Rachael A. Rezabek is a Senior Counsel in the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a member of the Firm’s Litigation Practice Group. Her practice focuses primarily on consumer protection investigations and class action litigation, as well as pharmaceutical antitrust matters.

Rachael received her Juris Doctor from the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law in 2014, where she was Executive Senior Editor of the Southern California Law Review. In 2009, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the Ohio State University, where she graduated magna cum laude.

Rachael is admitted to practice law in California, Texas, and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Recent Representations:*

  • Represented multi-level marketing company in securities fraud class action concerning pyramid scheme allegations. Successfully drafted and argued opposition to class certification as to plaintiff’s 10b-5 claim.*
  • Represented multi-level marketing company in false advertising class action. Drafted successful motion to dismiss. Drafted and negotiated complex classwide, claims-made reversionary settlement.*
  • Represented a health-related technology company in first-of-its-kind Health Breach Notification Rule FTC investigation leading to settlement creating new ground rules for health-related online marketing.*
  • Represented a brand pharmaceutical manufacturer in district court antitrust litigation against claims by consumers and other direct and indirect purchasers alleging that the company maintained a monopoly in the HIV drug market by unlawfully extending its patent protection for its blockbuster HIV drugs. After a six-week jury trial, a San Francisco jury returned a complete defense verdict, rejecting the plaintiffs’ claims seeking more than $10 billion in damages.  This case is only the third reverse payment antitrust case ever to go to verdict (even though more than 30 such cases have been filed in the 12 years since the Supreme Court blessed this theory of antitrust liability in 2013), and the first verdict for defendants on the dispositive threshold issues of no market power and no anticompetitive payment.*
  • Trial counsel for pharmaceutical manufacturer in indirect purchaser antitrust class action alleging unlawful reverse payment in violation of Actavis related to settlement of patent litigation involving the blockbuster Alzheimer’s drug Namenda.* The case settled on terms highly favorable to the manufacturer.
  • Represented fintech company to defend FTC action in N.D. Cal. alleging violations of Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (the “GLBA”), achieved dismissal of the GLBA claim at summary judgment and settled the remaining allegations for less than 2% of the FTC’s litigation demand.*
  • Represented a pharmaceutical company in a consolidated MDL antitrust putative class action involving complex patent- and FDA-related monopolization claims predicated on allegations of delayed entry of generic drugs.
  • Served as a member of the trial counsel defending a satellite television service provider against the Federal Trade Commission in a lawsuit alleging deceptive advertising and alleged violations of the Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act. Following a bench trial, the district court granted in part the client’s motion for judgment on partial findings, and the case was subsequently dismissed by the FTC with prejudice.*
  • Represented a global hospitality and entertainment company in connection with an internal investigation relating to a mass shooting.*
  • Represented numerous clients in defending against consumer class actions brought under California’s CLRA, UCL, and FAL relating to consumer products such as soap and dietary supplements.*
  • Represented numerous survivors of domestic violence in obtaining new or renewed domestic violence restraining orders.*

*Includes matters handled prior to joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

Michael Holecek is a litigation partner in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where he handles high profile, bet-the-company lawsuits, arbitrations, and appeals. Companies in the gig economy, technology, and healthcare industries hire Michael when regulators or class action plaintiffs threaten to disrupt a company’s business model or impose billions of dollars in liability. Michael is lead counsel in the People of California’s lawsuit seeking to reclassify over one million gig workers, an enforcement action by the City of Chicago seeking penalties and restitution for allegedly deceptive consumer practices, numerous putative class actions and mass actions against Amazon and UnitedHealth, and a constitutional challenge by Uber, Grubhub, and DoorDash against New York City for illegal price-fixing laws.

Michael is the go-to lawyer for enforcing arbitration agreements and defending against novel “mass arbitrations.” He has successfully litigated dozens of motions to compel arbitration and class action waivers in California, New York, Florida, Illinois, and other states. In 2023, Michael presented to the ABA National Class Actions Conference on arbitration agreements, class action waivers, and mass arbitration.

Michael is also a nationally recognized expert in worker classification – including independent-contractor misclassification litigation, the Federal Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), California’s Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”), class action employment lawsuits, and lawsuits against staffing agencies and gig economy platforms. 

Michael was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2022 Ones to Watch in Mass Tort Litigation / Class Action.

Consumer class actions and regulatory actions

  • Lead counsel for DoorDash in the City of Chicago’s enforcement action seeking restitution and penalties for allegedly false advertising, misleading menu pricing, deceptive promotions, and tipping practices.
  • Defending Sunrise Assisted Living in a consumer class action alleging inadequate staffing and false advertising.
  • Defeated a putative, nationwide class action brought by dozens of plaintiffs alleging fraud and breach-of-warranty claims against Yamaha.
  • Overturned a $173 million penalty by the California Department of Insurance against a UnitedHealth subsidiary.

Labor and employment and gig economy

  • Defended DoorDash in a series of putative class actions, PAGA actions, and FLSA actions pending in California state and federal courts, asserting that DoorDash has misclassified delivery drivers as independent contractors.
  • Defended Big 4 accounting firm against multiple nationwide wage-and-hour class actions and FLSA actions.
  • Defended staffing agency in California class action; obtained dismissal of claims without prejudice and then reached favorable classwide settlement.
  • Representing Uber, DoorDash, and Grubhub in high profile lawsuits against the City of New York regarding unconstitutional laws that cap commission rates, set minimum wages for independent contractor delivery drivers, and force companies to disclose private consumer data.
  • Presented CLE course on “PAGA and the Gig Economy” at the 2022 Employment Practices Liability Insurance conference.
  • Presented CLE course titled “Independent Contractor Classification” in 2022.
  • Presented CLE course titled “Is Antitrust Becoming HR’s Biggest Headache?” in 2022.

Appeals

  • Prevailed in several cases that enforced OptumRx’s arbitration agreements, including Copper Bend Pharmacy v. OptumRx (Illinois Appellate Court 2023) (Michael argued), and JC Resources v.OptumRx (Florida Court of Appeals 2023) (Michael argued).
  • Facebook, Inc. v. Superior Court (Cal. Supreme Ct. 2018): Unanimous ruling holding that the Stored Communications Act safeguards private social-media communications, even if they are posted or shared with a large group friends or followers.
  • Kramer v. Toyota Motor Corporation (9th Cir. 2016): Unanimous decision affirming summary judgment for auto manufacturer in alleged product-defect class-action lawsuit.
  • Daimler AG v. Bauman (U.S. Supreme Court 2014): Unanimous decision reversing the Ninth Circuit and holding that it violates due process to exercise general personal jurisdiction over a foreign corporation based on the in-State activities of a corporate subsidiary.
  • The Standard Fire Insurance Co. v. Knowles (U.S. Supreme Court 2013): Unanimous decision rejecting a putative class representative’s attempt to evade federal jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act by use of a stipulation purporting to limit classwide damages.
  • Hollingsworth v. Perry (U.S. Supreme Court 2013): Landmark decision holding that proponents of California’s ban on same-sex marriage did not have standing to appeal the district court’s order invalidating the ban.

Recent publications

Michael serves on the Board of Directors of Family Violence Appellate Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free legal representation to domestic violence survivors. In 2017, Michael was selected by the Carl & Roberta Deutsch Foundation as a HALO Award winner for his work on behalf of domestic-violence survivors. He was also honored as a winner of Gibson Dunn’s Frank Wheat Memorial Award for his commitment to pro bono work.

He earned his law degree with high honors from the University of Chicago Law School in 2011. While at Chicago, he was a member of the University of Chicago Law Review. Michael was runner-up in the Hinton Moot Court Competition and winner of the Karl Llewellyn Cup and the Thomas R. Mulroy Award for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy. He was a Kirkland & Ellis Scholar and was elected to the Order of the Coif.

Michael graduated magna cum laude from Rollins College in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a minor in Fine Art. Before attending law school, he founded and served as Managing Director of ERA Real Estate, the second largest residential real estate network in the Czech Republic.

He is admitted to practice in the State of California and the State of Florida.

Laura Raposo is an Associate General Counsel based in Gibson Dunn’s New York office. Prior to joining the Firm’s Office of General Counsel, Laura practiced in the Firm’s Litigation Department, where she primarily represented tech industry clients in high-stakes commercial disputes.  Laura also maintains an active pro bono practice focused on immigration matters.

From 2016 to 2017, Laura served as a law clerk to the Honorable Edgardo Ramos of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. She received her Juris Doctor degree in 2013 from Yale Law School, where she was an editor on The Yale Law Journal. Laura received her Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, from Barnard College in 2008.

She is admitted to practice in the State of New York and before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Cheyenne Joshua-Gross is an associate in the San Francisco office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where she practices in the firm’s Litigation Department.

Cheyenne earned her J.D. from Stanford Law School in 2024, where she served as Co-President of the Black Law Students Association. She represented indigent criminal clients through Stanford’s Three Strikes Project and Criminal Defense Clinic, notably arguing and securing a motion for early termination of her client’s three-year supervised release term in the Northern District of California. Additionally, Cheyenne was a Teaching Assistant for 1L Criminal Law and a Research Assistant to Professor Richard Ford.

Before attending law school, Cheyenne graduated from Carleton College with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Neuroscience.

She is admitted to practice in the State of California.

Hannah Morris is an Associate in the Dallas, Texas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She is a member of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group.

Hannah earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2022. During law school, Hannah served on the leadership board of a child advocacy student group and worked as a research assistant, where she drafted portions of the Restatement of the Law, Children and the Law. Hannah graduated magna cum laude in 2017 from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy & French. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Before law school, Hannah taught fourth grade in North Carolina as a Teach for America corps member.

Hannah is admitted to practice in the States of Texas and New York, as well as in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

Michael Landell is an associate in Gibson Dunn’s Palo Alto office where he is a member of the Artificial Intelligence and Privacy, Cybersecurity, and Data Innovation practice groups.

Michael has extensive experience advising clients with respect to regulatory and transactional matters involving novel and existing technology.

Michael earned his LL.M. degree in 2016 from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and his Juris Doctor degree from The University of Western Ontario in 2014. While in law school Michael was a lead researcher for Professor Richard H. McLaren, law review editor, and provided pro bono guidance as a member of the Sport Solution Legal Clinic.

Michael is a member of the State Bar of California and New York.

Michael is also an Adjunct Professor at Queen’s University Faculty of Law.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Michael was an associate in the Privacy and Cybersecurity practice group at another multinational law firm.

Bina Nayee is an associate in the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department, as well as the Privacy, Cybersecurity, and Data Innovation Practice Group, and the Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Group. She began her practice in the firm’s New York office, where she worked on high-stakes constitutional and complex litigation as well as emergency litigation seeking temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions.

Representative matters include:

  • Represented top social media company in multiple nonpublic FTC investigations related to third party-information sharing.
  • Successfully defended leading online retailer against COVID-19 workplace safety claims asserted by New York Attorney General.
  • Defended major cloud-services technology company in five-day trial in Delaware Chancery Court action, second-chairing key client witness examination and participating in all stages of litigation from motion practice to post-trial briefing.
  • Won summary judgment for healthcare technology company and its founders in lawsuit filed by early investor alleging breach of contract and fraud.
  • Represented The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, New York in a successful free exercise challenge that yielded a landmark Supreme Court decision, which one commentator described as “one of the two most significant religion cases of the past 30 years.”

Bina maintains an active pro bono practice, tenaciously working to uphold her clients’ constitutional and civil rights across the country. Recently, her work defending a client in Dallas County against racially charged hate crimes was recognized by the Dallas Asian American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Team of the Year award. For another client, she won partial summary judgment in the Southern District of New York through her briefing of prisoners’ due process rights while placed in solitary confinement. Bina has also worked to vindicate the First Amendment rights of peaceful protesters and journalists along the Eastern Shore.

From 2023-2024, Bina served as a law clerk to the Honorable Jane J. Boyle of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. While in law school, she served as a judicial summer intern to the Honorable James J. Cott, former Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Bina graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor of the art’s degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) and a minor in Spanish. She graduated from Fordham University School of Law, cum laude, where she received the Lawrence J. McKay prize for representing the school in the National Moot Court Competition. She served as an Associate Editor for the Fordham Law Review, a teaching assistant in Legal Writing and Civil Procedure, a member of the Moot Court Executive Board, and a competitor in the Vis East International Arbitration Competition in Hong Kong. She was a finalist in the William Hughes Mulligan Memorial Moot Court competition. While participating in the Federal Litigation Clinic, Bina also defended indigent clients.

She is admitted to practice in the States of Texas and New York, as well as before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Bina is fluent in Gujarati and conversant in Spanish.

Brendan Palmieri is an associate attorney in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He is a member of the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group.

Brendan earned his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from New York University in 2024. He received his Master of Science in Earth Systems in 2017 and a Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 2016, both from Stanford University.

Brendan is admitted to practice in the State of New York.

Sarah Burns is an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She practices in the firm’s Litigation Department.

Sarah graduated with High Honors from the George Washington University Law School, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif. During law school, Sarah interned at the U.S. Department of State Office of the Legal Adviser, as well as the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.

Sarah received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies and Spanish from the University of Miami. Prior to attending law school, Sarah worked in international development at a Washington, D.C.-area non-profit.

Sarah is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.

George Stamas is a partner in the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions, Finance, Private Equity and Power and Renewables practice groups.

Mr. Stamas focuses on public company and private equity mergers and acquisitions and corporate securities transactions. He also counsels C-level executives and boards of directors on corporate governance matters. Mr. Stamas has received a Band 1 rating by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in Corporate/M&A & Private Equity every year since 2004. Chambers USA’s comments have described Mr. Stamas as a “world class deal maker” who is “brilliant in a crisis” and has “a knack for finding middle ground when issues get contentious.” He is also ranked by Chambers Global as a leading attorney in Corporate/M&A. He has been recognized by Who’s Who Legal: M&A and Governance, Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Dealmakers in America, and listed by The Best Lawyers in America for 28 consecutive years.

Mr. Stamas also has been honored by The Washington Post and he has been profiled by Crain’s New York as one of New York’s 200 most well-connected business people. Earlier in his career, Mr. Stamas was named by The American Lawyer as one of the leading 45 lawyers in America under the age of 45. Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Stamas was a senior partner with Kirkland & Ellis.

Mr. Stamas previously served as Vice Chair of the Board of Deutsche Banc Alex Brown, Inc.; as a founding board member of FTI Consulting (NYSE); as a venture partner of international venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates; and as a member of numerous public and private corporate boards. He is an executive board member of the New York private equity firm MidOcean Partners. Mr. Stamas is a partner of Monumental Partners, which controls the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards; an investor and a member of the board of aXiomatic, a leading eSports platform that controls Team Liquid; and a partner of the Baltimore Orioles. Mr. Stamas is also on the National Advisory Council of Youth Inc. (Recipient of the 2018 John C. Whitehead Leadership Award), and has previously served on numerous philanthropic and cultural boards, including The Shakespeare Theatre Company. He is a co-founder and Board President of The Hellenic Initiative, a member of The Council on Foreign Relations, and a director of Paris based Soparexo s.a., the parent corporation of Chateau Margaux.

Representative Lead Engagements

  • WGL Holdings in its pending $6.4 billion sale to AltaGas, Ltd.*
  • Approximately $750 million sale of Sagent Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SGNT) to Nichi-Iko Pharmaceutical*
  • Represented Morgan Stanley as advisor for the sale of ITC Holdings, the largest independent electric transmission company in the United States, for $11.3 billion (including debt) to Fortis, Inc. (pending)*
  • Represented Questar Corporation (NYSE: STR) in its $4.4 billion sale to Dominion Resources, Inc. (NYSE: D)*
  • SunEdison Inc. negotiation and agreement with Greenlight Capital regarding various corporate governance initiatives*
  • $4.9 billion sale of Piedmont Natural Gas to Duke Energy*
  • $7.9 billion merger of Constellation Energy and Exelon Corporation*
  • $2.2 billion acquisition of Vivint Solar, Inc., by SunEdison, Inc.*
  • $7 billion acquisition of PepCo Holdings by Exelon Corporation*
  • $1 billion sale of Bushnell Group Holdings Inc. to Alliant Techsystems Inc.*
  • Initial public offering of SunEdison Semiconductor*
  • $512 million acquisition of Stackpole International by Crestview Partners and the subsequent $659 million sale of Stackpole by Crestview and Stackpole*
  • $1.9 billion sale of SRA International to Providence Equity Partners*
  • $500 million sale of Totes by MidOcean Partners*
  • Initial Public Offering of Sagent Pharmaceuticals*
  • $1.4 billion sale of Martek Pharmaceutical to Royal DSM N.V.*
  • $800 million purchase of Prepaid Legal Services by MidOcean Partners*
  • Acquisitions by Tutor Perini Corporation aggregating $1.25 billion*
  • Constellation Energy $4.5 billion interest in nuclear assets to Electricite de France*
  • Monumental Partners’ $1 billion purchase of the Washington Wizards, Washington Capitals and Verizon Center*

Mr. Stamas graduated in 1976 from the University of Maryland Law School, where he was a member of the International Law Review and from 1977 to 1979, he served as special counsel to Stanley Sporkin in the Enforcement Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

*Engagements prior to joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Brianna N. Banks is a litigation associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Her practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, including class action and transnational litigation cases. Brianna also maintains an active pro bono practice, which includes representing clients in immigration proceedings and supporting victims of gender-based violence.

From 2023-2024, Brianna served as a law clerk for the Honorable Dale S. Fischer of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Brianna received her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 2022, where she was awarded the William J. Stuntz Memorial Award for Justice, Human Dignity, and Compassion. While in law school, Brianna served as a Research Assistant and Teaching Fellow to Diane Rosenfeld, a Civil Procedure Teaching Fellow to William B. Rubenstein, a line editor for the Harvard International Law Journal, and a chair member on both the Harvard Black Law Student’s Association and the Women’s Law Association. Brianna also published a student note in the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender entitled “The (De)valuation of Black Women’s Bodies.” Brianna received a Bachelor of Arts in History and Sociology, with a minor in German language, from Emory University in 2017.

Brianna is admitted to practice law in California.

Ellen Smith Yost is an associate in Gibson Dunn’s Dallas office.  She is a member of the firm’s Litigation, Global Trial, and Labor and Employment Groups. 

Ellen has represented employers in litigation matters related to administrative and regulatory proceedings, breaches of employee covenants and trade secret disputes, complex contract disputes, and responses to government investigations.  Her practice also includes advising companies and non-profit organizations on employment-related issues and litigation risks.

Before joining Gibson Dunn, Ellen clerked for Judge Jane J. Boyle in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. 

Ellen earned her Juris Doctor summa cum laude from SMU Dedman School of Law, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif, served as Lead Articles Editor for the SMU Law Review, practiced as a student attorney in the First Amendment Clinic, and externed for Magistrate Judge Kimberly Priest Johnson in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and the Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of Texas.  Her writing has been published in the Santa Clara High Technology Law Review, SMU Law Review, and the Journal of Air Law and Commerce.

Ellen is also a cum laude graduate of Duke University, and earned a Masters of Public Administration with a focus on nonprofit management from the University of North Texas, with highest honors.  Prior to practicing law, Ellen led membership, marketing, public outreach, and communications efforts for nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations in North Texas.  

Ellen maintains an active pro-bono practice and is also active in the Dallas community.  She serves on the Board of Directors of Shakespeare Dallas, is a member of Attorneys Serving the Community, and volunteers in Richardson I.S.D.

Ellen is admitted to practice in Texas and before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Based in Gibson Dunn’s Orange County office, Lauren Assaf-Holmes advises public companies across industries on ESG reporting and standards, regulatory compliance, and corporate governance matters as a member of the firm’s ESG: Risk, Litigation, and Reporting and Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance practice groups. Her practice benefits from more than a year serving as in-house securities counsel during her secondment with a global Fortune 100 semiconductor and technology company.

ESG and Sustainability. Lauren supports clients at each stage of their ESG reporting to address voluntary reporting frameworks, including SASB, the TCFD, GRI, and the transition to ISSB; prepare for mandatory reporting frameworks, including sustainability reporting under California law, U.S. securities law, and other global regimes; and enhance governance practices in response to regulatory, stock exchange, and stakeholder requirements or expectations.

She is co-author of a forthcoming “ESG and Shareholder Engagement” chapter and contributed to the publication Legal Risks and ESG Disclosures: What Corporate Secretaries Should Know. Lauren has also completed the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Corporate Standard and Scope 2 Guidance trainings.

Annual Stockholder Meetings. In connection with annual stockholder meetings, Lauren supports clients from meeting planning to execution, including Rule 14a-8 stockholder proposal analysis and response, director and officer questionnaires, meeting timelines and materials, proxy drafting and enhancements, stockholder and advisory firm engagement, and board materials. She has contributed to the “Proxy Disclosure Effectiveness” chapter in A Practical Guide to SEC and Proxy Compensation Rules.

Securities and Corporate Governance. Lauren supports clients throughout the year on financial reporting, governance, and compliance matters in connection with Securities and Exchange Act reporting. She is a member of the Society for Corporate Governance.

Community Involvement. Lauren serves as Chair-Elect of the Associate Board of the Orange County Constitutional Rights Foundation.

Education and Background. Lauren received her law degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 2016, where she served as the Supervising Editor (Internal) for the Berkeley Journal of International Law and a Research Assistant to Professor Steven Davidoff Solomon. Lauren also served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Jacqueline Scott Corley of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and the Honorable William W. Bedsworth of the California Court of Appeals.

She earned a B.A. in English Literature from Knox College in 2010, where she graduated with honors and magna cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Lauren is admitted to practice in the State of California.

Certifications.

Certified Corporate Governance Professional, Society for Corporate Governance

Maria L. Banda is an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She is a member of Gibson Dunn’s Litigation and International Arbitration Practice Groups and a member of the ESG: Risk, Litigation, and Reporting group.

Dr. Banda’s practice focuses on complex cross-border disputes, including international arbitration, transnational litigation, and public international law. She has wide-ranging experience in international commercial arbitration and investor-state arbitrations across five continents and across different industries, including energy, mining, extractives and natural resources, financial services, and aerospace. She has represented and advised private companies, sovereign states, and individuals in a variety of arbitral and judicial proceedings. Dr. Banda also has experience in complex litigation involving questions of international law (including, inter alia, rights and obligations arising under international treaties, substantive protections offered by customary international law, foreign sovereign immunity, and jurisdiction and extraterritoriality) and has advised clients at all levels of U.S. federal courts.

Dr. Banda also maintains an active pro bono practice, advising clients on matters of public international law, international environmental law, climate change, and international human rights law. She has represented clients and advised on proceedings before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Dr. Banda has particular expertise in international disputes, public international law, international environmental law, management of transboundary environmental resources, and climate change.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Dr. Banda worked as part of another leading D.C. law firm, where she represented clients in complex international disputes. She was the William C. Graham Fellow at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, where she focused on emerging issues in climate law and taught Public International Law. Previously, Dr. Banda worked with several international organizations, including the World Trade Organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the International Labour Organization, as well as with the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative and the UN Secretary-General’s Representative on Business & Human Rights at the Harvard Kennedy School (tasked with developing the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights).

She is a graduate of Harvard Law School (J.D.), the University of Toronto (Hon. B.A., International Relations, Economics, and History), and Oxford University (M.Phil., D.Phil., International Relations), where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar and a Trudeau Scholar. She clerked for the Hon. Mr. Justice Ian Binnie and the Hon. Mr. Justice Michael Moldaver at the Supreme Court of Canada.

She has published extensively on these issues in both academic journals and popular press and is a frequent speaker at international conferences. She has focused in particular on emerging issues in climate law and policy, such as managing climate risk exposure faced by businesses and the public sector, private climate governance, and climate-related disputes.

Dr. Banda is a Visiting Attorney at the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, D.C., a Member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, an Advisory Board Member of the Canadian Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, and a former World Economic Forum Global Shaper. Dr. Banda is fluent in English, French, Italian, Croatian, German, and Spanish and speaks basic Russian.

Dr. Banda is licensed to practice in New York and the District of Columbia and has been admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

A representative sample of Dr. Banda’s experience includes:*

International Arbitration

  • Representing an energy company in an ICC arbitration against an African State in relation to a wrongfully terminated concession agreement.
  • Representing a local subsidiary of Liberty Mutual, an insurance company, in an investment treaty arbitration against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
  • Representing a U.S. mining company in relation to potential investment treaty claims against a Latin American State.
  • Represented a leading U.S. aerospace and defense technology company in a dispute under a contract to develop and supply military aircraft
  • Represented a leading U.S. pharmaceutical company in an arbitration seated in Switzerland involving an intellectual property license
  • Represented a major European natural gas supplier in price review arbitration against a European company
  • Represented a leading U.S. mining company in an ICSID arbitration against an Asian state
  • Represented leading European banks in investment arbitrations against a Central European State

Transnational Litigation

  • Advising a client on parallel litigation proceedings across three jurisdictions, including the United States, in relation to a sovereign State and state-owned companies.
  • Represented a leading U.S. oil and gas drilling company in complex litigation against the Republic of Venezuela and Venezuela’s national oil company in D.C. Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court for an unlawful expropriation and breach of contract under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA)
  • Represented pro bono a domestic violence victim in a case described by the Second Circuit as involving “novel and significant issues” of “first impression” under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the legal team was honored in 2013 and 2014 with the Above & Beyond Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Advocacy by Sanctuary for Families)

Public International Law

  • Represented an African State in a boundary mediation with a neighboring State
  • Represented a pro bono claimant as part of a team that won a landmark decision in the first freedom of expression case in the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Issa Loha Konaté v Burkina Faso
  • Represented IUCN WCEL in a joint written submission with the Organization of American States (OAS) and IUCN WCEL) and delivered oral argument in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ landmark advisory proceeding on The Environment and Human Rights (Advisory Opinion OC-23/18)

Publications

Dr. Banda has been a frequent presenter on international, environmental, and climate law and policy, and has written widely on these topics in law reviews and popular press:

  • Climate Science in the Courts: A Review of U.S. and International Judicial Pronouncements (Environmental Law Institute: April 2020) (Publisher | SSRN);
  • Emerging Models of Environmental Dispute Resolution: International Human Rights Law and Transboundary Environmental Harm, book chapter in Environmental Dispute Resolution and Small States (forthcoming 2020);
  • Regime Congruence: Rethinking the Scope of State Responsibility for Transboundary Environmental Harm, 103 Minnesota Law Review 1879 (2019);
  • The Bottom-Up Alternative: The Mitigation Potential of Private Climate Governance after the Paris Agreement, 42 Harvard Environmental Law Review 325 (2018) (Publisher | SSRN);
  • Climate Adaptation Law: Optimizing Legal Design for Multi-Level Public Goods, 48 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 1027 (2018);
  • Litigating Climate Change in National Courts: Recent Trends and Developments in Global Climate Law (with Scott Fulton), 47 Environmental Law Reporter 10121 (2017);
  • Building a Latin American Coalition on Forests: Negotiation Barriers and Opportunities (with John Oppermann), 44 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 526 (2011);
  • International Law and the Responsibility to Protect: Clarifying or Expanding States’ Responsibilities? (with Jennifer M. Welsh), 2 Global Responsibility to Protect 213 (2010);
  • International Law and the Responsibility to Protect: Clarifying or Expanding States’ Responsibilities? (with Jennifer M. Welsh, The Responsibility to Protect and International Law (Alex J. Bellamy et al. , 2011);
  • On the Water’s Edge? A Comparative Study of the Influence of International Law and the Extraterritorial Reach of Domestic Laws in the War on Terror Jurisprudence, 41 Georgetown Journal of International Law 525 (2010)’
  • Summers v. Earth Island, 34 Harvard Environmental Law Review 321 (2010).

Speaking Engagements

  • Invited Speaker, International Climate Litigation: Recent Trends and Developments, General Session on The Proliferation and Implications of Climate Litigation, Virtual 67th Annual Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute (July 19, 2021);
  • Invited Speaker, Shareholder Activism on Environmental and Social Issues, panel convened by the Securities Litigation Practice Group of The Advocates Society (Toronto, Canada, April 8, 2021);
  • Invited Speaker, Climate Science in the Courts, Clean Energy Group Webinar (Washington, D.C., 17/06/2020);
  • Climate Science in the Courts, People Places Planet Podcast, Season 2, Episode 8 (Environmental Law Institute, Washington, D.C., 22/04/2020);
  • Invited Speaker, Presentation on Environmental Dispute Resolution, Conference on Environmental Dispute Resolution and Small States (London, UK, 08/09/2018);
  • Speaker, “Rethinking the Scope of State Responsibility for Transboundary Environmental Harm,” presentation at 2018 Institute for Global Law Policy Conference (Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA, 03/06/2018);
  • Speaker, “Rethinking the Scope of State Responsibility for Transboundary Environmental Harm,” presentation at International Legal Theory Interest Group Roundtable, American Society of International Law Annual Meeting (Washington, D.C., 06/06/2018);
  • Invited Keynote, “R2P in the Anthropocene,” Model United Nations, Don Mills Collegiate Institute, (Toronto, Canada, 29/03/2018)
  • Invited Speaker, “Climate Action after Paris: Closing the Ambition Deficit,” presentation at Shaping Global Summitry Anniversary Conference, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada, 12/03/2018);
  • Speaker, “Rethinking the Scope of State Responsibility for Transboundary Environmental Harm,” presentation at Faculty Workshop, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law (12/03/2018);
  • Moderator, Panel on Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Confederation of Tomorrow 2.0 Conference, Mowat Centre (Toronto, Canada, 12/12/2017);
  • Invited Panelist, “What’s to be done in the next 50 years?”, Conference on The First and Next 150 Years of Canadian Federalism: What’s Been Done? What’s to be Done?, hosted by Idée fédérale and the Institute for 21st Century Questions (Toronto, Canada, 22/11/2017);
  • Invited Panelist, “Global Adaptation Goal and Borderless Climate Risks: Strengths and Limits of the Paris Agreement,” UNFCCC Official Side-Event at the 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, hosted by Fiji (Bonn, Germany, 15/11/2017);
  • Invited Speaker, “Protecting the Paris Bargain: Defining the Scope of Transparency Obligations under the Paris Agreement,” presentation at the Climate Law and Governance Day 2017: Advancing Law & Governance Contributions to Climate Action under the Paris Agreement (Bonn, Germany, 10/11/2017);
  • Invited Speaker, “Navigating the New World Disorder: Risks and Opportunities for Canada,” presentation at the Canadian International Council, Research Program Launch (Toronto, Canada, 24/10/2017) (invited lecture);
  • Invited Public Lecture, “The Climate-Security Nexus,” Environment, Sustainability and Society Lecture Series, College of Sustainability, Dalhousie University (Halifax, Canada, 04/10/2017) (public lecture);
  • Invited Guest Speaker, “Navigating the New World Disorder: Risks and Opportunities for Canada,” presentation to the Canadian International Council (Halifax, Canada, 04/10/2017) (public lecture);
  • Speaker, “Global Climate Adaptation: Governing Adaptation Across State Boundaries,” workshop presentation at Environmental Governance Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada, 29/09/2017);
  • Invited Keynote, “R2P in the Anthropocene,” the Canadian Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (CCR2P) Youth Summit (Toronto, Canada, 27/09/2017);
  • Speaker, “The Food-Water Nexus and International Law: Climate Change Adaptation Across State Boundaries,” presentation at International Conference on Water-Energy-Food Nexus and Environmental Sustainability: Choices, Compromises, and Priorities, held on the occasion of the 13th Annual Conference of the European Society of International Law on Global Public Goods, Global Commons and Fundamental Values: The Responses of International Law (Naples, Italy, 06/09/2017);
  • Speaker, “The Bottom-Up Alternative: Private Options for the Implementation of the Paris Agreement,” presentation at 6th Annual Journal of Environmental Practice Conference on Climate Change Law & Policy following the Paris Agreement (Halifax, Canada, 16/06/2017);
  • Invited Speaker, “Climate Adaptation after Paris: A Multi-Level Governance Model,” presentation at International Scientific Workshop on The Emerging Complexity of Climate Adaptation Governance in a Globalising World (Stockholm, Sweden, 22/05/2017);
  • Panelist, Transformative Climate Mitigation Strategies and Initiatives, CIGI Roundtable: The Way Forward on Climate Action (Ottawa, 12/01/2017);
  • Invited Speaker, “Climate Change and Human Security: The Way Forward for Canada,” presentation at The Ottawa Process Twenty Years Later: The Landmine Treaty, Human Security, and Canada in the Twenty-First Century, conference convened by Canadian Landmine Foundation, Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History, and Canadian International Council (Toronto, 28/10/2016) (invited lecture);
  • Invited Co-Presenter (with Scott Fulton), “Litigating Climate Change and Sea Level Rise: Recent Trends and Developments in National Courts,” presentation at the 4th Biennial Conference on Law of the CCJ’s Caribbean Academy for Law and Court Administration (St. Marteen, 27/10/2016) (invited lecture);
  • Invited Speaker, Environmental Law Institute’s Monthly Briefing – Special Briefing on COP21 (Washington, D.C., 15/12/2015);
  • Invited Speaker, “Advancing Access to Justice in Latin America and the Caribbean: Recent Trends and Developments in Environmental Access Rights,” presentation at 1st Inter-American Congress on the Environmental Rule of Law, held under the auspices of the Organization of American States (OAS), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, and the Caribbean Court of Justice (Montego Bay, Jamaica, 31/03/2015);
  • Invited Panelist, “Improving Access to Justice: Recent Trends and Developments in Procedural Environmental Rights,” presentation at the 3rd UNITAR-Yale Conference on Environmental Governance and Democracy, “Human Rights, Environmental Sustainability, Post-2015 Development, and the Future Climate Regime” (Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, 06/09/2014);
  • Invited Speaker, “Climate Adaptation Law and the Private Sector,” presentation at the Legal Aspects of Sustainability Panel, 20th Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference (University of Trondheim, Norway, 19/06/2014);
  • Invited Lecture, “The Responsibility to Protect and International Law: Between Normative Commitments and Political Realities,” Human Rights and Employment Law Conference, The Commons Institute (Toronto, Canada, 25/02/2013);
  • Speaker, “The Private Sector and Climate Change Adaptation: Incentives, Barriers, and the Law,” prepared for the Climate Change Law, Adaptation, and Sustainability Panel, organized by CLEAR, ELI, and ASIL, 2012 The Rio + 20 Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 15/06/2012);
  • Invited Lecture, “R2P and Normative Change,” Panel at the Canadian Centre for the Responsibility to Protect Conference on Ten Years After the ICISS: Reflections for the Past and Future of the R2P, University of Toronto Munk School of Global Affairs (Toronto, Canada, 11/2011);
  • Invited Guest Lecture, “Governing Global Climate Change: From Rambouillet 1975 to Heiligendamm 2007,” ECLA-Oxford Conference on Climate Change, Energy and Security (Berlin, Germany, 02/06/2007).

Katie Mills is an English-qualified associate in the London office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She has broad experience of white collar crime and regulatory investigations, commercial litigation and international arbitration.

Katie’s practice focuses on government and corporate internal investigations (involving the UK Bribery Act, the UK Fraud Act and other anti-corruption / anti-money laundering laws) and international disputes.

She also counsels corporations on the effectiveness of their compliance programs and in connection with transactional due diligence, with a particular emphasis on compliance with anti-corruption laws and anti-money laundering regulations.

Katie has assisted a wide range of companies with internal / external investigations regarding allegations of bribes, fraudulent misconduct and anti-competitive arrangements. This includes, for example, representing a UK insurance broker in proceedings brought by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, U.S. Department of Justice and Colombian authorities in connection with alleged failures in anti-corruption systems and controls.

Katie is recognised by The Legal 500 UK 2024 for Regulatory Investigations and Corporate Crime.

Additionally, Katie completed secondments as the Head of UK Litigation at a leading cryptocurrency exchange and Legal Counsel at a leading insurance broking and risk management firm.

Katie trained at Gibson Dunn, during which time she spent 6 months seconded to the firm’s Hong Kong office, and also gained experience working with the Real Estate, Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions teams.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Katie undertook a graduate program at a leading investment bank. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Cambridge and was admitted as a Solicitor in 2020.

Jesse L. Eaton-Luria is an associate in the San Francisco office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department.

Jesse earned her J.D. from the Gould School of Law at the University of Southern California, where she graduated Order of the Coif. During her time in law school, she served as a Submissions Editor on The Southern California Review of Law and Social Justice and was an Academic Success Fellow for the first-year law students. She also participated in the International Human Rights Clinic for two years and spent a semester as a Chambers Intern at the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in Tanzania.

Prior to law school, Jesse graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara with highest honors with a B.A. in Global Studies and a minor in Spanish.

Jesse is admitted to practice in the State of California.

Tate Rosenblatt is an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He practices in the firm’s Litigation Department.

Tate graduated magna cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he was Managing Editor of The Georgetown Law Journal, served as a Law Fellow for the first-year Legal Research & Writing class, and was part of a team that successfully briefed cases in four federal circuits with the Appellate Courts Immersion Clinic. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he graduated with highest honors.

Tate is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.

M. Theodore Takougang is an associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a member of the firm’s Trial, Litigation, and White Collar Defense & Investigations practice groups. 

Theo is a trial lawyer with significant courtroom experience.  He has counselled clients through all phases of litigation, from pre-suit strategy to trials and appeals.  Theo has also helped successfully guide boards of directors through highly sensitive internal investigations and in criminal and regulatory matters before the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, various state Attorneys General, and other regulators. Theo has deep experience representing public companies, private equity firms, closely held corporations, and senior executives across a range of industries in litigation and investigations involving complex financial products, healthcare regulations, business torts, contract disputes, and federal environmental and bribery laws. 

Before joining Gibson Dunn, Theo was a litigation associate in the New York offices of a leading international law firm and a prominent litigation boutique. Prior to that, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable Eric L. Clay of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the Honorable Kenneth M. Hoyt of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Before law school, Theo worked as an aide to a congressman from Ohio.

Theo earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was an editor of the Virginia Law & Business Review and a Paul D. White Scholar. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree with High Honors from the University of Cincinnati, where he majored in Economics.

Theo is a member of the California and New York bars, and he is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Central District of California and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, as well as the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second and Sixth Circuits.

Angela Reid is an associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where she practices in the firm’s Labor & Employment Department.

Angela has extensive experience representing employers in a wide range of employment law matters under federal and state law, including claims for wrongful termination, wage and hour violations, harassment, retaliation, and discrimination.  She also provides advice to clients regarding the nuances of navigating complex employment and personnel issues, including helping clients develop and revise employee handbooks, preparing severance agreements, and employment agreements.  Angela also handles actions against employers before the EEOC and other administrative bodies.  Angela has experience representing employers in both single plaintiff and class action litigations across a wide range of labor and employment matters, and is experienced in all aspects of pre-trial litigation, including motion practice, discovery, and settlement negotiation.

Angela is also an experienced member of Gibson Dunn’s DEI Task Force, which she helped launch in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in SFFA v. Harvard.  She assists clients with navigating the legal and reputational risks surrounding DEI initiatives under the current legal landscape, and has defended clients against reverse discrimination suits under Title VII and Section 1981.  She has extensive experience with conducting privileged in-depth audits of clients’ DEI programs, assessing litigation and liability risks, and developing creative and practical solutions for her clients to accomplish their aspirations for an inclusive workplace. 

Angela earned her Juris Doctor from the University of California School of Law, and received her undergraduate degree from the University of California Berkeley. Before attending law school, she oversaw business development for a group of corporations in the fields of activated carbon, industrial tires and third-party logistics. Angela also served as an extern for the Honorable Deborah Saltzman of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California.

Cassie Aprile is a dual-qualified partner in the London office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, practising in the firm’s Dispute Resolution Group. 

Cassie has extensive experience advising clients on a broad range of complex commercial disputes spanning multiple jurisdictions and across various industry sectors. She specializes in complex commercial litigation and international commercial arbitration. 

Cassie’s recent commercial arbitration experience includes representing a major international contractor in a multi-billion dollar arbitration arising out of a Middle Eastern infrastructure project, and appearing as the lead advocate in an arbitration for a major hotel group arising from a dispute concerning the management of a hotel in Europe. 

Cassie’s recent litigation experience has involved representing clients in Employment Tribunals, the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. The broad nature of her litigation practice is reflected in the diversity of her recent matters, which include representing a UK retailer in the largest private sector mass equal pay claim to be heard in the English courts, and defending a client against allegations of commercial fraud. 

Cassie is recognised by The Legal 500 UK 2024 as a “key lawyer” in international arbitration where she is described by clients as “[v]ery bright, and very capable. Produces extremely clear advice, and is able to lead and advocate on the most complicated matters“. 

Reflective of the international nature of Cassie’s practice, she is dual-qualified in both England & Wales and Australia. Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, she practised in a leading Australian law firm and worked as a Clerk to a Supreme Court Judge in Australia.