Women in Law 2024

2024

ELIZABETH ZAMORA MERAZ PARTNER Nixon Peabody LLP

E lizabeth Zamora Meraz is a litigation partner in Nixon Peabody LLP’s Chicago office. She focuses her practice on three main industries: healthcare, financial institutions, and real estate and construction. She represents clients in all stages of litigation and is well known for her creative problem solving and dispute resolution ideas. While she is often able to resolve matters through negotiation and settlement, avoiding a lawsuit altogether, she has proven herself a formidable advocate for her clients and represented their interests through to final hearing in arbitration and trials before judges and juries just as often. In the healthcare industry, Elizabeth defends companies in litigation matters, arbitration, and regulatory proceedings throughout the country. She currently represents a Fortune 10 healthcare company in numerous arbitration proceedings involving its retail pharmacy network. She also represents the same company in several litigation matters that are challenging its retail pharmacy practices and as third-party respondent in discovery in venues across the country. Elizabeth serves as co-leader of Nixon’s Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Litigation Team. She has represented medical device manufacturers in high-profile litigation involving breach of warranty claims as well as related wrongful death suits. In addition, she has experience in advising large healthcare networks and hospitals in disputes ranging from commercial leasing disputes between healthcare networks and individual physicians and practice groups to breach-of-contract matters with healthcare vendors, as well

as malpractice actions. She counsels clients in matters governed by regulations that have not yet been tested by the courts and assists them in creating standard operating procedures and risk mitigation plans. In real estate and construction litigation, Elizabeth has worked with institutional lenders in the foreclosure of commercial properties and real estate development projects. She represents commercial landlords in forcible actions that often go into supplemental enforcement proceedings to collect on a final judgment. She provides counsel to developers and property owners in conjunction with lawsuits filed by the City of Chicago alleging violations of the Building Code in both civil and administrative courts. She has also represented contractors in breach-of-contract disputes with general contractors on large development projects. Elizabeth counsels several companies with headquarters abroad in pre-litigation disputes that arise from their U.S.-based operations. When those disputes lead to litigation, she guides clients through the American legal system and uses her foreign language skills to help bridge the gap in understanding. She has also assisted clients in the U.S. by preparing documents in English and Italian, and having them validated under the Hague Convention for use abroad. Elizabeth has also served as co-chair of the firm’s Hispanic Resource Group and acts as mentor to associates with the goal of not only retaining but advancing the careers of women and diverse attorneys in the law.

WOMEN IN LAW 2024