Devin A. McRae

Devin McRae is a business litigator with an emphasis in entertainment, intellectual property and partnership disputes, including those concerning breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, copyright and trademark infringement, idea submission, royalties and participations, representation agreements, performer agreements, executive services agreements, operating agreements, distribution agreements and trade secrets. Mr. McRae also has extensive experience in real estate, employment, investment and insurance coverage-related disputes. In addition, Mr. McRae has been on the forefront in representing victims of abuse, domestic violence and coercive control against Hollywood power players and business tycoons.

His clients include A-list actors and prominent artists, writers and producers; production companies; law firms; talent agents and agencies; talent managers and management firms; television networks; accounting firms; and insurance companies. In connection with his representation of clients in the television industry, Mr. McRae is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He is routinely called upon by the media, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Fox News, NBC, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and TheWrap, to provide commentary on high profile issues of entertainment law and litigation.

Mr. McRae was listed in The Hollywood Reporter’s 2024 “Power Lawyers” – a special report spotlighting the “100 most influential attorneys in the entertainment industry” who are “almost as famous (or infamous) as the stars they represent.” He was listed in Variety’s 2024, 2023 and 2022 “Legal Impact Report” presenting “entertainment’s top dealmakers and litigators.” In 2021, he was recognized as a “Visionary” by L.A. Times B2B Publishing Business of Law Magazine and named and profiled in the Los Angeles Business Journal’s “Leaders of Influence: Litigators & Trial Attorneys” Edition. He has been selected for inclusion in Southern California Super Lawyers Editions each year since 2016, Southern California Super Lawyers–Rising Stars Editions 2009, 2011-2015, and has been named in The Best Lawyers in America© each year since 2016 for Intellectual Property Litigation and each year since 2019 for Entertainment Law – Motion Pictures and Television. In 2016, the Daily Journal selected Mr. McRae as one of California’s “Top 40 Under 40” lawyers. Mr. McRae is AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Mr. McRae’s success as a trial lawyer started early while in his fifth year of practice he single-handedly obtained a $6 million trial verdict on behalf of his client. In 2021, Mr. McRae obtained a multi-million dollar verdict for actress Shannen Doherty in a federal jury trial. In addition to significant trial and arbitration experience, Mr. McRae has successfully briefed and argued matters before the California Courts of Appeal and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Prior to co-founding Early Sullivan, Mr. McRae practiced at the Los Angeles Glaser Weil firm and international firms Dorsey & Whitney and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae. He received his law degree in 2002 from UCLA School of Law. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of New Mexico where he graduated summa cum laude and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Prior to law school, Mr. McRae was an amateur boxer and competed in the Los Angeles Golden Gloves competition. He lives in Manhattan Beach with his wife and three children. In his free time, he enjoys surfing, and training and competing in Brazilian jiu jitsu, in which he is a black belt.

• Representing producers concerning disputed Roberto Clemente biopic rights (see Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, The Wrap)
• Representing several surviving members and their relatives of the famed 1966 Michigan State football co-champions Black Spartans in dispute concerning film and publicity rights (see Deadline)
• Representing Amanda Montell in lawsuit against Sounds Like a Cult podcast co-host (see The Daily Beast)
• Representing Frost River in trademark dispute with Lucasfilm and Filson (see The Hollywood Reporter, Sourcing Journal)
• Representing Trina Venit and Renée Izambard in civil domestic violence and coercive control actions against Adam Venit and Sébastian Izambard (see Deadline, Los Angeles Times, New York Times)
• Negotiating film and TV lit manager Britton Rizzio’s departure from former talent management firm to form Curate Management
• Representing Shannen Doherty in insurance coverage and bad faith action against State Farm (see USA Today, TMZ)
• Representing My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star Rachel Bloom in suit after a house flipper failed to disclose serious defects in her home (see The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times)
• Representing owners of Spanish TV series El Ministerio del Tiempo in a copyright infringement and idea theft action concerning Timeless (see Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline)
• Representing FTC lawyer and screenwriter in suit over Blacklight writing credits
• Representing Mexican pop star Ana Barbara in suit against Wells Fargo (see CBS Los Angeles, New York Times)
• Representing Beverly Hills, 90210 star Shannen Doherty in dispute with former business manager (see USA Today, The Hollywood Reporter)
• Representing Progressive Insurance in suit concerning major shopping center fire in American Samoa
• Representing talent manager in dispute with partner concerning James Franco commissions (see Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter)
• Representing artist Tony Moore in dispute with Robert Kirkman relating to creation and copyright ownership of The Walking Dead
• Representing executive producers of The Glass House in defeating an effort by CBS to enjoin the show based on allegations of copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets (see coverage in The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Variety)
• Representing owner of Scare Tactics in dispute concerning foreign distribution agreements
• Representing Endemol in defense of copyright and trademark infringement action relating to Wipeout