Lori Lesser is a Partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, where she practices in the Litigation Department and is Head of the Intellectual Property Practice and Co-Chair of the Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice. Lori advises on all aspects of intellectual property, artificial intelligence (AI), technology, privacy and cybersecurity law, including litigation, corporate transactions, licensing, outsourcing, strategic agreements and counseling in fields including media and entertainment, software and technology, financial information, apparel, retail and consumer products, pharmaceuticals and life sciences, internet, mobile and social media services and nonprofits.
Lori is consistently featured as one of the “Top 250 Women in Litigation” by Euromoney’s Benchmark Litigation, and is recognized in Technology (Nationwide) and in Band 1 for Technology (New York) by Chambers USA. The Legal 500 recognizes Lori as a “Leading Lawyer,” where she is described as “one of the outstanding lawyers practicing in this field”; “a true difference maker, who provides clients with a competitive advantage in any negotiation”; “pragmatic, technically brilliant and a pleasure to deal with”; “highly regarded and versatile”; and “not only a top-notch technology lawyer but also a superb transactional one.”
Lori was recently named “Privacy & Data Protection Lawyer of the Year” at Euromoney’s Women in Business Law Americas Awards for 2022 and was recognized by The Legal 500 2023 as an advisor “to watch” for Cyber Law. She is consistently recognized by Best Lawyers in America, for which she has twice been named the “Information Technology Lawyer of the Year” for New York City. She has been listed in the “Top 50 Under 45” U.S. IP Lawyers (IP Law & Business), “Top 45 Under 45” U.S. women lawyers (The American Lawyer) and “20 Most Influential Women in IP Law” (Law360). She has been ranked in New York City’s top 100 lawyers and top 50 women lawyers by Super Lawyers. She has received the 2023 Harvard Law School Association Award, the association’s highest alumni award, for her service to the legal profession, society and Harvard Law School, the Burton Award for legal writing and the Award of Excellence from Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.
Lori has served as a David Rockefeller Fellow for New York City and serves on the boards of the Partnership Fund for New York City and Greater NY. She is a member of the Harvard Radcliffe Institute’s Dean’s Advisory Council, a former director of the Harvard Alumni Association and past president of the Harvard Law School Association of NYC. She serves on advisory boards for ChIPs (chief IP counsel) and Hunter College’s pre-law advisory program.
Lori graduated from Harvard University (A.B., magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, 1988) and Harvard Law School (J.D., cum laude, 1993).
Updated Oct 2024
