Emily Friend Horner

Emily Friend Horner is a senior counsel and litigation attorney with Foley & Lardner LLP. Her practice concentrates on varied types of business and commercial litigation, representing businesses in government bid protests and other administrative proceedings; owners in real estate disputes, lenders in complex commercial foreclosure, loan workouts and Chapter 11 bankruptcy; owners, developers general contractors, subcontractors, and professionals in construction litigation; public companies in securities litigation, and private and public companies in other business related litigation and employment matters. In this capacity, Emily serves a broad range of clients, including financial institutions, public companies, privately held businesses, professionals, developers, and contractors, among others.

Emily represents clients at both the trial and appellate level. She has extensive experience in motion practice, has tried numerous cases, and has experience facilitating the efficient review of large volumes of electronic data in both investigations and civil suits.

She is a member of the firm’s Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Bankruptcy & Business Reorganizations, and Securities Enforcement & Litigation Practices.

Representative Experience

• Represented a Fortune 50 health insurer in the successful defense of multiple bid protests of an award of a more than $1 billion contract to provide Medicaid managed care services to the State of Iowa in the State’s largest ever procurement
• Oversaw management of the review and production of over one million documents in a securities investigation
• Successful representation of companies in internal and SEC investigations involving potential accounting fraud
• Represented a Fortune 50 health insurance company in obtaining a favorable settlement of a wrongful death claim by an employee of a subcontractor based on assertion of workers’ compensation immunity
• Extensive successful representation defending against preliminary injunction motions and obtaining preliminary injunctions
• Extensive successful representation of banking and lending corporations in all aspects of complex commercial foreclosure actions and loan workouts

Recognition

Emily was selected as a 2023 "Commercial Litigation Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers. She was recognized by the Jacksonville Business Journal on its “40 under 40” list in 2016, was selected for inclusion in the 2016-2022 Florida Super Lawyers - Rising Stars® lists, and was named in Florida Trend’s Legal Elite Up & Comers 2017 and 2018 lists. She was also a recipient of the Lynford Lardner Community Service Award in recognition of her volunteer work and civic involvement in 2016.

Reported Decisions

Emily’s work has resulted in several published decisions including:

• St. Johns Riverkeeper, Inc., v. United States Army of Engineers, v. Jacksonville Port Authority, 462 F.Supp.3d 1256 (M.D. Fla. 2020)
• Belmont Medical Care, LLC, v. Community Ins. Co., Case No. 2:18-cv-968, 2019 WL 1676003 (S.D. Ohio Apr. 17, 2019)
• Florida Coastal School of Law, Inc. v. American Bar Association, Case No. 3:18-cv-621-J-39JBT, 2019 WL 3889736 (M.D. Fla. Feb. 8, 2019)
• St. Johns Riverkeeper, Inc., v. United States Army of Engineers, v. Jacksonville Port Authority, 304 F. Supp. 3d 1229 (M.D. Fla. 2018)
• Crede CG III, Ltd., v. 22nd Century Group, Inc., Case No. 16 Civ. 3103 (KPF), 2017 WL 6729368 (S.D. N.Y. Dec. 28, 2017)
• Crede CG III, Ltd., v. 22nd Century Group, Inc., Case No. 16 Civ. 3103 (KPF), 2017 WL 280818 (S.D. N.Y. Jan. 20, 2017)

Affiliations and Professional Memberships

Emily is active in her local community. She previously served as president of the Junior League of Jacksonville (JLJ). As president, she participated in the Salvation Army of Northeast Florida’s Women’s Auxiliary’s 31st Annual Celebrity Chefs Fundraiser, as a celebrity chef.

In addition, she previously served as president-elect and legal counsel for the JLJ as well as chairing various committees. As legal counsel, she led the Foley team that was recognized as Business Partner of the Year in 2014 by the League. She was also individually recognized as Volunteer of the Year in 2013. She was recognized by the Association of Junior Leagues International as a New and Notable Volunteer. She continues to serve the JLJ in numerous capacities. She previously served the United Way of Northeast Florida as a member of its Resource Management Team focused on income issues; William & Mary Law School as a North Florida Admissions Ambassador; and as a Delores Barr Weaver Fellow of the Women’s Giving Alliance.

She has previously served as chair of the Jacksonville Bar Association’s Law Day Committee; a legal counsel mentor for the ATHENA PowerLink Program with the JAX Chamber Foundation and as pro bono counsel for a number of other clients, including local nonprofits, victims of crimes, and in civil rights matters. Emily was additionally a member of Leadership Jacksonville’s Class of 2016 and has served as a member of the board of directors of the North Florida Alumni Chapter of the College of William & Mary.

She is also an active member of the Women’s Giving Alliance, Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association, Florida Association of Women Lawyers, American Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, Jacksonville Bankruptcy Bar Association, Jacksonville Bar Association, and as a Barrister of the Chester Bedell American Inn of Court.

Education

• William & Mary School of Law (J.D., 2009)
  • Law clerk for the Honorable James E. Bradberry of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
  • Articles Editor, William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
• University of Florida (B.A., cum laude, 2006)
• Inductee in the University of Florida Hall of Fame for excellence in academics, service and leadership, an honor bestowed on only 25 University students annually
• President, Women’s Leadership Council
• President, nonprofit organization Recurso
• J. Wayne Reitz Scholar
• Inductee, Florida Blue Key and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame

Admissions

• Florida
• U.S. District Courts for the Middle, Southern, and Northern Districts of Florida
• U.S. Bankruptcy Courts for the Middle, Southern, and Northern Districts of Florida