Riley Mendoza

Riley focuses her practice on business litigation, insurance coverage, class action and employment matters. She has experience in all phases of litigation through appeal and has tried matters to verdict. Riley has had a wide range of clients including banks, insurers, manufacturing and service companies, retail companies and pharmaceutical companies.

Riley is dedicated to understanding the long-term business goals of her clients. She handles litigation efficiently with the goal of maximizing results for her clients. Riley manages all aspects of litigation including case management, motion writing, discovery practice, court appearances, depositions of fact and expert witnesses, development of strategy, trial practice and appeals.

Her recent work includes:

• obtaining a defense verdict for a railroad client in a federal court trial where the plaintiff sought to pierce the corporate veil under the de facto merger and alter ego doctrines;
• defending a food manufacturer in a large antitrust class action;
• representing an insurance company in a coverage action related to asbestos exposure during the building of the World Trade Center;
• handling discovery and drafting summary judgment motions for an insurance company in a coverage litigation in Illinois federal court;
• representing a tax consulting firm client in a breach of contract action; 
• representing a charitable foundation in an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court on a novel attorney-client privilege issue;
• representing an insurance company in an appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court;
• defending a pharmaceutical company in a Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower action;
• representing a retail client in staving off purported nationwide FLSA collective action alleging misclassification of managers; and
• representing a range of clients in accessibility and discrimination lawsuits.

Before joining Shook, Riley was a litigator at the New York office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and a policy adviser with the New York State Department of Financial Services, where she handled banking and insurance industry investigations.