Five O'Melveny Partners Recognized as "Top 100 Women Litigators in California"

5월 13, 2009

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Andrea Rodeschini
O'Melveny & Myers LLP
212.326.2251
arodeschini@omm.com

Piper Hall
O'Melveny & Myers LLP
202.220.5022
phall@omm.com

LOS ANGELES, CA - O’Melveny & Myers LLP partners Debra Belaga, Carla Christofferson, Carolyn Kubota, Meredith Landy, and Linda Smith have been named by the Daily Journal among the “Top 100 Women Litigators in California” for 2009.

With five women partners among the group, O’Melveny led all law firms this year in the number of lawyers on the list. Equally impressive and noteworthy, 2009 marks Smith’s sixth consecutive appearance on the list.

The 2009 list identifies the women litigators in California who have achieved important victories in the most significant cases and who have established themselves as leaders both in their practice areas and in the profession at large.

“This is a well-deserved recognition of five of our finest adversarial partners,” said Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr., Chair of O’Melveny & Myers LLP. “It’s a special point of pride, and a testament to O’Melveny’s enduring commitment to diversity and excellence, that the Firm has more lawyers than all other firms among this august group.”

Smith is a partner in O'Melveny’s Century City office and a member of the Business Trial and Litigation Practice. Her principal area of concentration is major-case litigation, including co-heading the Firm’s representation of Sunnyvale-based client Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Most recently, Smith led an antitrust case against Santa Clara-based Intel Corp. in Delaware District Court, where she took the deposition of Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell Inc. The Daily Journal notes, “For the last four years, Smith has worked exclusively on the AMD case, the largest Section 2 antitrust case ever brought in the United States. In the case, Advanced Micro Devices claims that Intel has an unlawful monopoly over the worldwide microprocessor market.” Beyond the AMD matter, Smith has been lead trial counsel in bet-the-company cases over the years involving securities fraud, SEC enforcement actions, antitrust litigation, RICO, professional liability, healthcare, oil spills, disputes between the major entertainment studios, and litigation over system-wide software implementation.

Belaga, the head of the Litigation Department for O’Melveny’s San Francisco office is a member of the Business Trial and Litigation Practice. She is an experienced litigator who regularly serves as national litigation counsel for public companies. Her wide-ranging commercial litigation practice includes mass torts and class actions around the country, appellate work, environmental litigation, civil and criminal enforcement, fiduciary duty and corporate governance litigation, and bankruptcy litigation. In praising her work as national litigation counsel for Lennar Corp., the Daily Journal describes how Belaga and an O’Melveny team obtained “a dramatic dismissal of the lawsuit on the eve of trial in November, based on admissions by the plaintiff secured in a final deposition session.”

Christofferson is managing partner of O'Melveny's Los Angeles office and a member of the Business Trial and Litigation Practice. Her practice focuses on commercial civil litigation, including litigation involving energy, natural resources, environmental, unfair trade practices, accountant liability, and contract disputes. This past year, Christofferson led a litigation team representing long-time client ExxonMobil Corp. in two administrative hearings before a committee of Alaska state officials. As a result of “relying significantly on testimony prepared by Christofferson and her team,” the Daily Journal reports the officials decided the company should be allowed to drill this season and that at least two of its leases should be reinstated.

Kubota is a partner in the White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations Practice in Los Angeles, where she focuses on civil and criminal trials, white-collar criminal defense, internal corporate investigations, and civil fraud actions. This past year, Kubota “scored” a defense judgment for Los Angeles-based tooth whitening manufacturer Discus Dental and three of its shareholders who faced a suit by a minority shareholder. Kubota recently scored a significant victory as lead counsel for Jack Wolter in United States v. W.R. Grace, Eschenbach, Wolter, et.al, the largest-ever federal criminal prosecution of alleged violations of the Clean Air Act when a federal court jury acquitted Wolter, W.R. Grace, and two other former Grace executives of conspiracy to obstruct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and to endanger the community of Libby, Montana.

Landy is the head of the Litigation Department in the Silicon Valley office and a partner in the Securities Litigation Practice. She represents companies in diverse geographies and industries, and their officers and directors, in securities class actions, shareholder derivative actions, regulatory proceedings, and special investigations. The Daily Journal highlights several of Landy’s most significant cases from last year, including her counseling of semiconductor manufacturer Microsemi Corporation through a high-profile “Diplomagate” matter involving highly sensitive board inquiries and speculation of shareholder lawsuits, and her successful settlement of federal shareholder litigation against chip design software client Magma Design Automation for less than a quarter of what plaintiffs originally sought.

About O’Melveny & Myers LLP

With more than 1,000 lawyers in 14 offices worldwide, O’Melveny & Myers LLP helps industry leaders across a broad array of sectors manage the complex challenges of succeeding in the global economy. We are a values-driven law firm, guided by the principles of excellence, leadership, and citizenship. Our commitment to these values is reflected in our dedication to improving access to justice through pro bono work and championing initiatives that increase the diversity of the legal profession. For more information, please visit www.omm.com.