Caroline N.Mitchell

Partner

San Francisco + 1.415.875.5712

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Caroline Mitchell litigates complex commercial disputes with a focus on defending corporations in actions arising from foreign events, including environmental, human rights, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), Alien Tort Statute, and fraud claims.

In one of her cases, Jones Day defeated class certification and secured dismissal of a multibillion environmental claim. She has successfully defended clients against slavery and kidnapping allegations. She served on the trial team in securing defense verdict in a jury trial of a major oil company accused of human rights violations. As part of that case, Caroline litigated difficult questions relating to choice of law, RICO, the Alien Tort Statute, jurisdiction, preemption, capacity, statute of limitations, and vicarious liability. She also cultivated key third-party witnesses. Caroline also advises clients about jurisdictional challenges when clients are sued in unfavorable forums and international discovery issues, including 28 U.S.C. 1782. Caroline also assisted a major oil company in securing an affirmative RICO judgment against plaintiffs and their counsel who had secured a fraudulent judgment abroad.

Caroline also represents clients in antitrust and unfair competition claims, including representing clients from the oil, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, video game, health care, and floral industries in price-fixing, monopolization, and unfair competition lawsuits. Caroline's recent matters include securing a complete defense verdict after a five-week trial in a landmark health care antitrust class action that was the 2022 Defense Verdict of the Year in California.

Caroline has represented clients in pro bono matters, including domestic violence restraining orders, prisoner rights', and immigration cases. She was the founding board president of the Family Violence Appellate Project, which advocates for survivors of domestic violence in appellate courts.

Experience

  • Sutter Health wins complete defense verdict in landmark antitrust class actionJones Day won a complete defense jury verdict for Sutter Health in a landmark antitrust class action seeking $1.2 billion in treble damages.
  • Chevron defeats ATA and ATS claims brought by 298 plaintiffs relating to terrorist attacks in IsraelChevron Corporation, represented by Jones Day, defeated claims under the Anti-Terrorism Act ("ATA") and Alien Tort Statute ("ATS") brought by 298 plaintiffs who sought to hold Chevron responsible for injuries sustained in terrorist attacks in Israel between November 2000 and April 2002.
  • Chevron defeats class action relating to offshore gas well blowoutJones Day successfully represented Chevron Corporation in a class action lawsuit originally brought by 65,000 Nigerians seeking $5 billion on the claim that a natural gas well blowout six miles offshore caused widespread health and fishing impacts to an area roughly the size of New Jersey.
  • National retailer defends consumer class action surrounding allegations related to farming practices for shrimpJones Day is defending a national retailer against consumer class action litigation in which plaintiffs allege that the retailer sold shrimp that were farmed using slave labor.
  • Jones Day obtains presidential commutation reducing client's sentence for nonviolent drug-related offenses from 20 years to 24 monthsOn Thursday, January 19, 2017, the Office of Pardon Attorney notified the Jones Day team representing Lawrence Honore that President Obama had commuted Mr. Honore's sentence from 240 months to 24 months.
  • Chevron defends against allegations of environmental damage from oil seeps off coast of BrazilJones Day is serving as lead U.S. counsel for Chevron with respect to various legal and administrative proceedings arising out of oil seeps that occurred off the coast of Brazil in November 2011 and March 2012.
  • Arizona prison inmates successfully challenge adequacy of medical, mental health, dental care, and conditions in isolation in Arizona state prison systemJones Day, working with the ACLU's National Prison Project and the Prison Law Office, has tentatively settled litigation brought on behalf of a certified class of Arizona inmates challenging the adequacy of medical, mental health, dental care, and conditions in isolation in the Arizona state prison system under the U.S. constitution.
  • Asylum Granted by Immigration CourtOn Monday, September 17, Jones Day pro bono client Client R. was granted asylum by Judge Marilyn J. Teeter of the San Francisco Immigration Court. Client R, represented by Jones Day associates Michael McLively and Nandini Iyer, fled to the United States from Guatemala after facing severe physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her domestic partner.
  • Court maintains oversight of disabled prisonersA team of Jones Day lawyers from the San Francisco office along with the Prison Law Office, successfully defended a class of developmentally disabled prisoners from the State of California's motion to terminate a remedial plan designed to ensure that the prisoners' rights under the U.S. Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act were observed.
  • Minister and putative class of inmates represented in religious discrimination caseA Jones Day team led by Caroline Mitchell and David Kiernan in the San Francisco office, with support from Matthew Silveira and Michael Scott in the San Francisco office, and Nicole Massey and Dennis Murashko in the Chicago office, is litigating a case on behalf of a Wiccan minister and a putative class of Wiccan/Pagan inmates who are adherents of Wicca and other Pagan religions.
  • Chevron obtains discovery against former opposing counsel in long-running litigation in Ecuador and BIT Arbitration against Republic of EcuadorJones Day client Chevron Corporation has been involved in contentious litigation in Ecuador in which the plaintiffs have alleged billions of dollars in damages.
  • Jones Day San Francisco assists the Military Religious Freedom FoundationJones Day San Francisco assisted the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to fostering religious freedom in the military, in a successful FOIA request to obtain data from the United States Air Force Academy on the results of its "Climate Survey."
  • Prisoner represented in action alleging cruel and unusual punishmentJones Day's Matt Silveira and Caroline Mitchell of the San Francisco office were appointed to represent Nyles Lawayne Watson, an inmate at California State Prison – Solano, in connection with a civil rights lawsuit against several of the prison's physicians.
  • Chevron wins Ninth Circuit affirmance of jury verdict in highly publicized Nigerian human rights caseOn September 10, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the jury verdict in favor of Jones Day client Chevron Corporation and two of its subsidiaries in a highly publicized Alien Tort Statute case.
  • Muslim prisoner succeeds in obtaining access to religiously acceptable mealsJones Day helped James F. Menefield, a Muslim prisoner in custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation ("CDCR"), settle a case challenging the agency's practice of accommodating Jewish prisoners with Kosher food while denying Halal food to Muslim prisoners.
  • Chevron and Unocal successfully resolve antitrust class actions regarding reformulated gasolineJones Day defended Union Oil Company of California, together with parent corporations Unocal Corporation and Chevron Corporation, in 14 federal (MDL) and state court class actions, all of which were patterned after a March 2003 FTC administrative complaint (i.e., FTC Docket No. 9305).
  • Chevron defends Ecuadorean cancer claimsJones Day successfully defended Chevron Corporation in a toxic tort case originally brought by seven Ecuadorians alleging they contracted cancer from Texaco's (Chevron's predecessor's) former operations in Ecuador.
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    August 2020 Commentary

    Snap Removal After Texas Brine: Considerations for Forum Defendants in the Fifth Circuit

    February 2020 White Paper

    Steps Companies Should Take to Protect Themselves from the Legal Fallout of the Coronavirus

    October 2015 Commentary

    The Hague Choice of Court Convention Takes Effect, and With It Greater Certainty for International Transactions

    Fall 2015 External Publications

    Mobile Apps: Redefining the Virtual California Economy and the Laws that Govern It, COMPETITION: The Journal of the Antitrust, UCL and Privacy Section of the State Bar of California

    February 2014 Commentary

    French Blocking Statute: A Death Foretold?

    October 2013 Commentary

    Foreign Forum Selection Clauses: Limitations on Enforceability

    October 2009 External Publications

    Pleading State of Mind after Ashcroft v. Iqbal, Financial Fraud Law Report.

    July 2009 External Publications

    Ashcroft v. Iqbal: Taking Twombly a Step Further, GCP Magazine

    June 22, 2009 External Publications

    Guilt by Association?, Los Angeles Daily Journal

    2009 External Publications

    Discovery Channels, Jones Day In Print
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    Speaking Engagements

    • October 4, 2012
      Jones Day Hosts California Client Development Event for Women
    • February 2012
      Managing a Data Breach, Bay Area General Counsel's Group
    • February 7, 2012
      Managing a Data Breach. JD CLE University

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