Charles E. Elder is a member of the litigation workgroup in Irell & Manella's Los Angeles office. His practice has encompassed a wide variety of complex commercial disputes, with a focus primarily on securities, antitrust and entertainment litigation. His current and recent clients include directors and officers of a number of publicly traded companies (including the former CEOs of two major financial institutions), one of the largest video game publishers in the world, and the largest music company in the world. Named as a Southern California "Rising Star" by Super Lawyers magazine, Mr. Elder has a remarkable record of successes in the trial and appellate courts. 

Representative Matters

• Won summary judgment for our client in a lawsuit brought by one of its biggest licensors seeking to terminate a lucrative license agreement based on allegations of bribery, antitrust violations and fraud. 

• Won summary judgment on behalf of Idealab, a privately-held California technology company, in a lawsuit brought by a large institutional shareholder challenging Idealab's amendment of its corporate charter. 

• Won a complete victory at trial on behalf of the defendant in a Delaware Chancery Court action seeking to inspect books and records of a limited liability company and accusing our client of mismanagement and fraud. 

• Currently representing the former CEO of a large publicly-traded financial company in civil suit brought by Securities and Exchange Commission alleging insider trading and securities fraud. 

• Won a complete victory in an arbitration proceeding in which our client's joint venture partner sought to expand the scope of the venture and obtain rights in a highly successful video game title released by our client. 

• Represented a chip packaging technology company in an antitrust lawsuit it filed against two major memory chip manufacturers. The case settled on the eve of trial on terms very favorable to our client after the Court rejected the defendants' last-ditch effort to have the antitrust claims dismissed. 

• Successfully negotiated favorable settlements on behalf of two former officers and directors of Global Crossing, Ltd. in connection with a number of high-profile shareholder class actions alleging violations of the securities laws.

• Won judgment for the outside directors of a publicly-held transportation and storage company in a derivative lawsuit brought by one of its largest shareholders.

• Won summary judgment on behalf of one of the nation's most prestigious law firms in a malpractice lawsuit involving allegedly incorrect securities regulatory advice.

• Negotiated a number of favorable settlements in various securities class and individual actions.

• Represented Universal Music Group in a dispute stemming from a complex joint venture agreement to produce and distribute records by various artists. The dispute settled on very favorable terms shortly after Irell obtained summary adjudication in our client's favor on a key issue of contractual interpretation and several of the plaintiff's other claims.

Professional Activities

• Association of Business Trial Lawyers
• Practicing Law Institute

Bar & Court Admissions

• 1996, California