NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 19, 2024--
Sterlington PLLC announced that Courtney Rockett, a nationally respected first-chair litigator with experience navigating high-profile, high-sensitivity disputes, has joined the firm, further expanding Sterlington’s growing litigation capabilities. Rockett joins the firm a little over a month after Sterlington’s addition of Jonathan Sherman, a decorated litigator and longtime colleague of Rockett at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP.
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“Courtney is a first-class litigation talent with a unique ability to see clients through high-stakes conflict in industries ranging from media and entertainment to aviation to private equity,” said Christopher S. Harrison, founding partner and CEO of Sterlington. “Her strategic counsel will immediately benefit our clients, and add to the collection of talent that has quickly made Sterlington a destination for significant litigation matters.”
Rockett practiced for nearly two decades at Boies Schiller and was also at Mintz. Across her career, she has represented clients in connection with numerous public and sensitive disputes, including Sony Pictures Entertainment in the widely covered computer hack and cyberterrorism campaign that led to the release of employee emails, personal information, and unreleased films. She also represented numerous entertainment industry clients in civil and criminal proceedings surrounding the Ponzi scheme operator Kenneth Starr. She regularly represents individuals and companies in connection with founder disputes, as she did for Tory Burch LLC in its partnership dispute against Christopher Burch.
“Having worked alongside Courtney for many years, I know firsthand the dedication and depth of skill she brings to high-stakes cases,” said Jonathan Sherman, who joined Sterlington as Vice Chair, Strategic Litigation. “I’m thrilled she’s chosen to join us as we expand and build our litigation capabilities.”
“Sterlington aligns perfectly with the kind of firm I want to be part of—one with great partners, exceptional clients, and high-impact work,” said Rockett, who practiced with Sherman at Boies Schiller for most of the 2000s. “Joining Sterlington feels like a natural next step in my career, with familiar colleagues at my side.”
Sterlington’s growing aviation group is another point of overlap for Rockett, who has become one of the nation’s most prominent litigators of private jet disputes. In September, the firm added global aviation lawyer Paul Jebely, the top private aviation attorney globally serving ultra-high-net-worth individuals. Rockett, who regularly receives referrals of challenging disputes involving private aircraft, will add another dimension to the firm’s service offering for aviation clients.
Rockett has served as a clerk to federal judges at both the trial and appellate level. She clerked for the Hon. William H. Conner on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the Hon. Joseph M. McLaughlin on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She received a B.B.A. from the University of Texas and her J.D., summa cum laude, from St. John’s University School of Law.
About Sterlington
Sterlington PLLC is an international law firm focusing on complex corporate, litigation and transactional matters. By offering high-level legal expertise and customized client solutions, the firm helps clients around the world achieve their business goals. Visit us at www.sterlingtonlaw.com.
Courtney Rockett, Partner, Sterlington PLLC (Photo: Business Wire)
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Georgia nursing student Laken Riley texted and called her mom as she headed out for a run to see whether she had time to chat — but then didn't respond to her mother's calls or increasingly frantic text messages.
Riley called her mother at 9:03 a.m. on Feb. 22, and by the time her mother called back about 20 minutes later, the student had encountered Jose Ibarra on a wooded running trail at the University of Georgia, according to trial testimony. Prosecutors said Ibarra killed Riley after a struggle, and data from Riley's smartwatch shows her heart stopped beating at 9:28 a.m.
After Riley failed to answer the phone, her mother, Allyson Phillips, texted her several times, casually at first but then with increasing concern, according to data pulled from Riley's phone.
At 9:37 a.m., her mother texted, “Call me when you can.” Phillips called twice, and when her calls went unanswered, she texted her daughter at 9:58 a.m., “You’re making me nervous not answering while you’re out running. Are you OK?" Phillips texted again at 11:47 a.m., writing, “Please call me. I’m worried sick about you.” She and other family members continued to call Riley.
Phillips cried in court as the text messages were read aloud by Georgia police Sgt. Sophie Raboud, who examined data from Riley's phone. Raboud also testified about video from surveillance cameras near the wooded trail, and Phillips and some other family members and friends cried as video played showing Riley running on the trail the morning of her death.
Ibarra, 26, is charged with murder and other crimes in Riley’s death in February, and his trial began Friday. He waived his right to a jury trial, meaning the case will be decided alone by Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard. The case could go to the judge by the end of Tuesday.
The killing added fuel to the national debate over immigration when federal authorities said Ibarra illegally entered the U.S. in 2022 and was allowed to stay in the country while he pursued his immigration case. Riley, 22, was a student at Augusta University College of Nursing, which also has a campus in Athens, about 70 miles (115 kilometers) east of Atlanta.
Surveillance video also showed a man who prosecutors say is Ibarra walking around an apartment complex where a female graduate student said someone tried to get into her apartment and peered in the window early the day Riley was killed. The man is seen going up to the door of that apartment six times over a period of roughly an hour, twice opening the outer screen door, Raboud testified.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Lucas Breyer testified about reviewing the body camera video from the officer who found Riley's body in the woods. He testified that her clothes were “heavily manipulated,” describing the waistband of her running tights as having been pulled down some and her jacket, shirt and sports bra having been pulled way up.
Prosecutor Sheila Ross said during her opening statement that Ibarra had gone out “hunting for females” that morning in February and that he killed Riley after a struggle when she “refused to be his rape victim.” Law enforcement officers have testified there was no evidence that Riley was sexually assaulted.
Defense attorney Dustin Kirby said in his opening that Riley’s death was a tragedy and called the evidence in the case graphic and disturbing. But he said there is not sufficient evidence to prove that his client killed Riley.
Ross told the judge Monday that she expected to finish calling witnesses Tuesday, and defense attorneys said their witnesses should take half a day at most. Prosecutors had already called nearly two dozen witnesses over the first two days of testimony, Friday and Monday. That included law enforcement officers, Riley's roommates and a woman who lived in the same apartment as Ibarra.
Riley’s parents, roommates and other friends and family packed the courtroom Friday and again Monday and Tuesday.
Jason Riley, center, Laken Riley's father, listens during the Jose Ibarra trial at Athens-Clarke County Superior Court on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)
Allyson Phillips, mother of Laken Riley, second left, listens during the trial of Jose Ibarra at Athens-Clarke County Superior Court on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)
Prosecutor Sheila Ross's responds to Judge H. Patrick Haggard during the trial of Jose Ibarra at Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024 in Athens, Ga. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)
Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard speaks during the trial of Jose Ibarra at Athens-Clarke County Superior Court on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)
Jose Ibarra pays attention to a witness during his trial at the Athens-Clarke County Superior Court on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)
