Erica Sollazzo Payne is an associate in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.  She is a member of the Firm’s Litigation Practice Group.

Ms. Payne’s practice focuses on a broad range of high-stakes trial and appellate litigation.  Highlights include obtaining the dismissal of all shareholder derivative and federal securities claims brought against a major hospitality company in the wake of a cybersecurity incident; prevailing before the New York Court of Appeals in UBS v. Kainer, which presented a question of first impression and adopted new law of civil procedure in New York; obtaining a unanimous appellate victory dismissing a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit; and serving on a trial team in a three-week, multi-billion-dollar jury trial in New York State Supreme Court.

Ms. Payne also maintains an active pro bono practice, which ranges from direct representation of asylum seekers to amicus briefing in the U.S. Supreme Court.  Ms. Payne has participated in multiple Second Amendment cases at the Supreme Court level, including representing 139 members of the House of Representatives in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York and members of the business community in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.

Before joining Gibson Dunn, Ms. Payne clerked for the Honorable Raymond J. Lohier, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Ms. Payne earned her J.D., with pro bono distinction, from Stanford Law School in 2017.  While in law school, she served as managing editor of the Stanford Law Review and testified before the United States Copyright Office through the Juelsgaard Intellectual Property and Innovation Clinic.  Ms. Payne graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in English from Princeton University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa as a junior.

Ms. Payne is admitted to practice law in the State of New York, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.