Diana Palacios
Partner
Diana Palacios focuses her practice on media, First Amendment, and intellectual property litigation and counseling. She also provides pre-publication and pre-broadcast counseling in both English and Spanish for studios, television networks, production companies, and newspapers.
Practice Highlights
Intellectual property and content-tort litigation
Defending intellectual property and content-related tort claims in state and federal courts and in arbitration across a broad range of matters, including defamation, copyright, trademark, privacy, right of publicity, access to records and court proceedings, and false advertising. Clients include traditional and emerging media companies, as well as businesses whose products, operations, or public communications implicate speech or intellectual property issues.
Pre-broadcast and production counseling and IP advice
Counseling producers and distributors of feature-length films, documentaries, television series, and video games regarding right-of-publicity, life rights, copyright, trademark, and defamation issues, often on projects that tackle sensitive topics and involve substantial fair-use issues. Representative projects include "Tiger King," "Hillary," "Fyre Fraud," "Wild Wild Country," "Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On," "The Story of Diana," "Open House," "Rick and Morty," "@midnight," "Guy's Grocery Games," "Guy's Big Project," and "Face Off."
Latin America production and distribution counseling
Advising on mitigating risks associated with filming, producing, and distributing in Latin America, including counseling on rights, pre-broadcast issues, and advertising. Representative projects include "Destino Rusia," "Chumel con Chumel Torres," "Luis Miguel: La Serie," and "Nicky Jam: El Ganador."
Admitted to Practice
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California
Education
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J.D., University of California, Irvine School of Law, 2012
- Lead Article Editor and Style Editor, Law Review
- Founding Executive Editor, Voice newspaper
- President, American Constitution Society
- Women's Law Society
- National Lawyers Guild
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B.A., Politics, Pomona College, 2009
- Latina Achievement of Excellence Award
Languages
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Spanish
Memberships & Affiliations
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- Lecturer in First Amendment, University of California, Irvine School of Law, 2018-2021
- Lecturer in Introduction to California Federal Local Rules & Filings, University of California, Irvine School of Law, 2019-2025
- Co-author of ABA Forum on Communications Law Moot Court Competition Hypothetical, 2015
Professional Recognition
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- Named one of the "Best Lawyers in America" by Best Lawyers in Media Law, 2026-present
- Selected to a list of "Ones to Watch" by Best Lawyers in Entertainment and Sports Law (Los Angeles), 2022-2023; in IP Litigation (Los Angeles), 2022-2023
- Selected to "Southern California Rising Stars," Thomson Reuters, 2020-2023
- Featured in the "Legal Impact Report," Variety, 2026
- Named as one of "500 Leading Global Entertainment, Sports & Media Lawyers" by Lawdragon, 2025
- Selected to "Top Dealmakers" by Variety, 2024
- Selected as one of the "Top 40 Lawyers Under 40" by Daily Journal, 2023
- Selected as one of the 40 under 40 by the Hispanic National Bar Association, 2023
- Selected as one of the "Minority Leaders of Influence," Los Angeles Business Journal, 2021
- Selected as one of the "Most Influential Women Attorneys," Los Angeles Business Journal, 2020
- Featured in the Up Next section of "Legal Impact Report,” Variety, 2019
Background
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- Law Clerk, Hon. John A. Mendez, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, Sacramento, Calif., 2012-2014
- Legal Intern, National Lawyers Guild, Law Office of Carol Sobel, Santa Monica, Calif., 2010-2012
- Research Assistant to Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, 2011-2012
- Extern, Hon. Dolly Gee, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, 2011
- Summer Associate, Davis Wright Tremaine, Los Angeles, 2011