Laura W. Brill 

Laura W. Brill is a prominent litigator and appellate specialist — she clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — who frequently handles litigation for entertainment and media clients.

For instance, she is representing Brad Pitt in a dispute with Angelina Jolie over the former couple’s ownership of a French château and winery. Pitt v. Jolie, 22STCV06081 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Feb. 17, 2022).

She was co-counsel for a French-owned television production company in a profit-sharing dispute with its former CEO, which settled in October. Marsh v. Gaumont Television USA LLC, BC691790 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Jan. 26, 2018).

But a few of her high-profile cases are very different. She has been defending an L.A. Cunty ballot proposition called Measure J since before the November 2020 election. Passed handily, it calls for dedicating 10% of the county’s unrestricted funds to housing, mental health and other social services, including alternatives to incarceration for some crimes. Unions and police agencies have sued to block it. An appellate court heard their arguments last month. Coalition of County Unions v. L.A. County Board of Supervisors, B314973 (Cal. App. 2nd. Dist., filed Sept. 31, 2021).

“Their argument is the measure takes away discretion from the Board of Supervisors, and our point is the Board of Supervisors doesn’t think so,” Brill said.

Another case has been in the courts for 18 years. She is co-counsel for a family in a fight with a Spanish art museum over a Camille Pissarro painting the Nazis took from the family. The long-running dispute has gone from the L.A. federal court to the 9th Circuit multiple times and the U.S. Supreme Court once. Late last month, the circuit court asked the California Supreme Court to take a look. Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation, 2023 DJDAR 4689 (9th Cir., filed May 22, 2023).

Brill said the issue is whether Spanish law or California law governs how to decide the painting’s ownership. The museum claims it acquired ownership of the painting by adverse possession, and Spanish law supports its claim. The family would win under California law.

“It’s just a question now, under California choice of law principles, whether the substantive law of Spain or California applies,” she said. “It’s meta choice of law.”

Outside of her practice, Brill is continuing to encourage high school students to register or preregister to vote. In 2018, she launched a project named The Civics Center with the goal of getting every eligible student to register. It provides free training and resources to high schools to run twice-yearly voter registration drives “so students can take matters into their own hands and learn how they are impacted by public policy. And get their friends to register,” she said.

The organization also collects and publishes data on youth voting. One small study from 2021 found that Orange County school districts that had voter registration drives increased the registration of 18-year-olds by 16.3%. “That’s a very dramatic change in a very short period of time.”

— Don DeBenedictis