About Us

The number of businesses that are using the internet and social media to market their products is increasing exponentially all the time, which is why Sheppard Mullin has committed itself to providing regular updates and blog articles on social media and the ways in which the law intersects with it.

Sheppard Mullin is a forward-looking full service firm with more than 520 attorneys in 11 offices located throughout California and in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Shanghai. We offer a wide breadth of legal specialties which taken together provide all of the expertise which a business can possibly need in connection with social media and Web 2.0 transactions.

Our social media team of attorneys draws upon a variety of legal fields, including litigation, employment, intellectual property, corporate and securities, tax, antitrust, advertising, art law and video games, to provide the following range of services:

  • The updating of employment agreements with provisions to protect electronic trade secret information, add social media policies, and reflect the current state of employment law and update employment agreements accordingly
     
  • The updating of compliance programs in general, providing audits as needed, and structuring oversight programs
     
  • E-discovery and how the courts are applying it to allow access to social media sites, and compel discovery of postings on these forums irrespective of the user's privacy settings
     
  • First Amendment protection (including obscenity, defamation and privacy issues)
     
  • Creating resilient licensing and merchandising agreements
     
  • Supporting marketing efforts through legally sound promotions, endorsements and advertising campaigns
     
  • Advising on antitrust issues, and providing litigation expertise in cases of alleged unfair competition and unlawful business practices
     
  • Anticipating tax ramifications of online transactions
     
  • Brand protection and enforcement
     
  • Securing domain name ownership (Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act)
     
  • Defending and prosecuting trademark infringement claims under the Lanham Act, including without limitation the use of domain names
     
  • Mergers, acquisitions, and joint venture agreements
     
  • Corporate finance, securities and general business
     
  • Executing the full range of Web 2.0 transactions.

Click here to read more about Sheppard Mullin's expertise and how we can provide you with the legal resources you may need in the area of social media and Web 2.0.