Andrew Gass > Latham & Watkins LLP > San Francisco, United States > Lawyer Profile

The US copyright team at Latham & Watkins LLP utilizes a global presence spanning North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East to advise clients across the tech, art, pharmaceuticals, and media sectors involved in high-stakes litigation, including such household names as Spotify, Johnson & Johnson, and Live Nation. The team is led by seasoned copyright litigators Andrew Gass in San Francisco and Sy Damle in Washington DC, who are lead counsels representing the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in a widely-covered US Supreme Court case related to the “fair use” of copyrighted content; Digital Millennium Copyright Act expert Allison Levine Stillman in New York; and Joe Wetzel, also in San Francisco, a specialist in the music and software sectors. Elana Nightingale Dawson in DC and Britt Lovejoy in San Francisco were promoted to partner in January 2023.

Based primarily out of California, Latham & Watkins LLP litigates across the media and entertainment industry, with the practice particularly focused on Hollywood litigation and complex IP disputes at the intersection of content and new technologies. Trial lawyer and IP specialist Marvin S. Putnam  heads the practice, which is primarily based in the firm’s Century City office; in a recent highlight, he represented romantic singer Jonny Mathis in a tort suit brought by an independent contractor. Fellow Century City resident Jessica Stebbins Bina  is an esteemed trial and appellate litigator who is currently serving as lead defense counsel for First Access Entertainment in a wrongful death suit concerning the Swedish-American emo rapper Lil Peep. Robert Ellison‘s broad entertainment practice includes handling sensitive investigations and work for emerging companies. Laura Washington, a highly regarded trial and appellate lawyer, specializes in discovery work and managed responses to high-profile crises. Further recommended is antitrust and IP expert Andrew Gass who frequently represents major content providers clients in music-rights rate-setting cases.