News

05.04.2006

James M. Chadwick has joined the San Francisco office of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP as a partner in the Business Trial and Entertainment, Media and Communications practice groups. Chadwick most recently practiced with DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary in Palo Alto.

James Chadwick focuses on media law and media defense litigation, First Amendment and privacy law, trademark and copyright law, and civil litigation. Chadwick represented clients in the litigation of a number of cases that resulted in important First Amendment or intellectual property decisions, including: Lissner v. U.S. Customs Service, San Jose Mercury News v. U.S. District Court, Sipple v. Foundation for National Progress; In re Willon; Montana v. San Jose Mercury News, Inc.; Nordyke v. Santa Clara County; James v. San Jose Mercury News, Inc.; Religious Technology Center v. Netcom; among others.

Chadwick also provides ongoing counseling and pre-publication advice to media clients such as the San Jose Mercury News and Mother Jones magazine. He has pursued litigation under state and federal open records and open meetings laws on behalf of both media and individual clients.

"James is one of the country's top media defense attorneys and we are thrilled to welcome him to the San Francisco office," said Guy Halgren, chairman of the firm. "He will play a key role in the ongoing expansion of our national media defense practice, which includes partners Gary Bostwick and Kent Raygor in Century City, Guylyn Cummins in San Diego, Kevin Goering in New York and senior associate Jean-Paul Jassy in Century City."

"Sheppard Mullin has an outstanding reputation and a strong entertainment and media practice,” Chadwick said. "I am particularly familiar with the media team, which is deep and highly skilled. I’m looking forward to working with Sheppard Mullin and contributing to the continued success of the dynamic group."

Co-chair of the firm's Entertainment, Media and Communications group, Marty Katz, commented that "Our objective has been to build the preeminent media defense practice in the country. With the addition of James in San Francisco, we now have top notch experts in New York and each of the three critical California markets."

Chadwick received his law degree summa cum laude from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1991, and graduated from San Francisco State University with a M.A. in 1985 and from the University of California, Santa Cruz, cum laude, with a B.A. in 1979.

About Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP is a full service AmLaw 100 firm with more than 480 attorneys in nine offices located throughout California and in New York and Washington, D.C. The firm's California offices are located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Century City, Orange County, Del Mar Heights and San Diego. Sheppard Mullin provides legal expertise and counsel to U.S. and international clients in a wide range of practice areas, including Antitrust, Corporate and Securities; Entertainment, Media and Communications; Finance and Bankruptcy; Government Contracts; Intellectual Property; Labor and Employment; Litigation; Real Estate/Land Use; Tax/Employee Benefits/Trusts & Estates; and White Collar Defense. The firm was founded in 1927.