Rachel Strom
Partner
Rachel's passion and resourcefulness in upholding the speech rights of her clients has won her tremendous client loyalty. Rachel knows her clients' business, their risk tolerance, and their priorities, so she can be a true counselor and provide service particularized to them.
She represented media companies in defamation, invasion of privacy and copyright matters, including researching and writing dispositive motions, taking and defending depositions, questioning trial witnesses, drafting appellate and post-trial briefs, and presenting oral argument in trial and appellate courts. In addition to helping lead high-stakes litigation matters for traditional media clients as described above, Rachel has carved out a distinct position as a digital media specialist, providing pre-publication review for a host of important new media upstarts.
Practice Highlights
ShotSpotter v. VICE
Secured dismissal of $200 million defamation claim brought by gunshot detection company ShotSpotter over a VICE article that, based on a number of court filings, described how ShotSpotter exhibited a pattern of altering gunshot alerts at the request of the cops and reported that prosecutors had withdrawn ShotSpotter evidence during trial. (Del. Sup. Ct. 2022).
Williams v. Netflix
Defending Netflix in a defamation action filed by a former friend of New York City con artist Anna Sorokin, who is depicted in the docuseries "Inventing Anna." (D. Del, Ongoing)
Development, production, and pre-broadcast counseling, and other IP advice
Provide 24/7 counseling on development, acquisition, and production issues, including chain of title and rights analyses, day-to-day production and clearance advice, production legal services, and pre-broadcast review for television networks, podcast companies, production companies, film studios, video game publishers, documentarians, and newspaper, book, and magazine publishers.
Admitted to Practice
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New York, 2007
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Massachusetts, 2007
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U.S. District Court, Western District of New York, 2024
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U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 2007
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U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, 2007
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U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York, 2014
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U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, 2016
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U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 2017
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U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, 2008
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U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit, 2016
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U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, 2018
Education
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J.D., Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, 2006, cum laude
- Order of the Coif
- Notes & Comments Editor, Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal
- Teaching Assistant, Torts and Property
- Research assistant to Dean David Rudenstein
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B.A., Sarah Lawrence College, 2001
Memberships & Affiliations
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- Member, Media Law Resource Center Board of Trustees, 2016-present
- Inaugural Co-Chair, Next Generation Committee, Media Law Resource Center, 2014-2016
- Member, Committee on Media Law, New York State Bar Association, 2009-present
Professional Recognition
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- Named as one of "America's Leading Lawyers for Business" by Chambers USA in First Amendment Litigation (Nationwide), 2021-2025; in Media Entertainment: First Amendment Litigation (New York), 2019-2025; Ranked as "Up and Coming," 2017-2018; Ranked as "Associate to Watch," 2015-2016
- Named as one of the "Best Lawyers in America" by Best Lawyers in Media Law, 2025-present
- Selected to "New York Super Lawyers," Media & Advertising, Entertainment & Sports, and Intellectual Property Litigation, Thomson Reuters, 2014-2024
- Named as one of "500 Leading Global Entertainment, Sports & Media Lawyers" by Lawdragon, 2025
- Named one of "New York's 25 Most Powerful Entertainment Lawyers" by The Hollywood Reporter, 2024
- Named as one of "Media & Entertainment MVPs" by Law360, 2022, 2024
- Named to "Legal Impact Report: Top Attorneys Winning Cases and Making Deals in Hollywood" by Variety Magazine, 2022
- Named a "Rising Star" by New York Law Journal, 2019
- Named a "Rising Star" in Media & Entertainment Law, Law360, 2018
- Named one of "New York’s Biggest Entertainment Attorneys" by The Hollywood Reporter, 2025
Background
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- Associate, 2012-2015; Partner, 2016-2017; Levine Sullivan Koch & Schultz LLP, New York, N.Y.
- Summer Associate, 2005; Associate, 2006-2012; Hogan Lovells US LLP, New York, N.Y.
- Intern for the Hon. Faith Hochberg, U.S. District Court Judge, Newark, N.J., 2004