Elizabeth McCloskey specializes in high-stakes complex litigation, including white-collar criminal defense and bet-the company commercial disputes. She has successfully represented individuals and corporations in federal and state courts, and in complex investigations brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, California Attorney General, and other government agencies.
Ms. McCloskey has tried multiple cases to verdict. She obtained a complete defense verdict on behalf of Arista Networks in a high-profile copyright and patent trial against Cisco Systems. Recently, she represented the former CEO of Bumble Bee Foods in a five-week criminal antitrust trial.
Currently, Ms. McCloskey represents Lyft in actions brought by the California Attorney General and Labor Commissioner, addressing issues critical to the “sharing” economy: whether drivers have been misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees. She is defending Commercial Real Estate Exchange, Inc. (CREXI), a fast-growing commercial real estate marketplace, against a copyright and unfair competition lawsuit brought by a competitor. Previously, Ms. McCloskey represented Tour de France winning cyclist Lance Armstrong against a False Claims Act case brought by a former teammate and joined by the United States.
Ms. McCloskey earned her J.D. from U.C. Berkeley School of Law (Order of the Coif) and B.A. in Government and English from Georgetown University (cum laude). She clerked for Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and Judge John T. Noonan Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Before attending law school, Ms. McCloskey worked as a journalist.
CoStar v. CREXi
We are defending Commercial Real Estate Exchange, Inc. (CREXi), a fast-growing commercial real estate marketplace, against a copyright and unfair competition lawsuit brought by industry giant CoStar. CREXi has asserted counterclaims against CoStar alleging antitrust violations, unfair competition, trademark infringement, and false advertising.
In re: Xyrem Antitrust Litigation
We represent Par Pharmaceutical in an antitrust case alleging an anti-competitive reverse payment arising out of a patent litigation settlement concerning the narcolepsy medication Xyrem® (sodium oxybate).
United States v. Christopher Lischewski
We defended the former CEO of Bumble Bee Foods in a five-week jury trial in the Northern District of California against charges that he conspired to fix prices of canned tuna sold in the United States.
RingCentral, Inc. v. Nextiva, Inc.
We represented Nextiva, Inc., as defendant and counterclaimaint in a trade libel, defamation, and false advertising suit. We succeeded in significantly narrowing the case against Nextiva on summary judgment and then favorably resolved the remainder of the litigation on the eve of trial.
Genentech v. JHL Biotech
We represent Genentech in a federal trade secret theft lawsuit alleging that former Genentech scientists, several of whom have also been charged criminally by the Department of Justice, stole confidential and proprietary information to help a foreign company develop biosimilar versions of Genentech medicines.
United States ex rel. Landis v. Tailwind Sports, et al.
We represented Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong in settling a False Claims Act case brought by a former teammate and joined in by the United States. The Postal Service and Floyd Landis had sought $100 million in damages from Armstrong, but in light of several significant court rulings rejecting and limiting the plaintiffs’ damages theories, the case settled for $5 million. Our prior representation of Armstrong resulted in the closing of a federal criminal investigation without charges being filed.
Cisco Systems, Inc. v. Arista Networks, Inc.
We defended Arista Networks in this groundbreaking case which raised the important question of whether and to what extent functional computer commands merit copyright protection. Cisco accused Arista, run by a former Cisco vice president, of copyright infringement for the use of more than 500 commands used to configure network switches. Cisco also accused Arista of infringing two patents, one of which it dismissed before trial. After a two-week trial, the jury returned a verdict in our client’s favor on both the copyright and patent claims.
United States ex rel. Robert C. Baker v. Community Health Systems, Inc., et al.
We served as lead counsel for Relator Robert Baker in a qui tam False Claims Act case against Community Health Systems. This case alleged the defendants manipulated the Medicaid funding program by a scheme which resulted in the illegal receipt of federally funded Medicaid payments. Our client sought the maximum amount allowed to a qui tam plaintiff and the United States sought to recover damages and civil penalties from the defendants, arising from false and/or fraudulent statements, records, and claims of FCA violations. Community Health Systems eventually agreed to end the litigation with a settlement of $75 million.
United States v. Executive
Our client hired us two months after his four-week trial resulted in a conviction for bid-rigging conspiracy and obstruction of justice. We were hired for post-trial motions and sentencing. Within two weeks, the judge granted our motion for a judgment of acquittal on the obstruction count pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 29.
September 16, 2019
The issues at stake in the case illustrate the growing importance of trade secrets protection to life sciences companies and the IP professionals who serve them. Read more
September 09, 2019
Genentech reaches a settlement agreement with JHL Biotech, which sees the latter cease development of biosimilars to Genentech’s products. Read more
September 09, 2019
Taiwan’s JHL Biotech has agreed to stop developing copycat versions of four Genentech biologics as part of a deal to end high-stakes trade secrets litigation. Read more
January 02, 2019
Keker, Van Nest & Peters is pleased to announce that the firm has elected associates Nicholas Goldberg, Thomas Gorman, Elizabeth McCloskey, and Erin Meyer to its partnership effective January 1, 2019. Read more
April 19, 2018
Lance Armstrong agreed on Thursday to pay $5 million to settle claims that he defrauded the federal government by using performance-enhancing drugs when the United States Postal Service sponsored his cycling team. Read more
April 19, 2018
Lance Armstrong today announced that he has settled the long-running False Claims Act case brought against him by former cyclist Floyd Landis and the U. S. Postal Service. Read more
April 19, 2018
Five years after then-U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the U.S. Justice Department would co-sign onto Floyd Landis’s whistleblower lawsuit against Lance Armstrong, the sides have reached a settlement. Read more
June 19, 2017
Facebook Inc. asked a California federal judge on Monday to toss a putative class action alleging the company misled advertisers with false consumer viewing metrics. Read more
03/15/2017
Eleven lawyers from two Keker, Van Nest & Peters trial teams representing Google and Arista received California Lawyer of the Year awards from the Daily Journal for intellectual property trial wins. Read more
February 17, 2017
The defense verdict KVP obtained at trial for Arista against Cisco’s copyright and patent claims earned the firm second place as the Top Defense Verdict of 2016 Read more
February 17, 2017
Bob Van Nest led two Keker, Van Nest & Peters trial teams on behalf of clients Google and Arista, respectively, that were recognized as top defense verdicts in California. Read more
January 25, 2017
Trial wins for Google and Arista in high stakes patent and copyright cases led to Keker & Van Nest being named IP Group of the Year by Law360. Read more
01/19/2017
Quyen Ta and Elizabeth McCloskey will speak at the Bridgeport Continuing Education's conference. Read more
12/15/2016
After a two-week trial, a San Jose jury has cleared Arista Networks of allegations that it infringed copyrights and patents belonging to Cisco Systems. Read more
02/02/2015
KVN represented whistleblower Robert C. Baker, who alleged Tennessee-based CHS violated the False Claims Act by presenting fraudulent claims for federal matching Medicaid funds. Read more
Views From the Bottom: Hot Issues & Trends in White Collar Fraud Enforcement, ABA White Collar Crime Subcommittee for Northern California
Case Study: Packaged Seafood — The Anatomy of an Extraordinary Cartel Matter, Global Competition Review