Elisha Barron

Elisha Barron, a Susman Godfrey partner and member of the firm’s Executive Committee, litigates high-stakes cases across the country and, in the last five years alone, has secured over $1 Billion in jury verdicts and settlements for her clients. Elisha represents plaintiffs and defendants through every stage of litigation in complex commercial cases, including in intellectual property, antitrust, False Claims Act litigation, and general commercial litigation.

Elisha was named a Future Star by Benchmark Litigation for 2023 and included on its 40 and Under Hot List in 2022 and 2023. She has also been named among National Law Journal’s Plaintiffs Lawyer Trailblazers and called One to Watch in Commercial Litigation by Best Lawyers for 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. In 2019, New York Law Journal called her Rising Star.

Below are a few of Elisha’s notable representations and successes:

• Won a $706.2 Million jury verdict for client HouseCanary after a 6+ week jury trial in state court in San Antonio, Texas. The case involved claims against Title Source, an affiliate of Quicken Loans, for misappropriation of trade secrets, fraud, and breach of contract. Ms. Barron successfully argued a Daubert motion to admit the testimony of a key technical expert and examined that expert at trial, securing testimony pivotal to the jury’s finding that HouseCanary’s trade secrets had been misappropriated.
• Lead trial counsel to Van Leeuwen Ice Cream LLC in a Lanham Act trade dress infringement lawsuit against Rebel Creamery pending in the Eastern District of New York.
• Represented Joel and Mary Rich, the parents of a murdered son, Seth Rich, in a groundbreaking lawsuit against Fox News and individual defendants for intentional infliction of emotional distress claims and related torts. After the Second Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of the Riches’ claims, Elisha defeated a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, and argued numerous discovery motions, paving the way for a confidential settlement in November 2020.
• Delivered opening statements and cross-examining key witnesses to win a multi-million-dollar award (a complete victory) in a confidential technology and construction industry arbitration involving obligations under a written agreement.
• Secured a $450 million settlement—one of the largest ever in the United States by a single whistleblower—in a landmark False Claims Act lawsuit against the Swiss drug manufacturer Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Elisha deposed pharmacists and nurses across the country, securing key testimony which helped secure the award.
• Secured nearly $170 million in settlements before fees and expenses in the antitrust case In re Animation Workers Antitrust Litigation (N.D. Cal.) for a class of Hollywood animators and visual effects employees who accused several major movie studios of entering into an agreement not to “poach” each other’s employees. The case contributed to Susman Godfrey being named ‘Class Action Group of the Year’ by Law360.
• Represented wearable fitness pioneer Jawbone in patent litigation against Fitbit in numerous forums—two actions in the International Trade Commission and two actions in federal district court. Elisha briefed and argued motions regarding the invalidity of Fitbit’s patents, securing favorable rulings for Jawbone on several patents. Elisha also argued at the federal court Markman hearing and secured favorable claim constructions for Jawbone.
• Represented an individual in a confidential AAA arbitration against a former employer for discrimination and secured a favorable settlement after Susman Godfrey presented her case to a three-judge panel. Elisha examined two key fact witnesses, an expert witness, and conducted the only cross examination before settlement.

Ms. Barron also devotes significant time to pro bono matters. Most recently, she represented the City of Baltimore pro bono in a challenge to a new Health of Human Services Rule allowing health care providers to deny health care services for religious or “other” reasons. City of Baltimore v. HHS, 19-cv-1672 (D. Md.). The rule was vacated in 2019. In 2016 she received an award for outstanding pro bono service from the Legal Aid Society.

Before joining Susman Godfrey, Ms. Barron clerked for Judge Shira Scheindlin on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and Judge José Cabranes on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She graduated from Yale University with a degree in History of Science and Medicine, and received her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where she was an editor on the Journal on Legislation

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