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Partner / Co-Lead, IPPG Fashion & Apparel Team
I'm a 2023 Nixon Peabody Pro Bono Champion.Read more about our Pro Bono program
Staci Trager (formerly Staci Riordan) draws on her experience as a corporate executive to help clients optimize growth and protect market share as they navigate post-pandemic business dynamics. A pioneer in fashion law, she works with leaders, teams, creatives, designers, manufacturers, retailers, and entertainers—particularly non–U.S.-based multinationals—to address the full array of corporate, litigation, and compliance issues they face.
I work with all types of consumer-facing businesses, but I have a passion for helping clients in the fashion industry. As a former apparel company executive and an adjunct professor at a leading fashion industry institute, I understand how to work within and use the law for the good of clients trying to navigate and thrive in the challenging, competitive, and crowded fashion market.
In the courtroom or in the boardroom, my goal with every client is to be a trusted advisor. Whether you are a household name like Giorgio Armani or H&M or an up-and-comer like Swet Tailor, you need someone who knows your business, so you can benefit from cost-efficient, goal-oriented strategies—be it to conceive, structure, and grow your organization, aggressively litigate disputes that may arise, or adapt to evolving laws and regulations on issues like privacy and data security.
One of the downfalls of success is that it often opens the door to litigation. Here, I draw on my depth of experience to help clients navigate the legal issues, the system, and the individuals and craft strategies that meet their business objectives.
Clients who are not used to going before the courts appreciate my ability to educate them on the litigation process and communicate the implications of what is happening throughout. I have experience litigating in California state and federal courts, including most recently a case involving statutory interpretation, currently before the U.S. Supreme Court.
I help fashion brands adapt, innovate, and stay ahead of their competition, particularly when it comes to the legal strategies at the foundation of brand cultivation. I serve as a business and legal advisor, partnering with clients to define, manage, and expand their brands via traditional media, such as television, film, and celebrity endorsement.
One of my proudest accomplishments is helping to launch the Fashion Law Project at my alma mater, Loyola Law School. Founded in 2014, the Fashion Law Project is an academic center that provides a business and legal curriculum for designers, apparel industry executives, and lawyers. I serve as the program’s executive director—overseeing the annual Fashion Law Symposium and Fashion Law Summer Intensive—as well as an adjunct professor teaching Fashion Law and running the Fashion Law Clinic.
Prior to joining the firm, I was the chair of the Fashion Law Practice Group at two other national law firms. I was exposed to the combination of legal and business affairs as the first law clerk at fashion lifestyle brand, Guess?, Inc. I honed my researching and writing skills as an extern for California Appellate Court Justice Fred Woods. Prior to law school, I was the COO of a multimillion-dollar garment manufacturing company, overseas purchasing and production coordinator for a textile importer and converter, and taught in the entrepreneurship department of the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM).
The pandemic hit the fashion industry harder than most. Increased performance pressure and shifting customer behavior are accelerating digital transformation. But the potential for growth remains strong, and we are excited about the innovation we are seeing with existing clients as we enter a new post-pandemic period.
This article profiles Los Angeles Intellectual Property partner Staci Trager, co-lead of the Intellectual Property Fashion & Apparel team, as one of the publication’s “Top 100 Lawyers” for 2023, recognizing the accomplishments of the region’s most impactful attorneys.
This article covers the dismissal of a proposed class-action lawsuit filed against H&M by two customers who claimed the fashion company misled consumers about the sustainability of its “Conscious Choice” collection. The article mentions Los Angeles Intellectual Property partner and Fashion team leader Staci Trager, and IP associates Erin Huntington of Albany and Carlo Bustillos of San Francisco, for representing H&M in the case.
This article covers a petition by client H&M asking the US Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit decision finding that Unicolors Inc. had a valid copyright for certain fabric patterns. The story quotes Los Angeles Intellectual Property partner and Fashion practice leader Staci Trager from an April 21 statement, noting that the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision diverged from a newly stated Supreme Court rule. In addition to Staci, the article mentions Labor & Employment senior counsel Dale Hudson and Intellectual Property counsel Aaron Brian, both of the Los Angeles office, for representing H&M.
Los Angeles Intellectual Property partner and Fashion practice leader Staci Trager is quoted in this article covering recent lawsuits against major fashion brands over the use of biometric data related to virtual try-on tools. Staci discusses common business motives behind this type of litigation, her outlook on the probable next steps in one of the cases, and the issue of what constitutes “clear and conspicuous” when it comes to a brand’s biometric data disclosures.
Los Angeles Intellectual Property partner and Fashion practice leader Staci Trager is quoted throughout this article, which analyzes fashion company Hermès’ victory in its trademark suit against artist Mason Rothschild over his “Metabirkins” NFT collection. Staci explains the actions Hermès will likely take to remove the existing NFT collection from the secondary market and how this verdict may signal the beginning of the extension of existing rules and laws into virtual spaces.
The following article mentions NP for representing H&M Hennes & Mauritz LP, which asked a federal judge in Missouri to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit alleging the company deceptively marketed a clothing line as environmentally friendly. H&M’s motion to dismiss asserts that the plaintiffs make “inferential leaps” based on the company’s truthful representations about the garments’ composition. The NP team representing H&M includes Los Angeles partner and Fashion practice leader Staci Trager, Albany associate Erin Huntington, and San Francisco law clerk Carlo Bustillos, all of the Intellectual Property group.
The following article mentions NP for representing H&M Hennes & Mauritz LP, which asked a federal judge in Missouri to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit alleging the company deceptively marketed a clothing line as environmentally friendly. H&M’s motion to dismiss asserts that the plaintiffs make “inferential leaps” based on the company’s truthful representations about the garments’ composition. The NP team representing H&M includes Los Angeles partner and Fashion practice leader Staci Trager, Albany associate Erin Huntington, and San Francisco law clerk Carlo Bustillos, all of the Intellectual Property group.
An NP team led by Los Angeles Intellectual Property partners Seth Levy and Shawn Hansen on Monday expanded its groundbreaking patent enforcement campaign on behalf of the Regents of the University of California (UC). The following articles cover the new complaint, filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission, which seeks an investigation into the unauthorized importation and sale after importation of UC’s patented filament LED lighting technology by General Electric, Savant Systems, Feit Electric, Home Depot, Ikea, and Satco Products.
In addition to Seth and Shawn, the NP team includes Washington, DC Intellectual Property partner Evan Langdon; Los Angeles Intellectual Property partners Staci Riordan, Vincent Yip and Peter Wied, and associate Vince Capati; Chicago Intellectual Property associates Paulina Starostka and Angelo Christopher; San Francisco Complex Commercial Disputes associate Tracy Ickes; and Los Angeles patent specialist Jason Moore.
The Fashion Law Clinic at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, is the center of this feature story. The article highlights this first-of-its-kind clinic and notes Los Angeles partner and leader of the firm’s fashion practice Staci Riordan as the creator. Staci and students who have gone through the clinic are quoted throughout the piece.
U.S. Supreme Court
California
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Court, Central District of California
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
U.S. District Court, Southern District of California
Loyola Law School, J.D.
Emory University, B.A.
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