Ellsworth, Laura E.

Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

Laura Ellsworth practices across a wide range of complex litigation matters, including toxic torts, product liability, insurance, intellectual property, employment, and ERISA. She has been involved in a number of multijurisdictional product liability and bankruptcy matters, several of which have resulted in significant appellate rulings on novel issues such as market share liability and public nuisance. Her work includes coordinating and litigating nationwide matters for various clients, and she has appeared in numerous federal and state courts throughout the U.S.

In 2008, Laura was a lead lawyer in the landmark public nuisance case in which the Rhode Island Supreme Court rejected an attorney general's attempt to apply public nuisance law to the manufacture and sale of products. Previously, she represented the creditor's committee in the largest bankruptcy of a health system in the U.S. In 2008, she was named by Governor Edward Rendell as one of Pennsylvania's "Best 50 Women in Business."

Laura has been involved extensively in electronic discovery and has served as a managing editor of The Sedona Principles: Best Practices Recommendations and Principles for Addressing Electronic Document Production. She currently serves on the Firm's e-Discovery Committee and has participated actively in federal and state rulemaking in this area. Laura is also Partner-in-Charge of the Pittsburgh Office.

Areas of Practice

• Trial Practice
• Intellectual Property
• Corporate Compliance Programs
• e-Discovery
• Consumer Products & Retail
• Financial Services
• Life Sciences

Representative Cases

• AHERF creditors' committee pursues claims against certain officers and trustees of health care system
• CBS Corporation prevails in 3rd Circuit appeal of ERISA action regarding entitlement to retiree benefits
• CBS Corporation successful defense of ERISA claims is affirmed on appeal
• GE defends against putative nationwide class action alleging discrimination against women in executive pay and promotions , (2009)
• NOVA Chemicals seeks corporate counsel advice
• Official Creditors Committee of AHERF seeks judicial declaration that D&O insurance polices not subject to rescission by carriers
• Safelite Glass wins summary judgment in unfair competition action against call center operations
• Sherwin-Williams prevails in landmark public nuisance suit over lead pigment before Rhode Island Supreme Court , (2009)
• Sherwin-Williams successfully defends temporary restraining order/preliminary injunction action seeking enforcement of non-compete agreement involving senior executive

West Practice Categories

Bankruptcy Litigation, Class Actions, Complex Litigation, Copyrights, Federal Appellate Practice, Federal Claims Court, Federal Trial Practice, Intellectual Property Law, International Intellectual Property, International Trade Litigation, Litigation & Appeals, Military & Veterans Appeals, Multidistrict Litigation, Patent Litigation, Patents, State Appellate Practice, State Trial Practice, Tax Litigation, Technology Licensing, Trade Dress, Trade Secrets, Trademarks, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, US Supreme Court

Bar Admissions

• Pennsylvania

Education

• Princeton University
• U of Pittsburgh- Pitt (Main)

Published Works

• A Privacy Primer for Corporate Counsel, Thomson Reuters/Aspatore, 2009
• Surviving Through Service, Pittsburgh Business Times, 2009
• Let Data Speak Equally to All: The Production, Protection and Use of Raw Data in Litigation, American Bar Association Expert Alert, Vol. 4, No. 3, 2008
• Amicus Brief on Adoption of Section 2 of Restatment (Third) of Torts, Bugosh v. I.U. North America, Inc., Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, coauthor, 7 WAP 2008, 2008
• Let Data Speak Equally to All: The Increasing Importance of Raw Data in Litigation and a Proposal for Principles Governing the Production, Protection, and Use of Raw Data In the Litigation Context, Mass Torts, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2008
• E-Discovery: Recent Case Developments and the Impact of the Revised Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on Litigation, 2007
• Chapter 8: Privilege, Understanding the New E-Discovery Rules, Defense Research Institute, 2006
• E-Discovery-Related Changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 2006
• An Introduction To Select Key Legal Issues Surrounding Electronic Discovery, Mealey's Litigation Report: Discovery, Vol. 1, Issue #5, 2004
• Coauthor of “Multidistrict Litigation” chapter of the multivolume treatise Business Practice in Federal Courts, 1998

Address

500 Grant Street, Suite 4500
Pittsburgh, PA 15219-2514

Phones

1.412.394.7929 (Business Phone)

Faxes

1.412.394.7959 (Business Fax)

Emails

Contact Us (Business Email)

Websites

http://www.jonesday.com