Trial Firm Elsberg Baker & Maruri PLLC Launches With Six Founding Partners
NEW YORK – February 21, 2024 – A group of six renowned litigators led by David Elsberg, most recently a name partner at Selendy Gay Elsberg, and Rollo C. Baker IV and Silpa Maruri, former practice group leaders at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, today launched a new trial law firm, Elsberg Baker & Maruri PLLC. The firm’s founding partners also include two former partners at Selendy Gay Elsberg, Michael Duke and Vivek Tata, as well as Jared Ruocco, a former partner at LTL Attorneys who previously practiced at Quinn Emanuel.
The name partners of Elsberg Baker & Maruri formerly practiced together at Quinn Emanuel and have acted as lead counsel in numerous high-profile and precedent-setting cases. One of the top trial lawyers in the country, Elsberg is described by Chambers and Partners as “fabulously smart” and “fearless”—as well as “very creative, thoughtful, and collaborative.” Law360 named Elsberg a “Securities MVP,” referring to his “artful and measured cross-examination style” and describing him as an “aggressive, passionate, and first-rate thinker,” whose “ability to read people and think numerous questions ahead is uncanny.”
Elsberg’s major cases include winning a “resounding” defense verdict following trial in Quadrant Structured Products Co. Ltd. v. Vertin, a “literal bet-the-company case,” AmLaw Litigation Daily, in which the plaintiff sought hundreds of millions of dollars and the shutdown of the defendant’s business. He won an $850 million settlement after trial in an RMBS putback action, which is the largest recovery ever obtained in such a case; recovered more than $6 billion for Washington Mutual creditors in connection with the largest bank failure in history; won at trial on behalf of an investment fund against the billionaire William Koch; and won one of the largest investor awards on record in a FINRA arbitration.
Baker co-chaired Quinn Emanuel’s Corporate Governance Litigation Practice, and Maruri co-chaired Quinn Emanuel’s Delaware Litigation Practice. Baker successfully tried the first fully litigated COVID-19 busted M&A case, a result he successfully defended on appeal, resulting in a unanimous decision from the Supreme Court of Delaware allowing the buyer to walk away from a $6 billion acquisition. Maruri recently secured a record-setting $1 billion settlement on behalf of former stockholders of Dell Technologies—the largest cash settlement on behalf of shareholders in Delaware history. Baker and Maruri both have deep experience in securities and corporate governance matters, and have received numerous accolades, including selection by Lawdragon as being among the “500 Leading Litigators in America.” In 2022, Maruri became one of just two lawyers to be named “Litigator of the Week” twice by The American Lawyer.
Duke, Tata, and Ruocco all maintain active national commercial litigation practices. Duke and Tata litigated numerous cases to successful outcomes at Selendy Gay Elsberg. Tata was named a Best Lawyers “One to Watch” in commercial litigation and securities litigation in 2024, while Duke has been named a “Rising Star” in business litigation by Super Lawyers. Ruocco, who specializes in M&A and corporate governance disputes, practiced with Elsberg Baker & Maruri’s name partners at Quinn Emanuel. He recently secured a complete plaintiff’s jury verdict and punitive damages award in Los Angeles federal court for the acclaimed chemist and entrepreneur Anton Toutov in a complex shareholder dispute concerning the clinical testing laboratory he helped to build.
“Elsberg Baker & Maruri’s partners are aggressive, battle-tested trial lawyers with extensive track records pursuing clients’ interests with grit and creativity which has resulted in victories in clients’ most complex and high-stakes cases,” said Elsberg. “We are launching with veteran trial lawyers—not just litigators, but lawyers who know their way around a courtroom—and associates who operate at the highest level of excellence and want early trial experience on their way to becoming veteran trial lawyers.”
