Vanessa A.
Lavely

Ms. Lavely’s notable matters include:

• Representation of Tesla, Inc. and current and former members of its Board of Directors in numerous matters, including: 

  • Represented Tesla CEO and Board member Elon Musk in winning a complete trial victory to defeat a $13 billion stockholder derivative action filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery related to Tesla’s $2.1 billion acquisition of SolarCity Corporation. Following a highly publicized 11‑day trial, the court granted judgment in favor of Mr. Musk on all counts, and the judgment was affirmed by the Delaware Supreme Court. In connection with this victory, Ms. Lavely was recognized as The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week.”

  • Representation of Mr. Musk and other current and former members of the Tesla Board of Directors in a derivative action filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, including on appeal before the Delaware Supreme Court, concerning Mr. Musk’s compensation package. Following trial, the Delaware Court of Chancery ordered recission of the compensation package. On appeal, in an opinion adopting the arguments Cravath made during trial, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed the recission remedy and reinstated the package.

  • Representing the Tesla Board in a separate derivative action filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery related to the Board’s compensation, which plaintiff alleges is unfair and excessive. The parties reached a settlement favorable to the Board.

  • Represented Tesla in consolidated putative class action antitrust litigation alleging it has monopolized access to parts and services needed to repair its vehicles, resulting in significant delays and supracompetitive pricing for Tesla vehicle maintenance.
• Represented Xcel Energy, a major U.S. electricity and natural gas company with operations in eight states, in hundreds of lawsuits filed against Xcel arising from the December 2021 Marshall Wildfire, which were resolved shortly before trial. 
• Represented three of Rupert Murdoch’s children in Nevada state court in defeating an effort by their father to change the terms of the family trust that controls both Fox and News Corp.
• Represented a global agricultural company in an arbitration dispute against a global chemicals manufacturing company concerning indemnification for historical asbestos liability, reaching a favorable settlement shortly before trial.
• Represented Forward Air Corporation in connection with an action filed by Omni Logistics, LLC in the Delaware Court of Chancery, which sought to compel Forward Air to close its proposed acquisition of Omni. On the day trial was scheduled to begin, the parties announced a settlement, agreeing to amend the merger agreement on terms favorable to Forward Air and dismiss their claims.
• Represented Boehringer Ingelheim pharmaceutical group subsidiaries in connection with various proceedings relating to the antacid drug Zantac.  She also represented Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in its expedited appeal to the Third Circuit from a preliminary injunction in litigation brought by GlaxoSmithKline concerning Boehringer’s marketing of its COPD inhaler, Respimat.  The matter settled after Ms. Lavely and the Cravath team filed the opening brief on appeal on behalf of Boehringer.
• Represented Qualcomm in several matters relating to the company’s patent licensing and chipset businesses, including an action filed by Apple in California federal court. Following opening statements at trial, the parties reached a global settlement that includes a payment from Apple to Qualcomm; the companies also reached a six‑year license agreement and a multi-year chipset supply agreement.
• Represented Colgate‑Palmolive in product liability lawsuits filed around the country concerning the company’s talcum powder products. Ms. Lavely has tried three cases for Colgate; one resulted in a unanimous verdict in Colgate’s favor after a three‑month jury trial, and the other two reached favorable settlements during trial.

• Represented NCR in several Superfund environmental actions relating to the remediation of Wisconsin’s Fox River and Michigan’s Kalamazoo River. Ms. Lavely has tried three cases for NCR in federal court in Wisconsin and Michigan. She also represented NCR in an appeal to the Seventh Circuit that resulted in a reversal of the district court’s summary judgment decision.
• Represented Minerals Technologies in an action brought by the bankruptcy estate of Novinda Corporation, alleging fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract. Ms. Lavely helped secure a favorable decision following a three-week arbitration trial.

• Represented Morgan Stanley in a consolidated antitrust class action lawsuit alleging a conspiracy to restrain competition in connection with the trading of credit default swaps.

• Represented JPMorgan Chase and related entities (including Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual) in numerous residential mortgage‑backed securities actions filed across the country asserting claims for, among other things, alleged violations of federal and state securities laws, common law fraud and negligent misrepresentations.

• Represented Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings in connection with a dispute arising out of a purchase agreement for certain Boeing aircraft, securing a settlement on terms favorable to Atlas Air.

Ms. Lavely also devotes substantial time to pro bono service. She works extensively with Her Justice, a group that helps disadvantaged women find pro bono legal representation for a variety of family law matters, including child support and domestic violence cases. 

Ms. Lavely is a member of the Board of Advisors for UCLA School of Law. She is also a member of the women’s network Chief.

Ms. Lavely is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. She has been named to Business Insider’s list of “Rising Stars of the Courtroom,” Benchmark Litigation’s list of the “Top 250 Women in Litigation” and Crain’s New York Business’s list of “Notable Women in Law.” She has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a “Litigation Star” and included on Lawdragon’s lists of “500 Leading Litigators in America” and “500 Leading Global Antitrust & Competition Lawyers.” Ms. Lavely has also been recommended by Chambers USA for general commercial litigation, by The Legal 500 US for antitrust, general commercial and patent litigation, and by The Best Lawyers in America for commercial litigation.

Ms. Lavely received an A.B. degree magna cum laude from Harvard College in 2004, where she was captain of the Women’s Lacrosse Team and was awarded Academic All‑Ivy League. She received a J.D. from UCLA School of Law in 2008, where she served as the Editor‑in‑Chief of the Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. After graduation, she served as a law clerk to Hon. Kim McLane Wardlaw of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Ms. Lavely joined Cravath in 2010 and was elected a partner in 2017. She serves as the partner in charge of Data Analytics and E‑Discovery.