Beatrice Franklin

Beatrice Franklin is a trusted, high-stakes litigator who has secured over a billion dollars in judgments and settlements, in addition to decisive defense-side dismissals, in the last three years alone. Ms. Franklin excels at analyzing complex legal issues, obtaining case-critical discovery, and delivering persuasive oral advocacy. These skills have led to wins in numerous practice areas, including financial services, real estate, class actions, and energy disputes.

For her successes, Ms. Franklin has been named a Rising Star by both the New York Law Journal (2024) and New York Super Lawyers (2024), among Lawdragon’s Next Generation of Leading Lawyers (2023, 2024), and a member of Benchmark Litigation’s 40 And Under Hot List (2023, 2024), among other honors.

Her recent wins include:

Obtaining over $1 billion in proposed settlements for the plaintiff class of home sellers relating to residential broker commissions

A $36 million post-trial judgment for a commercial real estate client
Dismissals of cases seeking hundreds of millions in damages brought by the Kansas AG and private plaintiff classes for alleged natural-gas overcharges during Winter Storm Uri

Winning a grant of asylum for a Nigerian political activist

Ms. Franklin is currently representing Virtual Dining Concepts in its litigation with Jimmy Donaldson, a/k/a MrBeast, involving their MrBeast Burger partnership. In that litigation, she has successfully defeated a motion to dismiss her client’s contract claims and litigated a variety of discovery disputes. She is also serving as co-lead counsel to constructors of the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge seeking $1 billion in underpayment for the successfully completed bridge project and representing the ABA in litigation challenging the Administration’s policy of unconstitutional retaliation against lawyers and law firms.

Ms. Franklin joined Susman Godfrey after clerking for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Susan Carney on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and Judge Jesse Furman on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University and received her J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she received the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Prize and won Best Oralist and Best Brief in the Harlan Fiske Stone Honors Moot Court competition.

Updated Oct 2025

• Moehrl, et al., v. National Association of Realtors, et al. (N.D. III.); Gibson, et al. v. National Association of Realtors, et al. (W.D. Mo.). Serving as part of the co-lead counsel team against the country’s largest real estate services companies and the National Association of Realtors. The class has reached proposed settlements of over $1 billion with the National Association of Realtors and numerous brokerage defendants. Throughout the case, Ms. Franklin has played a critical role: opposing the defendants’ motions to dismiss; securing class certification; winning discovery motions; and deposing nearly a dozen key witnesses in the case, including defendants’ senior executive.
  
  
• 255 Butler Associates LLC v. 255 Butler LLC (Kings County) Won a $36 million judgment for a commercial tenant in its dispute with a landlord over valuable commercial space in Brooklyn, New York. At trial, Ms. Franklin presented multiple witnesses and cross-examined the defendant’s sole expert. Both before and after the judgment, Ms. Franklin briefed and argued numerous successful motions in both the trial court and Second Department.
  
  
• Beast Investments, LLC v. Celebrity Virtual Dining, LLC, et al.(New York Commercial Division) Representing Virtual Dining Concepts in its litigation with Jimmy Donaldson, a/k/a MrBeast, involving their MrBeast Burger partnership. Ms. Franklin has successfully defeated a motion to dismiss her client’s contract claims and litigated a variety of discovery disputes.
  
  
• Tappan Zee Constructors LLC v. New York State Thruway Authority (New York Court of Claims) Representing constructors of the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge seeking $1 billion in underpayment for the successfully completed bridge project.
  
  
• Glacier Park Iron Ore Properties v. United States Steel Corp. (Minnesota Supreme Court) Represented Glacier Park Iron Ore Properties in its lease dispute with U.S. Steel Corporation related to valuable mining lands in the Minnesota Iron Range. In addition to briefing and arguing arbitrability issues in the Minnesota Court of Appeals, Ms. Franklin successfully petitioned the Minnesota Supreme Court for review of the Court of Appeals’ order denying her team’s motion to compel arbitration. She also argued that appeal at the Minnesota Supreme Court – this argument was covered by The American Lawyer, which spotlighted Ms. Franklin’s work and sought her opinion on how to get more young, female lawyers in front of appellate courts and by the Cloud Times, with whom Ms. Franklin discussed the case and reflected back on her time clerking for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

• Appellate
• Arbitration
• Class action
• Commercial
• Commercial disputes
• Competition/antitrust
• Dispute resolution
• Energy and construction
• Securities

• J.D. - Columbia Law School    
• B.A. - Harvard University    
• Law Clerk to Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Supreme Court of the United States    
• Law Clerk to Honorable Susan Carney - United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit    
• Law Clerk to Honorable Jesse Furman - United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

• New York