The Legal 500 Names Six Partners to Washington D.C. Elite Commercial Disputes List 

The Legal 500 has named partners Brian A. Glasser, Nicholas S. Johnson, Cary Joshi, Elliott McGraw, Michael L. Murphy, and Gregory Y. Porter to its Washington D.C. Elite series for commercial disputes. Brian Glasser and Michael Murphy received its top Tier 1 ranking. 

According to Legal 500, the U.S. Elite series emphasizes lawyers who are handling work at the top of the legal market in their respective cities.  We appreciate the recognition and congratulate all lawyers on this list. To see the full list of commercial disputes Washington D.C. Elite rankings, click here. 

Brian A. Glasser is a founding partner of the firm. Brian is a Rhodes scholar and graduate of Harvard Law and Oxford University and has tried cases in 18 different states, including two mass actions and six class actions, where he went toe to toe with some of the country’s biggest law firms and emerged victorious. Brian has been recognized across the legal industry, including by Lawdragon on its 2026 Lawdragon Top 500 Lawyers in America, and as a Top 500 Leading Litigators since 2023. In addition, he has more than a decade of Band 1 rankings in commercial litigation from Chambers & Partners along with ranking on the corporate/commercial front as well. Forbes named him one of the Top 200 Lawyers in the United States in its inaugural 2024 list in Business Law and included him again in 2025 among its Top 250 Lawyers, alongside numerous other honors. 

In 2025, Brian was co-lead counsel of the trial team representing the Coalition of Counsel for Justice for Talc Claimants that won dismissal of another “Texas Two-Step” attempt by Johnson & Johnson to discharge liabilities arising from people alleging its baby powder causes cancer. Learn more about that 2025 victory here.  Brian also led the trial team that obtained a jury verdict in favor of approximately 37,000 Arkansas State Farm customers who suffered a “total loss” of their vehicle. The jury found that the insurance company breached the contract of insurance when its computer program applied a “typical negotiation adjustment” to comparable vehicles used to determine the “actual cash value” of the wrecked vehicle. Brian and our brave client appeared on a CBS news piece about this win. Learn more here.

Nicholas Johnson is Bailey Glasser's firmwide Practice Area Leader of the firm's national and award-winning Corporate, Commercial and Environmental Litigation, Bankruptcy & Business Reorganization, and Criminal Defense & Internal Investigations Practice Areas. Nick is Chambers-ranked and is also part of the Band 1-ranked litigation practice in our Washington, D.C. office. In Nick's own practice, he skillfully litigates complex commercial and environmental disputes throughout the country, particularly in the mining and energy sector. Learn more our energy work here.

Cary Joshi is the Practice Group Leader of the firm's Commercial and Environmental Practice Group where she leads high profile litigation - and the firm's commercial litigation teams - across the country. Cary is Chambers-ranked (along with our D.C. litigators being Chambers Band 1-ranked in plaintiff-side litigation in D.C.), and has been named a Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigator in America, among numerous recognitions. She is also a national leader in Title IX litigation on behalf of women student-athletes, including a recent matter that resolved successfully with  Marshall University.  

Elliott McGraw's practice focuses on complex commercial disputes in state and federal courts across the country where she represents institutional investors and asset managers, as both plaintiffs and defendants, in contract and tort-based claims arising from financial fraud, accounting malpractice, and corporate malfeasance. In addition to this Legal 500 recognition, she has been listed in Best Lawyers® Ones to Watch for Commercial Litigation and Privacy and Data Security Law since 2024. Benchmark Litigation has recognized her as a Future Star in the Northeast/Washington, D.C. region and included her in its 40 & Under Litigators list, and Lawdragon named her to its 500 X — The Next Generation list.

Michael L. Murphy is a nationally-recognized leader in cutting-edge privacy litigation on behalf of consumers and has extensive experience litigating consumer class actions and an impactful range of other cases in federal and state courts across the country including handling cases related to mortgage lending and finance, privacy, telemarketing, and PPP loans.  His recent work includes being involved in the largest antitrust settlement in U.S. healthcare history ($2.8 billion) in the Blue Cross Blue Shield MDL, a long-running antitrust lawsuit representing healthcare providers nationwide. Mike is part of the appellate team representing our client before the Supreme Court of the United States in a Video Privacy Protection Act case. Learn more here.  Mike has also been Band 1 ranked by Chambers & Partners in the District of Columbia - Band One; Litigation: Mainly Plaintiffs category for several years, among other recognitions. 

Gregory Y. Porter is the Practice Group Leader of our nationally award-winning ERISA practice group. Greg has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of employees who lost retirement savings in 401(k) plans and ESOPs and has fought from trial courts all the way up the Supreme Court of the United States to protect their financial interests. Mr. Porter has been an innovative and tenacious leader in this area, and is nationally ranked by Chambers & Partner for his ERISA work, and the group he leads as a whole is also nationally ranked by Chambers. He was also recognized by Law 360 when they named Mr. Porter a “Legal Lion” related to an appeal he won before Supreme Court of the United States.