Morgan E. Pietz

Morgan E. Pietz

Morgan E. Pietz is, first and foremost, a trial lawyer. His practice includes handling intellectual property infringement and defamation matters, as well as commercial disputes and related insurance issues. He has been named a “Top 100 Rising Star” by SuperLawyers magazine and a “Litigator of the Week” by The American Lawyer.

In a case that attracted widespread national media attention from outlets such as Business Week and the LA Times, and which was described in the ABA Journal as “part of legal folklore,” Mr. Pietz and others brought down the notorious Prenda Law, a copyright trolling collective. In a series of groundbreaking cases involving the use of the BitTorrent file sharing network, Mr. Pietz made new law on the issue of “swarm joinder” across the country. He is also responsible for pioneering a first-of-its-kind defense to copyright infringement predicated on non-compliance with a federal criminal statute.

Mr. Pietz has significant experience working with retail and wholesale clients in the fashion and apparel industry on all aspects of their business, including copyright, trademark, counterfeiting, and trade dress law. He has successfully resolved multiple fabric print design lawsuits, and is a veteran of litigating complex issues that arise in relation to suing unknown “John Doe” defendants.

Other clients of Mr. Pietz include prominent media and entertainment companies, as well as celebrities and creative individuals, on issues including cyberpiracy, defamation, rights of publicity and privacy, licensing, and royalty disputes.

Mr. Pietz began his career as an intellectual property associate at the Los Angeles office of Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm. Before forming Pietz & Shahriari, LLP, he was a partner at Gerard Fox Law, P.C., in Century City, and before that he managed The Pietz Law Firm in Manhattan Beach, California.

Mr. Pietz is a former President of the California Society of Entertainment Lawyers and a former Chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Delegation to the Conference of California Bar Associations. He is also active with the Beverly Hills Bar Association’s Entertainment and IP Sections, and the author of a legislative proposal to amend California’s Anti-SLAPP law.

In connection with his assistance in a pro bono impact litigation class action, the ACLU of Southern California awarded Mr. Pietz its Humanitarian Award in 2010.

Admissions

• California Superior Court
• U.S Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
• U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado

Representative Matters

Published Opinions:

• John Doe 2 v. Los Angeles Superior Court (Avongard Products, Inc. d/b/a Hydraulx), 1 Cal. App. 5th 1300 (Aug. 5, 2016) Lead trial and appellate counsel in a case The Hollywood Reporter described as a “Big Appellate Win for Anonymous Speech.” After orally arguing the case to the Court of Appeal and winning on the merits via a writ, the case settled while client’s motion to recover anti-SLAPP attorneys’ fees was pending in the trial court.

Unpublished Opinions:

• Nelson v. Los Angeles Superior Court (John Does 1-50), California Second District Court of Appeal, No. B283743 (Feb. 27, 2018) Again obtained extraordinary writ relief from the California Court of Appeal in a case involving anonymous speech, this time for a plaintiff YouTube personality. Argued the case to Division 7 and obtained reversal of trial court order prohibiting identifying discovery.
• Confidential Arbitration, JAMS (2017) Lead trial counsel for defendant software publisher in week-long arbitration where plaintiff outsource developer was awarded nothing on a multi-million dollar claim.
• Ziskind v. Manatt, Phelps, & Phillips, LLP, LA Superior Court No. SC121314 (Aug. 29 2017) Co-tried case resulting in $335,000 jury verdict on behalf of legal recruiter suing a national law firm for failure to pay a placement fee. See, e.g., Law360.
• Blaha v. Rightscorp, Inc., C.D. Cal. No. 14-cv-9032 (Nov. 28, 2016) Approved as co-lead class counsel in TCPA class action involving alleged “speculative invoicing” and robo-calls, which resulted in favorable class settlement and attorneys’ fees award.
• Harra v. Leshner, LA Superior Court No. BC498013 (Aug. 31, 2016) Won multimillion-dollar fraud verdict with punitive damages multiplier in complex, multi-party arbitration involving independent film deal gone wrong.
• Ingenuity 13, LLC v. John Doe, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, No. 13-55859 (Jun. 10, 2016) C.D. Cal. No. 2:12-cv-8333 (May 6, 2013) As lead trial counsel, obtained dismissal of client and a sanctions award against plaintiff adult film company and its attorneys, who were then federally indicted for wire fraud. Successfully defended district court’s award of a “punitive multiplier” as a sanction before the Ninth Circuit and in bankruptcy court.
• Mode Media, LLC v. John Does 1-10, N.D. Cal. No. 16-cv-00244 (May 10, 2016) As lead trial counsel, obtained temporary restraining order without notice and, subsequently, a permanent injunction judgment and domain name turnover order shutting down counterfeit website for online media company.
• Calis v. Abu Lughod, C.D. Cal. No. 13-cv-02792 (Oct. 1, 2015) Won defense verdict in federal jury trial for client accused of embezzling over $1,000,000 in connection with video game development deal. Client was completely vindicated by jury verdict and was awarded $500,000 on counterclaim.