Zachary C. Freund

Zachary Freund is a litigation associate in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Los Angeles office.  His practice focuses on complex civil litigation in both trial and appellate courts.  Zach has represented clients in a variety of high-stakes, complex litigation matters in state and federal courts, and his expertise touches on areas as varied as First Amendment law, sports law, insurance law, environmental law, and data privacy law. 

Highlights include:

• Securing a jury verdict win for Nike in an endorsement contract dispute with NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr.  Following the jury’s complete defense verdict in favor of Nike, AmLaw Litigation Daily recognized the Gibson Dunn team as “Litigators of the Week.” 
• Obtaining a complete defense victory for OpenAI on summary judgment against the first-ever defamation claim arising from generative artificial intelligence output.  The Gibson Dunn team, including Zach, was named a runner-up for AmLaw Litigation Daily’s “Litigators of the Week”
• Securing dismissals of multiple lawsuits challenging San Diego Gas & Electric Co.’s franchise agreements with the City of San Diego, including a summary judgment victory that The Daily Journal named as one of the Top Defense Verdicts of 2022.  Zach was also the lead associate on the team that successfully defended that victory in the California Court of Appeal.
• Persuading the Ninth Circuit to reverse a district court ruling and overturn agency action by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the grounds that it was “arbitrary and capricious” and in violation of the Endangered Species Act, in a major precedential administrative law decision.
• Persuading the Ninth Circuit to affirm an eight-figure arbitration award on behalf of an international real-estate developer, in a long-running venture capital dispute.
• Representing U.S. Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles in her quest to reclaim the bronze medal that was wrongfully stripped from her following the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, including an appeal in the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.
• Defending Nike against tort and contract claims brought by a former elite professional athlete.
• Representing a leading publishing company in a class action brought by textbook concerning royalty payments for electronic works.
• Representing clients in the insurance, media and entertainment, engineering, technology, and energy sectors, among others, in appeals in federal and state appellate courts across the country.

Zach also maintains an active pro bono practice, including impact litigation stemming from the separation of families along the U.S. southern border, appellate litigation defending media and news organizations’ First Amendment freedoms, and litigation on behalf of domestic violence victims seeking restraining orders.  In January 2025, Zach led a team that helped their client obtain a domestic violence restraining order and full physical and legal custody of her two young children, following a full-day trial. 

Zach joined Gibson Dunn after serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Gerard E. Lynch of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Honorable Nicholas G. Garaufis of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.  He previously worked as a litigation associate in the New York office of another large international law firm.

Zach graduated from Columbia Law School in 2018, where he served as senior editor and ombudsperson of the Columbia Law Review.  At Columbia, Zach was a recipient of the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Prize for achieving highest academic honors in all three years, the Robert Noxan Toppan Prize for Constitutional Law, and the Hamilton Fellowship.  Zach graduated from Stanford University in 2009, earning a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction, with majors in English and Drama.  Prior to entering law school, he worked in the theater field for several years as a director, dramaturg, and non-profit administrator.

Zach is admitted to practice in the States of California and New York, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third and Ninth Circuits, and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Capabilities

• Litigation
• Appellate and Constitutional Law
• Class Actions
• Energy Regulation and Litigation
• Energy and Infrastructure
• Insurance and Reinsurance
• Media, Entertainment, and Technology
• Sports Law
• Technology Litigation
• Trials

Credentials

Education:

• Columbia University - 2018 Juris Doctor
• Stanford University - 2009 Bachelor of Arts

Admissions:

• California Bar
• New York Bar