Christine Byrd is a litigation partner in the Los Angeles office of Irell & Manella LLP, where she specializes in complex business and patent litigation.  Mrs. Byrd is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and in the College of Commercial Arbitrators.  In both 2007 and 2008, Mrs. Byrd was named one of California's Top 75 Women Litigators by the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journals.  In 2008, she was selected for inclusion in Southern California "Super Lawyers" as well as named one of the "Top 50 Women Lawyers” in Southern California by Los Angeles Magazine.  

Mrs. Byrd has represented parties in a wide variety of civil and criminal matters for over 30 years and has successfully taken more than 20 major cases to trial or arbitration, including:

• $74 million jury verdict for TiVo, Inc. after two week jury trial against EchoStar Communications Corp. for patent infringement of DVR technology, that The National Law Journal named one of the nation’s top 100 verdicts of 2006. 
• $82 million jury verdict for Immersion Corp. after four week jury trial against Sony Computer Entertainment for patent infringement of videogame technology.
• Judgment of no liability in favor of the State of California after bench trial on CERCLA counterclaims involving DDT contamination off the Southern California coastline.
• Award in favor of eToys® after two week arbitration on claims and counterclaims between Fingerhut Business Services, Inc. and eToys® over fulfillment services contract.
• Other trials and arbitrations involving patent infringement, earn out provisions in the purchase of an information services business, breach of contract and fraud in a real estate transaction, oil and gas and project finance disputes in the energy industry, and other commercial and contract disputes.

Mrs. Byrd also has an active practice serving as a neutral in arbitration and other forms of alternative dispute resolution.  Mrs. Byrd has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America for 2007, 2008 and 2009 in the specialty area of alternative dispute resolution.  She has served as an arbitrator in numerous cases, domestic and international, including energy contracts, international purchase and sales, lender liability, offshore oil spills, concert promotion contracts, earthquake repair costs, solid waste landfills, and a class action over medical insurance premiums.  Since 1996, she has served as an arbitrator in numerous energy industry disputes between utilities, oil companies, QF's and energy companies involving power purchase and power exchange agreements, power plant construction, wind park development, natural gas purchase and sale, and oil and gas exploration and development costs.  She is on the American Arbitration Association's Commercial Panel, its Large Complex Case Panel, and its National Energy Panel and served as an instructor to train neutral arbitrators for the National Energy Panel.  She also is on the Panel of Distinguished Neutrals of the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution and is a member of the California Academy of Distinguished Neutrals.

Mrs. Byrd received her B.A. in 1972 from Stanford University and her J.D. in 1975 from the University of Virginia. She served as law clerk to Judge William P. Gray, Central District of California (1975 Term).  She served as a criminal prosecutor in the United States Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, California, for five years.  Her assignments included one year in the Public Corruption and Government Fraud Unit and two years on the Presidential Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.

Mrs. Byrd serves on the Board of Directors of the American Arbitration Association and the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society.  She was one of the founding members of the Historical Society and served as its vice president and then as its president from 1993 to 2002.  She is a former member of the California Law Revision Commission, where she served as a commissioner and then as chairperson from 1992 to 1997.  She also formerly served on the Board of Directors of the Century City Bar Association (2001 to 2005) and the Board of Governors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers (1996 to 1999).  Mrs. Byrd is also listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who in American Women, and Who’s Who in the World.   

Publications

• "The Use of Market and Industry Data in Patent Damages: The Two Approaches under Federal Rule of Evidence 703," by Christine Byrd and Randall Jackson, The Intellectual Property Strategist, Law Journal Newsletters (January 2007).
• "Cold War or Peaceful Coexistence? Federal Rule of Evidence 703 in the Post-Daubert Era," by Christine Byrd and Randall Jackson, American Bar Assoc., Section of Litigation, Expert Alert (Summer 2006).
• "The Solution for Businesses in Post-War Iraq; International Arbitration and UNCITRAL," by Christine Byrd, Century City Lawyer, Vol. 13, No. 3 (March 2004), pp. 10-11.
• "Discovery Channel," by Christine Byrd, Los Angeles Lawyer, Vol. 25, No. 4 (June, 2002), pp. 22-26.
• "Turning Over Client Files," by Christine Byrd and Christine Samsel, Los Angeles Lawyer, Vol. 15, No. 11 (February 1993), pp. 17-22.
• "The Balloon Swallowers," by Christine Swent Byrd, Los Angeles Lawyer, Vol. 8, No. 3 (May 1985), pp. 37-40.
• "A Tribute to Judge Gray," by Christine Swent Byrd, Los Angeles Lawyer, Vol. 5, No. 4 (June 1984), pp. 6-8.
• The Future of the United States Multinational Corporation, Unterman and Swent, eds. (University Press of Virginia, 1975).
• "High Court Upholds Ban on Communal Groups," by Christine W. Swent, Student Lawyer, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Sept 1974), pp. 27-28.

Seminars & Speeches

• 2007 Panelist for the LSI Seminar on "Arbitrating the Mega-Case."
• 2006 Panelist for the California Dispute Resolution Council on "Best Practices in Commercial Arbitration."
• 2005 Panelist for the California Dispute Resolution Council on "Arbitration Practice Pitfalls."
• 2005 Bridgeport Seminar on "Arbitrating Complex Cases That Include Cal. Bus. & Proc. § 17200 Claims."
• 2005 CEB Conference on "Mediation and Arbitration Practice: Skills for the Successful Advocate."
• 2005 ABA Conference on "Mediation of Copyright and Trademark Disputes: Cutting the Gordian Knot."
• 2003, 2004 and 2005 Mealey's Conference on "California's Section 17200."
• 2004 Arbitration Training Institute, ABA Section on Dispute Resolution, "Managing the Process."
• 2002 Forbes Conference on "Developing, Constructing, Operating and Securing Energy Power Projects."
• 2002 Century City Bar Association Program on "Using a Judicial Reference Under CCP Section 638."

Bar & Court Admissions

• 1976, California
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth and Federal Circuits
• U.S. District Court, Central, Northern, Southern and Eastern Districts of California