Jason Lichter is a senior associate in the Litigation Department of Weil, Gotshal & Manges and is a member of the Complex Commercial and Intellectual Property & Media practice groups. Mr. Lichter has represented clients on a wide variety of copyright, trademark, and commercial disputes in state and federal courts and in a broad array of industries, including media, finance, insurance, maritime, hospitality, real estate, telecommunications, and construction. In 2009, Mr. Lichter was named a "Future Star" by Benchmark Litigation: The Definitive Guide to America’s Leading Litigation Firms & Attorneys.
As a founding member of the firm’s Electronic Discovery Task Force, Mr. Lichter has advised clients on all major electronic discovery issues, both during and outside of litigation, including document preservation and retention policies, efficient approaches to document review, forensic collections, backup tape strategies, cost shifting, vendor selection, and cloud computing initiatives. Mr. Lichter also has given presentations and published articles on a variety of timely electronic discovery and legal technology topics. Mr. Lichter is regularly consulted by colleagues on e-discovery matters on behalf of such clients as AIG, Avon Products, CBS Interactive, Comverse Technology, Forex Capital Markets, Intel, TH Lee, and Zurich Financial Services.
Mr. Lichter has achieved very favorable results for several pro bono clients of the firm. In early 2009, Mr. Lichter represented a former inmate as co-lead counsel in a week-long trial in the Southern District of New York, alleging civil rights violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Mr. Lichter obtained a complete plaintiff’s verdict and a $750,000 damages award. Mr. Lichter also argued a criminal appeal before the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, obtained a favorable settlement for a film editor seeking unpaid wages and editing credit on a Sundance award-winning documentary, and recovered a domain name from a cybersquatter on behalf of Save the Children. In recognition of his dedication to providing pro bono services, Mr. Lichter received the Legal Aid Society Pro Bono Award in both 2006 and 2009 and was honored with the New York State Bar Association's 2008 Empire State Counsel Award. In addition, Mr. Lichter has been a recipient of the WGM Pro Bono Award for five years running.
Representative matters in which Mr. Lichter has been involved include:
- Bertelsmann, in defense of a series of lawsuits resulting in successful settlements in the single largest copyright infringement case in U.S. history;
- Copyright Clearance Center, obtaining summary judgment dismissal of Lanham Act claims brought by several freelance photographers claiming to represent a putative class of some 10,000 freelance photographers;
- Getty Images, defeating a request for a preliminary injunction in a dispute relating to a contract with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz;
- Port Authority of NY and NJ, in a pending litigation brought pursuant to the Shipping Act in the Federal Maritime Commission;
- Television Music License Committee, on behalf of over 1,200 local television affiliates, in a pending rate court proceeding against BMI seeking new blanket and per-program license rates; and
- Extended Stay, in bankruptcy appeals and adversary proceedings brought in connection with its pending chapter 11 case.
Mr. Lichter graduated cum laude from Yale University in 2000 and received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2004. While at Harvard, Mr. Lichter worked at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, where he contributed to an amicus brief addressing cutting edge copyright issues and evaluated the validity of business method patents.