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Michael J. Niborski

Michael J. Niborski concentrates his practice in media and entertainment litigation. Michael represents a variety of clients in the entertainment, broadcasting, and publishing industries in a wide array of defamation, privacy, right of publicity, trademark and copyright litigation. He also regularly counsels clients in these areas with regard to the content of entertainment programming and news publications.

While a clerk to the California Court of Appeals, Michael co-authored the court’s opinion in Khawar v. Globe International, Inc., a landmark California case in the area of defamation law.  The case was featured on several news programs, including 60 Minutes, and the decision was later affirmed by the California Supreme Court. As a result of its profound impact on media law, Michael developed an early expertise in the area of California’s Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) statute, litigating all areas of the law on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants, including helping to define the law’s application in federal court actions in the case of Mimi Rogers v. Home Shopping Network.

Among his many defamation cases, Michael has represented public figures including Aretha Franklin, Martha Stewart and Las Vegas casino owner Steve Wynn, as well as media and entertainment companies such as Anschutz Entertainment Group. In addition, Michael helped win a complete defense verdict in a defamation action in Japan on behalf of Soka Gakkai International, a global association of lay practitioners of Buddhism. 

As a complement to his practice in the areas of privacy and publicity rights, Michael has developed a nationwide expertise in issues relating to surreptitious video and audio recordings, not only defending clients involved in litigation arising out of all varieties of audio and video recordings, but also preemptively counseling clients on the legal ramifications and parameters of all aspects of newsgathering and well as entertainment programming. 

Michael has done extensive litigation and counseling in the fields of trademark, trade secret and copyright law. He successfully obtained dismissal of an action on behalf of a production company that had been sued for idea submission theft arising out of a documentary series featuring profiles of Congressional Medal of Honor winners. Recently, Michael served as co-counsel on behalf of Mattel in their highly-publicized trade secret litigation over the origin of the Bratz dolls.

Michael also has a uniquely wide breadth of trial experience, having first and second-chaired numerous jury and bench trials in California courts as early as his first year in practice. He recently obtained a complete defense verdict as lead trial counsel in a multi-million dollar lawsuit on behalf of Citibank. He also successfully defended the producers of the American re-make of the Japanese horror-mystery film The Ring in a lawsuit brought by a production company alleging rights to the film.

Michael currently serves on the law school faculty at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, teaching a variety of courses as part of the entertainment and media law advocacy curriculum.

Michael is a 1997 graduate of Loyola Law School, where he was awarded the American Jurisprudence Award for Trial Advocacy. While in law school, Michael was a Judicial clerk for Justice Earl Johnson, Jr. and Justice Pro Tempore Arnold Gold, both of the California Court of Appeals, Second Appellate District. 

Previous Positions

• Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, Special Counsel (2006-09), Associate (1998-2006)

Publications

• Author, Are Computer-Generated Movie Stars a Possibility?, Communications Lawyer Journal, Winter 2007
• Author, California Supreme Court Holds Out-Of-State Callers May Not Surreptitiously Tape Record Telephone Conversations With People In California, Privacy & Data Security Law Journal, October 2006
• Author, What Recent Additions to California’s Anti-SLAPP Statute Mean to Media Companies, Communications Lawyer Journal, Summer 2006
• Author, Hidden Perils of Audio Recording, California Lawyer Magazine, June 2004

Speaking Engagements

• Speaker, Hidden Audio Recording in the Post-Pellicano Era – Understanding the Legal Pitfalls of Surreptitious Audio Recording, Entertainment Roundtable, Beverly Hills, California (June 2006)
• Speaker, Mediation – A Strategic Tool for Controlling Litigation, Association of Corporate Counsel of America, Los Angeles, California (May 2005)
• Speaker, Legal Ramifications of Surreptitious Audio Recording, Professional Investigators of California Annual Conference, Universal City, California (November 2004) 

Professional Affiliations

• American Bar Association, Communications Law Section
• Beverly Hills Bar Association
• Georgetown University Entertainment and Media Alliance
• Los Angeles County Bar Association

Distinctions

• Named a "Super Lawyer" in First Amendment, Media and Advertising Law by Super Lawyers 2009 Southern California Rising Stars Edition
• Named a “Rising Star” in Media and First Amendment Law by Los Angeles Magazine in 2007, 2008 and 2009
• Awarded the State Bar of California Wiley W. Manuel Award for Pro Bono Legal Services in 2007 and 2008