Biography
Ian Smith is an associate in Weil’s Complex Commercial Litigation practice, where he focuses on class action defense, information privacy litigation, and commercial disputes in state and federal courts. Ian has experience with initial pleadings and motion practice, managing e-discovery, conducting depositions, and drafting memoranda for clients regarding emerging areas of litigation. He also brings a background in life sciences, with prior experience in patent law, biotechnology in-house legal work, pharmaceutical sales, and scientific research.
Ian’s recent notable experience includes serving on Weil teams representing:
- A global media conglomerate in obtaining dismissal with prejudice of a putative class action.
- A media conglomerate and its affiliated entities in putative class actions pending in federal court.
- Various media and entertainment companies, including Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Gannett in obtaining early pre-trial victories in class actions brought asserting violations of various privacy laws, including the California Invasion of Privacy Act, and state and federal wiretapping laws.
- A publicly traded financial technology company in multiple putative class actions.
- A dental software company in a putative class action.
- A media conglomerate in a dispute with a major entertainment studio over rights relating to two long-running television franchises.
- A private equity firm in a dispute over the ownership of various properties.
- Numerous clients in developing strategies for mitigating the risk of potential privacy litigation.
- A company in resolving a mass arbitration under various state and federal privacy laws.
Ian received his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, where he contributed to the Berkeley Technology Law Journal and worked on its podcast team. He received his B.A. in Biology from Brown University where he graduated magna cum laude and with Honors for his research on the kinematics of bat flight.