Elizabeth Read was first admitted to practice in California in 1979. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and received her J.D. from UC Hastings College of Law.

Elizabeth started her career in litigation in large firms in San Francisco, San Diego, and Boston, handling a wide range of cases, including insurance defense, maritime law, general commercial litigation and defense procurement fraud, as well as white collar criminal defense and the design of government compliance programs. From 2000 to 2010, Elizabeth worked as a legal administrator at an AmLaw 50 firm headquartered in Boston. Since returning to Markham & Read, she has focused on representation of clients in civil and criminal litigation in Massachusetts and California, including the defense of actions brought by the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Trade Commission. Her practice has also included the defense of clients in bank foreclosure cases and internal investigations.

She is a member of the bars of California, Massachusetts, and Maine, and admitted to federal practice before the Northern, Central and Southern Districts of California, the Districts of Massachusetts and Maine, and the First and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal.