Betting On Yourself: Attorneys Under 40 Making Big Moves (Presented by the Federal Bar Association Federal Litigation Section and the Younger Lawyer’s Division)

Davida Brook, Partner | Susman Godfrey L.L.P.

Davida Brook is a high-demand trial lawyer who is frequently brought in to help companies and individuals tackle their thorniest legal disputes. In 2023, acting as co-lead counsel, Ms. Brook and her team secured a historic $787.5 million settlement to resolve Dominion Voting System’s massive defamation lawsuit against Fox New Network over allegations that Fox made false statements that Dominion rigged the 2020 presidential election. Ms. Brook currently serves as co-lead counsel to the New York Times in a groundbreaking copyright infringement action against Microsoft and OpenAI alleging that the companies illegally used millions of its articles to train ChatGPT. Ms. Brook also serves as co-lead counsel in a class action against PornHub parent company, MindGeek, over allegations that MindGeek violated federal sex trafficking and child pornography laws. Ms. Brook and her team recently certified an international class of tens of thousands of victims whose images were uploaded to MindGeek’s websites. Among other industry recognitions, Ms. Brook has repeatedly been named one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California and Top Women Lawyers in California (Daily Journal) and one of the nation’s 500 Leading Litigators (Lawdragon).

MiAngel Cody, Founder | Decarceration Collective

MiAngel Cody is nationally recognized for her dedicated defense of men and women sentenced to life in federal prison. She is the founder of the Decarceration Collective, a woman-powered law firm fighting to free people sentenced to life in prison for drugs and to end the laws that put them there. MiAngel has defended hundreds of people in federal court and won freedom for over 40 life-sentenced prisoners. Her victories include 6 successful commutations from the President of the United States. During her historic #90DaysOfFreedom Campaign, in three short months, MiAngel and her team won freedom for 17 federal prisoners unfairly sentenced to life without parole for drugs. MiAngel began her legal career as a law clerk to Federal Judge Myron H. Thompson of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. She then clerked for Federal Appeals Judge Ann Williams (Ret.) of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Moderator, Jesse-Justin Cuevas, Associate | Susman Godfrey L.L.P.

Jesse-Justin Cuevas is a civil trial lawyer who represents plaintiffs and defendants in high stakes, complex commercial litigation matters across a wide range of industries, subject matters, and tribunals. Most recently, Jesse-Justin represented Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in parallel federal and administrative proceedings brought by the FTC to enjoin ICE’s $11.7 billion proposed acquisition of Black Knight. Jesse-Justin and her team parachuted in to defend the merger and, within a few months, secured the FTC’s dismissal of the case and consent to the deal just before trial was set to begin. Shortly before that, Jesse-Justin represented claimants in a bet-the-company confidential arbitration alleging fraud and breach of contract in connection with a multi-hundred-million-dollar dispute in the renewable energy space. Jesse-Justin and her team readied the case for trial in a record 58 days and, after a 10-day hearing on the merits, secured a complete victory for her client. Named On The Rise-Top 40 Young Lawyers by the American Bar Association (2023), Trailblazers Plaintiffs’ Lawyers by The National Law Journal (2022), Rising Star of the Plaintiffs Bar by The National Law Journal’s Elite Trial Lawyers (2021), and as a Finalist for California Legal Awards’ Mentor of the Year (2022) and Los Angeles Business Journal’s Mentor of the Year (2021), Jesse-Justin has been recognized for her efforts in both the courtroom and her community.

I. Laying the groundwork – presenters discuss how they became experts in their filed and started their own law firm and rose to the level of in-demand trial attorney | 2:00pm – 2:15pm

II. MiAngel’s Case Study & Novel Legal Theory/Strategy – Reynolds Wintersmith (life sentence; granted presidential commutation from Obama) or Steve Liscano (life sentence; granted compassionate release) United States v. Liscano, No. 02 CR 719-16, 2021 WL 4413320 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 27, 2021) | 2:15pm – 2:25pm

III. Davida’s Case Study& Novel Legal Theory/Strategy – US Dominion, Inc. v. Fox News Network, LLC, N21C-03-257 EMD (Del. Super.) | 2:25pm – 2:35pm

IV. Discussion of the Challenges and Benefits of Youth in their Respective Practices | 2:35pm – 2:45pm

V. 5 Must-Do’s (& Resources) for Young Attorneys Seeking to Leave a Mark in Their Fields | 2:45pm – 2:54pm

VI. Q&A session | 2:54pm – 2:59pm

VII. Closing remarks | 2:59pm – 3:00pm