Veteran Trial Litigator Leaves DLA Piper to Join Venable in LA
A year after DLA Piper acquired the boutique where she practiced for about 15 years, partner Ellyn Garofalo has left the global giant to join Venable's Los Angeles office.
December 03, 2018 at 03:29 PM
3 minute read
Venable sign. (Photo: Jason Doiy/ALM)
Venable has recruited DLA Piper's Los Angeles partner Ellyn Garofalo, a veteran trial attorney with a roster of entertainment, real estate and health care clients.
Garofalo's move came only a year after DLA Piper acquired Liner LLP, a Los Angeles-based boutique firm known for its entertainment practice where she practiced for about 15 years.
“I have traditionally practiced in boutique or small regional firms. Venable offered a big firm platform, with the culture and values of a small firm,” Garofalo said. “Venable's size, culture and the high quality of its lawyers made it a perfect fit for my practice, particularly my individual, noncorporate, and entertainment clients.”
Ellyn GarofaloGarofalo has had a number of notable celebrity representations. This summer she represented Alyssa Milano in the actress' $10 million fraud lawsuit against her former business manager. She previously helped client Sandeep Kapoor, Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith's family doctor, win an acquittal on all charges in a drug conspiracy case.
Garofalo worked for O'Neill, Lysaght & Sun before joining the firm then-known as Liner Grode Stein Yankelevitz Sunshine Regenstreif & Taylor in 2003. Over the years, she has defended individuals and corporations in matters related to health care fraud, medical licensing issues, insurance fraud and bank fraud.
“I hope to contribute to Venable's litigation and trial practice team, by building on Venable's existing litigation practice, adding new expertise in real estate litigation, partnership disputes, and professional negligence defense and adding capabilities new to the Los Angeles office, such as white-collar criminal defense and SEC enforcement work,” Garofalo added.
According to the firm, Venable's Los Angeles office, which opened in 2006, has a total of 82 attorneys working in the office. In a prepared statement, Mitch Evall, partner-in-charge of the firm's Los Angeles office, said, “Ellyn's outstanding track record of successfully litigating high-profile cases will be of added value to our great team of litigators who represent regional, national, and international clients in various industries throughout state and federal courts systems.”
Venable has also expanded its presence in California this year by hiring former Goodwin Procter intellectual property partner Shane Brun in the Bay Area in October. Earlier in the year, the firm also brought on former Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth IP litigation partner Sarah Brooks in Los Angeles.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Meta agrees to pay $25 million to settle lawsuit from Trump after Jan. 6 suspension
4 minute read
How We Won It: Latham Secures Back-to-Back ITC Patent Wins for California Companies
6 minute read
Trending Stories
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
