Shawn Foust

Shawn Foust is an associate in the Business Trial Practice Group in the firm's Century City office. He is a member of the Entertainment & Media Industry Team.

Shawn's practice is devoted to tackling the cutting edge legal issues facing businesses in the entertainment, new media, and technology industries. His litigation work focuses on providing legal services to institutional entertainment and media businesses. In addition to his litigation work, Shawn provides assistance and advice on a number of transactional issues in the technology and new media space. He is particularly interested in developing End User License Agreements that enhance the product by taking into account both the user and the nature of the underlying property.

Through his role as leader of Sheppard Mullin's Video Game Industry Group, Shawn seeks to provide the highest level of service to an industry he has long admired. As an avid gamer, he draws upon an understanding of games developed through a lifetime of playing and studying interactive entertainment.  This enables him to ensure that the projects most valuable to his clients are cared for properly. In particular, Shawn emphasizes the importance of structuring legal contracts and services to provide the maximum protection for the client without undermining the quality or integrity of the client's product.

Education

• J.D., University of Virginia, School of Law, Quarter-Finalist, Lyle Moot Court Competition, Mock Trial
• B.A., History, International Relations (Department Citation), and Political Science (Department Citation), University of California, Davis, Graduated with honors

Admissions

• California

Memberships

• Membership Chair, University of Virginia Entertainment L.A.
• California State Bar, Business Law, Litigation and Intellectual Property Law Sections
• Beverly Hills Bar Association
• Century City Rotary Club
• International Game Developers Association

Articles

• Dealing With 'Rogue Reality', Game Daily, September 30, 2008
• Player One, The Recorder, August 25, 2008

• "The world would be a better place if disputes were resolved by intense Pac-Man marathons", Bitter Lawyer, December 12, 2008
• "These Lawyers Got (Video) Game", Los Angeles Times, December 3, 2008
• Game Boy: Sheppard Mullin First Year Associate Launches Firm's Video Game Practice, AmLaw Daily, August 23, 2008.
• Entertainment Unit Presses Right Buttons at Firm, Los Angeles Business Journal, August 25, 2008.

Speeches

• Guest Speaker, "Video Games and the Law", USC Information Technology Program
• ION Game Conference, "Terms of Service: Ten Ways to Minimize Your Risk," May 13, 2008