Perlette Jura is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s Los Angeles office.  Her practice focuses on complex trial and appellate litigation.  She co-chairs the firm’s Transnational Litigation Group and its Environmental Social Governance practice.  She has played a key role in a number of the firm’s most high-profile transnational, environmental and technology-driven matters.  Ms. Jura has extensive experience working with the food and beverage, agricultural, aerospace, automotive, emerging technology and energy industries.  In 2021, Ms. Jura was named among the Lawdragon Global Litigation 500, which recognizes those who specialize in international arbitration, public international law and advise leading corporations. She was recognized by Benchmark Litigation as one of the “Top 250 Women in Litigation” in 2020 and 2019.  The Los Angeles Business Journal named Ms. Jura to its list of “Most Influential Women Lawyers” in Los Angeles, featuring 50 of the most accomplished female attorneys working in the region.  In 2020, BTI Consulting Group honored Ms. Jura a Client Service All-Star, an attorney “who stand[s] above all the others in delivering the absolute best in client service.”

Complex and Transnational Litigation: As a co-chair of the firm’s Transnational Litigation Group, Ms. Jura has extensive experience litigating and counseling on multidistrict and cross-border matters, including several mass and class action suits. She has been recognized by Legal 500 as one of the top ten leading transnational litigation lawyers in the country.  Ms. Jura has played a critical role as a master strategist and team leader in several high-profile U.S. matters and transnational trials and appeals. She is regularly relied upon by clients to help them develop comprehensive global strategies and has advised on matters implicating the competing laws of multiple U.S. jurisdictions and the laws of more than 50 countries around the world. She also regularly advises on supply chain liability risks, corporate separateness and cross-border compliance issues.

Environmental Social Governance Practice: Much of Ms. Jura’s cross-border work involves a wide variety of domestic and cross-border supply chain, human rights and tort disputes, including clients involved in manufacturing, food and beverage, agriculture and energy. In addition to litigating these matters, she also provides counseling and advice on to a number of clients on a wide range of ESG issues.

Emerging Technology: With a deep understanding of the global legal framework governing the developing body of law regulating technological developments, Ms. Jura also has substantial experience with matters involving cutting edge technological issues. She co-founded the firm’s Aerospace and Related Technologies group and has worked on a wide range of technology-driven litigation for companies such as Intel, Yahoo, Verizon, Infor, WhatsApp and Facebook, among others.

Community and Firm Involvement. In addition to serving as a practice group leader, Ms. Jura is the firmwide hiring chair. She also sits on the firm’s diversity committee.

Ms. Jura serves on the Board of Trustees for the California Science Center Foundation and the Advisory Committee for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. She is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy, which is dedicated to addressing the world’s transforming global community and giving the West Coast a more effective voice in global development.   Ms. Jura has also served on the Board of Directors for the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, where she is a lifetime member. She is likewise a member of the Women of Stanford Law and the Diversity Law Institute.

Ms. Jura also dedicates substantial time to pro bono matters. In 2012, she received the firm’s annual award for successfully litigating the firm’s Most Challenging Pro Bono Matter, in connection with her work on Norwood v. Bourland, a complex civil rights appeal. In 2014, she served as a Military Commission Observer for the 9/11 proceedings in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Since 2015, Ms. Jura has been partnering with Lawyers Without Borders to help train lawyers and magistrates in Africa to help combat wildlife poaching.

Some of Ms. Jura’s most recent non-confidential matters include:

• Myers v. Starbucks Co., (C.D. Cal.) (defending against consumer deception claims challenging statements regarding supplier and supply chain practices) (motion to dismiss granted without prejudice in July 2020).
• Council for Education and Research on Toxins v. Starbucks Corporation et al. (successfully defeated Proposition 65 challenge to coffee industry).
• Nestlé USA Inc. v. Doe I et al. (U.S. Supreme Court) (defending against ATS aiding and abetting claims, decision pending with U.S. Supreme Court).
• Walker v. Nestlé USA, Inc., No. 3:19-cv-00723 (S.D. Cal.) (defending against consumer deception claims challenging statements regarding supplier and supply chain practices) (ongoing).
• Jane Doe 1 et al., v. Apple Inc. et al. (defending against supply chain claims arising from purchase of products sourced from the DRC).
• You v. Japan, et al. (successfully defending vehicle manufacturers in California against alien tort and RICO claims brought on behalf of a purported class of Korean citizens).
• Worldwide Directories S.A. de C.V. v. Yahoo! Inc. (defeating a $2.7 billion cross-border RICO suit filed in New York arising out of alleged activity in Mexico).
• Manspeaker v. Intel (defeating a series of lawsuits filed in Delaware and Arizona that involved complex choice of law and toxic tort issues).
• Hupan v. Alliance One and related cases (securing dismissal of over 400 toxic tort claims brought on behalf of foreign farmers).
• Chevron Corp. v. Donziger (successfully defending litigation against a fraudulent multibillion dollar Ecuadorian judgment arising from alleged environmental pollution in Ecuador).
• Tellez v. Dole Food Co. (securing dismissal with prejudice of U.S.-filed toxic tort claims alleging that DBCP caused reproductive harm).
• NML Capital, Ltd. v. Republic of Argentina (enforcing unpaid debts against the Republic of Argentina).
• Osorio v. Dole Food Co. (blocking recognition and enforcement of $97 million toxic tort judgment awarded by Nicaraguan court without due process or evidence of causation).

Recent Publications and Presentations

• Gibson Dunn Discusses Mandatory Corporate Human Rights Due Diligence (CLS Blue Sky Blog, March 24, 2021) (contributing author).
• Enforcement of Foreign Judgements 2020 (Getting the Deal Through, September 2019) (contributing author).
• “Appeals 2019” (Getting the Deal Through, June, 2019) (contributing author).
• Enforcement of Foreign Judgments 2019 (Getting the Deal Through, October, 2018) (contributing author).
• One Small Step or One Giant Leap? FAA Releases Final Rules on Commercial Drone Use in the United States (Client Alert, June 27, 2016) (contributing author).
• Courts Make Doing Good Abroad Bad for Business At Home (Law360, January 14, 2016).
• International Aspects of U.S. Litigation: Practitioner’s Deskbook (ABA, 2016) (contributing author).
• Enforcement of Foreign Judgments 2015 in 29 Jurisdictions Worldwide (Getting the Deal Through, September, 2015) (contributing author).
• Enforcing Arbitration Awards in California (Practical Law, 2015) (contributing author).
• Disparate Treatment of the Corporate Citizen: Stark Differences Across Borders in Transnational Lawsuits (Business Law International, May 2014).
• Economic Rising Stars in Latin America (Pacific Council on International Policy, 2014 Spring Conference).
• Semiconductor Birth Defect Cases Keep Unraveling In Delaware (Law360, March 12, 2014).
• Enforcement of Foreign Judgments 2014 in 29 Jurisdictions Worldwide (Getting the Deal Through, September, 2013) (contributing author).
• The Outer Limits of Expert Testimony Gatekeeping (Law360, March 13, 2013).
• Successful Global Strategies for Litigating Cross-Border Disputes in the United States (ABA, 2012).
• Legal Globetrotting II: Recognizing & Enforcing Foreign Judgments and Arbitral Awards (ABA, Miami 2012) (presentation for the American Bar Association, Section of International Law).
• Enforcing Workers’ Compensation in Toxic Tort Birth Defects Cases (American College of Environmental Lawyers, Jan. 2012).
• Confronting the New Breed of Transnational Litigation: Abusive Foreign Judgments (U.S. Chamber of Commerce (PLI), 2011).
• Unconstitutional Judgments for Import: Constitutional Limitations on Recognition and Enforcement of Abusive Foreign Judgments (Pepperdine Law Review, 2011).
• Legal Globetrotting: Recognizing & Enforcing Foreign Judgments and Arbitral Awards (ABA, Dublin 2011) (presented for the American Bar Association, Section of International Law).
• Forum Non Conveniens and Foreign-Judgment Recognition: Different Sides of Different Coins (Defense Research Institute, 2011).
• Transnational Litigation and Foreign Judgments: Litigating Recognition and Enforcement Actions in the United States and Developing a Successful Global Strategy (ABA, 2011).
• A New Transnational Battleground (presented for the Los Angeles County Bar Association in Los Angeles, October 2010).

Education & Background.   Before joining the firm, Ms. Jura served as a law clerk to the Honorable Pamela Ann Rymer of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Ms. Jura graduated Order of the Coif from Stanford Law School. She was an Executive Editor of Stanford Law Review and received the Board of Editors Award.   Ms. Jura was also the Student Director of the Stanford Community Law Clinic, and a graduate advisor and teacher.   During her time at Stanford, she was awarded the Public Interest and Pro Bono Service Award and a Stanford Law School Fellowship. Ms. Jura graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she was the Commencement Speaker at the Fine Arts & Humanities ceremony.

Ms. Jura is a Fellow with the Litigation Counsel of America. She is licensed to practice in the State of California. the District of Columbia and New York.   She is admitted to appear before the Supreme Court of the United States and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits, in addition to the Northern, Southern and Central Districts of California and the Northern District of Illinois. She is a member of the International Bar Association, the American Bar Association’s Transnational Legal Practice Committee, and the Association’s International Courts Committee and the International Litigation Committee.