Ava Lias-Booker

A seasoned trial and appellate lawyer, partner Ava Lias-Booker has served in numerous leadership roles at McGuireWoods, a leading international law firm, as well as across the legal and business communities. She serves on the board of directors of University of Maryland St. Joseph’s Hospital, where she chairs the Governance Committee, and on the board of Physicians Realty Trust. Within McGuireWoods, she is a member and past chair of the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee and a former managing partner of the Baltimore office. She has also served on the firm’s Board of Partners, Diversity Action Committee, and Associates Committee.

Ava leads the Baltimore litigation practice and brings more than three decades of experience representing businesses in complex commercial and civil litigation. She has achieved significant appellate success, including serving as co-lead counsel to a multinational oil and gas corporation in securing reversal of jury verdicts exceeding $1.5 billion before Maryland’s highest appellate court. She has also successfully defended financial institutions at both the trial and appellate levels, including matters involving multimillion-dollar claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, as well as a check fraud case exceeding $50 million.

Her commitment to client service is matched by her dedication to mentorship and civic engagement. Ava is an emeritus member of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law Board of Visitors and previously served on Duke University School of Law’s Board of Visitors. She is a founding member of the Cole-Davidson American Inns of Court and a senior fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America. Her board service also includes the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Open Society Institute.

In public service, Ava chairs the Magistrate Judges’ Merit Selection Panel for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland and was a gubernatorial appointee to the Maryland Appellate Judicial Nominating Committee. Her excellence has been widely recognized: The Best Lawyers in America named her “Lawyer of the Year” for Baltimore litigation in banking and finance, and she is consistently recognized for commercial and securities litigation. Chambers USA has listed her among “America’s Leading Lawyers for Business,” and she was a finalist for Chambers’ Diversity & Inclusion Awards: North America. Savoy magazine named her among the “Most Influential Black Lawyers,” and she received a Women, Influence & Power in Law Award from Corporate Counsel magazine.

Experience Highlights

• Serves as co-lead counsel for a major financial institution in a Fair Housing Act case involving allegations of racial discrimination in real estate owned property maintenance.
• Obtained a favorable result for a financial institution in a Section 1981 matter involving bank branch deposits.
• Represented a multinational oil and gas corporation in appeals overturning more than $1.5 billion in jury verdicts related to alleged groundwater contamination from a gasoline additive (MTBE).
• Serves as trial and appellate counsel in ongoing MTBE litigation in Maryland, contributing to reversals of hundreds of millions in compensatory damages and over $1 billion in punitive damages.
• Secured an approximately $9 million jury verdict in a breach of contract case involving a silicon supply agreement under the Uniform Commercial Code.
• Defended an information technology company in a shareholder action seeking over $100 million; trial court dismissed all claims with prejudice following extensive motions practice.
• Obtained a preliminary injunction for an IT company in a corporate governance dispute, enabling completion of audited financial statements and SEC filings.
• Secured a consent judgment exceeding $2.2 million for a telecommunications company in a contract dispute.
• Helped resolve multi-state litigation involving interconnection agreement billing disputes.
• Represented a major pharmaceutical company in litigation involving alleged exposure to Thimerosal; secured summary judgment affirmed on appeal.
• Successfully defended bank defendants against $81 million in claims under federal and state consumer protection statutes; summary judgment affirmed by the Fourth Circuit.
• Represented financial institutions in insurance recovery litigation tied to major financial crises and securities matters, securing a favorable settlement on claims exceeding $600 million.
• Won summary judgment after exclusion of expert testimony in a dispute involving control of funds of a megachurch.

Practices

• Commercial Litigation
• Securities Litigation
• Class Actions
• Financial Services Litigation
• Consumer Financial Services Litigation
• Trials, Appeals & Issues

Admissions

• Maryland
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
• U.S. District Court for the District of Wisconsin

Education

• University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law — J.D., 1986
• Duke University — B.A., 1982