Biography

Elizabeth Dorsi represents clients in disputes ranging from high-stakes civil litigation and trial to pre-litigation conflict resolution. Elizabeth leverages her practical experience handling a wide range of matters in state and federal trial courts, on appeal, and in arbitration to address her clients legal needs.

Her practice focuses on complex litigation with an emphasis on trust, estate, and probate litigation, unfair competition, elder abuse claims, false advertising consumer class action defense, breach of contract claims, and business dissolution disputes. She uses a combination of strategic, big-picture thinking, and close attention to detail to develop creative solutions when none appear to exist. Elizabeth focuses day-to-day primarily on advising clients on litigation risks and strategy, briefing dispositive motions, taking and defending depositions, and preparing for trial.

In her trust and estate litigation practice, Elizabeth regularly represents trustees and beneficiaries in a range of complex disputes, including trust administration claims, beneficiary disputes, will and trust challenges, disputes regarding disbursements owed to income and HEMS beneficiaries, and claims of breach of trust, undue influence, and elder abuse. She further leverages Farella’s extensive expertise in family wealth and tax planning to advise her clients on tax efficient solutions to their trust and estate disputes.

An experienced trial lawyer, Elizabeth successfully represented a developer in a complex Unfair Competition Law action brought by a District Attorney’s office alleging numerous “malicious” unlawful acts and omissions arising over a multi-year period from a large pre-historic Native American cemetery that was discovered and damaged during construction of a residential development project. After a month-long bench trial, the court found no unlawful acts and awarded a complete defense victory. She has additionally first-chaired five jury trials to verdict and has further experience representing clients in bench trials and evidentiary hearings arising from her trust and estate litigation practice.

Elizabeth has an active pro bono practice. She successfully argued the Ninth Circuit habeas appeal for a death row inmate, which resulted in her client’s 40-year-old conviction being overturned because the prosecutor had engaged in unconstitutional racial discrimination during jury selection. She has also represented parties in unlawful detainer actions, SSDI administrative appeals, and civil rights class actions challenging California’s DNA collection law and juvenile detention practices.

Elizabeth served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable William B. Shubb of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, and as a legal intern with the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.

Distinctions

  • The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch, Commercial Litigation (2021, 2023)
  • Northern California Super Lawyers Rising Stars in Business Litigation (2020-2022)

Memberships and Affiliations

  • Executive Committee, Harvard Law School Alumni Association of Northern California (2019-present)
  • Board of Directors, Pacific Crest Trail Association (2021-present)
  • Board of Directors, AIDS Legal Referral Panel (2014-2016)

Firm Highlights

News

Farella Braun + Martel Earns San Francisco Green Business Recertification

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Publication

Corporate Transparency Act: State of the Law and Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements

Key Points: Despite ongoing legal challenges, the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) generally remains in effect and enforceable. Clients should continue to abide by its regulations. Initial reports for entities formed in 2024 are due within...

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Publication

Employment Law Update for Nonprofits With Holly Sutton

Welcome to  EO Radio Show - Your Nonprofit Legal Resource . Charities, foundations, and their founders often request help addressing employment practices and compliance questions. In this episode, host Cynthia Rowland is joined by Holly...

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News

North Coast Industry Insiders Weigh In on Why California Cannabis Tax Revenue Slipped in 2023

Jeff Hamilton spoke to Susan Wood with the North Bay Business Journal for the article "North Coast Industry Insiders Weigh In on Why California Cannabis Tax Revenue Slipped in 2023." Read the article with Jeff's...

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News

JPMorgan Chase Accuses TransUnion of Stealing 'Trade Secrets'

Intellectual property practice chair Eugene Mar provided expert commentary to American Banker for the article "JPMorgan Chase Accuses TransUnion of Stealing 'Trade Secrets'." In the article, he said: "By filing this as a trade...

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News

Scraping Battles: Meta Loses Legal Effort to Halt Harvesting of Personal Profiles

Alex Reese spoke to Matt Fleischer-Black of  Cybersecurity Law Report about the Meta v. Bright Data decision and its impact on U.S. scraping case law. Read the article here (paywall or trial).

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Publication

Nonprofit Quick Tip: State Filings in North Carolina and South Carolina

Welcome to  EO Radio Show - Your Nonprofit Legal Resource . Episode 75 is the tenth in a series of Quick Tip episodes focusing on the details of state registration of nonprofit corporations. With...

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News

Farella Announces 2024 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Pathfinders: Taylor Rottjakob and John Ugai

Farella Braun + Martel is proud to announce that senior associates  Taylor E. Rottjakob and John M. Ugai have been named 2024 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Pathfinders. Pathfinders have been identified as...

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Publication

Corporate Transparency Act: A Guide on Beneficial Ownership for Nonprofit Executives

The Corporate Transparency Act, enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, represents a significant shift in regulatory requirements for entities across the United States. This act, set to...

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Publication

Insurance Market Crushes Wineries and Wine Country Homeowners

We keep hearing about how difficult it is for winery and vineyard owners to get property insurance these days, both for their homes and their wine businesses in California’s wildfire-prone areas. Those who have...

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