Biography
Beth is a seasoned litigator with a focus on defending clients in commercial litigation and mass tort litigation. With strong skillsets in litigation planning, comprehensive case management, and risk mitigation, Beth brings a strategic approach to each case, ensuring her clients receive exceptional legal representation.
Beth has experience handling complex tort and contract cases, including breach of contract, fraud, design defects, and fiduciary duty disputes. She has litigated complicated business disputes involving non-compete and contractual violations.
Prior to joining Steptoe & Johnson, Beth served as VP of Litigation and Risk Management for a global manufacturer and distributor of personal care and beauty products. In this role, she was national coordinating counsel for a product liability/mass tort docket, inclusive of over 100 lawsuits, where she oversaw all aspects of the litigation including discovery strategy, development of expert witnesses, and preparation of corporate representatives. In addition, Beth has managed over 600 insured claims annually across more than 37 international markets and structured a global insurance program for the company’s subsidiaries to limit financial risk.
Court Admissions
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- United States District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western Districts of Texas
Clerkships
- Law Clerk to the Hon. Massie Tillman, United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division,
- Law Clerk to the Hon. Joe Kendall, United States District Court, Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division
Representative Experience
- Liberated a multibillion-dollar financial conglomerate and its executives from claims of breach of fiduciary duties, breach of contract, civil RICO violations, negligence, and gross negligence. Won case on summary judgment
- Settled federal class action lawsuit filed against a former audit committee member by resolving allegations alleged in securities class action lawsuits and insurance coverage disputes arising from the collapse of WorldCom
- Settled claims against a law firm involving allegations of fraud in the issuance of opinion letters to Enron
- Recovered $14 million, paid by health care provider, in governmental fines by pursuing and successfully settling claims of breach of contract, professional malpractice, and negligent misrepresentation arising from accounting services
- Recovered entire $2.1 million judgment from Chapters 7 and 11 bankruptcies by leveraging fraudulent transfer claims under federal and state laws
- Obtained a $4.1 million judgment in a case involving structural and metallurgical engineering failures of suspended scaffold and analyzed compliance with OSHA standards. Verdict led to recognition in Texas Lawyer Top Verdicts of 2011
- Reduced client’s spend on insured litigation claims by one-third by managing defense strategy internally, saving $2 million annually and reducing Letter of Credit (LOC) by $3 million
- Won verdict against software vendor, recovering more than 100% of loss
- Managed four multi-million-dollar trials to successful verdicts
Education
- J.D. University of Alabama School of Law
- B.B.A. Texas A&M University
Memberships
- International Association of Defense Counsel
- Farrah Law Society, The University of Alabama School of Law
- The Association of Former Students of Texas A&M University, Endowed
Press Release