Kathryn C. Ellsworth | Partner
Kay Ellsworth represents clients in a variety of complex commercial disputes, including securities, franchise, and business tort litigation, as well as insurance and reinsurance litigation and arbitration. She is recognized by Chambers USA and others as one of the best insurance litigators in the United States. Her practice currently focuses on pursuing recovery on behalf of institutional investors for securities law and other violations relating to structured securities, especially mortgage-backed securities.
Ms. Ellsworth has successfully tried cases in state and federal courts and privately administered arbitrations. These cases involved franchise disputes, reinsurance claims arising from the workers compensation carve-out business, alleged breaches of contract and claims of fraud, and a variety of other commercial torts. Chambers describes Ms. Ellsworth as a “sparkler” in the courtroom. She has also argued and won several appeals, including one in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals involving the district court’s grant of summary judgment to individual director and officer defendants in an action alleging federal securities fraud, common law fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty.
Ms. Ellsworth has written and spoken widely on issues of securities and state and federal civil procedure, including electronic discovery and deposition and trial training.
Education
- Rutgers-Newark School of Law, JD 1990
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, BS 1984
Previous Employment
- Dewey Ballantine LLP, Associate/Partner, 1990-2007
Bar Admissions
- New York, 1991
- New Jersey, 1990
- United States Supreme Court, Court of Appeals for the Second, Fourth, and Seventh Circuits,
SDNY, EDNY