Marissa Moshell Mulligan is an associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She practices in the firm’s Litigation Department, and in its Media, Entertainment & Technology, Trials, and Appellate and Constitutional Law Groups.
Marissa has represented clients in complex commercial litigation in both the trial courts and on appeal. She has experience litigating all stages of disputes, including in the areas of breach of contract, profit participation, and defamation.
Marissa has been recognized by Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for Entertainment and Sports Law for 2024 and 2025. She was also recognized as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers® (2023-2025).
Recent representative matters include:
- Successfully represented AMC in a first phase bench trial in Los Angeles regarding profit participation and breach of contract claims concerning the television series The Walking Dead. Following the trial, Marissa helped achieve summary adjudication for AMC on a remaining claim. Marissa currently represents AMC in connection with another The Walking Dead litigation in federal court in California.
- Representing Joy Reid in a defamation action in the Eastern District of New York concerning certain social media posts published in 2018.
- Representing Ashley Judd in her ongoing civil action against Harvey Weinstein. Marissa was part of the team that secured a critical Ninth Circuit victory, which reversed the district court’s dismissal of Judd’s sexual harassment claim.
- Secured a complete victory for NBCUniversal following an arbitration related to CNBC’s show The Profit. Marissa helped defend NBCU against fraud, defamation, conspiracy, and other claims, defeating a $30 million claim for damages.
- Defended Rachel Maddow, MSNBC, NBCUniversal, and Comcast in a defamation case brought by Herring Networks, owner of One America News Network. The case was thrown out in the district court, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed in a unanimous published decision.
- Representing HBO in the district court and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals against claims filed by Michael Jackson’s Estate over the documentary Leaving Neverland.
- Represented EMI in a dispute regarding music publishing royalties.
- Represented a major entertainment company in an arbitration concerning a television series breach of contract dispute that arose in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Represented a major entertainment company in a profit participations dispute concerning a television franchise.
- Represented a large television studio in two arbitrations concerning profit participation actions brought by the shows’ creators.
Marissa earned her law degree in 2017 from the Georgetown University Law Center, where she graduated magna cum laude, and was elected to the Order of the Coif. At Georgetown, she served as the Online Development Editor for the American Criminal Law Review and President of the Georgetown Entertainment and Media Alliance, Law Division. Marissa graduated cum laude in 2014 from Georgetown University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature, Psychology, and Film Studies.
She is admitted to practice law in the State of California, and is admitted to practice law before the United States District Court for the Central District of California and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Capabilities
- Litigation
- Appellate and Constitutional Law
- Intellectual Property
- Media, Entertainment, and Technology
- Trials
Credentials
Education:
- Georgetown University - 2017 Juris Doctor
- Georgetown University - 2014 Bachelor of Arts
Admissions:
- California Bar