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Adam S. Sieff

Counsel

T 213.633.8618 Los Angeles
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Adam Sieff is a media, antitrust, and constitutional litigator. A recognized thought leader on emerging issues involving online speech and competition regulation, he represents internet, media, and technology clients in antitrust, First Amendment, Section 230, copyright, trademark, and regulatory litigation and appeals, including preemption matters and constitutional challenges to state and local regulation. He also counsels clients on legislation, ballot initiatives, and compliance with competition laws, and represents nonprofit and issue-advocacy organizations in constitutional rights, voting rights, and civil rights impact litigation, including before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Outside his practice, Adam is a lecturer in law at the University of Southern California, where he teaches courses that cover constitutional law and civil procedure. A member of the ABA Section of Antitrust Law and Vice Chair of the LACBA Antitrust and Unfair Competition Section, he also serves as Executive Vice Chair of the American Constitution Society in Los Angeles, on the boards of the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California, Bet Tzedek's New Leaders Council, and the Los Angeles County Young Democrats, among other statewide and community nonprofit and political action organizations. The Los Angeles County Empowerment Congress has named Adam a "40 Under 40: Emerging Civic Leader," and Equality California honored him with its Community Leadership Award.

Prior to joining DWT, Adam served as voting rights and election integrity litigation counsel to the Biden for President campaign, practiced for several years in the San Francisco and Los Angeles offices of an international law firm, and clerked for the Hon. Christina A. Snyder of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Practice Highlights

First Amendment and media litigation

Adam has successfully defended internet platforms in numerous cases involving claims stemming from third-party content and editorial activity, won consent decrees and non-enforcement agreements in First Amendment challenges to state laws, defeated multimillion-dollar trademark and right of publicity claims with First Amendment defenses, and protected creative brands' intellectual property from infringers. He is currently First Amendment litigation counsel to global internet platforms in cases involving regulatory threats to their content moderation and editorial policies, as well as online publishers in matters involving content targeted by government censors, including informational campaigns related to reproductive health in prohibition states.

Antitrust and competition litigation

An experienced antitrust litigator specializing in matters involving anticompetitive exclusionary conduct, plaintiffs and defendants rely on Adam to formulate and establish creative antitrust theories. Adam was the principal author of briefs that defeated a rival's nine-figure monopolization and restraint of trade claims resulting in a pathbreaking published decision of the Sixth Circuit setting forth limits for refusal to deal theories, and cementing a defense victory for a vertically-integrated competitor. His briefs also recently won a published appellate decision from the Ninth Circuit for an innovative online network service excluded from competition by its dominant incumbent rival. Earlier in his career, Adam secured complete defense victories for a live entertainment company at the pleading stage in tying cases involving professional sports, defeated a motion to dismiss and obtained a quick settlement providing a world-famous performing artist with complete relief from an international venue operator’s tying scheme, and developed novel arguments to protect lawful competition in the market for musical composition performance copyrights.

Other regulatory and constitutional litigation

Beyond First Amendment and antitrust issues, Adam also litigates pre-emption, Commerce Clause, Due Process, and other constitutional claims on behalf of national trade associations, regulated entities, and civil rights plaintiffs. He has prevented enforcement of enterprise-threatening statutes, won and protected injunctions against constitutional violations, and tried Section 1983 actions against state defendants in federal court. Adam also counsels clients in enforcement actions brought by state attorneys general and other regulatory agencies, and has particular experience challenging government regulatory authority under state and federal constitutions and administrative procedures acts. In addition to litigation, Adam also provides policy counsel on pending legislation and ballot measures.

First Amendment and Media Litigation

*Denotes experience prior to joining Davis Wright Tremaine
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Antitrust and Competition Litigation

*Denotes experience prior to joining Davis Wright Tremaine
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Regulatory and Constitutional Litigation

*Denotes experience prior to joining Davis Wright Tremaine
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Admitted to Practice

  • California, 2014
  • Washington, 2022
  • U.S. Supreme Court, 2019
  • U.S. Court of Appeals D.C. Circuit, 2022
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 2021
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 2018
  • U.S. District Court Central District of California, 2016
  • U.S. District Court Northern District of California, 2019
  • U.S. District Court Southern District of California, 2021
  • Western District of Washington, 2022

Education

  • J.D., Stanford Law School, 2014, with distinction
    • John Hart Ely Prize
    • Editor, Stanford Law & Policy Review
    • President, Stanford Law Democrats
  • A.B., Columbia University, 2011, summa cum laude
    • Phi Beta Kappa
    • Charles A. Beard Prize
    • Edwin M. Robbins Prize

Memberships & Affiliations

    • Lecturer in Law, USC Gould School of Law, 2017-present
    • Executive Vice Chair for Los Angeles, American Constitution Society, 2017-19; 2021-present
    • Vice Chair, LACBA Antitrust and Unfair Competition Section, 2022-present
    • Member of the Board, Young Lawyers' Division of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers – Los Angeles, 2021-present
    • Board Member, Bet Tzedek New Leaders Council
    • Constitutional Revision Working Group, California State Assembly, 2020-present
    • Member of the Board, Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California, 2018-present
    • President, 2022-Present; Board Member, 2017 — Silver Lake Forward
    • Board Member, Jewish World Watch, 2021-present
    • Committee Chair, Govern for California, 2018-present
    • Steering Committee, LA Jewish Federation New Leaders Project, 2017-present
    • Section of Antitrust Law, American Bar Association, 2015-present
    • Member of the Board & Policy Chair, Los Angeles County Young Democrats, 2016-2019
    • Legal Policy Counsel, Newsom for Governor, 2018
    • Advisory Board Member, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, S.F. Bay Area, 2014-2016

Professional Recognition

    • Julie Orr Heart of Justice Award, Davis Wright Tremaine, 2021
    • Community Leadership Award, Equality California, 2019
    • 40 Under 40 Emerging Civic Leader, Los Angeles Empowerment Congress, 2018

Background

    • Voting Rights Counsel, Biden for President, 2020
    • Judicial Law Clerk, Hon. Christina A. Snyder, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, Los Angeles, 2019-2020
    • Associate, Latham & Watkins LLP, San Francisco, Los Angeles, 2014-2019
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