Elizabeth Papez is a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice and partner in Gibson, Dunn’s litigation, appellate, and regulatory groups.  Most recently in 2022, Ms. Papez has been named to Benchmark’s  “Top 250 Women” list where selection is based on “individual litigators’ professional activities as well as client feedback surveys.”  Benchmark USA   had also named her a “client favorite” who is “extremely smart and practical and very charismatic,” and is praised by peers as a “fierce, dynamic, bright, powerhouse of a litigator.”  Ms. Papez is also recognized in The Legal 500  for her antitrust and appellate work, by The Best Lawyers in America 2019 –2023  for her appellate practice, and most recently as one of Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Litigators in America”.

Ms. Papez has particular expertise litigating high-stakes complex commercial and class actions, appeals, and parallel government enforcement matters involving securities, antitrust, and consumer deception claims primarily in the financial services,  healthcare, and technology sectors.  She has successfully led both the defense and prosecution of several high-exposure matters, and has extensive experience working with economic experts and business personnel to craft powerful legal and factual narratives that resonate with courts and regulators.

As a complement to her litigation work Ms. Papez has also handled substantial aspects of complex federal regulatory proceedings.  Notably, she has handled data-driven presentations addressing the impact of market concentration and alleged monopolization in regulated healthcare and technology markets, horizontal market collaboration and information sharing on liquidity and risk mitigation central to financial services platforms, and securities, competition, and consumer protection inquiries from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Food & Drug Administration, the Department of Health & Human Services, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Ms. Papez has been honored for her advisory work with corporate general counsel, and regularly speaks before Congress and professional organizations on legal developments relevant to her practice.  In 2020 Ms. Papez was appointed as a public member of the Administrative Council of the United States (ACUS).  She is a Trustee of the U.S. Supreme Court Historical Society, a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee on Administrative Law & Regulation and Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court, serves on various boards, and received an award from the Innocence Project for her pro bono defense work.

Ms. Papez clerked for the United States Supreme Court and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and received her law degree from Harvard Law School, where she was the Supreme Court Chair and Editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Representative Matters

• Ploss Kraft et al. (NDIL 2021-22) – lead counsel for multi-national defendant in nationwide class action alleging violations of Commodity Exchange Act and federal antitrust laws
• Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) v. Citizens Bank N.A. (DRI 2021-22) – lead counsel for bank client in regulatory enforcement challenge to consumer credit practices
• Amazon.com, Inc. et al. v. WDC Holdings, LLC et al. (EDVA 2020-22) – lead counsel in civil litigation and related Fourth Circuit appeal of fraud and racketeering claims
• PMCC v. Amtrak (SDNY 2021) – lead counsel for capital corporation in leveraged finance dispute
• CFPB/FTC Investigations (Confidential) – counsel for financial technology companies in various regulatory inquiries and enforcement proceedings involving alleged unfair and deceptive consumer practices
• U.S. Trust vs. Bank of America N.A. (SDNY 2021, 2d Cir. 2020) – lead district and appellate counsel for national bank association in commercial CMBS dispute
• In re LIBOR Antitrust Litigation (SDNY 2020) – lead counsel for foreign financial institution and U.S. affiliates in settlement related discovery disputes
• Washington County Hosp., et al. v. Baxter International, et al. (NDIL 2020) – lead counsel for Baxter in dismissing nationwide class actions alleging antitrust violations in IV saline markets
• In re Containerboard Antitrust Litigation (7th Cir. 2019) – lead appellate counsel in successful defense of $11 billion MDL of several nationwide antitrust class actions
• B&R Supermarket et al. v. Visa, Inc. et al. (NDCA/EDNY 2018-2019) – lead counsel for credit card network in nationwide class action alleging antitrust violations in chip card rollout
• In re Treasury Securities Auction Antitrust Litigation (SDNY 2015-2019) – counsel for global primary dealer in MDL of scores of nationwide class actions and parallel federal investigations concerning potential collusion in the $12T annual market for U.S. Treasury securities
• In re Interest Rates Swaps Antitrust Litigation (SDNY 2016-2019) – counsel for global financial institution in MDL of nationwide antitrust class actions involving US IR swaps markets
• Municipal Board Qui Tam Litigation (2012-2019) – counsel for global financial institution in multiple qui tam actions alleging fraud on issuers by municipal bond underwriting syndicates
• United States v. American Express Co., et al. (2nd Cir. 2018) – lead counsel for credit card network in support of U.S. Department of Justice enforcement action
• Ross et al. v. Bank of America et al. (SDNY 2014, 2d Cir. 2015) – counsel for card network in successful five-week trial and appeal of MDL challenging class waivers in arbitration clauses
• Tera Exchange et al. v. Bank of America et al. (SDNY 2017-2020) – counsel for global financial institution in antitrust action alleging collusion in market for CFTC-regulated CDS trading
• In re Credit Default Swaps Antitrust Litigation (SDNY 2012-2016) – counsel for global financial institution in multi-billion dollar MDL alleging antitrust violations in the global CDS market