Lisa Gilford

Lisa Gilford is consistently recognized as one of the leading complex civil litigators in California. Her practice is focused on class actions, products liability law and jury trials. Since 2015, Ms. Gilford has been named one of the “Top Women Lawyers” by the Los Angeles Daily Journal, which also consistently lists her among the “Top 100 Lawyers” and “Top Women Litigators” in California.

She is repeatedly included in Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America and has been named to Best Lawyers in America and The Legal 500 U.S. In 2018, she was named one of the “Most Influential Women Attorneys” by the Los Angeles Business Journal, which also named her among the “Most Influential Minority Lawyers” in 2016.

Ms. Gilford was most recently named Consumer Litigation Lawyer of 2018 by the Century City Bar Association and as a Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference alternate lawyer representative for a one-year term starting in October 2018. Her experience includes:

• serving as lead counsel to an elite university in a series of high-profile litigation matters stemming from a widely publicized academic scandal. Ms. Gilford defended the university in a series of class actions brought by former student-athletes alleging academic fraud, breach of contract and various tort theories, and was successful in getting the suits dismissed with prejudice;
• securing the dismissal of a privately held pharmaceutical company in a law enforcement matter involving marketing techniques for prescription pain medications;
• serving as lead counsel to Toyota in its “Unintended Acceleration” MDL involving more than 400 consumer class actions and personal injury cases, including successfully obtaining dismissal of the claims of plaintiffs from 14 different countries from that proceeding;
• representing corporate clients in class actions brought under California consumer protection and unfair competition laws, including the Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law and Consumer Legal Remedies Act; and counseling clients in litigation prevention and risk management in California;
• serving as trial counsel in products liability cases involving claims of design and manufacturing defect for a variety of consumer and commercial products, including motor vehicles, robotics, household appliances, pharmaceuticals, refinery equipment, industrial and agricultural chemicals, and food and nutrition additives; and

Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Gilford taught at The Georgetown University Law Center and was a graduate fellow and public service lawyer with Georgetown’s Institute for Public Representation. She frequently lectures on topics such as California tort, consumer protection and unfair competition claims; successful defense of class actions; best practices for outside counsel; and professional development for women lawyers and other diversity issues.

Education:

• LL.M., Georgetown University, 1995
• J.D., University of Southern California, 1993
• B.A., Furman University, 1990

Admissions : California

Associations:

• Board Member, California Women’s Law Center
• Former President, National Association of Women Lawyers
• Defense Research Institute (Products Law and Toxic Tort Sections)
• Women’s Rainmaker Roundtable
• Black Women Lawyers Association
• National Bar Association