Elaine J. Goldenberg is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Munger, Tolles & Olson. She focuses her practice on complex litigation and appeals. Ms. Goldenberg joined the firm in 2017 from the U.S. Department of Justice, where she served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General. She has argued 12 cases in the U.S. Supreme Court.
During her five-year tenure in the Solicitor General’s Office, she briefed 20 Supreme Court cases at the merits stage and more than 100 cases at the certiorari stage, as well as helping to formulate the government’s positions and appellate strategy in the lower courts. Ms. Goldenberg has extensive experience in securities law, foreign-state immunity, constitutional law, and extraterritoriality questions.
Ms. Goldenberg has played a critical role in numerous significant matters before the Supreme Court. In the area of securities law, she argued for the government in Kokesh v. Securities and Exchange Commission and in Chadbourne and Parke LLP v. Troice, and she wrote the government’s brief in Salman v. United States, an important case about the standard for insider-trading liability.
With respect to foreign-state immunity and extraterritoriality, Ms. Goldenberg argued for the government in Venezuela v. Helmerich & Payne International Drilling Company, which clarified the meaning of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, and RJR Nabisco v. The European Community, which explained how to conduct an extraterritoriality analysis. She also argued various other cases involving the interpretation of federal statutes. In recognition of her work, Ms. Goldenberg was awarded the DOJ’s John Marshall Award for Outstanding Legal Achievement for Handling of Appeals.
Prior to her government service, Ms. Goldenberg spent more than a decade in private practice. During that time, she focused on appellate litigation, with a particular emphasis on communications, intellectual property, bankruptcy, and government contracts, and she argued cases in a number of federal and state appellate courts.
Before entering private practice, Ms. Goldenberg clerked for Judge Sandra Lynch in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and Judge Jed Rakoff in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Ms. Goldenberg earned a J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where she was executive editor of the Harvard Law Review. She earned an A.B., summa cum laude, in history and literature from Harvard College.
Education:
- Harvard Law School (J.D., magna cum laude, 1997) executive editor, Harvard Law Review
- Harvard College (A.B., summa cum laude, 1993)
Bar Admissions : District of Columbia
Cost
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