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Erika Rasch is a business litigator with extensive experience representing clients in their most complex commercial disputes. Erika has represented a wide range of public and private companies in industries including pharmaceutical, financial services, commercial real estate, and entertainment.
Erika has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in all aspects of business litigation, including breach of contract, trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, trademark and copyright infringement, class actions, securities litigation, and federal and state court appellate advocacy. She has experience managing litigation matters of all sizes and levels of complexity, including multi-venue parallel actions, managing complex electronic discovery, and ensuring compliance with long-term settlement plans under the supervision of a mediator and discovery referee.
Before joining Payne & Fears, Erika was Chief Legal Officer at Unrivaled Brands, an Orange County-based public cannabis company, where she managed all manner of business disputes, ranging from employment matters, business formation disputes, breach of contract, indemnification disputes, and regulatory compliance matters. Having spent time both as a trial litigator and in-house counsel, Erika brings a broad understanding and perspective to her practice, recognizing that effective advocacy requires a thorough understanding of her clients’ business as well as their unique objectives.
Prior to going in-house, Erika was a business litigator at O’Melveny & Myers, where she focused her practice on complex trial work. Prior to that, Erika served as a judicial clerk for Hon. Alvin W. Thompson, Chief Judge of the United States District Court, District of Connecticut. Erika earned her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.
Representative Matters
- Represented multiple commercial real estate investment funds in a dispute with a former fund manager’s claim for millions of dollars in residual interests in connection with the liquidation of certain real estate assets in the funds. Achieved a complete victory following a multiple-week hearing, including recovery on their counterclaims and attorney’s fees.
- Represented a national facilities services provider in an appeal of a state trial court verdict. Advanced a legal theory of first impression under California law which led to settlement of the matter on terms extremely favorable to the client.
- Represented a national lifestyle brand and its directors and officers against derivative claims asserting breaches of fiduciary duties. Successfully obtained complete dismissal of two parallel actions at the trial court level as well as obtained dismissal of plaintiff’s appeal to the Ninth Circuit.