David C. Codell

David Codell's law practice focuses on entertainment litigation, commercial litigation, and constitutional and appellate litigation.  Mr. Codell has represented major clients in the television, motion picture, recording, and advertising industries in disputes concerning the First Amendment, copyright law, antipiracy and internet issues, idea origination, defamation, rights of publicity, talent contracts, profit participation, and employment discrimination.  In addition to maintaining his own law office, Mr. Codell is Of Counsel to the Los Angeles litigation firm Caldwell Leslie & Proctor, PC (www.caldwell-leslie.com).

Mr. Codell previously practiced constitutional law in association with Laurence H. Tribe in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was a partner at Irell & Manella LLP in Los Angeles, where he practiced in the litigation, intellectual property, and appellate practice groups.

Mr. Codell received his bachelor's degree summa cum laude from Harvard College, and his J.D. degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was a Supreme Court Editor of the Harvard Law Review.  Mr. Codell served as a law clerk for Judge David S. Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and as a law clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mr. Codell's litigation includes work in both trial and appellate courts, and his cases have resulted in important published opinions.  In 2008, he successfully defended on appeal a major television network and a television station against claims of "reverse discrimination" by a former news anchor for the station.  See Hicks v. KNTV Television, Inc., 160 Cal.App.4th 994 (2008).  Mr. Codell also was one of the principal attorneys who successfully represented numerous plaintiffs in the recent litigation in which the California Supreme Court ruled that the state of California must permit same-sex couples to marry and that laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation are subject to the strictest level of constitutional scrutiny.  See In re Marriage Cases, 43 Cal.4th 757 (2008).  In the Marriage Cases, Mr. Codell served as co-counsel with the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU Foundations of Southern California and Northern California.

Mr. Codell has been an active supporter of civil rights and civil liberties and has provided pro bono representation to individuals and organizations in numerous cases that have resulted in historic rulings advancing civil rights.  In addition to the recent California Marriage Cases, Mr. Codell's civil rights litigation has included the following cases:

  • Mr. Codell served as lead counsel for Equality California and numerous same-sex couples in litigation resulting in three appellate rulings in 2005 and 2006 upholding California's historic domestic partnership statute, AB 205 (2003), against constitutional challenges.  See Knight v. Superior Court, 128 Cal.App.4th 14 (2005).

  • Mr. Codell was appellate counsel in Armijo v. Miles, 127 Cal.App.4th 1405 (2005), in which the California Court of Appeal upheld a California statute authorizing domestic partners to sue for wrongful death and affirmed the California Legislature's power to enact legal protections for same-sex couples.

  • Mr. Codell provided pro bono representation to high school students from Orange, California in the first case in the United States in which a court ordered a school district to permit a gay-affirming student club to meet on campus.  See Colin ex rel. Colin v. Orange Unified School District, 83 F.Supp.2d 1135 (2000).

  • Mr. Codell was counsel of record for amicus curiae NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund in Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003), in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the states cannot criminalize private sexual conduct between consenting adults.

Mr. Codell has received the following awards and honors in recent years:

  • Southern California Super Lawyer (limited to 5% of the attorneys in the region) (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009)

  • Liberty Award, presented by Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund (2008)

  • Coalition for Justice Award, presented by the ACLU of Southern California (2008)

  • Equality Advocate Award, presented by Equality California (2006)

  • LGBT Advocacy Award, presented by the ACLU of Southern California (2006)

  • Gay and Lesbian Leadership Award, presented by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund (2005)

  • Defender of Democracy Award, presented by People for the American Way (2000)

Mr. Codell is a frequent speaker about constitutional issues at universities and continuing legal education events.