National Law Journal’s Elite Trial Lawyers has again spotlighted Susman Godfrey. Elite Trial Lawyers honors attorneys nationwide for their winning plaintiff litigation work.
Susman Godfrey is a standout as one of the most honored firms of the year.
Both SG’s lawyers and the firm itself came up big this year. New York’s Bill Carmody is named a Finalist for Plaintiff Attorney of the Year. Partners Jesse-Justin Cuevas, Krysta Pachman, and Krisina Zuñiga have been recognized as Elite Women of the Plaintiffs Bar and partners Stephanie Spies and Sy Polky and associate Samir Doshi are honored as Rising Stars of the Plaintiffs Bar.
In addition, the firm itself is a Finalist for Plaintiff Law Firm of the Year, Trial Strategy Innovator of the Year, and Pharmaceutical Litigation Firm of the Year.
Winners in these Finalist categories will be announced at the ETL Awards Ceremony in New York City on July 10th.
FINALIST – ATTORNEY OF THE YEAR
New York’s Bill Carmody is a finalist for NLJ’s Plaintiff Attorney of the Year. Carmody tried three of the biggest cases in the country in 2024 – serving as lead trial counsel to clients in two jury trials and one bench trial. In one, Bill led efforts to win a $4.7 billion jury verdict finding the NFL conspired and violated antitrust laws through its Sunday Ticket offering. The trial court vacated the $4.7B award on a post-trial motion, while leaving untouched the jury’s determination that the NFL violated antitrust laws. Bill also led the way to secure $700 million ($266M in a jury verdict against McKesson and AmerisourceBergen and over $427M in settlements with drug makers) for the City of Baltimore to hold drugmakers accountable for the city’s opioid crisis.
ELITE WOMEN
With three lawyers recognized in the group of just seventeen honorees, Susman Godfrey has the most lawyers on this list. Partners Jesse-Justin Cuevas, Krysta Pachman, and Krisina Zuñiga have all secured major wins for plaintiff clients. Cuevas most recently helped secure one of the biggest trial wins in the country: a $330+ million award for her client, one of the nation’s largest independent power producers, after a full arbitration hearing. In 2024, Pachman won a landmark $1.07 billion judgment for client Everly Health in a breach of contract and Lanham Act case. This is one of the largest judgments of the year. Zuñiga’s most recent win is a landmark $266 million jury verdict for the City of Baltimore in its opioid litigation against two distributors, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen, after a six-week trial (and another $427 million in settlements with other defendants). The verdict is the only successful verdict any jurisdiction has obtained in opioid litigation against McKesson and AmerisourceBergen.
RISING STARS
In addition, three lawyers are honored this year as Rising Stars of the Plaintiffs Bar. No other firm had more winners than Susman Godfrey this year.
- Stephanie Spies had a knockout year in 2024 – bringing home two headline-grabbing wins over the course of 12 months: a $1.6 billion trial judgment for client BML Properties Ltd. in New York’s Commercial Division on fraud and breach of contract claims arising from the construction of the Baha Mar resort and a $1.07 billion judgment for client Everly Health in a breach of contract and Lanham Act case.
- Sy Polky spent a great deal of 2024 playing a major role in the Baltimore Opioids Litigation, where he and his team secured $700 million ($266M in a jury verdict against McKesson and AmerisourceBergen and over $427M in settlements with drugmakers) for the City of Baltimore to hold drugmakers accountable for the city’s opioid crisis.
- Samir Doshi represented plaintiffs in not one, or two, but three extraordinary cases in 2024, including client Every Health, who secured a $1.07 billion judgment in breach of contract and Lanham Act case; two classes of antitrust plaintiffs, who secured a $4.7 billion jury verdict against the National Football League (on appeal after the district court’s post-trial vacatur); and client Koninklijke KPN N.V., who secured a $341 million jury verdict in a breach of contract action in Texas state court.
PRACTICE HONORS
Given the outstanding results by all of Susman Godfrey’s lawyers in 2024, the firm has also been named a finalist in three categories: Plaintiff Law Firm of the Year, Trial Strategy Innovator of the Year, and Pharmaceutical Litigation Firm of the Year.
Elite Trial Lawyers recognizes law firms’ outstanding plaintiff work in a “high-stakes bench or jury trial or in a major settlement.” Honorees must have scored a significant win between March 2024 and March 2025 and demonstrated an impressive track record of wins over the last three to five years. Winners will be announced at the JW Marriott Essex House in New York on July 10th.
