Allison L. Libeu

Libeu practices general complex civil litigation with a niche specialty in the so-called “corporate divorce” arena, which typically involves disputes between the founders or owners of a business.

She has also successfully prosecuted and defended matters involving the termination of C-suite executives and the claims that typically arise in such cases, including breach of fiduciary duty, unfair competition and violation of nondisclosure, non-compete and non-solicitation agreements.

She’s grown used to working remotely during the pandemic. “These are crazy times. Our office is open, but we limit the number of people who can come in per day,” she said. “I didn’t like working from home at first. Zoom is pretty good, but it’s no substitute for live interactions. In the short term, if there’s a vaccine and we can all return to the office, a lot of firms will likely downsize their space. We were all headed this way anyway, but the virus is accelerating things.”

Libeu represents Amazon.com Inc. in two suits alleging the big online retailer poached sellers from eBay Inc. The plaintiff claimed Amazon employees infiltrated eBay’s internal messaging systems to solicit sellers to leave eBay and move to Amazon. eBay Inc. v. Amazon.com Inc., 18-cv-336315 (S. Clara Co. Superior Ct., filed Oct. 17, 2018); eBay Inc. v. Boch, 5:19-cv-04422 (N.D. Cal., filed July 31, 2019). The matter has moved to arbitration.

“The complaint claimed that Amazon trained employees to target eBay’s sellers in a worldwide conspiracy,” Libeu said. “The Northern District complaint even alleged a civil RICO claim. Amazon said that’s not true, nothing was coordinated. Our client denied any conspiracy.” The specifics remain confidential, Libeu said.

Representing the online gay dating site Grindr, Libeu fought off a suit by a New York man who said his former boyfriend used the app to post fake profiles in a harassment campaign that caused more than 1,000 men to approach the victim for sex. After a federal judge dismissed the complaint, she and Hueston Hennigan colleagues defended the dismissal at the 2d U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed that the case could not proceed due to protections afforded Grindr by the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Herrick v. Grindr LLC, 18-0396-cv (2 d Cir., op. filed March 27, 2019).

When the plaintiff petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for further review, Libeu didn’t even bother to answer. Sure enough, the justices denied certiorari in October 2019. “We were pretty confident of our position,” Libeu said.

— John Roemer