Carolyn A.Woodson

Partner

Los Angeles + 1.213.243.2558

Carolyn Woodson is an experienced litigator and trial lawyer who represents clients in high-stakes business and tort litigation with an emphasis on construction disputes and insurance coverage litigation. She advises clients from a broad spectrum of industries, including construction, transportation, consumer products, health care, and education. Carolyn's practice involves representation of clients in all phases of litigation in state and federal courts and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) proceedings.

Carolyn's construction practice involves representing and advising clients in construction disputes on a range of projects, including public transportation, energy infrastructure, commercial/retail buildings, and public work projects. Carolyn also maintains an active insurance practice in which she represents policyholders in insurance recovery and bad faith litigation. She has helped clients recover hundreds of millions of dollars for claims involving various types of coverage, such as commercial general liability (CGL), professional liability, product liability, and property. Carolyn has also successfully litigated complex business disputes asserting contract, tort, and breach of fiduciary duty claims, as well as defended against class actions seeking billions of dollars in damages.

Carolyn has been repeatedly recognized as a "Rising Star" by the publishers of Los Angeles magazine. She was also recognized as a "Top 40 Insurance Lawyer Under 40" in California by the American Society of Legal Advocates. She is a member of the American Bar Association Forum on Construction Law and a former co-chair of the ABA Business Torts, Fraud Subcommittee. Carolyn is also a former member of the board of governors for the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles.

Experience

  • Union Pacific Railroad defends against rail freight fuel surcharge antitrust class actionJones Day is representing Union Pacific Railroad Company in multi-district antitrust litigation involving claims of an alleged conspiracy among the major U.S. freight railroads to fix fuel surcharges.
  • LAUSD secures trial victory in Los Angeles Superior Court against its insurersJones Day represents Los Angeles Unified School District ("LAUSD") in seeking insurance coverage from multiple insurers in connection with highly-publicized claims against LAUSD that it negligently hired, retained, and supervised a former teacher at Miramonte Elementary School, who allegedly abused students, and for which the School District paid more than $180 million to settle claims.
  • Experian defends against series of nationwide class actions after breach of T-Mobile applicant dataJones Day defended Experian in series of nationwide class actions after breach of T-Mobile applicant data held by Experian company Decisioning Solutions, Inc.
  • Union Pacific obtains complete dismissal of employment class actionOn behalf of Union Pacific Railroad Company, Jones Day obtained dismissal of a class action lawsuit alleging that Union Pacific had violated California Labor Code Section 604, which limits the hours worked by train dispatchers.
  • Sammons settles bad faith claims against Federal Insurance CompanyJones Day represented Sammons Financial Group as lead counsel in a Iowa federal bad faith coverage action seeking coverage for defense costs incurred in defending underlying annuity sales practice class actions.
  • Union Pacific Railroad defends against various conspiracy claims by OxbowJones Day is defending Union Pacific Railroad Company in an action pending in DC District Court involving alleged conspiracy claims relating to coal and petroleum coke shipments.
  • Additional Speaking Engagements

    • March 22, 2024
      "Crisis Management - When Bad Things Happen on a Construction Project," California Construction Law Conference
    • March 9, 2023
      “Deconstructing the Reconstructed California Public Records Act in the Context of Construction Projects and Litigation,” California Construction Law Conference