Dan Terzian
Los Angeles • 213.410.2617 • dan.terzian@warrenterzian.com
Everything is impossible
until somebody does it.
Dan Terzian is a trial lawyer. His practice spans the full range of claims faced and brought by businesses—breach of contract, computer fraud, defamation, false claims, RICO, trade secret misappropriation, and unfair competition. His clients include global companies, a United States Congresswoman, one of the greatest baseball players in the history of the MLB, and various celebrities.
Dan’s victories include winning an unprecedented motion to dismiss computer fraud claims and a $60 million summary judgment motion. He also opposed a motion to compel discovery of certain documents and won—even though the leading treatise said (wrongly, in Dan’s opinion) that the law was against him.
Several years ago, Dan read an article describing a top flight criminal defense lawyer as both a fighter and a scholar. Ever since he’s aspired to nothing less. In that vein, Dan literally wrote the hornbook on the Fifth Amendment and encryption. He has also written on the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. His publications span the Los Angeles Times and the Northwestern University Law Review, among others. And his work has been cited or quoted by the Fourth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals, the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, the Court of Appeals of Indiana, the Congressional Research Service, American Banker, MIT Technology Review, The Guardian, and Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (again, among others).
Education
UCLA School of Law, J.D.
Order of the Coif
Managing Editor, UCLA Law Review
California Polytechnic State University, B.S.
Past
Associations
Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP | Partner; Of Counsel; Associate
Duane Morris LLP | Associate
United States District Court
for the District of the Northern Mariana Islands | Law Clerk
Peking University School of Transnational Law | C.V. Starr Lecturer
Select
Matters
Trade Secrets
Obtained multiple voluntary dismissals of trade secrets claims under the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
Won multiple motions to dismiss and demurrers on preemption grounds under the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
Won appeal that granted anti-SLAPP motion to strike the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act claim, reversing the trial court’s decision. Awarded over $250,000.
Won motion to dismiss trade secret claim.
Business, Fraud, and Computer Fraud
Won motion to dismiss computer fraud claim under the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act on a then-unprecedented theory.
Defeated motion for summary judgment on client’s eight-figure financial fraud complaint.
Won landmark motion to quash in the New York Supreme Court, preventing discovery of clients’ communications with their accountants.
Defeated a motion for summary judgment on contract and quasi-contract claims brought by Manny Pacquiao and his counsel O'Melveny & Myers.
Won multiple motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, including motions on behalf of an international real estate developer, the CEO of a public company, and a multinational investment bank.
Defeated eight-figure complaint at trial, while also prevailing on seven-figure counterclaims.
First Amendment; Anti-SLAPP
Won appeal that granted anti-SLAPP motion to strike the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act claim (as well as claims for violation of Penal Code § 496, conversion, and breach of fiduciary duty), reversing the trial court’s decision. The Department of Labor lauded this decision as “a matter of continuing public interest” and praised it as groundbreaking.
Won anti-SLAPP motion to strike fraud claim.
RICO
Won motion to dismiss claims under the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and obtained dismissal of all claims from federal court.
Alter Ego Claims
Won motion to strike alter ego claims on behalf of an office supply company.
Won demurrer on behalf of a prominent designer, obtaining a dismissal of various alter ego claims and a claim for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
Other Wins (Defense-Side)
Won motion for summary judgment extinguishing $60 million of potential liability.
In the middle of trial, won motion for nonsuit and obtained a complete dismissal of all claims.
Obtained complete dismissal of multiple counts of contempt.
Successfully defended a financial institution in a government investigation, convincing the government entity to drop the investigation.
Other Wins (Plaintiff-Side)
Defeated motion for summary judgment on client’s defamation complaint.
Defeated demurrer brought by a high-interest lender and its counsel McGuireWoods.
Defeated motion to compel arbitration brought by one of the biggest firms in the world.
“You are a damn good lawyer! I’m glad you
are on my team.”
* Lenny Dykstra.
Select Publications
Cannabis Registration Requirements May Be Unenforceable, Recorder (2018)
Taking Stock of New Employees and Their Computer Crime Baggage, Recorder (2018)
Defamation Claims and Fake News Bullsh*t, Daily Journal (2017)
Why California Law Shouldn’t Stop IMDb from Posting Actor Ages, Law360 (2016)
The Micro-Hornbook on the Fifth Amendment and Encryption, 104 Georgetown Law Journal Online 168 (2016)
The United States v. iPhone User, Daily Journal (2016)
Fighting Trolls with the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Corporate Counsel (2016)
Forced Decryption as a Foregone Conclusion, 6 California Law Review Circuit 27 (2015)
Forced Decryption as Equilibrium—Why It’s Constitutional and How Riley Matters, 109 Northwestern University Law Review 1131 (2015)
Playing Defense Against Restitution Orders, American Banker (2014)
The Fifth Amendment, Encryption, and the Forgotten State Interest, 61 UCLA Law Review Discourse 298 (2014)
The Right to Bear (Robotic) Arms, 117 Penn State Law Review 755 (2013)
Saving Libraries but not Librarians, Los Angeles Times (2011)
Personal Immunity and President Omar Al Bashir: An Analysis Under Customary International Law and Security Council Resolution 1593, 16 UCLA Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs 279 (2011)