Ross Bagley

Partner

Partner Ross M. Bagley is a member of Pryor Cashman's Litigation and Intellectual Property Groups.

Ross is an experienced commercial litigator with a reputation for efficiently and effectively litigating high-stakes commercial disputes. Since joining Pryor Cashman over 15 years ago, Ross has focused his practice on resolving complex claims for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud. He has also litigated numerous claims involving valuable copyrights and trademarks, celebrities’ right of publicity, and defamation.

In addition to trial work, Ross has handled numerous appeals and petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court, several U.S. Circuit Courts, and the New York appellate courts. He dedicates a significant portion of his time to serving individuals and business owners, though he has the ability to work at scale for clients of all shapes and sizes, including technology companies, professional services firms, entrepreneurs, and others.

Examples of Ross’s commercial experience include successful representations of:

• A wireless technology company, obtaining an eight-figure international arbitration award against an overseas respondent for breach of a patent license agreement concerning standard essential patents.
• A New York technology entrepreneur, obtaining dismissal of defamation, right of publicity, trademark, and other claims in the Northern District of California.
• A fintech company and registered broker-dealer, obtaining favorable settlement of claims asserting breach of a membership interest purchase agreement in a bet-the-company arbitration.
• A hospitality company in litigation regarding one of the hottest U.S. restaurants,  successfully defeating a preliminary injunction motion in November 2023.
• A film distribution salesman, obtaining summary judgment against his former employer, for failure to pay full compensation.
• A prominent auction house, obtaining dismissal in January 2024 of claims seeking to enjoin the sale of a famous dress worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz.”

In addition to his prowess serving entrepreneurs and businesses, Ross is sought for his experience in media and entertainment. Working with media conglomerates, Grammy-winning artists, and other industry movers, Ross was part of the Pryor Cashman team that obtained a $41 million jury verdict for EMI Music Publishing against music service provider MP3tunes, Inc. and its owner and CEO, Michael Robertson. This litigation resulted in one of the largest jury awards in history for digital copyright infringement. Ross and the team subsequently prevailed in defending the verdict on appeal, developing important protections for digital rights holders on a variety of copyright issues.

Ross has also secured significant pro bono victories, including preventing the deportation of an immigrant from Ghana living in the U.S. for 16 years.

• New York City Bar Association, member, Entertainment Law Committee (2014-2017, 2020-2023)
• New York City Bar Association, member, Committee on Copyright & Literary Property (2017- 2020, 2023 - Present)
• New York City Bar Association, member, Council on Intellectual Property (2021-2024)

• Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., 2008)
• Pennsylvania State University (B.A., 2005)