Los Angeles, CA

Advertising and Marketing

Our Los Angeles team counsels clients on compliance with state and federal advertising regulations, and litigates false and deceptive advertising disputes. This includes consumer class actions, competitor suits under the Lanham Act, and investigations and actions brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and other regulatory agencies. We serve direct-response TV advertisers, retail stores, online marketers, and other direct marketers across a broad range of industries, such as technology, consumer products and services, food and beverage, dietary supplements, telecommunications, automotive, healthcare, manufacturing, children's toys, and fitness.

Corporate

Venable corporate attorneys bring a collaborative approach across a range of issues to help clients execute complex, high-value transactions in accordance with California law. We handle transactional matters tied to company formation, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, finance, succession planning, tax strategies, corporate restructurings, and more. We represent clients ranging from both domestic and international corporations, limited liability companies, Fortune 50 companies, partnerships and joint ventures to emerging growth companies and start-ups.

Intellectual Property

Our practice comprises a nationally acclaimed team of intellectual property attorneys and registered patent agents, covering virtually every facet of intellectual property law. We represent clients all over California and beyond in a host of domestic and international IP issues, including litigation, licensing and intellectual property transactions, counseling, and patent and trademark prosecution. Our attorneys represent large and small companies across an expansive set of industries, including leading entertainment and media, sports, technology, consumer products and services, biotech, medical devices, and toy companies. Among other things, we help our clients obtain and defend patents, secure trademarks and domain names, protect their copyrights, and negotiate technology transfer licenses and agreements.

Labor and Employment

Venable’s West Coast Labor and Employment Group defends against complex employment-related claims unique to California, including the California Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) and California Business and Professions Code Section 17200. Our attorneys have advised and represented national and California-based clients before government agencies, such as the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), in all phases and types of labor and employment litigation and counseling. We have litigated cases concerning discrimination, harassment, unpaid wages, retaliation, privacy invasion, unfair competition, trade secret misappropriation, non-compete agreements, wrongful termination, breach of contract, and California employment tort and wage and hour claims. This regional practice is bolstered by several related practice groups in litigation, employee benefits and executive compensation, intellectual property litigation, and business transactions.

Litigation

Our West Coast litigation attorneys have decades of combined experience navigating California's state and federal courts for clients. We represent clients on a wide range of issues, including advertising and marketing, commercial litigation, class actions, intellectual property disputes, product liability, entertainment industry matters, white collar criminal defense, and wage and hour claims. Many of our attorneys—in Los Angeles and firmwide—gained their trial skills in the most demanding environments: in the trenches as assistant U.S. attorneys and as prosecutors for regulatory agencies on major cases. Our litigators represent clients in courts at all levels within the California state system, as well as before the federal courts in California and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Media and Entertainment

From Los Angeles to New York and Washington, DC, Venable has established a national top-tier entertainment and media practice, providing both transactional and litigation services to prominent entertainers, athletes, and other high-profile industry figures. We advise clients on a wide array of legal issues, ranging from robust estate, tax, and business planning strategies, to advertising, sponsorship and co-branding opportunities, guild and labor issues, and more. Clients rely on us to structure, negotiate, and document their business transactions with unmatched efficiency. When disputes arise, our entertainment and media litigators are supported by an extensive team of trial attorneys, all of whom are distinguished by their tenacity and ability to try the simplest or most complex cases. Actively involved in the industry, our attorneys serve in various leadership roles as speakers, advisors, and educators to legal service and nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, and bar associations.

Privacy and Data Security

Venable's West Coast team firmly grasps one of the most critical tools of your business – information. Your ability to collect data on customers, competitors, employees, and ideas is both an asset and a liability. Our team proactively works with clients in connection with numerous federal privacy legislation and rulemakings, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Because of our lengthy experience in self-regulatory bodies such as the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and the BBB's Electronic Retailing Self-Regulatory Program, we are fit to steer your company away from such liabilities.

Real Estate

Major motion picture studios, theater chains, investment banks, real property developers, and retailers frequently call on Venable to handle complex commercial real estate transactions and land use matters. We structure transactions, prepare financing documentation, and obtain special exception, rezoning, and other land use approvals. We also handle the acquisition, disposition, leasing, and financing of office buildings, retail centers, mixed-use developments, and commercial properties. As a fully integrated practice, we work seamlessly with the firm’s tax, corporate, bankruptcy, environmental, construction, and litigation attorneys to manage even the most complex and time-sensitive transactions with efficiency.

Tax and Wealth Planning

Along the West Coast, clients turn to Venable's tax and estate planning attorneys for federal, international, and state and local (SALT) tax advice. In addition to advising corporations and nonprofits on sophisticated tax matters, we counsel high-net-worth individuals and families on estate planning strategies to help preserve their wealth. We resolve tax controversies, counsel on tax policy legislation, and advise on a host of cross-border tax matters. Fully versed in the rules and regulations governing income, gift, and estate taxes, we work closely with financial advisors to structure plans that protect assets, benefit future generations, and facilitate the support of charitable, educational, and religious institutions.