Jonah M. Knobler practices in the firm’s Litigation department. His practice centers on class action defense, false advertising litigation, copyright/trademark litigation, and food-and-drug litigation. He also handles appeals in numerous subject areas.

Mr. Knobler has well over a decade of experience representing manufacturers from a wide range of industries in high-stakes false advertising, consumer protection, civil RICO, and product liability suits. In particular, his practice has given him a keen understanding of FDA-regulated products and the surrounding regulatory landscape. He frequently litigates and publishes on cutting-edge legal topics of interest to these industries, such as standing, preemption, class certification, damages models, innovator liability, and commercial free speech. He also founded and co-edits the firm’s false advertising blog, Misbranded. 

In the IP arena, Mr. Knobler has litigated and settled numerous claims of copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and counterfeiting. He has represented major media companies, consumer product manufacturers, not-for-profits, and individual artists. Mr. Knobler published one of the first major articles analyzing the copyright implications of Internet streaming and downloading, which has been cited in Nimmer on Copyright, the Oxford Handbook of Mobile Music Studies, and U.S. Supreme Court briefing.

Mr. Knobler has also handled high-value appeals across a range of subject areas, from false advertising to product liability to civil RICO to insurance law. He has briefed and/or argued appeals in both the state and federal systems, including in the U.S. Supreme Court and most federal Courts of Appeals.

Mr. Knobler’s professional awards and honors include being named a “Rising Star” by the New York Law Journal, a “Future Star” by Benchmark Litigation, a “Defender of Democracy” by Common Cause, and one of the “Best LGBT Lawyers under 40” by the National LGBT Bar.

Mr. Knobler’s active pro bono practice focuses on voting rights and LGBTQ+ rights.  He was among the respondents’ merits counsel in the U.S. Supreme Court in Rucho v. Common Cause, and he continues to litigate issues concerning gerrymandering and redistricting.

From 2009 to 2010, Mr. Knobler served as a law clerk to the Honorable Danny J. Boggs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. From 2008 to 2009, Mr. Knobler served as a law clerk to the Honorable Frederic Block of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. In 2004, Mr. Knobler held a McCleary Law Fellowship at the Human Rights Campaign.

Bar Admissions

• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the First, Second, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Federal Circuits
• U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
• New York

Education

• Harvard Law School (J.D., cum laude, 2006)
• Harvard University (B.A., cum laude, 2003)
  • Phi Beta Kappa

HONORS:

• Benchmark Litigation Future Star (2023)
• Premier Appellate Lawyers (2021)
• Benchmark Litigation Under 40 Hotlist (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
• Super Lawyers Rising Star (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
• Common Cause Defender of Democracy (2019)
• New York Law Journal  Rising Star (2019)
• National LGBT Bar Association Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40 (2018)

• Seventh Circuit Issues Strong Endorsement of Learned Intermediary Doctrine in Medical-Device MDL

  By Jonah Knobler |April 2018

• "The Supreme Court is At War With Itself On Extraterritoriality," Law360 (July 17, 2023)
• "Courts Are Right To Limit Disclosure Requirements For Cos.," Law360 (September 1, 2020)
• "How High Court TM Profits Ruling Bears On False Advertising," Law360 (May 1, 2020)
• "INSIGHT: Don't Expect High Court's Romag Ruling to Upend Trademark Litigation," Bloomberg Law (May 1, 2020)
• "Paint It Black: The Ninth Circuit OKs RICO Liability For Failure To Warn About Drug Safety Risks," Drug and Device Law Blog (December 12, 2019)
• "Merck v. Albrecht: Victories, Uncertainties & Opportunities From Supreme Court's Return to Branded-Drug Preemption," Washington Legal Foundation (June 28, 2019)
• "NY’s Legislature Should Fix Runaway Consumer Class Action Damages—Not Make Them Worse," New York Law Journal (May 17, 2019)
• Co-Author, "Frank v. Gaos: Cy Pres Gets Its Day at the Supreme Court," Bloomberg Law (June 8, 2018)
• "Seventh Circuit Issues Strong Endorsement of Learned Intermediary Doctrine in Medical-Device MDL,” Washington Legal Foundation (April 2018)
• "City Select v. BMW: Ascertainability Is Alive And Well In The Third Circuit," Bloomberg BNA’s Class Action Litigation Report (September 2017)
• "Petrobras Renounces 2nd Circ. ‘Preference’ For Class Cert.," Law360 (July 2017)
• "Petrobras Does Little To Clarify Class Ascertainability," Law360 (July 2017)
• "Town Of Chester: An Answer On Class-Member Standing?," Law360 (June 2017)
• "Tyson Foods: Victory in Defeat for Class-Action Defendants?," Bloomberg BNA’s Class Action Litigation Report (April 2016)
• "Class Actions in the Second Circuit: Do Plaintiffs Have Unfair Advantage?," New York Law Journal (March 2015)
• "Public Performance Rights in Music Downloads: United States v. ASCAP and Beyond," Journal of Internet Law  (June 2008)
• "Performance Anxiety: The Internet and Copyright's Vanishing Performance/Distribution Distinction," Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal (December 2007)