Elisabeth Theodore focuses on appellate and complex civil litigation in state and federal courts. She has argued in the U.S. Supreme Court and many federal and state courts of appeals, and she has briefed cases in the Supreme Court and federal appellate courts on a host of issues ranging from voting rights to antitrust liability to preemption to novel matters of state and federal constitutional interpretation. She has obtained appellate reversals of multiple multi-million-dollar adverse trial verdicts. Elisabeth has also played a leading role in many of the most significant voting rights cases of the last several years, including successfully challenging the addition of a citizenship question to the Decennial Census and successfully challenging North Carolina and Pennsylvania's congressional districting as unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders under state law. Elisabeth has been named a "Rising Star" by Law360 and the National Law Journal.
Elisabeth was a law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the United States Supreme Court and Judge Merrick B. Garland of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Before joining the firm, she served as special counsel to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where she focused on national security and cyber matters. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, where she served as the articles, book reviews, and commentaries chair of the Harvard Law Review.
Experience
- Argued in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the North Carolina NAACP in Berger v. NC NAACP.
- North Carolina voters in successfully challenging North Carolina's felony disenfranchisement provisions.
- Iowans with disabilities in successfully winning injunction under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehab Act.
- North Carolina voters in successfully challenging North Carolina legislative and congressional maps as unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders.
- Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton, 137 S. Ct. 1652 (2017). Lead briefwriter representing three hospital systems before the Supreme Court in litigation involving pension plans; obtained unanimous victory and reversal of decisions of three courts of appeals.
- GN Netcom, Inc. v. Plantronics Inc. (3rd Cir. 2019). Successfully briefed and argued appeal of jury verdict in antitrust lawsuit on behalf of audio headset manufacturer, resulting in a reversal and a new trial on multi-hundred-million-dollar antitrust claims.
- BNSF v. Loos (U.S. Supreme Court). Drafted merits briefs for BNSF before the Supreme Court in a case concerning the calculation of employment taxes for railroad workers (decision is pending).
- Dolin v. GlaxoSmithKline LLC (7th Cir.). Represented GSK in successfully persuading the Seventh Circuit to reverse a jury verdict and find that failure-to-warn claims were preempted by federal law.
- Pennsylvania voters in landmark partisan gerrymandering lawsuit in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Secured a new congressional map for Pennsylvania in 2018. Led briefing successfully convincing the U.S. Supreme Court to deny review. Successfully argued before the Third Circuit in defense of a fee award in connection with the case (League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 921 F.3d 378 (3d Cir. 2019)).
- Largest steel producer in the United States in antitrust litigation in the Fifth Circuit; lead briefwriter in securing a reversal of a $150-million-plus trial verdict.
- Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association in D.C. Circuit litigation successfully obtaining a stay of novel EPA regulation.
- Major semiconductor manufacturer in civil RICO litigation in Florida district court; successfully argued motion to dismiss.
- Fortune 20 technology company in multiple consumer class actions in federal district courts in Washington, California, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
- Federal prisoner serving a life sentence for drug-related crimes. Argued case and secured unanimous victory in appeal before the D.C. Circuit; on remand, successfully negotiated a reduction in sentence and client's release from prison.
- Detroit's two pension funds in Sixth Circuit litigation during Detroit's Chapter 9 bankruptcy petition.
- Multinational software company in class action litigation involving alleged breach of customer data in federal district court in California.
- Fortune 50 company in putative toxic tort class action litigation in federal district court in California.
- Major real estate developer in contract dispute with another real estate developer in state court.
- Briefing on merits matters, certiorari, and on behalf of amici in the Supreme Court, including in Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton, Nos. 16-74, 16-86, and 16-258 (2017); Bravo-Fernandez v. United States, No. 15-537 (2016); Pro-Football Inc. v. Blackhorse, (No. 15-1311) (2016); Fitch Ratings v. First Community Bank, N.A., No. 15-1151 (2017) (amicus); American Cyanamid v. Gibson, No. 14-849 (2015); Lane v. Franks, 573 U.S. --- (2014) (amicus).
Perspectives
Recognition
Credentials
- J.D., Harvard Law School, 2009, magna cum laude
- A.B., Harvard College, 2005, cum laude
- District of Columbia
- Maryland
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Special Counsel to the Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation
- United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, The Honorable Merrick B. Garland
- Supreme Court of the United States, The Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg