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Elizabeth J. Cabraser

Partner

"Justice is a bone-deep urge towards fairness in things large and small. It's the human journey toward a better world."

 

Elizabeth J. Cabraser

  • "One of the nation's premier plaintiffs' firms."

    American Lawyer

  • "Representing the best qualities of the plaintiffs' bar."

    The National Law Journal

  • "Their effective and caring advocacy for clients has earned Lieff Cabraser its first-class reputation."

    The Daily Journal
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  • U.S. News Best Lawyers badge 2011-2012
  • Super Lawyers Nationwide
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Attorneys

A Champion for Justice

Under Elizabeth's leadership, Lieff Cabraser has become one of the country's largest law firms serving clients seeking to redress for financial and consumer fraud, anti-competitive practices, harmful drugs and products, and illegal employment practices. Over three decades, Elizabeth has made sure that our firm remains dedicated to its core values.

Elizabeth possesses unparalleled expertise in complex civil litigation and has served as court-appointed lead, co-lead, or class counsel in over 80 federal multi-district and state coordinated proceedings. She has held leadership roles in cases that resulted in landmark settlements, verdicts, and precedent-setting rulings, including the Exxon Valdez disaster, breast implants, smoker and multi-state tobacco litigation, Fen-Phen (diet drugs), Holocaust litigation, Vioxx, Guidant defibrillators, and Bextra/Celebrex MDL litigations.

A Pillar of the Plaintiffs' Bar

Elizabeth has been repeatedly recognized as one of the foremost litigators in our nation, including being selected an unprecedented four times as one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America by the National Law Journal, which has called her "a pillar of the plaintiffs' bar." The Daily Journal has described Elizabeth as

"a commanding attorney and a role model for other litigators, especially fellow female lawyers."

In 2010, the American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession honored Elizabeth with its Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award. The award recognizes the accomplishments of women lawyers who have excelled in their field and have paved the way to success for other women lawyers. It is regarded by many as the highest honor in the legal profession for women lawyers.

Elizabeth is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Many of our nation’s most accomplished leaders from academia, the social sciences, including the study and practice of the law, business, public affairs, the humanities, and the arts are members of the Academy.

Video

Profile of 2010 Margaret Brent Award recipient Elizabeth Cabraser.

 

Awards & Honors

SuperLawyers, Best Lawyers, Martindale-Hubbell badges

  • AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
  • "100 Most Influential Lawyers in America," The National Law Journal, 1997, 2000, 2006 & 2013
  • "Outstanding Achievement Award," Chambers USA, 2012
  • "Litigation Star," Benchmark Plaintiff (ranked as one of the nation's top litigators for civil rights/human rights, mass torts/product liability, and securities law), 2011-2012
  • "California Litigation Star," Benchmark Plaintiff (ranked as one of California's leading litigators in antitrust, employment/labor law, environmental litigation, False Claims Act, and personal injury law), 2011-2012
  • Best Lawyers in America, based on peer and blue ribbon panel review, selected for list of "San Francisco's Best Lawyers," 2005-2013
  • "Top 100 Attorneys in California," Daily Journal, 2002-2007, 2010-2012
  • "Top California Women Litigators," Daily Journal, 2007, 2010, 2012-2013
  • "Northern California Super Lawyer," Super Lawyers, 2004-2012
  • "Top 10 Northern California Super Lawyer," Super Lawyers, 2011-2012
  • "Top 100 Northern California Super Lawyers," Super Lawyers, 2005-2012
  • "Top 50 Female Northern California Super Lawyers," Super Lawyers, 2005-2012
  • "Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America," Lawdragon, 2005-2011
  • "Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award," American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession, 2010
  • "Edward Pollock Award," Consumer Attorneys of California, 2008
  • "Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiffs' Lawyers," Lawdragon, Winter 2007
  • "50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America," The National Law Journal, 1998, 2007
  • "Award For Public Interest Excellence," University of San Francisco School of Law Public Interest Law Foundation, 2007
  • "Top 75 Women Litigators," Daily Journal, 2005-2006
  • "Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America," Lawdragon, 2006
  • "Distinguished Leadership Award," Legal Community Against Violence, 2006
  • "Women of Achievement Award," Legal Momentum (formerly the NOW Legal Defense & Education Fund), 2006
  • "Top 30 Securities Litigator," Daily Journal, 2005
  • "Top 50 Women Litigators," Daily Journal, 2004
  • "Citation Award," University of California, Berkeley Boalt Hall, 2003
  • "Distinguished Jurisprudence Award," Anti-Defamation League, 2002
  • "Top 30 Women Litigators," California Daily Journal, 2002
  • "Top Ten Women Litigators," The National Law Journal, 2001
  • "Matthew O. Tobriner Public Service Award," Legal Aid Society, 2000
  • "California Law Business Top 100 Lawyers," California Daily Journal, 1998-2000
  • "California Lawyer of the Year (CLAY)," California Lawyer, 1998
  • “Presidential Award of Merit,” Consumer Attorneys of California, 1998
  • "Public Justice Achievement Award," Public Justice, 1997

Publications & Presentations

  • Coordinating Editor, ABA State Class Action Survey (2001-2012)
  • "Due Process Pre-Empted: Stealth Preemption As a Consequence of Agency Capture" (2009)
  • “Just Choose: The Jurisprudential Necessity to Select a Single Governing Law for Mass Claims Arising from Nationally Marketed Consumer Goods and Services,” Roger Williams University Law Review (Winter 2009)
  • "California Class Action Classics," Consumer Attorneys of California (January/February Forum 2009)
  • Co-Author with Joy A. Kruse, Bruce Leppla, "Selective Waiver: Recent Developments in the Ninth Circuit and California," (pts. 1 & 2), Securities Litigation Report (West Legalworks May & June 2005)
  • "The Manageable Nationwide Class: A Choice-of-Law Legacy of Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shutts," University of Missouri-Kansas City Law Review, Volume 74, Number 3, Spring 2006
  • Co-Author with Fabrice N. Vincent, "Class Actions Fairness Act of 2005," California Litigation, Vol. 18, No. 3 (2005)
  • Editor-in-Chief, California Class Actions Practice and Procedures (2003)
  • "A Plaintiffs' Perspective On The Effect of State Farm v. Campbell On Punitive Damages in Mass Torts" (May 2003)
  • Co-Author, "Decisions Interpreting California's Rules of Class Action Procedure," Survey of State Class Action Law, updated and re-published in 5 Newberg on Class Actions (ABA 2001-2004)
  • Co-Author, "Mass But Not (Necessarily) Class: Emerging Aggregation Alternatives Under the Federal Rules," ABA 8th Annual National Institute on Class Actions, New York (Oct. 15, 2004), New Orleans (Oct. 29, 2004)
  • Co-Author, "2004 ABA Toxicology Monograph-California State Law," (January 2004)
  • "Human Rights Violations as Mass Torts: Compensation as a Proxy for Justice in the United States Civil Litigation System"
  • Co-Author with Fabrice N. Vincent, "Ethics and Admissibility: Failure to Disclose Conflicts of Interest in and/or Funding of Scientific Studies and/or Data May Warrant Evidentiary Exclusions," Mealey's December Emerging Drugs Reporter (December 2002)
  • Co-Author with Fabrice N. Vincent, "The Shareholder Strikes Back: Varied Approaches to Civil Litigation Claims Are Available to Help Make Shareholders Whole," Mealey's Emerging Securities Litigation Reporter (September 2002)
  • "Unfinished Business: Reaching the Due Process Limits of Punitive Damages in Tobacco Litigation Through Unitary Classwide Adjudication," 36 Wake Forest Law Review 979 (Winter 2001)
  • "Symposium: Enforcing the Social Contract through Representative Litigation," 33 Connecticut Law Review 1239 (Summer 2001)
  • "Equity for the Victims, Equity for the Transgressor: The Classwide Treatment of Punitive Damages Claims," 74 Tulane Law Review 2005 (June 2000)
  • "Class Action Trends and Developments After Amchem and Ortiz," in Civil Practice and Litigation Techniques in Federal and State Courts (ALI-ABA Course of Study 1999)
  • Contributor/Editor, Moore's Federal Practice (1999)
  • Co-Author, “Preliminary Issues Regarding Forum Selection, Jurisdiction, and Choice of Law in Class Actions,” (December 1999)
  • "Life After Amchem: The Class Struggle Continues," 31 Loyola Law Review 373 (1998)
  • "Recent Developments in Nationwide Products Liability Litigation: The Phenomenon of Non-Injury Products Cases, the Impact of Amchem and the Trend Toward State Court Adjudication," Products Liability (ABA February 1998)
  • Contributor/Editor, California Causes of Action (1998)
  • "Beyond Bifurcation: Multi-Phase Structure in Mass Tort Class Actions," Class Actions & Derivative Suits (Spring 1997)
  • "The Road Not Taken: Thoughts on the Fifth Circuit's Decertification of the Castano Class," SB24 ALI-ABA 433 (1996)
  • "Getting the Word Out: Pre-Certification Notice to Class Members Under Rule 23(d)(2)," Class Actions & Derivative Suits Newsletter (October 1995)
  • "Mass Tort Class Action Settlements," 24 CTLA Forum 11 (January-February 1994)
  • "Do You Know the Way from San Jose? The Evolution of Environmental and Toxic Nuisance Class Actions," Class Actions & Derivative Suits (Spring 1994)
  • "An Oracle of Change? Realizing the Potential of Emerging Fee Award Methodologies for Enhancing The Role and Control of Investors in Derivative and Class Action Suits," Principles of Corporate Governance (ALI October 1994)
  • "How To Streamline Complex Litigation: Tailor a Case Management Order to Your Controversy," 21 The Brief 12 (ABA/TIPS Summer 1992)
  • "The Applicability of the Fraud-On-The-Market Theory to Undeveloped Markets: When Fraud Creates the Market," 12 Class Action Reports 402 (1989)
  • "Mandatory Certification of Settlement Classes," 10 Class Action Reports 151 (1987)

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Practice Areas
Education

  • Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley (J.D., 1978)

     

    University of California, Berkeley (A.B., 1975)

Memberships

  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences
    (Fellow)

  • American Association for Justice
    (Fight for Justice Campaign; Women Trial Lawyers Caucus; California State Liaison)

  • American Bar Association
    (Committee on Mass Torts, Past Co-Chair; Committee on Class Actions and Derivative Suits; Tort and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS); Rules & Procedures Committee, Past Vice-Chair; Civil Procedure & Evidence News Letter, Contributor; Business Law Section)

  • American Law Institute
    (Council; International Jurisdiction and Judgments and Aggregate Litigation Projects, Advisor)

  • Association of Business Trial Lawyers

  • Bar Association of San Francisco
    (Past President, Securities Litigation Section; Board of Directors, 1997-1998; Judiciary Committee)

  • Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit

  • Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom

  • California Constitution Revision Commission
    (1993-1996)

  • California Women Lawyers

  • Consumer Attorneys of California

  • Federal Bar Association
    (Northern District of California Chapter)

  • Federal Civil Rules Advisory Committee
    (Appointed by Supreme Court, 2011)

  • National Center for State Courts Mass Tort Conference Planning Committee

  • Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference

  • Northern District of California Civil Justice Reform Act
    (Advisory Committee; Advisory Committee on Professional Conduct)

  • Public Justice Foundation

  • Queen's Bench

  • State Bar of California

Admissions

  • California

  • U.S. Supreme Court

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

  • U.S. District Court, Central District of California

  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California

  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of California

  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of California

  • U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii

  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan

  • U.S. Tax Court

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