About Tami Kameda Sims

An experienced litigator, Tami Kameda Sims helps her entertainment clients protect and exploit their intellectual property. She advises clients on copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property issues before they evolve into lawsuits. Tami also represents financial services companies in high-stakes class action disputes. Clients come to her for her well-rounded counsel — she is a trusted advisor, a proven trial attorney, and a skilled appellate advocate.

A skilled counselor in complex disputes

Tami has deep experience litigating the full range of high-profile entertainment and intellectual property disputes, including copyright, trademark, defamation, invasion of privacy, right of publicity, breach of contract, and matters involving the First Amendment and California’s anti-SLAPP statute. Through proactive work, such as advising on contracts and performing content and rights analysis, she helps clients avoid costly legal battles. Tami gives practical guidance grounded in her clients’ business needs, so that they understand the potential risks involved and can make well-informed decisions.

Banks, credit unions and other financial services providers rely on Tami’s trusted counsel in class action lawsuits involving their customers, regulatory matters, and pre-litigation issues. Tami also advises on compliance and regulatory issues arising from Guaranteed Automobile Protection (GAP) refunds.

For issues worth fighting over, Tami has the experience and ability to design arguments that can withstand judicial scrutiny. As a former law clerk on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, she understands how to approach issues of first impression and deal with unfavorable precedent. That experience paid off, for instance, in a defamation suit over an episode of CSI, resulting in one of the first published opinions to find the production of a fictional work to be protected activity under California's anti-SLAPP statute. That decision is one of many instances in which the groundwork that Tami laid paid significant dividends for her client.

⇣   Expand to read more

Practice Focus

  • Intellectual property litigation
  • Copyright and trademark issues
  • Music royalty disputes
  • Idea-submission cases and other disputes specific to the entertainment industry
  • First Amendment issues
  • Right of publicity, right of privacy, and defamation
  • Appellate litigation

News

Publications

  • Triannual
    The Katten Kattwalk
    Contributor
  • April 2011
    Co-author, California Appeals Court Dismisses "Libel in Fiction" Suit Over CSI Episode, MLRC Media Law Letter
  • March 2011
    Co-author, Entitlement to Attorney Fees Under the Copyright Act After Plaintiff's Voluntary Dismissal, Communications Lawyer

Presentations and Events

Practices
Industries
Education
  • University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, JD
  • Stanford University, MA
  • Stanford University, BS
Bar Admissions
  • California
Court Admissions
  • US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
  • US Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
  • US District Court, Central District of California
  • US District Court, Northern District of California
Recognitions
Recognized or listed in the following:
  • Benchmark Litigation
    Under 40 Hotlist, 2018–2019
  • Law360
    Rising Star, 2018
  • The Legal 500 United States
    Recommended Attorney, 2020
Award Methodologies