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620 Newport Center Drive, Suite 1300
Newport Beach, CA 92660

949.273.4153

Litigation Star

Top 250 Women in Litigation

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Practice area:

Product liability


Lauded as “one of the brightest litigators across the U.S.” in Benchmark Litigation, Allison Libeu provides creative, practical, and strategic counsel to help her clients resolve complex commercial disputes and protect their business interests.

Ms. Libeu litigates high-stakes business disputes across a variety of areas, including business torts, contracts, class actions, securities fraud, and trade secrets. Ms. Libeu has successfully prosecuted and defended disputes involving company founders; the termination of C-suite executives; and claims that frequently arise in such cases, including claims related to breach of fiduciary duty and unfair competition as well as violation of nondisclosure, noncompete, and nonsolicitation agreements. Her national practice includes litigation at the trial and appellate levels in both federal and state courts, in addition to U.S.-based and international arbitration.

Ms. Libeu consistently achieves successful outcomes for her clients both before and at trial and has extensive experience in all stages of litigation – up to and including settlement negotiations and trial. She also regularly represents clients in appellate matters and arbitrations as well as in administrative and regulatory proceedings.

In addition to her practice, Ms. Libeu serves on the board of the Constitutional Rights Foundation, an education organization dedicated to empowering Orange County youth to be active, responsible citizens. She is a former board member of the Orange County chapter of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, which promotes a dialogue between members of the Orange County bar and the county’s federal and state judges on matters affecting business litigation and the civil justice system.

Besides her Benchmark recognitions, Ms. Libeu has been named among the “Top Women Lawyers” in California by the Daily Journal and “Leaders of Influence: Litigators & Trial Attorneys” and “Women of Influence: Attorneys,” by the Los Angeles Business Journal, among other accolades.

  • Won a record-setting $293 million verdict for Monster Energy Company against rival beverage company Vital Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in a false advertising, tortious interference, and trade secret case after a monthlong trial. The jury found Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc. and its CEO falsely advertised the “super creatine” ingredient of its billion-dollar Bang energy drink. Also prevailed on appeal when the Ninth Circuit affirmed the judgment. The verdict is believed to be one of the largest, if not the largest, Lanham Act awards ever.

  • Won “among the largest-ever U.S. trademark awards” (Reuters) for Monster Energy Company against rival beverage company Vital Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Following a two-week trial, the arbitrator held that VPX’s Bang Energy does not contain advertised muscle-building creatine and infringed on “Bang” trademark. In the significant ruling, the arbitrator awarded Monster and Orange Bang $175 million in damages, nearly $10 million in attorneys’ fees and costs, and a 5% royalty on all future sales of Bang Energy (with over $1.5 billion in annual sales). The award came after Ms. Libeu cross-examined Vital Pharmaceutical’s damages expert and obtained critical admissions about his methodology that undercut his opinions, which resulted in the arbitrator rejecting his disgorgement and royalty theories as a “post-litigation contrivance.”

  • On behalf of Amazon and Twitch, secured a first-of-its-kind decision in New York state, with the New York appellate court dismissing lawsuits alleging our clients and other social media companies were liable for the fatal mass shooting in Buffalo, New York. The plaintiffs—victims of the shooting and their family members—contend the shooter was radicalized by extremist and racist content on social media and that his ability to livestream on Twitch motivated him to commit the crimes. The claims included wrongful death, product liability, negligence, and infliction of emotional distress.

  • Served as lead litigation counsel to Monster Beverage Corporation in its acquisition of Bang Energy for $362 million. The acquisition was preceded by VPX’s petition for bankruptcy due to the almost $500 million in judgments Ms. Libeu obtained for Monster in the trademark infringement and false advertising lawsuits described above. Ms. Libeu led the litigation team for Monster in VPX’s bankruptcy cases, including serving as lead counsel in multiple adversary litigations against VPX to protect Monster’s judgments and enforce its intellectual property rights.

  • Representing Epic Games in cases across multiple jurisdictions claiming that the company intentionally designed its games to addict players. The cases raise unique issues regarding the First Amendment’s protections for video games and newer technologies and the extent to which minors can be bound to online contracts. Ms. Libeu secured dismissals of multiple cases against Epic, and successfully compelled plaintiffs to arbitration in several other cases.

  • Appellate
  • Arbitration
  • Bankruptcy
  • Class action
  • Commercial
  • Commercial disputes
  • Competition/antitrust
  • Dispute resolution
  • Entertainment
  • Government and regulatory
  • Insolvency
  • Insurance
  • Intellectual property
  • International arbitration
  • Labor and employment
  • Plaintiff
  • Product liability and recall
  • Securities
  • White collar crime

  • Accounting
  • Banking
  • Consumer goods and services
  • Financial services
  • Food and beverage
  • Gaming
  • Government and public policy
  • Healthcare
  • Insurance
  • Investment management
  • Media
  • Pharmaceutical and life sciences
  • Real estate
  • Social infrastructure
  • Technology and telecommunications

  • J.D. (Order of the Coif) - UCLA School of Law - 2006
  • B.A., Political Science (summa cum laude) - Chapman University - 2003

  • Board, Constitutional Rights Foundation

  • California - 2006