Ilissa S. Samplin

LOS ANGELES - From breach of contract to intellectual property and consumer class actions, Ilissa Samplin has developed a broad-based practice during her rapid rise at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

A complex commercial and trial litigator who can tackle any type of legal dispute--representing either the plaintiff or the defendant, Samplin has built a particular specialty in entertainment and technology disputes and intellectual property litigation and counseling.

She has recently stacked up many trials under her belt, including a profit participation trial for AMC in 2020, a copyright trial for Rimini Street in 2021, and three separate copyright trials for Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co., Rimini Street, and Apple in 2022.

Samplin said she loves her area of the law as she's always been fascinated by the entertainment industry.

"Growing up, I wanted to be an actress - and always said if that didn't work out, I'd become an entertainment litigator," she said. "And here I am. I love that I get to combine my love of entertainment with my love of oral advocacy, writing, and storytelling."

Samplin said it is an exciting time for her area of the law with rapid changes that often intersect in both entertainment and technology. She works to stay on top of those changes by constantly reading new cases, secondary sources and media alerts, even skimming even before bedtime.

"The two disciplines now intersect in so many ways--and it makes the legal issues all the more exciting," she said. "For example, all my copyright cases used to be in the entertainment space. I now have more and more copyright cases in the tech space. And whereas so many of the competitor cases used to be focused on patent law, so many more these days involve trade secret claims, which are some of my favorite claims to litigate."

In a recent case, Samplin won dismissal of all claims against Oath Holdings, a subsidiary of Verizon. Plaintiff Investment Science had asserted claims for trade secret misappropriation under the Defend Trade Secrets Act and New York common law, and a claim for misappropriation of ideas. Samplin presented lengthy oral argument on Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, and on August 11, 2021, the Court granted the motion. Investment Science LLC v. Oath Holdings Inc., 1:20-cv-8159 (S.D.N.Y., filed October 1, 2020).

Samplin said she's also proud of her recent wins for AMC in longfought litigations relating to the television show, "The Walking Dead." In a series of closely watched litigations in the entertainment industry, executive producers of the show alleged AMC failed to pay them hundreds of millions of dollars in "profit participation."

Samplin was part of the team that represented AMC in a two-week bench trial in 2020, right before the pandemic hit. In July 2020, the court handed Samplin and her team a complete victory, ruling in their favor on all seven contract interpretation issues presented at trial. In January 2022, after conducting more discovery and taking and defending depositions, Samplin and her team filed a motion for summary judgment on AMC's behalf on the remaining claims.

"On April 6, 2022, the Court dismissed the plaintiffs' implied covenant and tort claims and gutted the case," she said. "It was a two-pronged hit--at trial and then in motion practice--and we won across the board. I'm extremely proud of the result."

Samplin said one of the things she loves most about her job is showing younger female lawyers and her two young daughters that you can work very hard at a job you love while also balancing a life outside of work.

"There have historically not been enough female lawyers in the higher ranks of the profession," she said. "I'm proud to be part of the group working to change that."