims seeking over $100 million in damages against real estate broker CBRE. Read more (subscription required).
- In re: WeWork Litigation (Delaware Chancery Court). Represented WeWork founder Adam Neumann against SoftBank after SoftBank withdrew its offer to buy up to $3 billion in WeWork stock from Mr. Neumann and other shareholders. This lawsuit represents one of the largest individual claims to be litigated this century. The New York Times’ coverage of the lawsuit can be accessed here and here.
- Litigation on Behalf of Vistra Corporation. Represented Fortune 500 energy company Vistra Corp. in a multi-jurisdictional dispute arising out of Winter Storm Uri, resulting in a favorable settlement for the company.
Clerkships
- Honorable David S. Tatel, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- Honorable Kimba M. Wood, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Education
Education
- NYU School of Law (J.D., magna cum laude)
- Articles Editor, New York University Law Review
- Order of the Coif
- Butler Scholar (top 10 students after four semesters)
- Pomeroy Scholar (top 10 students after two semesters)
- Furman Academic Scholar
- Tufts University (B..A, International Relations, cum laude)
Admissions
Admissions
Bar Admissions
- New York
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
