For the first 25 years of her career, Sharon Eubanks was a lawyer representing the people of the United States. She spent three years litigating antitrust cases at the Federal Trade Commission and 22 years at the U.S. Department of Justice. From 2000 to 2005, she served as lead counsel for the United States in the largest civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) enforcement action ever filed, United States v. Philip Morris USA, et al., the federal tobacco litigation. Following a nine-month trial, the federal district court found that defendants, the major U.S. cigarette companies, violated the civil provisions of RICO and committed fraud on a massive scale. They were ordered to change the way they do business, particularly in the area of marketing and advertising. That decision was sustained on appeal, and the case continues before the federal district court on remedies issues.
In October 2007, Ms. Eubanks began a new legal career in private practice, specializing in civil rights, employment law, and general public interest cases. Since leaving the Department of Justice, she has worked at a large law firm as well as a “litigation boutique,” representing individuals in public interest cases. Presently, she is in Washington, D.C., in her own firm, Edwards & Eubanks, and she continues to represent clients in public interest matters.
Ms. Eubanks is a member of the Board of Directors of the Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, and she is on the Advisory Committee for the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California San Francisco. With much support and encouragement from Professor Stan Glantz and the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, she completed her book on the tobacco litigation, Bad Acts, which was published in 2012 by the American Public Health Association.
Ms. Eubanks earned her undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. She has taught Trial Advocacy at George Washington University Law School. Ms. Eubanks lives with her family in McLean, Virginia.
