Julie Shepard litigates in trial and appellate courts throughout the United States. Representing entertainment and media industry leaders, including film studios and television networks, technology companies, and other players in media and entertainment, she navigates clients through cases involving the convergence of content and technology.
She successfully defends clients’ interests in copyright, trademark, trade secrets, piracy, antitrust, unfair competition, fraud, and related business tort cases. She is adept at developing and implementing strategies for clients litigating in multiple jurisdictions on the same or similar issues. Among her victories is a $940 million jury verdict and permanent injunction in a trade secret case, one of the largest trade secret verdicts in U.S. history. Julie also arbitrates and counsels clients in profit participation disputes. She advises clients on and develops strategies involving new technologies and content licensing, and serves on the Steering Committee of the firm’s AI Task Force. Legal and trade publications regularly recognize Julie as one of the top entertainment lawyers in the U.S. and a leader in tech law.
Beyond her work in the entertainment and technology arenas, Julie represents her clients with respect to a wide range of disputes, including class actions and commercial and contract disputes. While always prepared to take cases to trial, when disputes are better resolved outside the litigation context, Julie helps develop and implement creative business solutions in partnership with her clients.
Julie maintains an active pro bono practice, which has ranged from assisting women’s and girls’ reproductive rights, to helping a non-profit secure a multimillion-dollar endowment, to advising an environmental non-profit on copyright issues, to trying cases involving prisoners’ rights.
Representative Matters
- Secured a $940 million trade secret verdict for Epic Systems Corp., one of the leading health care software companies in the United States, in a substantial corporate espionage case against Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which is a part of one of the largest industrial conglomerates in India. The verdict represents one of the largest trade secret verdicts in US history.
- Secured a permanent injunction and a $51.6 million judgment in favor of a group of major motion picture studios in a copyright infringement suit involving the unlawful IPTV piracy service Nitro TV.
- Secured a $52 million judgment in favor of the plaintiff in a film finance fraud case.
- Won a landmark copyright case regarding the scope of the public performance copyright for a consortium of broadcasters against Aereo, a company that captured over-the-air television programming and retransmitted it over the internet without a license from the copyright owners.
- Secured favorable rulings for a consortium of broadcasters from the Ninth Circuit and several district courts regarding the scope of the compulsory license of Section 111 of the Copyright Act. Thereafter successfully settled the cases with the defendant stipulating to the entry of permanent injunctions.
Credentials
Service / Recognition
Overview
Julie Shepard litigates in trial and appellate courts throughout the United States. Representing entertainment and media industry leaders, including film studios and television networks, technology companies, and other players in media and entertainment, she navigates clients through cases involving the convergence of content and technology.
She successfully defends clients’ interests in copyright, trademark, trade secrets, piracy, antitrust, unfair competition, fraud, and related business tort cases. She is adept at developing and implementing strategies for clients litigating in multiple jurisdictions on the same or similar issues. Among her victories is a $940 million jury verdict and permanent injunction in a trade secret case, one of the largest trade secret verdicts in U.S. history. Julie also arbitrates and counsels clients in profit participation disputes. She advises clients on and develops strategies involving new technologies and content licensing, and serves on the Steering Committee of the firm’s AI Task Force. Legal and trade publications regularly recognize Julie as one of the top entertainment lawyers in the U.S. and a leader in tech law.
Beyond her work in the entertainment and technology arenas, Julie represents her clients with respect to a wide range of disputes, including class actions and commercial and contract disputes. While always prepared to take cases to trial, when disputes are better resolved outside the litigation context, Julie helps develop and implement creative business solutions in partnership with her clients.
Julie maintains an active pro bono practice, which has ranged from assisting women’s and girls’ reproductive rights, to helping a non-profit secure a multimillion-dollar endowment, to advising an environmental non-profit on copyright issues, to trying cases involving prisoners’ rights.
Areas of Focus
Representative Matters
- Secured a $940 million trade secret verdict for Epic Systems Corp., one of the leading health care software companies in the United States, in a substantial corporate espionage case against Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which is a part of one of the largest industrial conglomerates in India. The verdict represents one of the largest trade secret verdicts in US history.
- Secured a permanent injunction and a $51.6 million judgment in favor of a group of major motion picture studios in a copyright infringement suit involving the unlawful IPTV piracy service Nitro TV.
- Secured a $52 million judgment in favor of the plaintiff in a film finance fraud case.
- Won a landmark copyright case regarding the scope of the public performance copyright for a consortium of broadcasters against Aereo, a company that captured over-the-air television programming and retransmitted it over the internet without a license from the copyright owners.
- Secured favorable rulings for a consortium of broadcasters from the Ninth Circuit and several district courts regarding the scope of the compulsory license of Section 111 of the Copyright Act. Thereafter successfully settled the cases with the defendant stipulating to the entry of permanent injunctions.
Credentials
Admissions
- California
Education
- University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, JD, with Great Distinction, Order of the Coif, 1994
- University of California, Berkeley, BA, 1988
Court Admissions
- US Supreme Court
- US Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
- US Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
- US District Court, Central District of California
- US District Court, Eastern District of California
- US District Court, Northern District of California
- US District Court, Southern District of California
Service / Recognition
Awards
- Chambers USA, Media & Entertainment: Litigation (California), 2025-2026
- Daily Journal, Top IP Lawyers, 2024; Top Women Lawyers, 2023
- California Lawyer & Daily Journal, California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award, 2017
- Daily Journal, Top Women Lawyers, 2017; Top 50 Entertainment Lawyers in California, 2015
- Variety, Legal Impact Report, 2015
- The Recorder, Women Leaders in Tech Law, 2016-2018
- LA Business Journal, Most Influential Women Attorneys, 2017 and 2018
- Legal 500, Media, Technology and Telecoms - Media and Entertainment: Litigation, 2020; Trade Secrets (Litigation and Non-Contentious Matters), 2021
- Southern California Super Lawyers, Rising Star, 2006
Service to the Bar
- American Bar Association, Member
- Los Angeles County Bar Association, Member