Amos Espeland represents clients in all facets of commercial litigation. His practice includes high-stakes motion practice and appellate advocacy. Amos has experience drafting dispositive motions and pretrial filings in trial courts and briefs in state and federal appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court.
Before joining Keker, Van Nest & Peters, Amos served as a law clerk to Judge Carlos T. Bea of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Amos was formerly a litigation associate in the San Francisco office of an Am Law Top 10 law firm, where he defended well-known technology companies, major financial institutions, and individuals from securities actions and other civil lawsuits.
He earned a J.D. from Stanford Law School, a Ph.D. in philosophy from Stanford University, and a B.A. in philosophy from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While in graduate school, Amos researched the history of ethics and political philosophy with a focus on Plato and ancient Greek legal thought. He served as an instructor of philosophy for the Stanford University Philosophy Department and participated as a fellow of the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society.
Schneider v. YouTube
We successfully defended Google against putative class action claims that YouTube is rife with copyright infringement and encourages the piracy of uploaded videos by removing copyright management information. The plaintiff, Maria Schneider, was an American composer and jazz orchestra leader, and the class challenged YouTube’s right to immunity under the safe harbor of the DMCA. We were hired three months before the case’s June 2023 trial date. After Judge Donato denied class certification, the KVP team prevailed in two very successful pretrial hearings, which dramatically limited the plaintiffs’ case, excluded their liability expert, and preserved strong licensing defenses for YouTube.