David C. Codell, Of Counsel
codell@caldwell-leslie.com

David Codell’s law practice focuses on entertainment litigation, commercial litigation, and constitutional and appellate litigation. Mr. Codell has represented major clients in the television, motion picture, recording, and advertising industries in disputes concerning the First Amendment, copyright law, antipiracy and internet issues, idea origination, defamation, rights of publicity, talent contracts, profit participation, and employment discrimination. In addition to serving as Of Counsel to Caldwell Leslie, Mr. Codell maintains his own law office on the Westside (www.codell.com).

Mr. Codell previously practiced constitutional law in association with Laurence H. Tribe in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was a partner at Irell & Manella LLP in Los Angeles, where he practiced in the litigation, intellectual property, and appellate practice groups.

Mr. Codell received his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Harvard College, and his J.D. degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was a Supreme Court Editor of the Harvard Law Review. Mr. Codell served as a law clerk for Judge David S. Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and as a law clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mr. Codell repeatedly has been selected as a “Southern California Super Lawyer” by the publishers of Los Angeles magazine and Law and Politics magazine. In addition, Mr. Codell has been an active supporter of civil rights and civil liberties and has provided pro bono representation to individuals and organizations in numerous cases that have resulted in historic rulings advancing civil rights. Mr. Codell has been honored by many civil rights organizations for his pro bono work. Mr. Codell also is a frequent speaker about constitutional issues at universities and continuing legal education events.

Representative Cases

 Mr. Codell successfully defended on appeal a major television network and a television station against claims of “reverse discrimination” by a former news anchor for the station. See Hicks v. KNTV Television, Inc., 160 Cal.App.4th 994 (2008).

 Mr. Codell was one of the principal attorneys who successfully represented numerous plaintiffs in litigation in which the California Supreme Court ruled that the state of California must permit same-sex couples to marry and that laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation are subject to the strictest level of constitutional scrutiny. See In re Marriage Cases, 43 Cal.4th 757 (2008). In that litigation, Mr. Codell served as co-counsel with the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU Foundations of Southern California and Northern California.

 Mr. Codell represented a major television network, a television studio, and individual writers and producers in a lawsuit alleging misappropriation of ideas, defamation, breach of contract, and fraud in connection with the creation of a hit television series. Mr. Codell successfully argued at the demurrer stage for dismissal with prejudice of the misappropriation and defamation claims on First Amendment grounds and successfully argued at summary judgment for dismissal of the fraud claims.

 Mr. Codell repeatedly has advised major motion picture and television studios and television networks regarding copyright issues, including internet matters.

 Mr. Codell has represented television studios in numerous disputes and lawsuits regarding profit participation and talent contracts.

 Mr. Codell successfully served as lead counsel for Equality California and numerous same-sex couples in trial court and appellate litigation, resulting in repeated rulings in 2005 and 2006 upholding California’s historic domestic partnership statute, AB 205 (2003), against constitutional challenges. See Knight v. Superior Court, 128 Cal.App.4th 14 (2005).

 Mr. Codell successfully served as appellate counsel in Armijo v. Miles, 127 Cal.App.4th 1405 (2005), in which the California Court of Appeal reversed the trial court, which had sustained a demurrer against his client in a wrongful death action.

 In a historic case regarding free-speech rights, Mr. Codell provided pro bono representation to high-school students from Orange, California in the first case in the United States in which a court ordered a school district to permit a gay-affirming student club to meet on campus. See Colin ex rel. Colin v. Orange Unified School District, 83 F.Supp.2d 1135 (2000).

 Mr. Codell was counsel of record for amicus curiae NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund in Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003), in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the states cannot criminalize private sexual conduct between consenting adults.

Education and Honors

J.D. Harvard Law School, 1995
magna cum laude
Supreme Court Editor, Harvard Law Review

A.B. Harvard College, 1991
summa cum laude
Phi Beta Kappa

Clerkship

Law Clerk to the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court of the United States,
1996 - 1997

Law Clerk to the Honorable David S. Tatel, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit,
1995 - 1996

Professional Achievements

Member, California State Bar; Massachusetts Bar; U.S. District Court for the Central and Southern Districts of California; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; and the Supreme Court of the United States

Named a “Southern California Super Lawyer” by the publishers of Los Angeles magazine and Law and Politics magazine (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009)

Recipient of Liberty Award, presented by Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund (2008)

Recipient of Coalition for Justice Award, presented by the ACLU of Southern California (2008)

Recipient of Equality Advocate Award, presented by Equality California (2006)

Recipient of LGBT Advocacy Award, presented by the ACLU of Southern California (2006)

Recipient of Gay and Lesbian Leadership Award, presented by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund (2005)

Recipient of Defender of Democracy Award, presented by People for the American Way (2000)