Elise M. Attridge

Throughout her practice, Elise collaborates with clients, information technology (IT) teams, and attorneys from Morgan Lewis’s innovative eData practice, helping clients implement strategies to manage their electronic discovery obligations in large-scale litigation matters. She is also skilled at coordinating with large teams of lawyers, both within Morgan Lewis and from different law firms, when necessary to handle clients’ complex, multidimensional problems.

Elise is a member of the firm’s cross-practice National Laboratories Working Group and represents companies in disputes involving government contracting considerations. Elise holds a wealth of knowledge in navigating the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and has litigated claims before the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA).

Elise’s active pro bono practice includes helping a nonprofit organization obtain a favorable settlement in a contract dispute and litigating a landlord-tenant action resulting in a complete dismissal with prejudice on behalf of her client. Elise also is part of the team prosecuting a class action against the State of Maryland for its failure to adequately monitor the use of psychotropic medications on children in the Maryland foster care system.

Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Elise served as a law clerk in the Maryland Office of the Attorney General’s Department of Human Services, where she helped represent local social services departments in cases involving children in need of assistance and termination of parental rights. While in law school, Elise interned for Chief Magistrate Judge Paul W. Grimm of the US District Court for the District of Maryland.

Class/Mass Action Defense

• Defended a leading global health services company, resulting in defeated certification of a nationwide class action challenging pharmaceutical benefits practices under ERISA and RICO; summary judgment granted on RICO claims
• Defended a leading global health services company and a large national employer in nationwide class actions challenging the use of mail-order pharmacy to deliver specialty drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS under the Affordable Care Act, ERISA, and other laws; affirmance of dismissal with prejudice of claims against the employer defendant in precedential ruling
• Represents an online pharmacy and pharmacy benefit manager in multiple putative class actions involving allegedly improper donations to a charitable co-pay foundation under RICO, consumer protection acts, and other laws
• Represents a medical device manufacturer in the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) In re: Philips Recalled CPAP, Bi-Level PAP, and Mechanical Ventilator Products Liability Litigation, involving personal injury, medical monitoring, and economic loss claims

Complex Commercial Litigation

• Represented a management and operating contractor of the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration in complex, multiparty contract disputes involving multimillion dollar construction projects before the CBCA
• Represented an electric power holding company in a breach of contract action arising from the construction of a $665 million combined-cycle natural gas power plant, resulting in a successful motion to dismiss and favorable settlement of the case soon thereafter
• Represented a leading energy company in a contract dispute arising from the construction of a biomass power plant, resulting in a total victory at arbitration and an award of all attorneys’ fees and costs
• Represented a global provider of biopharmaceutical services, including Contract Research Organization (CRO) services, involving a dispute related to a multinational Phase 3 clinical trial
• Represented a global pharmaceutical company in a prolonged pre-complaint discovery dispute and litigation through Pennsylvania’s unified state court system (at the Court of Common Pleas, the Superior Court, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court), with victories before each court