Brian Willen is a partner in Wilson Sonsini's internet litigation and strategy group. He advises some of the world’s most innovative online companies—including Google, Dropbox, Flipboard, Pinterest, Spotify, Twitter, and YouTube—on a range of complex and sensitive matters. Brian’s expertise includes copyright and trademark law (especially the DMCA safe harbors, fair use, and music copyright issues), Section 230 of the CDA, online privacy, government requests for user data, and the First Amendment.

Brian has an extensive and cutting-edge practice representing online platforms against attacks on their content-moderation practices. He is lead counsel for Google in nearly a dozen separate cases seeking to hold it liable for terrorist attacks around the world, including Gonzalez v. Google, which Brian argued in the Ninth Circuit. He has also represented both Google and Twitter against claims that they should be treated as state actors under the First Amendment, successfully arguing that issue in the Ninth Circuit in PragerU v. Google, the first major appellate decision holding that social media platforms are not public forums.

For nearly seven years, Brian was one of the lead lawyers for Google in the landmark Viacom v. YouTube litigation, and he has represented clients in many other copyright and internet law disputes, including cases under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Lanham Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Video Privacy Protection Act, and the Wiretap Act.

Prior to joining the firm, Brian worked in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, where he advised the Executive Branch on complex issues of constitutional law and national security. He clerked for Judge Harry T. Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (2001-2002) and for Judge Ellen S. Huvelle of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (2002-2003).