Liesel N. Schapira

Liesel Schapira is a senior litigation associate in the New York office of Gibson Dunn. Liesel’s practice focuses on high-stakes white collar defense, securities-related investigations, and complex commercial litigation across all industries. She has experience representing clients in a broad range of industries, including the financial sector, media and entertainment, life sciences, and pharmaceuticals. 

Liesel has extensive experience representing individual and corporate clients in investigations conducted by the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, and state Attorney Generals, including first- and second-chairing witness testimony.

Highlights include obtaining a rare pretrial dismissal of a federal indictment alleging that the founder of a pharmaceutical company tipped friends and family in advance of a $3.5 billion tender offer, and obtaining a complete victory as part of a trial team representing AMC Networks in a two-week breach of contract and profit participation bench trial concerning the television series The Walking Dead.

Liesel has an active pro bono practice focused on gun safety litigation.  Liesel has represented the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in multiple matters, including in California v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives in which Giffords prevailed on summary judgment in litigation challenging the federal government’s failure to properly regulate AR-style “ghost guns.”  Liesel argued in federal court on behalf of Giffords at the motion to dismiss stage in that case.  Liesel was an integral member of the Gibson Dunn team the Giffords Law Center honored with its 2021 Odgers Pro Bono Partner Award.  Liesel has also co-authored numerous amicus briefs in the recent seminal gun safety-related Supreme Court cases: N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, Bondi v. VanDerStok, and United States v. Hemani. 

She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she was a Hardy Cross Dillard Scholar and an editor of the Virginia Journal of Criminal Law. Liesel graduated summa cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa at New York University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics, with a minor in the Business of Entertainment, Media, and Technology. Prior to law school, she worked at J.P. Morgan.

Liesel is admitted to practice in the State of New York.

Capabilities

• Litigation
• Accounting Firm Advisory and Defense
• Labor and Employment
• Media, Entertainment, and Technology
• Product Liability
• Securities Enforcement
• Trials
• White Collar Defense and Investigations

Credentials

Education:

• University of Virginia - 2018 Juris Doctor
• New York University - 2012 Bachelor of Arts

Admissions:

• New York Bar