Dena Sharp Recognized as a “California Lawyer Attorney of the Year” 2024 by the Daily Journal
Girard Sharp is pleased to announce that Girard Sharp and Lieff Cabraser have won a 2024 “California Lawyer Attorney of the Year” award for their
Dena Sharp is dedicated to finding common-sense solutions in even the most complex litigation. She recently served as co-lead counsel in the In re Juul Labs Inc. multidistrict litigation, which resulted in recoveries of nearly $2 billion for individual consumers, school districts, municipalities, and Native American tribes. The last of the Juul settlements—for $235 million with Altria (formerly Philip Morris)—was reached after Dena and her co-lead trial counsel rested the plaintiff’s case in a bellwether jury trial against the tobacco giant.
Dena currently serves as co-lead counsel in In re Xyrem Antitrust Litigation and In re Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Litigation, as well as in leadership positions in various life sciences and statutory damage matters. She also serves as a member of the End-Payer Steering Committee in the massive In re Generic Pharmaceuticals Pricing Antitrust Litigation. Dena previously led a team to a $104.75 million recovery on the eve of trial in a certified “pay-for-delay” antitrust class action concerning the drug Lidoderm, which delivered the largest recovery for a class of end-payers in similar federal litigation in more than decade.
Dena tries cutting-edge cases. In a first-of-its-kind jury trial in 2021, Dena and team represented clients whose eggs and embryos were in a freezer tank at a fertility clinic that failed. After a three-week trial, the jury returned a $15 million verdict for the plaintiffs, leading to a global resolution with the tank manufacturer for the dozens of households represented by Girard Sharp.
Outside the courtroom, Dena chairs the board of directors of the Impact Fund, a public interest nonprofit. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute, sits on the board of advisors of the Center for Litigation and the Courts at the UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and serves on the executive committee of the local chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Dena co-wrote a chapter in the ABA’s “Class Action Strategy and Practice Guide,” and the widely-cited Sedona Principles: Best Practices and Principles for Electronic Document Production (Third Edition). She is the immediate past co-chair of the Northern District of California’s Lawyer Representatives to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council.
Dena has twice been recognized as the “Lawyer of the Year” in San Francisco for Plaintiffs’ Mass Tort / Class Action Litigation by Best Lawyers in America (in 2023 and 2024), and was selected as a “Titan of the Plaintiffs’ Bar” by Law360 in April 2023. She recently received the prestigious “California Lawyer Attorney of the Year” (CLAY) Award for the JUUL litigation, recognizing its major impact on society and the law. Dena has three times been named to the National Law Journal’s “Elite Women of the Plaintiffs’ Bar,” honoring her as one of only a handful of lawyers nationwide who has “consistently excelled in high-stakes matters on behalf of plaintiffs.” The Daily Journal has also recognized her as one of the “Top Antitrust Lawyers in California” and “Top Women Lawyers” in California. In 2023, Dena was selected as one of the Top 100 Super Lawyers in Northern California, and since 2020 she has been recognized by San Francisco magazine as one of the “Top 50 Women Attorneys in Northern California.”
Dena is a graduate, cum laude, of the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, and earned her undergraduate degree from Brown University, where she graduated magna cum laude. A first-generation American, Dena is fluent in Spanish and German.
J.D., cum laude, University of California College of the Law, San Francisco
B.A., magna cum laude, Brown University
In re Restasis Antitrust Litigation
Co-lead counsel in this monopolization case against pharmaceutical giant Allergan for its multifaceted strategy to delay generic competition in the market for the blockbuster drug Restasis.
In re Lidoderm Antitrust Litigation
Co-lead counsel in this “pay-for-delay” litigation against three drug companies. Settled a week before jury selection only after the class was certified and summary judgment had been denied. The $104.75 million settlement represents the largest end-payer recovery in absolute and percentage terms in any federal pay-for-delay case in at least the past decade.
In re Generic Pharmaceuticals Pricing Antitrust Litigation
Member of the End-Payer Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in this massive price-fixing case against dozens of drug companies, where executives have pleaded guilty to collusion and 48 state attorneys general have alleged a sprawling conspiracy on the part of the drug makers.
In re Pacific Fertility Litigation
Representing plaintiffs who allege their frozen eggs and embryos were affected by the failure of a cryopreservation tank at Pacific Fertility Center’s San Francisco clinic in early March 2018.
In re Capacitors Antitrust Litigation
Representing direct purchasers in a multidistrict proceeding that follows several executives pleading guilty to fixing the prices of capacitors, tiny electronic components found in devices from toasters to cell phones. Nearly $100 million in settlements to date and the case is proceeding to trial.
In re Lehman Brothers Holdings Securities and ERISA Litigation
Lead counsel for investors in the securities litigation arising from the largest bankruptcy in United States history. Recovered $120 million on behalf of structured note investors and helped secure total recoveries of over $700 million.
In re Oppenheimer California Fund Securities Litigation
Co-lead counsel for investors in Oppenheimer’s California Municipal Bond Fund, which misled investors about its investment risk and then lost nearly half its value. Recovered $50.75 million for the certified class of investors.
In re Provident Royalties, LLC / Medical Capital
Lead counsel team for the plaintiffs in this Ponzi scheme litigation, ultimately recovering $150 million for investors.
In re SLM Corporation Securities Litigation
Lead counsel team in accounting fraud litigation brought under Rule 10b-5 that resulted in a $35 million recovery.
Pending Cases
Community & Professional
Girard Sharp is pleased to announce that Girard Sharp and Lieff Cabraser have won a 2024 “California Lawyer Attorney of the Year” award for their
We are proud to announce that 12 Girard Sharp lawyers have been recognized in the 2024 Northern California Super Lawyers and Rising Stars listings for
Registration is now open for the Seventh Annual “Celebrating Women in Competition Law in California” on March 7, 2024. Girard Sharp LLP’s very own Dena
Girard Sharp LLP Partner Dena C. Sharp was quoted in The Dallas Morning News article discussing how reproductive health groups like Plan C and Aid Access help
We are pleased to announce that Girard Sharp recently won the National Law Journal’s 2023 Elite Trial Lawyers award for Pharmaceutical Litigation. The firm also
News
All News
601 California St. Suite 1400
San Francisco, California, 94108
866-981-4800
contact@girardsharp.com
Copyright ©2024