Shawna L. Ballard

Education

J.D., Summa Cum Laude, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law (1991)

B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, Arizona State University (1988)

Clerkship

The Honorable Harlington Wood

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

Admissions

California

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Various District Courts

Shawna Ballard is a trial lawyer with decades of complex trial, arbitration, mediation and litigation experience. Shawna is known for her ability to develop cohesive and effective case strategies in complex, multi-faceted cases. She is one of the firm’s founding partners and serves as General Counsel for the firm.

In her broad-based practice, Shawna has handled disputes regarding industrial, energy and real estate contracts, financing arrangements, corporate acquisitions and restructurings, patent infringement, securities investments, false advertising, fraud, unfair competition, trade secrets, director and officer liability, trusts and fiduciary duties.

In January of 2020, Shawna was on the trial team that secured a $236 million willful infringement jury verdict for Densify against VMware. Also, that same year, the firm received the “Turnaround Award” from The M&A Advisor based on her successful negotiation of a favorable settlement for Reynolds Metals Company (an Alcoa Corporation affiliate) in litigation brought by Gregory Powers Partners.

Representative Matters

• Member of trial team that procured a $236 million willful patent-infringement jury verdict for Densify against VMware following a nine-day trial in the District of Delaware.
• Represents Alcoa USA Corporation in temporary injunction and damages litigation brought by Luminant Generation Company stemming from the parties’ decades-long relationship at a 30,000-acre industrial site in Rockdale, Texas. Successfully fended off Luminant’s motion for temporary injunctive relief.
• Represents Kove in patent litigation against Amazon Web Services relating to patents covering foundational technology.
• Represents Droplets in patent litigation against Yahoo! (now Altaba) and Nordstrom set for trial in 2021. Also represents Droplets in Altaba’s dissolution proceedings in Delaware Chancery Court set for trial in 2021. 
• Represented Reynolds Metals Company (an Alcoa Corporation affiliate) in bankruptcy litigation brought by Gregory Powers Partners involving a co-generation facility in Gregory, Texas. The successful litigation strategy resulted in a favorable settlement that led to the “Turnaround Award” from The M&A Advisor. 
• Represents several prisoners in a Section 1983 cases challenging California’s Guard One system and related practices that result in severe sleep deprivation for prisoners in solitary confinement.
• Member of arbitration trial team that represented Fleetcor Technologies in an arbitration initiated by Chevron related to Chevron’s sale of a branded credit-card portfolio. Procured a favorable settlement after opening statements.
• Member of trial team for Allure Energy in patent infringement litigation against Nest involving Allure’s patented proximity-detection technology. Procured a favorable settlement hours before jury selection.
• Represented Merial in Lanham Act litigation brought by Elanco (an ELI Lilly subsidiary) involving Merial’s FRONTLINE® PLUS and HEARTGARD® products. Settled on favorable terms.
• Represented Principal Financial, Aegon, AIG, PIMCO and Oaktree in actions against Wall Street investment banks in connection with the purchase of more than $1 billion in Enron and Enron-related securities. Procured favorable settlements after prevailing on key court rulings.
• Represented Principal Financial, Aegon, Allstate, Prudential and John Hancock against Bank of America in connection with private placements of nearly $1 billion in securities sponsored and guaranteed by Parmalat S.p.A. Procured favorable settlements.
• Successfully defended the president of First State Bank & Trust against breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and related claims.
• Defended Pacific Western Bank in a case brought by Four Star investors accusing the bank of aiding and abetting a Ponzi scheme. After prevailing on successive demurrers, procured a favorable settlement. 
• Defended the founder of Priceline® in a securities class action. Settled on favorable terms.
• Represented Farallon Capital and Oaktree  Capital in California state court securities cases against Wall Street investment banks to recover tens of millions in losses relating to investments in a failed Thai steel plant. Procured favorable settlements after successful pre-trial rulings. 
• Member of arbitration trial team for the developer Maguire Properties in several cases about the financing and development of Playa Vista in Los Angeles.  
• Represented the Creditor’s Committee in the bankruptcy proceedings for Trenwick America regarding potential litigation claims stemming from corporate restructuring transactions.
• Represented the bankruptcy estate for SmarTalk Teleservices in litigation with Fletcher Asset Management regarding Fletcher’s pre-petition investment of approximately $30 million in SmartTalk. Procured a favorable settlement after prevailing on a key motion.
• Defended a former director of a Merck affiliate in an SEC civil enforcement insider-trading case relating to merger and spinoff transactions with Merck.
• Represented Paragon Homes, a developer, in a two-month jury trial against FN Bank (its financing partner). 

Professional and Community Activities

Deans Economic Counsel and Board of Visitors, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law

Awards & Recognition

Outstanding Senior Award (University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law)

Order of the Coif

Order of the Barristers