Nima H. Mohebbi 

Nima H. Mohebbi, a partner at the Los Angeles firm of Latham & Watkins, can checkmate his opponents, even when they are chess grandmasters.

A game known for its highhanded seriousness took a scandalous turn in 2022 when Hans Niemann defeated Magnus Carlsen, a five-time world chess champion, followed by speculations that Niemann had cheated. Although Niemann admitted to cheating in online chess games, he denied ever doing so during in-person games. After Chess.com conducted an investigation and issued a report, Niemann sued Chess.com, Danny Rensch and Play Magnus Group, as well as grandmasters Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura in Missouri federal court, bringing antitrust claims and a series of state-law tort claims, including defamation.

As co-lead counsel for Chess.com, Rensch and Play Magnus, Mohebbi secured a win when the judge granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss, tossing Niemann’s federal antitrust claims with prejudice and declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction to consider Niemann’s state-law claims.

“The chess world was thrown on its head a little bit, and it ended up being one of the most significant scandals in the history of the sport,” said Mohebbi. “I have to really give credit to my clients, first and foremost in all of this, because they were just phenomenal.”

As a complex commercial trial lawyer, Mohebbi also provides counsel and transactional advice to companies in entertainment, blockchain and artificial intelligence. In May 2022, he advised the music duo, The Chainsmokers, on a pathbreaking transaction in the music industry involving Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).

In addition to his successful practice, Mohebbi is an avid advocate for pro bono work, primarily involving juvenile justice issues, including before the U.S. Supreme Court. Several years ago, he led a high-profile criminal appeal, which ultimately led to a change in California law, mandating that minor children cannot waive their Miranda rights and must be provided counsel in custodial interrogations.

Mohebbi credits his concern for juvenile justice to his childhood growing up in West Virginia in one of the most poverty-stricken counties in America, where he witnessed the opioid crisis play out in horrific ways and directly impact children.

“I’m very passionate about it because I know that those issues are affecting that part of the country significantly, and those are people that are near and dear to my heart,” he said. “I think that a lot of my concern for juvenile justice came from seeing that firsthand.”

–Kathryn Stelmach Artuso