Peter Shimamoto

Peter Shimamoto, partner at Willenken LLP, brings more than three decades of trial, arbitration, and appellate experience to complex commercial litigation, with significant experience in entertainment and intellectual property disputes. To date, his clients have obtained more than $100 million in verdicts and settlements in matters involving business interests, creative rights, and other high-stakes disputes.

Peter’s entertainment and intellectual property work has involved some of the most recognizable names in film, television, music, retail, and digital media. He has represented clients in profit participation disputes involving the television series Will & Grace and Gilmore Girls and the motion picture The Exorcist; copyright infringement matters involving the motion picture Pearl Harbor, Mariah Carey’s song “Hero,” and Jonathan Larson’s musical Rent; and trademark disputes involving Old Navy, Tinder, and the musical group One Direction.

His trial and arbitration experience includes trademark and copyright infringement cases resulting in liability findings; an arbitration for a perfume manufacturer against a former executive that resulted in a favorable ruling; and an arbitration for a Fortune 500 company in a dispute brought by the purchaser of one of its former subsidiaries.

Peter’s broader commercial litigation experience includes high-value disputes involving contract rights, fraud, fiduciary duties, licensing, distribution, trade secrets, defamation, and antitrust claims. He has served on teams in major disputes, including a six-week Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) arbitration involving financing for a slate of feature films, a two-month antitrust trial, and litigation between an entertainment studio and the creators of a popular television show.

Across these matters, Peter is known for taking a disciplined, big-picture approach to litigation. He works closely with clients to understand their business objectives, assess the strengths and risks of a dispute, and develop arguments that resonate with decision-makers both intellectually and practically.

Peter is active in several professional and community organizations, including The Copyright Society, the Los Angeles Copyright Society, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), the Japanese American Bar Association (JABA), the California Minority Counsel Program (CMCP), the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF) Intellectual Property Practice Area Committee, the Harvard Club of Southern California, and the Harvard Asian American Alumni Alliance.

Peter developed his litigation practice at law firms in New York and Los Angeles, including seven years at Irell & Manella, one of the nation’s leading intellectual property litigation firms. He earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.