Elizabeth Scully serves as BakerHostetler's Washington, D.C. Litigation Group Leader. She is a skilled trial attorney with more than 25 years of complex civil litigation experience, including litigating consumer protection and data privacy class action matters, complex commercial and contract disputes, whistleblower retaliation and employment discrimination claims and fiduciary litigation. Elizabeth advocates for clients in state and federal courtrooms throughout the country and brings a creative and strategic mindset to her cases to achieve the clients' objectives.
Elizabeth's extensive breadth of litigation experience spans numerous practice areas and industries. She has successfully tried bench and jury cases to verdict in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland and regularly defends clients in the extremely fast-paced "Rocket Docket" in the Eastern District of Virginia. Elizabeth is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and serves on the Executive Committee and Board of the Council for Court Excellence (CCE).
Class Action Litigation
- Defending numerous hospital systems in putative class actions regarding use of advertising and tracking technologies on their websites.
Commercial and Business Litigation
- Led trial teams in a variety of matters in the United States and abroad stemming from the firm's appointment as counsel to the SIPA Trustee in the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. The team's efforts are concentrated on the investigation and recovery of assets from off-shore hedge funds. Recoveries will be added to the fund of customer property, which will be distributed pro rata to the customers of the Madoff Ponzi scheme with allowed claims.
Fiduciary Litigation
- Served as trial counsel for trustees in litigation involving the termination and winding-up of a trust lasting more than 90 years. The matter involved trust assets in excess of $4 billion and issues of first impression under the Ohio Trust Code.
Employment Litigation
- Represented a multinational information and technology equipment and services company in a gender and race discrimination matter in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (aka the "Rocket Docket"). Elizabeth's innovative approach for preparing and defending a corporate executive for the Rule 30(b)(6) deposition in that matter was commended by the court. Ultimately, the court granted summary judgment on behalf of the client.
First Amendment, Defamation Litigation
- In a defamation action brought by a former U.S.D.A. official, led the trial team's discovery efforts against the Executive Office of the White House, the U.S.D.A. and several U.S. congressmen. Obtained a rare order in civil litigation between private parties in which the government was required to produce confidential emails by and between White House staff and the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.
Professional Malpractice Litigation
- Represented a cardiac surgeon against the claim that post-operative care caused blindness in one eye. The three-week jury trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia resulted in a defense verdict. Defense verdict was affirmed by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.