Daniel Scott Schecter is a litigation partner in the Los Angeles office of Latham & Watkins. Mr. Schecter previously served as Vice-chair of the firm's global Litigation Department and Chair of the Los Angeles Litigation Department. His practice focuses on litigating and trying to verdict intellectual property, technology, and entertainment cases and complex business disputes.
Mr. Schecter has represented clients in a wide range of matters involving trade secret misappropriation; software development and implementation; trademark, trade dress, copyright and patent infringement; false advertising and unfair competition; motion picture and television distribution; violation of rights of publicity; and class action defense. Mr. Schecter also has represented a number of clients in disputes arising out of merger and acquisition transactions and financings, insolvency proceedings, and fiduciary duty and other claims against directors.
Mr. Schecter’s clients include motion picture and television studios, major sports franchises; premier technology and e-commerce companies; entertainment and sports labor unions; consumer products companies; and major private equity and venture capital firms and their portfolio companies.
Before joining Latham & Watkins in 1994, Mr. Schecter was a law clerk for Senior Judge Irving Hill of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Mr. Schecter was named by IP Law & Business as one of the top 50 intellectual property attorneys under age 45 for 2008; ranked as one of the top 10 copyright lawyers in California by the Daily Journal; identified as a leading litigator in the Euromoney Institutional Investor Benchmark: Litigation 2008 guide (with the guide noting that he "contributes to the firm's strong reputation in intellectual property disputes"); and recognized as a Southern California Super Lawyer in Intellectual Property Litigation from 2009 to 2012.
Mr. Schecter’s notable victories as a trial attorney and in other prominent matters include:
- A complete defense verdict at jury trial, representing the owners of a robotic game competition in federal court in New York against claims of tortious interference brought by a competitor
- A complete defense award and multi-million dollar attorney fee award for FTI Consulting in an arbitrated trade secrets and copyright dispute over game theory software used with high-stakes auctions
- A multi-million dollar award and permanent injunction for Miramax in an arbitration with foreign distributors. Miramax also obtained an order reverting ownership to key foreign distribution rights for 31 motion pictures, including titles such as Pulp Fiction, The English Patient, Good Will Hunting, and Slingblade
- A complete defense award for a global consulting firm against claims seeking US$300 million in damages arising out of an Oracle ERP software implementation
- A complete defense verdict for major venture capital firms at trial in bankruptcy court in California over a failed DSL Internet provider
- Summary judgment for a manufacturer of infrared technology in defense of a trade secret action in federal court in Texas. Mr. Schecter’s client was accused of misappropriating more than 100 trade secrets (and several patents) and faced damages asserted in the hundreds of millions of dollars
- Successfully opposing class certification and winning summary judgment for the National Football League Players Association in litigation asserting that NFLPA failed to generate licensing opportunities for retired football players
- Summary judgment for Franchise Pictures in a dispute with Morgan Creek Productions over copyright mortgages in numerous motion pictures