Rohit Nath

Rohit Nath leads some of the most consequential litigation in the country. He co-led the Susman Godfrey team that secured a court-approved $1.5 billion settlement for authors and publishers in Bartz v. Anthropic, the largest reported copyright settlement in history. In that case, he argued against Anthropic’s fair use defense at summary judgment, securing the decision that led to the $1.5 billion resolution.

Across his practice, Nath has helped recover more than $1 billion for plaintiffs and represented Fortune 500 companies in disputes involving billions of dollars. His work has earned recognition from Bloomberg Law, the Daily Journal, and The National Law Journal, including being named The Recorder’s 2026 Intellectual Property Attorney of the Year.

LANDMARK AI & TECHNOLOGY LITIGATION

In a historic copyright infringement action, Nath secured a court-approved $1.5 billion settlement for rightsholders whose books were downloaded by Anthropic from pirated databases. The settlement is the largest reported settlement in copyright history. Nath and his co-lead counsel were named Litigators of the Week by Law.com for this precedent-setting result. Nath argued successfully in opposition to Anthropic’s summary judgment motion on fair use, which paved the way for the settlement. Read more in the New York Times, Bloomberg, and Law.com.

Nath also represents prominent writers, including John Grisham, David Baldacci, Jonathan Franzen, Stacy Schiff, and Kai Bird, in copyright litigation against OpenAI and Microsoft. Read the Wall Street Journal’s coverage of the OpenAI case here. Nath was also tapped to serve as  co-lead counsel in an AI copyright case against Apple.

In Doe v. Mindgeek, Nath represents a certified class of minors against against the parent company of Pornhub. He argued summary judgment on novel questions related to MindGeek’s Section 230 defense. The case settled, subject to court approval, for $120 million.

WINS FOR INSURANCE POLICYHOLDERS

Nath helped secure a $307.5 million deal for policyholders who challenged AXA life insurance rate increases targeting elderly insureds. The settlement came after nearly seven years of litigation, and after plaintiffs succeeded on class certification and defeated summary judgment.

In 37 Besen Parkway LLC v. John Hancock Life Insurance Co, Nath helped secure a settlement of $91.25 million (before fees and expenses) for a certified class of insurance policy owners against John Hancock Life Insurance Company.  In the final approval order, Judge Paul Gardephe described the settlement as a “quite extraordinary . . . result achieved on behalf of the class.” You can read more about the case here (subscription required).

DEFENSE-SIDE LITIGATION

On the defense side, Nath has represented some of the largest companies in their biggest disputes. He previously defended Match Group in a nearly four-week jury trial arising from a multibillion-dollar dispute over the founding of Tinder. He also represented Chevron U.S.A. in a California property dispute that settled on confidential terms on the eve of trial.

PRO BONO

Nath previously received a Public Counsel Pro Bono award for his work defending the COVID-19 mortarium in the City of Los Angeles and other moratoria across the state. In Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles v. City of Los Angeles, Nath helped secure the first federal appellate decision upholding a COVID-19 eviction moratorium in the country.

The Daily Journal profiled Nath and his colleagues for their work in this area and named them a California Lawyer Attorney of the Year  in 2023 for their critical work. Read more in the San Francisco Chronicle and Law360 (subscription required).

BACKGROUND

Nath joined Susman Godfrey after working as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice and a law clerk for Judge Alex Kozinski (Ret.) on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  He graduated with high honors from The University of Chicago Law School, where he served as editor-in-chief of The University of Chicago Law Review.  Before law school, he taught eighth-grade math in Oklahoma as a Teach for America corps member. Nath is a longtime board member of the South Asian Bar Association of Southern California and served as co-president during the 2021-2022 term. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Litigation Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

Notable Representations

Honors & Distinctions

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