Mary Elizabeth Gately is the co-head of the Washington, DC office's Litigation group. She focuses her practice on class actions and other complex litigation in the fields of product liability, commercial litigation, construction, intellectual property, employment discrimination and the First Amendment.

Ms. Gately serves on the Hiring Committee and Pro Bono Committee in the Washington, DC office.

In 2010, Financial Times, in its US Innovative Lawyers honors, cited Ms. Gately on its "Commended" list in the Litigation category for her work crafting consensus in a bet-the-company case on behalf of a pet food manufacturer.

Representations include:

• Liaison counsel for defendants in multi-district product liability class action litigation arising out of the 2007 recall of pet food involving allegations of melamine-tainted wheat gluten from China. In re Pet Food Recall Litigation, MDL 1580 (D.N.J.)
• Lead counsel for a pet food manufacturer in class actions alleging unfair and deceptive trade practice violations, including "Made in the USA" claims
• Counseling of a manufacturer of meat products and pet food treats related to consumer protection claims for product labeling and advertising
• Representation of a pharmaceutical client in multi-district product liability class actions involving hormone therapy drugs
• Representation of a doctor in an administrative appeal of an Office of Management and Budget suspension of the doctor's treatment of Medicaid and Medicare patients
• Representation of a steel manufacturer in toxic tort action in Phoenix, including personal injury and wrongful death actions and medical monitoring and property damage class actions
• Representation of the League of Arab States in garnishment actions in federal court
• Representation of an international media company in a contract dispute with a Norwegian distributor of an electronic news service
• Representation of a Danish fashion industry client in a trademark infringement case
• Representation of an educational testing company in a copyright dispute with a test preparation company
• Representation of a doctor in an administrative appeal of an Office of Management and Budget suspension of the doctor's treatment of Medicaid and Medicare patients
• Representation of a large religious organization in a variety of actions in state and federal courts, including arbitration of construction disputes and mechanics liens disputes, wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits, First Amendment lawsuits, breach of contract lawsuits, entitlement to tax exemptions and counseling on governance issues, tax issues and low-income and senior citizen housing issues
• Representation in arbitration of a power company in a US$12 million breach of contract action against a lessee of turbines
• Representation of a technology company in a US $8 million lease and construction dispute in Virginia state court
• Representation of female employees of DC Department of Corrections in a sexual harassment class action lawsuit against the District of Columbia. After obtaining class certification, Ms. Gately participated in the seven-week jury trial, appeal and class relief phases. The case was settled recently for US$8 million and other injunctive relief