Ava Lias-Booker

A seasoned trial and appellate lawyer, Ava E. Lias-Booker serves in a number of leadership roles at McGuireWoods LLP, a leading international law firm. She is Chair of the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee, a member of its Diversity Action Council and part of the firm’s seven-member Associates Committee.

A partner in the firm’s Baltimore office, Ava leads the Baltimore litigation practice with three decades of first chair trial experience representing businesses from a broad range of industries in complex commercial and civil litigation.

She served as co-lead counsel to a multinational oil and gas corporation that successfully argued for the reversal of jury verdicts awarding plaintiffs more than $1.5 billion in compensatory and punitive damages before Maryland’s highest appellate court.

She has successfully defended financial institutions in a myriad of cases at the trial and appellate levels, including a multimillion-dollar claim involving alleged violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and a more than $50 million check fraud matter.

Ava’s dedication to providing excellent client service is matched by her passion for mentoring young lawyers and serving the legal and civic communities of Baltimore, the state and the nation. She serves on the boards of visitors of Duke University School of Law and the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, and the boards of directors for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Open Society Institute.

EXPERIENCE :

• Lead trial counsel to oil company subsidiary engaged in solar panel manufacturing in a multimillion-dollar breach of contract action, in which solar company obtained an almost $9 million jury verdict against a St. Louis-based company for breach of a three-year silicon powder supply agreement under the Uniform Commercial Code.
• Lead counsel for plaintiff telecommunications company securing entry and payment of a consent judgment in a breach of interconnection agreement case in the amount of $2, 209, 886.44 plus post-judgment interest.
• Represented telecommunications company as co-counsel to resolve multi-state action pending in Virginia, New Jersey and Maryland and other jurisdictions and state commissions arising from interconnection agreement billing dispute.
• Co-counsel to one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in numerous individual cases asserting claims arising from alleged exposure of minor plaintiffs to Thimerosal. Judge granted summary judgment to vaccine defendants and denied plaintiff’s motion for voluntary dismissal without prejudice. The Court of Special Appeals of Maryland affirmed.

Education :

• University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, JD, 1986
• Duke University, BA, 1982

Admissions :

• Maryland
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
• U.S. District Court for the District of Wisconsin

Affiliations :

• Member, Transition Team for Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby
• Appointed Panel Member, Magistrate Judges’ Merit Selection, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
• Board of Visitors, University of Maryland School of Law
• Gubernatorial Appointee, The Maryland Appellate Courts Judicial Nominating Commission, 2007-present
• Member, National Bar Association
• Member, Monumental Bar Association
• Past Member, Judicial Institute Business/Technology Case Management Program Curriculum Development Working Group
• Past President and Member, Board of Governors, Citizens Planning and Housing Association
• Past Member, Board of Governors, Maryland Federal Bar Association.