Emily Westridge Black > Shearman & Sterling LLP > Austin, United States > Lawyer Profile

Emily Westridge Black

+1 512 647 1909 emily.black@shearman.com View profile View profile

Work Department

Litigation

Position

Emily Westridge Black is a partner in the firm’s Litigation practice. Her practice focuses on the representation of companies and high-profile individuals in class actions, internal investigations, product liability litigation, global compliance and anticorruption matters, cybersecurity matters, and other complex commercial litigation.

Emily has secured major victories for clients, including walk-away, voluntary dismissals in a price-gouging class action against a prominent grocer and a breach of fiduciary duty suit against a hedge fund and its principals. She recently obtained an early, favorable settlement of a Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action, as well as multi-million dollar judgments for a specialty retailer in two suits related to a security compromise of its payment card network. She has also been active in various investigations related to fraud and corruption, product safety concerns and executive malfeasance. Most recently, Emily has led investigations into alleged FCPA and UK Bribery Act violations by employees and agents of publicly traded transportation, manufacturing and software companies. She also represented an oil and gas services company in connection with a criminal investigation of alleged FCPA violations.

She has been recognized by Chambers USA for general commercial litigation, with clients noting that Emily is “a consummate leader in litigation matters” who is “extremely good at building coalitions without ceding ground.” Others praise her as “just wildly intelligent” and “a great writer” with “keen insight,” who “can quickly grasp the legal implications of an issue but more importantly can quickly grasp the practical implications those legal issues have for our business.” As a result, Emily “delivers practical advice that almost always generates cost savings.” Clients also describe her as “sharp,” and “knowledgeable and thorough in her analysis,” “absolutely phenomenal with expert witnesses,” and note that “her work ethic is unbelievable.” Emily has also been recognized by The Legal 500 in 2023 for her work in Financial Services Litigation and Securities Litigation and was named “Attorney of the Year” by the Texas Lawyer in 2019.

Emily is dedicated to serving the community. Since 2010, she has been involved in humanitarian asylum work, and has helped twelve individuals from countries including Cameroon, Ghana, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras win asylum, including a case that secured a precedent-setting opinion on constitutional due process rights of asylum-seekers.

Prior to joining private practice, Emily served as a law clerk for the Honorable W. Osmond Smith III in the Superior Court of North Carolina.

Emily is a member of the ShearmanWomen Council, a member of the firm’s Women Partners Committee, and a member of the firm’s D&I Leadership Committee.

Career

• Education

  UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SCHOOL OF LAW

  J.D., cum laude

  • Phi Delta Phi

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  B.A., cum laude

  • Phi Beta Kappa

Memberships

• Admissions

  • Texas

• Courts

  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
  • United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas