Overview
Selby Brown is a trial and appellate lawyer who represents corporate clients in complex breach of contract and related disputes.
Customer obsessed, Selby works collaboratively with her clients to understand the nuances of their business operations as well as their litigation and business objectives. Clients know Selby to be sharp, persistent, and quick on her feet in a courtroom as well as a skilled writer, drafting lucid, effective briefs for complex matters.
After graduating first in her class and completing two federal judicial clerkships, Selby spent six years at Dechert LLP in Philadelphia, representing clients in high-stakes litigation involving topics ranging from sovereign debt litigation to multi-million-dollar contract and intellectual property disputes to Anti-Terrorism Act defense to white-collar criminal defense matters. During the Covid pandemic, Selby re-located to Seattle to be closer to family and join Summit Law Group. Today, she focuses her practice on:
Commercial litigation, including trial and arbitration advocacy. Selby represents clients in multi-million-dollar breach of contract disputes and related matters, including cases involving the Federal Arbitration Act, the Lanham Act, the Washington Consumer Protection Act, the Washington Franchise Investment Protection Act, tortious interference with contract, fraud, and negligence. She regularly appears before the American Arbitration Association as well as both state and federal courts.
Appeals. In addition to achieving success for clients through motions practice and trial advocacy, she has represented clients in more than a dozen state and federal appellate cases.
Litigation prevention and risk management. Knowing well the costs and risks of litigation, Selby advises clients on methods for reducing risk in their business operations and contracting as well as methods for resolving disputes outside of the courtroom, such as arbitration and mediation.
Clients. Selby’s clients include both emerging companies and Fortune 500 enterprises in the technology, e-commerce, finance, and real estate sectors.
In her spare time, Selby enjoys exploring the outdoors, street fairs, boardgames, and spending time with her family. In addition, throughout her career, she has dedicated substantial time to pro bono legal work, including work involving voting rights, immigration rights, and prisoners’ civil rights.
Credentials
Education
- University of Oklahoma College of Law
JD, first in class, highest honors, 2014
Editor-in-Chief, Oklahoma Law Review; ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition, New York Regional Champion, First Place Regional Brief Award, and National Qualifier; Fellers Snider Diversity & Inclusion Scholar; Oklahoma Bar Association Outstanding 3L; Professional Responsibility Award (3L student vote); Joel Jankowsky Award (faculty vote for outstanding graduate); Nathan Scarritt Prize (graduate with the highest academic record); 11 American Jurisprudence Awards for the highest grade in a class; numerous additional awards for subject matter proficiency, including employment law, securities and civil procedure; Federal Bar Association Holloway Scholarship - Vassar College
BA, History, German Studies minor, 2009
Co-Ed A Cappella Group, President, Treasurer; study away at the Eugene O’Neill National Theater Institute (Waterford, CT) and the University of Mùˆnster (Mùˆnster, Germany)
Admissions
- Washington
- Pennsylvania (inactive)
- US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- US District Court for the Western District of Washington
- US District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
Clerkships
- Honorable Michael M. Baylson, US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- Honorable Robert E. Bacharach, US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Awards & Accolades
- Selected to Super Lawyers Rising Stars since 2024
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® for Labor and Employment Litigation since 2024
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® Ones to Watch since 2024
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® for Commercial Litigation since 2021
Memberships
- King County Bar Association
- Federal Bar Association, Appointee to the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 National Task Force on Diversity & Inclusion, Membership Subcommittee Leader
- Federal Bar Association of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Secretary (2018–2021)
- Philadelphia Bar Association, Board Observer’s Program 2018, Women’s Law Project
Community Service
-
Philadelphia Theatre Company, Young Friends Committee Inaugural Member (2018–2021)
Publications & Speaking Engagements
- Presenter, Complex Civil Litigation and Government Investigations - Practice Tips for Civil Practitioners, Seattle, WA, November 8, 2023
- Speaker, Washington Civil Practice, Procedure, and Forms, NBI, Inc., November 2, 2022
- Co-author, “Petition to Confirm an Arbitration Award in Pennsylvania State Court,” Practical Law, August 28, 2019
- Co-author, “Global Principles of Compensatory Damages,” The Global Damages Review (The Law Reviews), January 11, 2019
- Co-author, “Cross-Border Discovery Disputes/Microsoft Case,” The 8th Annual Sedona Conference, International Programme on Cross-Border Discovery & Data Protection Laws, June 7, 2016
- Moderator, Supreme Court Roundup, Eastern District of Pennsylvania Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, Philadelphia, PA, July 24, 2019
- Presenter, Avoiding Criminal and Civil Liability for Hiring Practices: Top 10 Tips for Employers in 2018, New York, NY, July 10, 2018
- Presenter, 2017 Philadelphia Fall Labor and Employment Seminar, Philadelphia, PA, October 10, 2017
Experience
Representative Matters
Arbitration and Arbitral Award Enforcement
- Represented foreign arbitration award owner against foreign sovereign and its instrumentalities in multinational judgment enforcement proceedings in the Southern District of New York and the Second Circuit.
- Represented commercial real estate advisory companies in disputes related to enforcing a rabbinical arbitration award in the Eastern District of New York and the Second Circuit.
- Represented French telecommunications company in enforcing judgment related to foreign arbitration award in the Eastern District of Virginia against a foreign sovereign, including aircraft seizure.
- Represented a leading transportation logistics company in enforcing arbitration clauses before the Fourth Circuit, Middle District of North Carolina, Eastern District of Michigan, District of Oregon, and Southern District of Texas.
Breach of Contract and Related Business Disputes
- Defended owner of commercial fish farm in jury trial against multi-million-dollar tort claims by a Native American tribe in King County Superior Court.
- Represented a boutique specialty finance firm with over $1.5 billion under management in litigation regarding trade secret disputes related to the real estate industry in the Southern District of New York.
- Represented a food and facilities management provider in contract dispute with large university in Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
- Represented a substance use disorder treatment provider in breach of contract and related claims against a Washington Managed Care Organization in King County Superior Court.
- Defended one of the five largest banks in Telephone Consumer Protection Act litigation, securing a six-figure discovery sanction in favor of the bank based on plaintiff’s counsel’s conduct.
- Represented a customer experience company in a multi-million-dollar Texas state court litigation involving fraud claims.
- Represented purchaser of design company in pre-arbitration dispute negotiations based on seller’s alleged misrepresentations regarding financials.
- Represented an individual in a contentious Washington receivership and related proceedings in King County Superior Court.
- Defended individual against Washington State Securities Act claims in Snohomish County Superior Court.
- Represented a car dealership in statutory claims against a major automobile manufacturer before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
- Represented an investment management company against a putative class action advancing federal securities fraud claims.
Intellectual Property Disputes
- Defended luxury trip planning service against trademark infringement claims in the Northern District of California.
- Defended sustainable household products company against trademark infringement claims in the Western District of Arkansas.
- Defended a large personal injury law firm against trademark infringement and Pennsylvania Consumer Protection Act claims in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
- Represented manufacturer of optical and photonic products in trade secret litigation in the Western District of Washington.
- Represented high-end bakery chain in pre-litigation dispute with former employee regarding recipe trade secrets.
Real Estate Disputes
- Defended trustees of a family trust against claims related to a long-term commercial lease by a real estate developer in King County Superior Court.
- Represented hotel owners in dispute related to earnest money deposits from failed hotel sale in King County Superior Court.
Cross-Border Litigation
- Defended Lebanese banks in mass-tort litigation alleging aiding and abetting liability under the Anti-Terrorism Act and seeking billions in damages in the Eastern District of New York and the Second Circuit.
- Defended a foreign central bank against RICO and other claims brought by U.S. plaintiffs in the Eastern District of New York and in the Second Circuit.
- Defended global health non-profit in extraterritorial Alien Tort Statute mass-tort claims in the District of Maryland.
- Advised litigation funders regarding investments in several significant cross-border litigation matters.
- Advised Asian sovereign instrumentality regarding issues related to jurisdictional immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
White Collar
- Advised one of world’s largest multinational telecommunications company regarding defense of criminal charges of racketeering, trade secret theft, and other alleged offenses in federal criminal case.
- Represented a media company’s senior executive in a pre-indictment securities fraud investigation by U.S. Department of Justice.
- Represented a high-level foreign banking executive in investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into allegations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Employment and Constitutional Law
- Represented municipal officers in a Ninth Circuit appeal related to enforcement of COVID-19 vaccine mandates against employees and related exemptions.
- Appointed by the Tenth Circuit to provide pro bono representation to a prisoner in a civil rights suit.
- Represented death row inmate in habeas proceedings in the Eleventh Circuit and in petition for certiorari to U.S. Supreme Court.
- Represented Philadelphia prison inmate in civil rights claims against prison guards through trial in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
- Represented Pennsylvania prison inmate in First Amendment claims before the Third Circuit.
- Represented Wisconsin voters in voting rights litigation in the Western District of Wisconsin in collaboration with the American Civil Liberties Union.