Theresa A Simpson

Attorney at Law

Theresa is the founder of TAS Law.  She earned her law degree at the University of California Law, San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings), where she served on the Board of the Hastings Public Interest Law Foundation and was a member of the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review. Theresa has more than 20 years of legal experience representing artists, athletes and technology and media companies, and advising clients on copyright, trademark and other intellectual property matters. Before starting her own firm, she practiced in the Seattle office of Garvey Schubert Barer.

Theresa has been an adjunct lecturer in Digital Media Law in the Master of Communication in Digital Media program at the University of Washington, and in the Film & Video Communications Program at Seattle Central Community College. She is active with community organizations, and has served on the Steering Committee of DigitalEve Seattle, a professional organization for women in technology, on the Education Committee of Seattle Arts & Lectures, and as a Board Member of the Seattle Sports Commission.

A California native and happy Seattle transplant, Theresa attended the University of California, Berkeley for her undergraduate education. She worked as a field archaeologist in the US and in France, Holland and the United Kingdom before starting law school. When she has time she is an avid reader, traveler and cinéaste, sometime hiker and all-time aficionada of live music.   

 
 

EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LAW, SAN FRANCISCO (FORMERLY uc HASTINGS)

  • Hastings International and Comparative Law Review

  • Board of Directors, Hastings Public Interest Law Foundation

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

  • B.A., Anthropology

  • Regents Scholar

Professional Activities

  • Member, Washington State Bar Association

  • Adjunct Lecturer, "Digital Media Law and Policy," University of Washington Department of Communication, Master of Communication in Digital Media, 2009-2011

  • Adjunct Lecturer, "Media Law and Ethics," Film & Video Communications Program, Seattle Central Community College, 2004-2005; 2007

Community Activities

  • Board Member, Seattle Sports Commission, 2013 – 2015

  • Technical Advisory Committee Member, Seattle Central Community College Film & Video Communications Program, 2005-2012

  • Education Committee Member, Seattle Arts & Lectures, 2005-2007

  • Steering Committee Member, DigitalEve Seattle, 2002-2007

Publications

  • “Claims of Indigenous Peoples to Cultural Property in Canada, Australia and New Zealand,” Hastings International and Comparative Law Review (1994)

  • “O’Bannon Decision Could Signal Major Changes for College Athletics,” Sports & Entertainment Beat, August 13, 2014

  • “Student Athletes or Employees? The Implications of Student Athletes Unionizing,” Garvey Schubert Barer Legal Update, March 28, 2014

  • “Spotify Provides New Monetization Opportunity for Music Artists,” Garvey Schubert Barer Legal Update, January 22, 2014

  • “New California Online Privacy Law (CalOPPA),” Sports & Entertainment Beat, December 31, 2013