Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal Names Chris Perez a 2026 “Top 100 Lawyer”

The firm is pleased to announce that the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal has recognized Chris Perez as a 2026 “Top 100 Lawyer.” This annual and esteemed edition spotlights California’s most accomplished attorneys across a range of practice areas, whose work is shaping the law and the future of the legal profession.

The feature highlights Chris’s outstanding work in independent and documentary film sectors, advising on films such as Deepfaking Sam Altman, Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie, Cookie Queens, and Undesirable Friends: Part II.

In the profile, Chris discusses the unique challenges he experienced while advising on Deepfaking Sam Altman, a film about OpenAI’s Sam Altman, who never agreed to be in the project; therefore, director Adam Bhala Lough created a Gen-AI version of him instead. “The biggest challenge was that the law on AI is always changing,” Chris shares, noting that some states had enacted deepfake laws with First Amendment expectations for filmmakers and artists while others had not, and that a federal bill was also under consideration.

The Daily Journal also details Chris’s legal work on Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie, which used copyright- and trademark-protected material without permission, and blends footage of people on the streets with scripted scenes. Chris tells the Daily Journal that he relied on fair use, First Amendment principles, and parody to stay legally sound. “We were ultimately successful, mostly due to brilliant filmmaking,” Chris shares, “But also due to the fact that the clients were never afraid to reach out for counsel.”

The feature closes by highlighting that Chris is heavily involved in the Los Angeles legal and film community, as he served on the International Documentary Association board for eight years, teaches an IP practicum at USC Gould School of Law, and is on the Generative AI Initiative Advisory Board as part of the Archival Producers Alliance.

To read Chris’s full profile in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal, click here.