Susman Godfrey has been recognized by National Law Journal’s 2023 Elite Trial Lawyers. With two lawyers named Elite Women of the Plaintiffs Bar (Susman Godfrey is the only firm with more than one winner in this category), three lawyers named among the Rising Stars of the Plaintiff’s Bar and the firm being named finalist for both insurance and technology litigation, Susman Godfrey is a stand out as one of the most honored firms of 2023.
ELITE WOMEN
Co-Managing Partner Kalpana Srinivasan and Partner Lexie White are both named among NLJ’s Elite Women of the Plaintiffs Bar. White made headlines in 2022 when she won a jury verdict worth more than $100 million in past and future royalties against Ericsson in a high stakes patent battle over telecommunication networking and optimization technology. One month earlier, she secured a bench trial judgment valued at more than $60 million in damages and interest for her client Capital Hill Group, in a complex contractual dispute with a Silver Point Capital subsidiary. Srinivasan is slated to serve as co-lead counsel and first chair for plaintiffs at seven separate trials in 2023 spanning the areas of intellectual property and competition.
RISING STARS
In addition, three partners across two of Susman Godfrey’s offices are honored this year as Rising Stars of the Plaintiffs Bar.
Ryan Caughey is a first-chair trial lawyer who has been recognized as one of America’s leading litigators. In mid-2022, he was co-lead counsel in a five-week jury trial involving a high-stakes contract dispute. The trial resulted in a $42 million judgment for Linde Engineering. The judgment was in addition to over $20 million in pretrial recoveries.
Krysta Pachman is a leader in class action litigation. She was recently appointed by Judge Michelle Childs to be part of what is being called one of the most diverse leadership teams to lead an MDL data breach class action, In Re Blackbaud Security Breach Litigation. Pachman is one of the youngest attorneys ever appointed a co-lead counsel role in an MDL.
Krisina Zuñiga has been repeatedly recognized as a litigator on the rise. Among other notable wins, Krisina recently secured a summary judgment of nearly $5 million for Power Rental Solutions, LLC in a case involving breach of contract, breach of warranty, fraudulent inducement, and alter ego allegations.
PRACTICE HONORS
The firm has also been named a finalist in both the insurance litigation and technology litigation categories. In 2022, Susman Godfrey recovered over $210 million for policyholders from three major insurance carriers who were accused of unlawfully raising insurance costs in breach of their policies. The firm also won several patent verdicts in the past 12 months. In addition to the patent wins mentioned above, Susman Godfrey also won a $166.3 million jury verdict on behalf of Finesse Wireless in January 2023 against AT&T Mobility LLC and Nokia Corporation of America over patent infringement claims relating to wireless networks and secured a $42 million jury verdict on behalf The Board of Regents of the University of Texas in February 2023 against Boston Scientific in a case relating to a patented biodegradable polymer fiber drug delivery system.
Elite Trial Lawyers recognizes law firms’ outstanding plaintiffs work in a “high-stakes bench or jury trial or in a major settlement.” Honorees must have scored a significant win between March 2022 and March 2023 and demonstrated an impressive track record of wins over the last three to five years. Winners will be announced at the ETL Awards Ceremony on July 13th in New York City. The full list of finalists can be read here.
