Andra Barmash Greene

Andra Barmash Greene is the Managing Partner of Irell & Manella's Newport Beach office and a member of the firm's Executive Committee.

Ms. Greene specializes in complex business litigation. Her extensive trial and appellate experience in state and federal courts has included cases involving class actions, professional negligence, wage and hour, employment, business torts, real estate, lender liability, executive compensation, environmental issues, securities litigation, insurance coverage, intellectual property, and white-collar criminal claims. Ms. Greene has substantial experience litigating cases under California's anti-SLAPP statute. She frequently represents other lawyers and major law firms when they need counsel.

Ms. Greene is listed in the 2007-2013 editions of The Best Lawyers in America for commercial litigation, the 2009-2013 editions for intellectual property litigation and the 2010-2013 editions for "Bet the Company" litigation. She has also been named Best Lawyers’ 2013 Orange County Litigation - Intellectual Property "Lawyer of the Year" and Best Lawyers' 2012 Orange County Bet-the-Company Litigation "Lawyer of the Year." Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year."

In both 2013 and 2008, the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journals named Ms. Greene one of the "Top Women Lawyers" in California. In 2004-2013, she was named to the Southern California "Super Lawyers" list by Los Angeles Magazine; only five percent of the lawyers in the country earn this honor. In 2006-2009 and 2011-2013, Ms. Greene was selected as one of the “Top 50 Lawyers in Orange County” by Los Angeles Magazine. In 2006-2008 and 2013, she was also selected as one of the "Top 50 Women Lawyers” in Southern California by Los Angeles Magazine. Ms. Greene has also been named in the Los Angeles Times Magazine's 2009 edition as one of Southern California's Best Lawyers for her work in Commercial Litigation.

In 2011, Ms. Greene received the Learned Hand Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Jewish Committee.The ACLU Foundation of Southern California awarded her and her team the 2010 Social Justice Award for their outstanding pro bono work on Sipprelle v. City of Laguna Beach, securing a major victory on behalf of the homeless community in Laguna Beach, California. Ms. Greene was also featured in the March 2006 issue of OC Metro as one of "Ten Women of Power" in Orange County. In 2007, Orange Coast Magazine listed her as one of the top lawyers in Orange County. 

Following law school, Ms. Greene was a judicial clerk for the Honorable Catherine B. Kelly of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Representative Matters

• Co-trial counsel in successful defense of Western Digital Corporation in a $200 million breach of contract and warranty action named by theNational Law Journal as one of the Top 15 Defense Verdicts of the Year.
• Won summary judgment for a leading international law firm against plaintiffs who claimed that firm's alleged professional negligence resulted in $20 million in damages. The Court of Appeal affirmed the decision.
• Successfully represented homeless residents (pro bono) against the City of Laguna Beach in a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging that the City's anti-camping ordinance was unconstitutional because it essentially criminalized homelessness. Soon after the lawsuit was filed, the City repealed the ordinance.
• Obtained dismissal of class and PAGA claims in putative wage and hour class action. On the eve of trial, the plaintiff dismissed his remaining individual claims with prejudice.
• Successfully represented international fast food chain in defense of class and unfair competition claims on behalf of consumers alleging false advertising in description of food's nutritional value. The court entered judgment in favor of the Firm's client after granting motion to dismiss.
• Defeated class certification in putative consolidated federal court wage and hour class action.
• Obtained dismissal of putative consumer class action alleging client engaged in billing fraud.
• Won complete defense victory following a five day arbitration in which a terminated distributor brought breach of contract and tort claims against a medical device manufacturer, alleging millions of dollars in damages. The arbitrator also awarded the Firm's client 100% of the attorneys fees and costs requested. 
• Successfully represented client in obtaining dismissal of class claims in a putative wage and hour class action.
• Won summary judgment for national restaurant chain on insurance coverage claim where carrier had wrongfully denied coverage.
• Won summary judgments for Skylink Technologies, Inc. in parallel Federal District Court and International Trade Commission proceedings in case involving novel interpretation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The Chamberlain Group, Inc. v. Skylink Technologies, Inc., 292 F. Supp. 2d 1040 (N.D. Ill. 2003); In the Matter of Certain Universal Transmitters for Garage Door Openers (2003 WL 22811119 U.S.I.T.C. 2003). In a landmark decision under the DMCA, the Federal Circuit affirmed the District Court's ruling. 381 F.3d 1178 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
• Successfully petitioned the Ninth Circuit to review a decision of the District Court certifying a state law wage and hour class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.
• Successfully defended pension fund advisor against $64 million lender liability claim and obtained $8.7 million judgment on client's behalf and an award of $710,000 in attorneys' fees, the full amount of attorneys' fees requested.
• Successfully represented client in Lowe Enterprises Residential Partners, L.P. v. Eighth Judicial District Court, 40 P.3d 405 (Nev. 2002), a case of first impression in which the Nevada Supreme Court en bancrecognized validity of contractual jury waivers in commercial agreements.
• After successful trial on issue of debtor's claim of impossibility of repatriation and turnover of assets held in debtor's offshore asset protection trust, obtained order that claimed $30 million asset be turned over to Ms. Greene's client. This order was ratified by the Nevada Supreme Court, and the asset was in fact turned over.
• Obtained dismissal under anti-SLAPP statute of business tort action where plaintiffs sought $200 million in damages, and Ms. Greene's clients received an award of $275,000 in attorneys' fees and costs.
• Successfully represented plaintiff in appeal of dismissal of its case under California's anti-SLAPP statute and, upon remand, obtained award of attorneys' fees.

Professional Activities

• In addition to her work at the firm, Ms. Greene is involved in numerous professional activities. Ms. Greene is a past president of the Federal Bar Association/Orange County Chapter. She was a lawyer representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference and served as the co-chair of the Central District of California lawyer representatives for 2007-2008. She served on the Council of the ABA's Section of Litigation, the governing body of the ABA's largest Section, from 2001-2004. She has served on the ABA Section of Litigation's Federal Practice Task Force, the Civil Trial Practice Standards Task Force and Raise the Bar Task Force. Ms. Greene also currently serves on the Supreme Court committee of the National Association of Women Lawyers and is Vice Chair of the Masters Division of the Orange County Bar Association.
• Ms. Greene is a frequent speaker at continuing legal education programs, such as the ABA's "How to Win a Business Jury Trial," the ABA's "Jury Comprehension," the ABA's "Litigating Preliminary Injunctions: Sudden Justice on a Half-Baked Record," ALI–ABA's "21st Century Litigation," and the Rutter Group's "Professional Malpractice." She served as a panel member and moderator in the ABA videotape program "Winning Without Losing Your Professionalism" and as a panel member in the ABA videotape program "Preparing Witnesses." Ms. Greene also speaks on a variety of other topics relating to the practice of law. Most recently, she spoke on a panel titled "Creating the Cultural Tipping Point," a discussion on inclusion and cultural change, at an event sponsored by CoreLogic Diversity & Inclusion and the Santa Ana Women’s Business Council. Ms. Greene has also presented on large law firm practice at UC Irvine Law School and participated in a briefing on "The California Legal Market: Los Angeles/Orange County."
• An authority on the subject of women in the legal profession and gender issues, Ms. Greene has authored an array of publications and has spoken on these topics extensively. She co-edited the book "The Woman Advocate," published by the ABA, for which she contributed a chapter entitled, "The Litigating Mom." From 1998 through 2000, Ms. Greene served as co-chair of the Woman Advocate Committee of the ABA's Section of Litigation.
• Ms. Greene has long been active in the community. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Sage Hill School, where her son is a junior. Ms. Greene also is an attorney coach for the Sage Hill School’s Mock Trial Team. Ms. Greene currently serves on the Board of Directors of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Orange County. In addition, she is a member of the Women's Leadership Council of Brown University, a body of select alumnae that serves in an advisory capacity to the Office of the President of Brown University. She was formerly a member of the board of directors of the Public Law Center.
• Ms. Greene has authored and co-authored numerous articles, including "Making Partner: It Takes More Than Hard Work and Talent," (Law Practice Today, May 2013), "No Good Deed Goes Unrewarded: Why Professional Courtesy Advances Your Client's Cause" (Litigation Magazine, Winter 2013), "Why Diversity is Essential in an Economic Downturn" (Diversity Journal, March/April 2012), "Open Sesame – Court's Decision on Garage Door Openers Shows Limits of Copyright Act" (Los Angeles Daily Journal, December 30, 2003), "Dealing with California's Anti-SLAPP Law" (ABTL Report, 2001), "Can Local Court Rules Rescue Civility? New Rules Address Professionalism in Depositions," in the Spring 1997 issue of California Litigation, and "Balancing Motherhood and the Practice of Law," in the National Law Journal.

Bar & Court Admissions

• 1981, District of Columbia; 1986, California (all state and federal courts)
• U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court