Elisabeth Moriarty

Chair, Litigation Department
Fax 310-201-2359

Representative Matters

Entertainment Experience

  • Currently representing premier business management firm in an idea submission case
  • Currently representing film production company in a dispute involving sequel and remake rights
  • Represented film producer in a lawsuit alleging that a financier had breached its contractual obligation to fund a film and that the financier’s chairperson made fraudulent representations relating to her company’s ability to fund the amounts owed. The Firm prevailed on several significant motions and the case was successfully settled
  • Represented Marvel Entertainment, owner of the copyrights in Spider-Man, Iron Man and numerous other iconic characters in various matters involving intellectual property disputes, profit participation rights and general litigation
  • Represented the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien in a landmark profit participation case against New Line Cinema for the "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy
  • Represented the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien and Harper Collins in an action against Warner Bros. and The Saul Zaentz Company involving merchandising exploitation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic novels, The Hobbit, and the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings
  • Represented best-selling author Clive Cussler in his dispute regarding the motion picture version of the novel, “Sahara”
  • Represented a Grammy-award winning musician and artist in a copyright infringement dispute involving a graphic novel
  • Represented a motion picture producer in a contractual dispute over the foreign distribution of its film
  • Represented Academy Award winning composer Hans Zimmer in a multi-faceted dispute with his long-time business partner
  • Represented the owners of merchandising and other rights in the Winnie the Pooh characters, in their breach of contract and fraud dispute against a major entertainment company for failure to pay royalties
  • Member of the team that successfully represented Jeffrey Katzenberg in his landmark action to recover his profit participation against The Walt Disney Company
  • Represented Roland Corporation, a leading manufacturer of electronic musical instruments and accessories, in various litigation to protect its copyright, trademark and trade dress rights in various products, and in a case of first impression involving copyright and trademark infringement
  • Represented an international film and television producer and distributor in a dispute involving a purported finders’ fee to be paid in connection with a well-known television miniseries; a very favorable arbitration award was achieved for the Firm’s client

High Net Worth Divorce Experience

  • Represented a wife in her divorce proceeding against her husband, a Silicon Valley billionaire, who is best known as the unofficial third founder of Google and originator of the code that powers the search giant
  • Represented high-net-worth hedge fund founder in divorce proceeding against his wife
  • Represented high-profile restauranteur in divorce proceeding against his wife