Professional Experience

Mr. Markowitz is an experienced commercial and intellectual property litigator who has practiced law for more than twenty years since his graduation from Harvard Law School, with honors, in 1990. During his career, he has represented companies and individuals in all phases of civil litigation in state and federal courts as well as in arbitrations. Mr. Markowitz was named a New York-area “Super Lawyer” by Law and Politics magazine in Intellectual Property Litigation in 2006 and in General Litigation in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. In addition, Martindale-Hubbell® has awarded Mr. Markowitz an AV rating, the highest Peer Review Rating available, in assessment of his legal abilities and professional ethics. Before co-founding Markowitz & Chattoraj LLP, Mr. Markowitz was a litigation partner at Manatt Phelps & Phillips, which merged in 2004 with Parcher, Hayes & Snyder, the boutique litigation firm, where Mr. Markowitz had practiced law for seven years. Mr. Markowitz began his career as a litigator by working as an associate at Anderson Kill & Olick and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

Mr. Markowitz has successfully represented clients in a variety of litigations concerning, among other topics, copyright, trademark, advertising, consumer class action, and securities. Notable results that he has obtained for his clients include:

• Dismissal of more than thirty state and federal actions sounding in breach of contract, negligence and fraud brought against a promotions company for a sweepstakes game error that resulted in thousands of participants believing each had won the sole $100,000 grand prize;
• Appellant’s voluntary dismissal of appeal and stipulated agreement to all relief sought by digital rights management company in appeal on novel Digital Millennium Copyright Act issues to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit;
• Summary judgment in precedent-setting decision holding that the federal Unordered Merchandise Statute does not provide for a private right of action in consumer class action alleging deceptive business practices;
• Summary judgment for members of rap group and their publishing company in copyright infringement action based on song featured on group’s double-platinum debut album;
• Dismissal of securities fraud and breach of contract action brought against investment company for failure to complete $28 million purchase of Broadway lighting company;
• Dismissal with prejudice of RICO action against major telecommunications company brought by its authorized international representative;
• Favorable settlement of invasion of privacy, defamation and right of publicity action brought against record company and popular recording artist by artist’s ex-girlfriend on basis of autobiographical song featured on multi-platinum album; and
• Denial of preliminary injunction motion and voluntary dismissal of complaint following evidentiary hearing in copyright action brought against television network and creator of award-winning television series for purported infringement of plaintiff’s registered scripts and synopsis.