Whitney Walters

Whitney Walters is Special Counsel in the Business Trial and Entertainment & Media Practice Groups in the firm’s Century City office.

Areas of Practice

Ms. Walters practices complex business litigation and represents clients in cases involving allegations of fraud, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and accounting issues.  She also represents motion picture studios and broadcasting companies in claims relating to participation accounting and motion picture and television distribution rights.

Ms. Walters is experienced in all aspects of the litigation process, including pre-litigation negotiations, drafting and arguing motions, taking and defending depositions, and negotiating and drafting settlement agreements.  She has prepared cases for trial before state and federal courts and arbitration panels.  Ms. Walters also advises clients in regulatory investigations.

Professional Qualifications and Activities

Before joining Sheppard Mullin, Ms. Walters was a senior associate in the litigation group at Skadden, Arps in the firm’s Los Angeles and New York offices.  Prior to that, she clerked in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York.  During law school, Ms. Walters was an editor of the Brooklyn Journal of International Law, a member of the executive board of the Moot Court Honor Society and a member of the trial and appellate advocacy teams.

Ms. Walters currently sits on the board of Mental Health Advocacy Services, a non-profit organization that provides legal services to children and adults with mental disabilities.

Education

• J.D., Brooklyn Law School, 1999, cum laude
• B.S.F.S., Georgetown University, 1996

Admissions

• California
• New York
• Florida
• Massachusetts

Representative Cases

Ms. Walters’ recent representations include a number of high-profile disputes, including the representation of:

• Home Box Office in its successful defense of a challenge to on-location filming of the HBO original series “Entourage”;
• Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the board of directors of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. in a federal securities class action arising out of Brocade’s allegedly false and misleading statements concerning the company’s reporting of compensation and related tax expenses due to stock option grants; and
• Activision, Inc. and certain current and former officers and directors in their successful defense of a consolidated shareholder class action alleging that the company violated the federal securities laws by engaging in allegedly improper accounting practices.