Jeff E. Scott handles sophisticated litigation matters and has served as lead trial counsel for clients in many cases tried before judges, juries and arbitrators.
Areas of Concentration
· Class Action and Unfair Competition Defense
· Entertainment and Intellectual Property litigation
· Commercial litigation
· Partnership and corporate disputes
· Real Estate litigation
· Alternative dispute resolution
· Regulatory investigations
Significant Representations
· Substantial experience defending major publicly traded corporations in defense of consumer class action and unfair competition litigation.
· Represent owners, developers and sellers in various contractual disputes related to the purchase, sale and use of commercial real property.
· Represent major motion picture studios in a variety of contractual disputes.
· Trademark litigation for major brands.
· Tried Lanham Act case to verdict and obtained national product recall for major brand distributor Brown Forman Corporation against Constellation Brands.
· Represent online service providers in litigation involving web site development, issues arising under Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Communications Decency Act.
· Defended corporate clients in complicated trade secret and unfair competition cases.
· Prosecute and defend sophisticated litigation arising in context of partnership and corporate dissolutions.
· Hendrickson v. EBay, Inc., etc., et. al., 165 F.Supp.2d 1082 (2001) - Precedent-setting victory in Federal Court in a test of liability for publication of third party material on the internet under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The court ruled that the company was not liable for copyright infringement.
· Williams v. UMG Recordings, Inc., 281 F. Supp. 2d 1177 (C.D. Cal. 2003) - Published opinion confirming that defendants could not be liable under California's unfair competition statute or under the Lanham Act for "reverse passing off" for failing to credit the alleged author and editor of a motion picture. Relying on a recent United States Supreme Court case, argued that a creative contributor is not entitled to claim lost credit under the Lanham Act because that claim only applies against the actual producer of the goods -- i.e. the entity that manufactures the product and is entitled to credit as the producer/manufacturer.
· After two week jury trial, obtained directed verdict in copyright infringement case, recently upheld on appeal at 9th Circuit.
· Defended division of public company client in regulatory action against State of California, resulting in trial victory declaring the challenged state action "null and void" and "invalid".
· Represent high profile music songwriters, performers, producers and record labels in a variety of copyright, touring, record contract, right of publicity and other disputes.
Professional & Community Involvement
· Board Member, Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF)
· Chair, State Bar of California, Annual Symposium Committee; Litigation Section
· Member, Board of Directors, Public Counsel
· Member, Association of Business and Trial Lawyers
· Member, Volunteers in Parole (organization assisting youth in their transition from juvenile facilities back into the community)
· Member, Los Angeles County Bar Association
· Member, American Bar Association
Awards & Recognition
· Named, U.S. News - Best Lawyers "Law Firm of the Year" in Entertainment Law - Music, 2011-2012
· Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation, 2009-2012
· Featured in the Los Angeles Business Journal's Who's Who in L.A. Law list, 2007
· Listed, Super Lawyers magazine, Southern California Super Lawyers, 2006, 2010-2011
· Rated, AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5
Articles, Publications, & Lectures
· Quoted, "Roundtable: Class Action," California Lawyer , August 2010