Elaine Liu

Elaine Liu is a Litigation & Dispute Resolution partner in Mayer Brown’s Chicago office. She focuses primarily on litigation relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), in addition to her substantive experience in labor & employment and a wide range of other complex litigation and investigations, such as those involving fraud, the False Claims Act, and consumer protection.

Elaine has significant experience at all stages of litigation, whether in briefing and arguing dispositive motions, conducting fact and expert discovery, or representing clients at trial. In particular, Elaine has deep knowledge of electronic discovery and information governance, which is critical to overseeing expansive e-discovery in litigation, conducting forensic data investigations, and advising clients on best practices for managing ESI. Moreover, leveraging her background in economics, as well as a management consultant advising corporations, private equity funds, and other investment firms on business strategy, Elaine has extensive experience in managing multidisciplinary expert teams and developing damages models to support litigation.

Elaine’s experience has included, for example:

• Defending a multinational communications conglomerate against ERISA fiduciary breach claims relating to its administration of employee retirement plans and related disclosure obligations. 
• Defending a global telecommunications company in False Claims Act litigation regarding education-related funding disbursements spanning two decades.
• Representing a leading real estate investment management fund in an international arbitration seeking to recover from a foreign government damages of greater than $100 million due to fraud.
• Compelled arbitration of a putative class action filed on behalf of thousands of consumers against an international automotive manufacturer, without the need for any discovery—leading the plaintiff to decide to voluntarily dismiss the action.

• Harvard University, BA, cum laude
  High Honors in Economics
• Columbia Law School, JD
  Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar

• Illinois

• Young Lawyers Committee Member, Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF)
• Associate Board Member, Chicago Committee on Large Law Firms
• Ambassadors Board Member, Legal Aid Chicago