Linda Smith
Partner
Linda Smith is a partner in O'Melveny’s Century City office, a member of the Business Trial and Litigation Practice, and a member of
The American Lawyer's 2004 “Litigation Department of the Year.” She has been named a "Top Woman Litigator" by the
National Law Journal and a "Top Woman Litigator" by the
Los Angeles Daily Journal every year since the list's inception in 2004. According to the
Los Angeles Business Journal, Ms. Smith is one of the two "go-to lawyers at O'Melveny" for complex litigation.
Ms. Smith specializes in high-stakes litigation that goes to trial, and has been lead trial counsel in litigation involving antitrust law suits, securities fraud, SEC enforcement actions, RICO, professional liability, healthcare, oil spills, disputes between the major entertainment studios, and litigation over system-wide software implementation. Her litigation experience includes both private parties and government entities.
Illustrative Professional Experience
Antitrust, RICO, Securities Fraud, and SEC Enforcement Actions
- Most recently, Ms. Smith was co-lead counsel representing Advanced Micro Devices ("AMD") in its long running, multi-jurisdictional antitrust litigation against Intel Corporation. The civil case was the biggest private antitrust case ever litigated and settled on the eve of trial for US $1.25 billion—one of the largest settlements ever achieved in antitrust litigation by a single plaintiff—and Intel's agreement to a series of game-changing reforms of its marketplace behavior and rights to Intel's patent portfolio
- Intel ultimately settled in part as the result of the OMM coordinated regulatory actions brought by the New York Attorney General, the Japanese Fair Trade Commission, the Korean, Taiwanese, and Canadian antitrust authorities, the European Commission—which imposed on Intel an eye-popping US$1.45 billion fine—and the threat of action (now taken) by the Federal Trade Commission which resulted in an August 4, 2010 consent decree
- Represented PricewaterhouseCoopers in the worldwide million member RICO class action by all depositors following the collapse of the world’s fifth largest bank, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International
- Represented Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. (as the underwriter of the bond offering) in the 10(b)(5) enforcement action test case against a Wall Street firm stemming from Orange County’s bankruptcy and in the litigation brought by Orange County for the sale of over US$2 billion worth of reverse repurchase agreements and restructured notes to Orange County’s Treasurer, Robert L. Citron
- Represents PricewaterhouseCoopers in class action securities litigation, SEC enforcement action and in a multi-billion dollar civil action alleging the improper formation and off balance sheet treatment of special purpose entities
- Represented Humana Inc. in the consolidated nationwide class actions filed by all members of the largest managed care organizations (a class estimated at over 100 million members) alleging RICO and ERISA violations and by all providers of healthcare services to the largest managed care organizations alleging, inter alia, RICO, fraud, and conspiracy
- Represented PricewaterhouseCoopers in mass action securities fraud litigation stemming from the sale of limited real estate partnership interests.
- Represented Baldwin United (in what was at that time the world’s largest bankruptcy) in litigation against the Department of Justice and lawsuits unraveling alleged securities fraud and insider dealing
- Represented HCA–The Healthcare Company and Humana, Inc. in antitrust and RICO class actions alleging undisclosed discounting arrangements, upcharging, bundling and overbilling of the underinsured and indigent
- Represented PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG in formal investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission
Entertainment Litigation
- Represented the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in federal court against dick clark productions and its now owner, private equity firm Red Capital Partners, controlled by the owner of the Washington Redskins, Dan Snyder. At issue were the rights to the Golden Globe Awards Show with the defendants advancing a novel theory of perpetual rights so long as the Awards Show was on NBC. As a result of the players, the studio executive witnesses (including the head of CBS Leslie Moonves and the then-head of NBC Entertainment Marc Graboff) and the possible implications for the television industry of the Court’s ruling, this case received worldwide attention. A motion is pending to enter judgment on Phase 1 of this lawsuit in order to certify that judgment for immediate appellate review.
- Represented Warner Home Video in class action litigation brought by all independent video retailers against the major studios, Viacom and Blockbuster alleging antitrust violations
- Represented Time Warner in a 10-year running dispute commencing with a lawsuit against Giancarlo Parreti and Pathe in their bid to purchase MGM Studios and continuing with multiple ongoing disputes regarding worldwide video rights distribution practices in MGM’s vast library
- Represented LaFace Records (a partnership of Arista Records with Baby Face and Antonio Reid) against Toni Braxton in precedent setting case regarding her attempted termination of her employment contract
- Represented Paramount Pictures in a dispute with another studio over a key executive
- Represented Warner Bros. in a dispute in Germany regarding ownership and transferability of digital video rights
Oil Spill Litigation
- Represented Exxon in the Valdez oil spill litigation brought by the native corporations and municipalities
- Represented William Herskovic in litigation against Tesoro regarding environmental spill
Malpractice/Lender Liability Litigation
- Represented Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison in legal malpractice action
- Represented PricewaterhouseCoopers for the past 30 years in accounting malpractice lawsuits brought by clients, third party guarantors, and potential purchases of clients’ assets
- Represented Prudential Securities regarding lender liability issues in the commercial mortgage backed securities market
Breach of Commercial Agreements
- Represented the Regents of the University of California in a class action stemming from its management of the Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories, in lawsuits stemming from their implementation of voluntary early retirement programs, and in a lawsuit in which the Regents sought to protect the retirement security of both University and all public-sector employees in California against a community property rights challenge
- Represented PricewaterhouseCoopers’ information technology services in lawsuits arising out of worldwide software systems implementation
- Represented HCA–The Healthcare Company in arbitration with its largest HMO provider
- Represented IBM in litigation against outside vendors for millions of dollars in over billing
- Represented Larry Lawrence in a lawsuit against his former partner regarding ownership of the Hotel Del Coronado and resulting tax consequences
- Represented American Savings Bank in a multibillion dollar dispute with the FDIC
- Represents PricewaterhouseCoopers (and obtained summary judgment on behalf of all 17 major defendants) in a half billion dollar suit arising out of the spin-off of assets and liabilities from a parent company into a separate corporation
Professional Activities
Admitted to Practice, US District Court, Central, Northern, Eastern, and Southern Districts of California; US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; US Supreme Court
Board of Directors, Los Angeles County Bar Foundation and its Grants Committee
Commissioner, City of Los Angeles Commission on the Status of Women
Honors, Repeatedly named one of the "Top 50 Women Litigators" in California by the
Los Angeles Daily Journal, one of America's Top "50 Women Litigators" by the
National Law Journal, and a “Super Lawyer” in the survey conducted by
Law and Politics Media Inc., and published annually in
Los Angeles Magazine. Was deemed "The Meanest Woman Alive" by
Corporate Board Member Magazine