Elizabeth
Pipkin

• State Bar of California
• State Bar of Texas
• U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
• D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals
• U.S. District Courts, Northern and Central Districts of California
• U.S. District Courts, Northern and Southern Districts of Texas
• U.S. Court of Federal Claims

• J.D., Harvard Law School
• B.A., Brigham Young University

Representative Matters

• Obtained the complete dismissal of federal action for fraud, seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, against a Chinese public company in the solar energy industry. The dismissal was affirmed by the Ninth Circuit on appeal.
• Obtained decertification of a class action brought by consumers under the Consumer Legal Remedies Act and the California Unfair Competition Law, against a major Silicon Valley technology company.
• Successfully petitioned for and retained rehearing en banc. The ruling from the panel of 11 Ninth Circuit judges overturned a three-panel decision of the Ninth Circuit, mandating that the firm’s client should be awarded the vast majority of her attorney’s fees.
• Obtained the complete dismissal of an action filed against a commercial lender in a dispute involving a failed merger between two companies in the clean energy industry.
• Obtained the first-ever court order requiring the federal executive branch to remove a person wrongly included on a post-9/11 terrorist watchlist. The client was a Malaysian former Stanford Ph.D. student who was erroneously watchlisted and barred from returning to the United States. After eight years of litigation and a trial, our client’s name was fully cleared.
• Represented a major hard disk drive manufacturer in an action alleging trade secret misappropriation and defamation. The case settled on confidential terms, including a stipulated judgment in client’s favor.
• Represented a medical research non-profit organization in a trade secrets action against a major pharmaceutical company.
• Obtained dismissals of individuals in multiple actions for trade secrets theft.
• Successfully defended a major Silicon Valley networking company against contract claims arising from asset purchase transaction.
• Obtained a sizable settlement from a security firm when its employee stole property from the client, a Silicon Valley computer hardware manufacturer.
• Represented a partner in a real estate partnership in dissolution and partition proceedings.

Reported Cases

• Ibrahim v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Security, 912 F.3d 1147 (9th Cir. Jan. 2, 2019).
• Ibrahim v. Department of Homeland Security (N.D. Cal. 2014) 62 F.Supp.3d 909.
• Ibrahim v. Department of Homeland Security (9th Cir. 2012) 669 F.3d 983.

Awards

• Lynx Legacy Distinguished Alumni Award, 2024
• Leading Commercial Litigators 2024, Daily Journal
• Top 100 Lawyers, Daily Journal, 2014, 2015, 2023
• Top Women Lawyers, Daily Journal, 2015, 2020, 2023, 2024, 2025
• California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award (Civil Rights), 2015
• The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Commercial Litigation, 2024-2026
• Northern California Super Lawyers, 2018 – 2025
• Silicon Valley “Women of Influence 2015,” Silicon Valley Business Journal
• The National Trial Lawyers, Top 100 Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyers (Northern California)
• National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) Pro Bono Award, 2015
• Asian Pacific Bar Association of Silicon Valley’s Beacon Award for Diversity, 2015
• Profiled in Winning: Successful Attorneys and Their Strategies, National Law Journal, 2014
• Honored by the naming of the “Elizabeth Pipkin Public Interest Law Fellowship” at the University of Texas School of Law, Sponsored by Bill and Stephanie Whitehurst, 2014
• Top “40 under 40” Silicon Valley executives, Silicon Valley Business Journal, 2013
• Tribute to Women Award, YWCA of Silicon Valley, 2011

Honors

• Senior Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America (limited to top one-half of one (1) percent of trial lawyers)

Articles

• “The value of knowing your local legal landscape”, Daily Journal
• “Free Speech is Protected, but How is Less Clear Following Recent Court Rulings”, Daily Journal
• “To Stay or Not to Stay – The Arbitration Jurisdictional Split is on the Docket”, Daily Journal
• “Supreme Court Unanimously Bolsters the State Secrets Doctrine”, Daily Journal
• “Surveillance of Muslim Communities is Already Happening,” (online) or “State Secrets Trump All” (print), Daily Journal

• Panelist, SCCBA Webinar: Tech Founder Business Divorce, 2025
• Panelist, Career Opportunities at Small to Mid-Size Firms, Stanford Law School, 2023
• Moderator, Civil Trial Institute, Santa Clara County Bar Association, 2022
• Panelist, SCCBA Webinar: Tactics and Traps in Deposing and Defending Business Representatives Under FRCP 30(b)(6) and CCP 2025.230, 2020
• A Dialog Between Bench and Bar, The Practice Program of the Northern District of California, 2019
• “The Appraisal Expert as a Teacher,” Appraisal Institute of Northern California 2016 Spring Litigation Conference, 2016
• “Post – 9/11 America,” Stanford University Law School, 2014
• “Evidence in the Online World,” Practicing Law Institute’s Trial Evidence Program, 2014
• “Taking and Defending Depositions,” McManis Faulkner, 2013

• Northern District of California, Attorney Advisory Committee, 2026 – Present
• Northern District of California, Professional Conduct Committee, 2024 – Present
• Northern District Practice Program (NDPP), Board of Directors, 2016 – Present
• Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, Board of Directors
• Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, Past President, 2020 – 2022
• Northern District of California Lawyer Representative, Co-Chair, 2019
• Ninth Circuit Judicial Council Lawyer Representative, 2017-2019
• Fellow, American Bar Foundation
• Harvard Law School Association of Northern California, Executive Board
• Team in Training Cycling Events, 2015 (100 mi) and 2016 (100 km)
• Santa Clara County Bar Association, Member
• California Women Lawyers, Member
• Asian Law Alliance, Jade Circle Supporter
• Harvard Club of Silicon Valley, Member
• Clerked for The Honorable Nancy F. Atlas, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, 2002-03