Elizabeth T. Castillo

Elizabeth Tran Castillo is a partner in the San Francisco Bay Area office of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP and a member of the Antitrust & Global Competition practice group. Her work focuses on class actions and other complex litigation. Her experience includes litigating direct and indirect purchaser class actions as well as international and domestic cartel matters. In 2022, she was personally appointed interim co-lead counsel in In re Deere & Company Repair Services Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 3030, No. 3:22-cv-50188-IDJ (N.D. Ill.) and, in 2023, she was personally appointed to the leadership team in In re ARC Airbag Inflators Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3051, No. 1:22-md-03051-ELR (N.D. Ga.).

Liz was included in the 2024 edition of the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for her work in Antitrust Law. The Daily Journal named Liz to its “Top Antitrust Lawyers” list in 2022. She received the American Antitrust Institute’s Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Award in 2019 and Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement by a Young Lawyer Award in 2016 for her work on In re Automotive Parts Antitrust Litigation, a multidistrict litigation in the Eastern District of Michigan against 73 defendant groups that settled for over $1.2 billion. She was named a Northern California Super Lawyer from 2022 to 2023 and a Northern California Super Lawyers Rising Star from 2015 to 2021.

Liz has represented consumers and businesses in both federal and state courts and at all stages of litigation, including discovery, trial, and appeals. While she is involved in all aspects of the cases she litigates, she places emphasis on her discovery and settlement strategy work. She occasionally litigates other types of cases. For example, she was part of a trial team that obtained a multimillion-dollar economic loss jury verdict for a former Major League Baseball pitcher in 2018.

Liz currently represents plaintiffs in the following antitrust class actions in which she serves as lead or co-lead counsel and has secured noteworthy results for American consumers and businesses:

• In re Automotive Parts Antitrust Litigation (All End-Payor Plaintiff Actions), MDL No. 2311, Master File No. 2:12-md-02311-MOB (E.D. Mich.) ($1.2 billion+ in settlements)
• In re Cattle and Beef Antitrust Litigation (All Direct Purchaser Plaintiff Actions), No. 0:20-cv-01319-JRT-HB (D. Minn.) ($52.5 million in settlement to date)
• In re Capacitors Antitrust Litigation (All Indirect Purchaser Plaintiff Actions), MDL No. 2801, No. 3:14-cv-03264-JD (N.D. Cal.) ($80.79 million in settlements)
• In re Deere & Company Repair Services Antitrust Litig., No. 3:22-cv-50188 (N.D. Ill.)
• In re Domestic Airline Travel Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 2656, No. 1:15-mc-01404-CKK (D.D.C.) ($60 million in settlements to date)
• In re Geisinger Health and Evangelical Community Hospital Healthcare Workers Antitrust Litigation, No. 4:21-cv-00196-MWB (M.D. Pa.)
• In re Resistors Antitrust Litigation, No. 5:15-cv-03820-JD (N.D. Cal.) ($33.4 million in settlements)
• In re Telescopes Antitrust Litigation (All Indirect Purchaser Plaintiff Actions), No. 5:20-cv-03639-EJD (N.D. Cal.)
• In re Transpacific Passenger Air Transportation Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 1913, Case No. 3:07-cv-05634-CRB (N.D. Cal.) ($148.152 million in settlements)

News

Speaking Engagements

Publications

Blog Posts

Honors & Recognitions

2024 Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America

2022 Daily Journal “Top Antitrust Lawyers”

2022-23 Northern California Super Lawyers 

2019 American Antitrust Institute Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice Award

2016 American Antitrust Institute Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement by a Young Lawyer Award

2015-2021 Super Lawyers Northern California Rising Star

Affiliations

California Lawyers Association Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section

American Antitrust Institute

American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section

Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area

Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws (COSAL)

Consumer Attorneys of California

San Mateo County Bar Association

Community Involvement

Liz currently serves as an advisor to the Executive Committee of the Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section of the California Lawyers Association. She served as a member of the Executive Committee from 2018 to 2021; specifically, as the vice-chair of the Education Committee and co-vice-chair of the 29th and 30th Annual Golden State Institute. The Section is dedicated to furthering the knowledge of its members about antitrust, unfair competition, trade regulation, and privacy issues under state and federal laws through education programs, publications, and other activities.

Liz also participates/participated in the following organizations:

• Volunteer, Federal Pro Bono Project, United States District Court, Northern District of California (2015- )
• Co-Chair, Judging Committee, Antitrust Enforcement Awards, American Antitrust Institute (2023)
• Judging Committee, Antitrust Enforcement Awards, American Antitrust Institute (2020- )
• Advisory Board Member, Global Private Litigation Committee, Section of Antitrust Law, American Bar Association (2018-2019)
• Co-Chair, Trying Antitrust (newsletter), Trial Practice Committee, Section of Antitrust Law, American Bar Association (2019)
• Co-Chair, Mentorship Committee, Asian American Bar Association (2018-2019)
• Co-Chair, Annual Dinner Host Committee, Asian American Bar Association (2017-2018)
• Chair, Scholarship Dinner Planning Committee, Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California (2016)