Overview
Sumi Naidoo helps creative industry clients develop their brands and produce engaging content while avoiding legal and regulatory risks. Her experience as a litigator and a journalist enables her to balance the unique perspectives and interests of creators, consumers and regulators, and to help prevent legal disputes before they arise.
Sumi’s strong background in legal theory and industry knowledge inform her intuitive and practical approach to problem-solving across promotions and marketing, intellectual property, digital media technology and privacy.
Often involved in the content development stage, Sumi sifts through creative material — from first pitches to finished products — to spot legal red flags. She supports legal teams in protecting that content by analyzing pertinent laws and industry developments and when drafting cease-and-desist letters, DMCA notices, negotiating licenses, and interpreting relevant agreements. For her news media clients, Sumi leverages her background in journalism to help develop and implement publishing guidelines and reporting policies.
Before joining Davis+Gilbert, Sumi practiced litigation at Kelley Drye & Warren. She also worked as a journalist, including at MSNBC with legal correspondent Ari Melber, covering the 2016 electoral season. Sumi has a strong commitment to pro bono matters and drafted an amicus brief on encryption and the Fifth Amendment with the ACLU’s Project on Speech, Privacy and Technology.
Insights + Events
- Alert SEC Penalizes Kim Kardashian Over $1 Million for Paid Crypto Post
October 11, 2022
- Alert Zero Stars: FTC and NAD Will Not Permit Consumer Review Suppression
February 16, 2022
- Balancing Compliance and Creativity in Regulated Industries Bright Ideas | Puff Puff Passing Off: Chronic Trademark Issues in the Growing Industry of Legal Cannabis
September 14, 2021
Credentials
Education
- New York University School of Law (J.D., 2017)
- Senior Notes Editor, New York University Journal of International Law and Politics
- Columbia University (M.S. (Journalism), with honors, 2014)
- University of Pennsylvania (B.A. and B.A.S., magna cum laude, 2013)
Bar Admissions
- New York
Court Admissions
- U.S. District CourtEastern District of New York