Farella Braun + Martel Partner Kelly Woodruff Named One of California's Top Women Litigators

SAN FRANCISCO, May 18, 2010 - Farella Braun + Martel LLP's Kelly Woodruff has been selected by the Daily Journal, one of California's most influential legal trade publications, as one of the "Top Women Litigators" in the state for 2010.  The annual list recognizes the top women litigators who have made important achievements in litigating significant cases and who have established themselves as leaders in their areas of practice and in the profession.

Woodruff's selection in the Daily Journal's "Top Women Litigators" listing recognizes her track record of taking on high-stakes, cutting-edge litigation.  A partner in Farella's Appellate, Business Litigation, and Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Groups, Woodruff is handling the most watched municipal bankruptcy in recent history.  She represents the City of Vallejo's non-management union employees in this rare Chapter 9 case, which involves new and uncharted legal territory.  

Woodruff represents clients in complex civil and bankruptcy litigation, often involving allegations of corporate wrongdoing, and has handled numerous writs and appeals.  She was a member of the legal team that obtained a reversal of David Ghent, Jr.'s death sentence, on grounds that his constitutional rights had been violated.  Her pro bono work is focused primarily on prisoner civil rights appeals and death penalty habeas corpus petitions.

In July 2008, she was appointed to the State Bar of California Committee on Federal Courts (one of 20 members, serving a three-year term), and was recently nominated to serve as vice chair of the Committee for 2011, and will chair the Committee in 2012.  Woodruff serves on the Board of Directors for Equal Rights Advocates and co-chairs Farella's Women's Initiative Steering Committee.

Woodruff received her J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of California, Hastings College of Law (1992), where she was the senior executive editor of the Hastings Law Journal, and her B.A. from the University of Colorado, Boulder (1988). 

Farella Braun + Martel represents clients throughout the United States and abroad in sophisticated business transactions and high-stakes commercial, civil and criminal litigation.  Founded in 1962, the firm is headquartered in San Francisco and maintains an office in the Napa Valley focused on the wine industry. Farella Braun + Martel lawyers are known for their imaginative legal solutions, dynamism and intellectual creativity. With an unwavering service ethic and interdisciplinary team approach, the firm is committed to advancing clients' objectives in the most effective, coordinated and efficient manner. Farella Braun + Martel is a green business. www.fbm.com

Contacts:
Melinda Hepp / Traci Stuart
Blattel Communications                                          
415.397.4811                                                           
[email protected] / [email protected]             

Cheryl Loof
Farella Braun + Martel
415.954.4433
[email protected]