John Genga

Mr. Genga has extensive experience advising clients and litigating cases, through trial and appeal, in a wide variety of legal and business contexts. Named by his peers as a Southern California “Super Lawyer” in entertainment, intellectual property and business litigation for four years running, John has particular expertise in:

(1) Copyright infringement and misappropriation of ideas in motion pictures, television, electronic entertainment, publishing and advertising

(2) Exploitation of individuals’ names and likenesses

(3) disputes arising from corporate activities and business transactions

(4) Trade secrets and unfair competition in both traditional and emerging industries

(5) Talent and other contract disputes in the entertainment industry

John has successfully resolved hundreds of such matters, often by preliminary injunction or summary judgment, for individual and institutional clients and on both the defense and enforcement side. He also devotes a significant part of his practice to alternative dispute resolution and to counseling clients on avoiding or reducing the risk of litigation.

Before forming Genga & Associates in May 2004, John was a litigation partner for four years in the Los Angeles office of the international firm Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP. There, he served as chair of the firm’s entertainment practice group, as a member of its intellectual property group, and on the hiring committee in the Los Angeles office. For the prior twelve years, John practiced entertainment, intellectual property and general business litigation at L.A.’s Troop Steuber Pasich Reddick & Tobey, LLP (originally known as Hill Wynne Troop & Meisinger). He became partner at that firm as of January 1, 1994, and hiring partner in 1998. In his first two years of practice, John was an associate in the Los Angeles office of the now-international firm Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue.

Mr. Genga is a member of the Litigation, Entertainment and Intellectual Property Sections of the State Bar of California and the Los Angeles County and American Bar Associations. He is admitted to practice in California, all United States District Courts in California, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Ninth and Tenth Circuits, and the United States Supreme Court. He received his J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1986, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor’s in English from Stanford University in 1983.

John speaks regularly to bar and industry groups and to clients, and writes frequently on copyright and other entertainment, intellectual property and litigation topics. He is a regular contributor to the monthly entertainment law column of the Los Angeles Daily Journal. Lists and copies of his several dozen presentations and articles are available upon request.

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