Peggy Dayton couples aggressive motion practice with practical thinking to achieve favorable results tailored to the case and client needs. She represents clients in all phases of litigation, including appeals, in both state and federal court. Her practice includes class action litigation, consumer protection claims, fraud actions, contract and tort disputes, securities matters, False Claims Act cases, and intellectual property litigation. In addition to acting as litigation counsel, Peggy has significant experience representing clients in high-profile matters and often serves in an advisory role for her clients.

Some of Ms. Dayton’s notable representations are:

• Successfully represented a brand management company in a licensing dispute, prevailing in a multi-day arbitration and obtaining an award of unpaid royalties. 

• Obtained a complete defense verdict following a four-day jury trial alleging breach of a license agreement and various business torts in the Central District of California. 

• Defeated a motion for class certification in a putative class action alleging consumer fraud claims against a drug rehabilitation provider in the Central District of California. 

• Obtained dismissal at the pleading stage of a consumer class action brought by purchasers of Lance Armstrong’s biographies alleging fraud claims on behalf of a sports agency client. 

• Secured partial summary judgment in a False Claims Act lawsuit pertaining to use of performance enhancing drugs by Lance Armstrong, reducing potential exposure from US$100M to less than US$300,000—leading to a successful settlement. 

• Helped secure a post-indictment dismissal of all charges prior to trial on behalf of an individual client in a theft of trade secrets case. 

• Won motions to compel contractual religious arbitration in California state court requiring plaintiff’s claims to be heard under ecclesiastical law. Successfully defeated writ of mandate, petition for review, and writ of certiorari. 

• Obtained dismissal at the pleading stage of a putative class action alleging RICO claims in the Eastern District of California on behalf of an insurance company client. 

• Obtained contemporaneous dismissal and summary judgment of legal malpractice action on statute of limitations grounds, disposing of the entire lawsuit on the first available motion hearing date in California state court; successfully defended the result on appeal.  

• Secured a walk-away dismissal of a cross-complaint asserting putative class claims and individual tort claims in California state court on behalf of an insurance company client. 

• Negotiated favorable, individual settlement of California Invasion of Privacy Claims on behalf of an insurance company client in the Northern District of California following a successful motion to dismiss all claims and factual investigation in response to an amended complaint. 

• Helped secure walk-away dismissal of all asserted patents following briefing and hearing on a motion to dismiss due to patent-ineligible subject matter. 

Peggy received her B.A., summa cum laude, from Duke University in 2007 where she served as the President (2006-2007), Treasurer (2004), and Secretary (2003-2004) of the Duke University Equestrian Team. She received her J.D. from Stanford Law School, where she was the Development Editor (2009) and Co-Managing Editor (2008) of the Stanford Journal of Animal Law and Policy. 

In her free time, Peggy enjoys horseback riding, gardening, spending time with her family, and wrangling her two dogs and six chickens.