O+Z
Press Release
Matt Oppenheim Selected As One of Law360’s “Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar”
Washington, D.C. (June 9, 2020) — Oppenheim + Zebrak, LLP (“O+Z”) is pleased to announce that managing partner Matt Oppenheim has been named by Law360 as one of 2020’s “Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar.” Law360 noted that they chose the 10 honorees as “influential plaintiffs lawyers” based on the significance of their achievements over the previous year and their influence in the field of law.
In a lengthy profile, Law360 noted that Oppenheim has been protecting the music industry from “illegally downloaded music since the 1990s: before Limewire, before Napster, before Kazaa and definitely before YouTube.” He has litigated many of the industry’s most important copyright cases, including Napster, Grokster, and others.
O+Z’s achievement in winning a $1 billion jury verdict against Cox Communications, with Oppenheim as lead counsel, played a prominent role in him receiving this award. In that case, O+Z represented the major music recording and publishing companies. The jury in December 2019 found that Cox knowingly contributed to, and reaped substantial profits from, massive copyright infringement on its network committed by tens of thousands of its subscribers. The case included over 10,000 copyrights, and was tried in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia before an 8-person jury, with Cox being found liable for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement.
In addition to Oppenheim’s work with the music industry, Law360 heralded the firm’s work on behalf of book publishers, including a $34.2 million win in 2018 which held Book Dog Books accountable for the distribution of counterfeit textbooks.
In the article, McGraw-Hill General Counsel David Stafford is quoted as saying, "He's got the right combination of good people skills, he manages client relationships well, but when he's in the heat of battle in litigation, typically to defend us and protect our rights. He's very aggressive, very savvy and no nonsense."
Oppenheim also explained the reasons he decided to open his own firm and to partner with Scott Zebrak. "We said we're going to only do what we do really well," Oppenheim told Law360. "In other words, we're going to focus on handling one type of work better than anybody else — that would be representing content and brand owners in disputes in litigation, and that we would develop long-term relationships with our clients, so that we understood their businesses and would be more effective at counseling them along the way and protecting their interests, and that we would bill our clients at below market rates so that they wouldn't hesitate to pick up the phone and talk to us about whatever issues are keeping them up at night."
“Matt is an outstanding lawyer and an even finer person,” said Zebrak. “He is fast-thinking, strategic and willing to work as hard as anyone. This is an award he absolutely deserves.”
About Oppenheim + Zebrak, LLP
O+Z is a dynamic litigation boutique founded by attorneys with extensive experience protecting content and brands. Top-tier clients in creative and innovative industries rely on us for compelling advocacy, strategic counseling, and decisive action in complex legal matters. Our attorneys come from prestigious firms and have litigated some of the most prominent copyright and internet matters of our time.