Debra A. Clifford

Ms. Clifford is an experienced litigator who focuses her practice on general complex commercial litigation and, in particular, education matters. As a mother of children with special needs, Ms. Clifford understands the many challenges and struggles parents encounter when advocating for their children. Because of her own personal experiences, she has a passion and commitment to help others benefit from the knowledge she has gained as both an attorney and a parent and serves as a leader of the firm’s Child Advocacy Team.

• Represented the Trustee of the DBSI Estate Litigation and Private Action Trusts. DBSI was a conglomerate of real estate entities with listed assets valued at over $2.65 billion at the time of its bankruptcy filing. The DBSI insiders were recently indicted on 84 counts of securities fraud and accused of running a Ponzi scheme. Ms. Clifford manages all aspects of trust administration and supervises multiple actions pending in the United States District Court for the Districts of Delaware and Idaho. These lawsuits include civil RICO and fraud claims against the former directors and officers of DBSI and DBSI’s auditors. The Trustee has likewise commenced litigation against DBSI’s due diligence providers and the hundreds of broker-dealers and registered representatives who sold DBSI securities. Ms. Clifford plays a role in all aspects of the DBSI litigation and is otherwise responsible for the day-to-day management of the broker-dealer claims brought by the Trustee of the Private Actions Trust. In this regard, she has successfully mediated numerous claims. Ms. Clifford also has primary responsibility for liaising with the Trust Oversight Committee on all aspects of the DBSI litigation.
• Represented numerous clients in connection with insurance coverage disputes, including complex third-party and first party insurance coverage litigation. Ms. Clifford also has experience with international insurance arbitrations. In this regard, she participated in a three-week hearing in London involving a pharmaceutical coverage claim under the Bermuda policy form. Her experience includes locating and retaining high quality expert witnesses from a variety of disciplines, including insurance/risk management, and U.S. and ex-U.S. regulatory agencies, as well as preparing expert reports.
• Represented U.S. and foreign air carriers in civil litigation, including claims involving wrongful death and personal injury, premises liability, passenger delay, baggage and cargo claims, subrogation matters, and contract disputes. Ms. Clifford successfully served on the appellate team in El Al Israel Airlines, Ltd. v. Tseng, 525 U.S. 155 (1999), in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Warsaw Convention precluded an international air passenger from maintaining an action for personal injury damages under state law where the injuries were not caused by an “accident” within the meaning of Article 17 of the Warsaw Convention.
• Represented telecommunications defendants in a multitude of state, federal, and bankruptcy court actions, including contract disputes, defense of various fraud claims, and post-bankruptcy litigation.
• Represented a leading publishing company with respect to a dispute over the willful violation of the company’s intellectual property rights.
• Represented numerous clients with respect to the docketing and collection of foreign judgments.
• Defended a major accounting firm against claims of securities fraud and conspiracy to defraud the plaintiffs, and prevailed on motions to dismiss and the subsequent appeal.

REPRESENTATIVE CASES

Tower Ins. Co. v. Dockside Associates Pier 30 L.P., Slip Copy 2011 WL 2669076 (E.D. Pa. July 7, 2011)

Parkinson v. Bono, 300 A.D.2d 640 (2d Dep’t 2002)

Tseng v. El Al Israel Airlines, 919 F. Supp. 155 (S.D.N.Y. 1996), aff’d in part, rev’d in part, 122 F.3d 99 (2d Cir. 1997), rev’d, 523 U.S. 1117 (1998)