Koren (Kori) Bell is a partner in Willkie’s Litigation Department, where she focuses on complex civil litigation and white collar defense. A nationally recognized trial lawyer and former trial deputy at the Federal Defender’s Office, Kori represents clients in high-stakes, high-profile civil and criminal matters across the country and advises clients in sensitive investigations.
Kori is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the invitation-only, preeminent organization of trial lawyers in North America. Chambers recognizes her as “one of the best trial lawyers in the country” and “an outstanding appellate lawyer” who “wins cases both on paper and in the courtroom in a way that very few others could.” Praised in Chambers for her “creativity, experience, intellect, and grit,” clients and peers call her “brilliant,” “an elite attorney doing massive cases,” “phenomenal” in court, a “gifted strategist,” “exceptional” in her ability to “find an edge or win a case,” and “feared by opponents.” Judges have likewise praised Kori’s advocacy as “superb,” “extraordinary,” and among “the best I’ve seen.”
Kori has been recognized as a leading litigator by numerous publications. Benchmark Litigation ranks her as a “Litigation Star” and one of the “Top 250 Women in Litigation” for complex civil litigation, white collar defense, and appeals. The Daily Journal has named her one of the “Top Women Lawyers” and a “Top White Collar Lawyer,” and Lawdragon has recognized her as a “Leading Litigator” and “Leading Global Entertainment, Sports & Media Lawyer.”
Clients turn to Kori for her courtroom skill, strategic judgment, and business-minded approach. She has represented leading global companies, executives, startup founders, and prominent individuals in complex matters across industries including entertainment, sports, technology, healthcare, finance, and beyond. Known for her tenacity and creativity, Kori has pursued novel strategies that have shaped significant outcomes—including in a case she advanced to, and argued before, the U.S. Supreme Court, which ultimately invalidated the Ninth Circuit’s model fraud jury instruction as to requisite intent. She has secured non-prosecution, dismissal, jury acquittal, no-jail sentences, and other favorable outcomes in high-exposure criminal matters, including landmark prosecutions, and has prevailed on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants in civil cases at various stages of litigation, including at trial.
Kori recently served as trial counsel for Netflix in the successful defense of a high-profile patent infringement case, largely defeating claims seeking approximately $300 million in damages. That same year, she served as lead counsel for the president and co-founder of tech startup Outcome Health in a highly publicized 10-week federal fraud trial in Chicago. Following trial, the Court praised the advocacy in the case as “unparalleled,” stating: “in 45 years I haven’t seen a performance like this, ever.” Shortly before that, Kori served as co-lead counsel for the decorated former USC water polo coach in his five-week “Varsity Blues” trial in Boston, where she achieved the rare victory of winning her client’s motion for a new trial.
In addition to her client work, Kori is active in the legal community. She serves on the Board of the Federal Bar Association of Los Angeles, is a member of the Latina Lawyers Bar Association, and mentors law students from underrepresented groups.
Kori is fluent in Spanish and frequently represents Spanish-speaking clients, including in her pro bono work.
Experience
Kori was previously a partner at a litigation boutique in Los Angeles.
Before entering private practice, Kori spent nearly a decade at the Federal Defender’s Office in Los Angeles. As a supervising trial deputy in the largest office in the federal defender system, she helped oversee trial litigation, devise management improvements, and develop district-wide challenges to prosecutions. During her tenure, Kori defended clients in some of the Office’s most difficult and complex federal criminal trial matters and appeals, including cases involving cross-border criminal activity, each of the federal fraud statutes, public corruption, and capital murder.
Kori began her career as a law clerk to the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, after which she was awarded a Skadden Fellowship. Before law school, Kori served as a Fulbright Scholar and a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.
- Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers
- Chambers USA, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations, California, 2026
- Benchmark Litigation,
- Litigation Star (California), 2023-2026
- Top 250 Women in Litigation, 2022-2025
- Lawdragon,
- 500 Leading Lawyers, 2026
- 500 Leading Litigators, 2026
- 500 Leading Global Entertainment, Sports & Media Lawyers, 2025-2026
- Legal 500 U.S., Recommended Lawyer, Dispute Resolution: Corporate Investigations and White-Collar Criminal Defense, 2024
- Best Lawyers in America, Criminal Defense: White Collar, 2021-2026
- Daily Journal,
- Top Women Lawyers, 2022-2023, 2025
- Top White Collar Lawyers, 2023, 2025
- Los Angeles Business Journal,
- Women of Influence: Attorneys, 2019-2022, 2024-2025
- Leaders of Influence: Litigators & Trial Attorneys, 2022-2025
- Los Angeles Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, Board Member
- Latina Lawyers Bar Association, Member
- The Chancery Club of Los Angeles, Member
- Los Angeles Chapter of the Women's White Collar Defense Association, Member
- “Women Now Hold Every Chief Judicial Seat In The 9th Circuit And C.D. Cal,” Daily Journal (June 10, 2026)
- Panelist, “ETHICS – Zealous Representation: The Pursuit of Justice or Obstruction of Justice,” Institute on White Collar Crime, ABA (March 7, 2024)
- “Promoting Women as Lead Counsel: the Role of the Bench, In-House Counsel, and the Media,” Daily Journal, 2023
- Panelist, "Enforcement Hot Topics: COVID Fraud, Government Contracting Fraud, and More," NACDL 2022 West Coast White Collar Conference (June 16, 2022)
- Co-Presenter, "Challenging Discrimination in the Courtroom," Annual CJA Panel Training (May 21, 2022)
- Panelist, "Taking the Steps to Federal Court: Do's and Don'ts of Appearing in Federal Court," FBA-LA Webinar (July 30, 2021)
- Panelist, "Bridgegate and Beyond: Appellate Update for the White Collar Practitioner," ABA White Collar Crime Committee (March 16, 2021)
- Panelist, "From FIFA to NCAA and Varsity Blues: The Trend of Enhanced Enforcement Efforts in Traditionally Self-Regulated Sectors," ABA 2020 Virtual Institute on White Collar Crime (June 10, 2020)
High-Stakes Criminal Defense and Trials:
- Counsel of Record in the U.S. Supreme Court in Shaw v. United States, 137 S. Ct. 462 (2016), involving the bank fraud statute. Obtained certiorari and argued Shaw, which ultimately invalidated the Ninth Circuit's model fraud jury instruction as to requisite intent, as held in United States v. Miller, 953 F.3d 1095 (9th Cir. 2020), a case Kori supervised.
- Co-lead trial counsel for the decorated former USC water polo coach in his five-week, high-profile "Varsity Blues" trial in Boston. Secured pre-trial dismissal of the lead RICO charge and won the post-trial motion for new trial.
- Lead trial counsel for the co-founder and president of healthcare technology startup Outcome Health in a high-profile 10-week Chicago federal criminal trial, and parallel SEC civil suit, alleging a $1 billion fraud scheme, following which the Court praised the advocacy in the case as "unparalleled," and "nothing short of extraordinary," noting: "in 45 years I haven't seen a performance like this, ever." Obtained a non-custodial sentence in the face of life exposure.
- Lead trial counsel for the CEO and founder of telehealth startup Done, in a seven-week, first-of-its-kind federal criminal trial in San Francisco alleging healthcare fraud and drug trafficking conspiracies.
- Counsel for the CEO and founder of Insys Therapeutics in a closely-watched federal criminal prosecution alleging violations of RICO for the marketing and distribution of an FDA-approved cancer medication.
- Co-lead trial counsel in a landmark criminal prosecution under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, obtaining mid-trial dismissal following first-impression litigation over the statute.
- Co-lead trial counsel for an aerospace expert in a high-profile NASA embezzlement case deemed by the Court to be “among the most complicated, if not the most complicated case I've ever heard in 37 years.” Obtained a no-custody, no-restitution, tax-count disposition and dismissal of all other charges after a multi-week preliminary hearing, following which the Court praised the "topnotch" and "superb lawyering by Ms. Bell" and co-counsel, calling the result "a testament to their abilities."
- Co-lead counsel for the tax agent in the high-profile public corruption case involving the former Los Angeles County Assessor. Obtained the dismissal on appeal of two cases charging dozens of counts, a final dismissal of one case when it was recharged on remand, and a no-custody disposition in the second case.
- Lead trial counsel in a firearms case, obtaining acquittal despite the client’s two full confessions to law enforcement.
- Lead counsel in a counterfeit currency case, obtaining dismissal on the eve of trial following litigation over the constitutionality of the search.
- Lead counsel in a high-profile cross-border “pump-and-dump” market-manipulation conspiracy case, obtaining a time-served sentence after motion practice exposing government misconduct.
- Counsel for a prominent physician and owner of cancer-treatment facility in enforcement proceedings brought by the Attorney General's office for a state Medical Board, securing a finding of no violation.
- Lead California counsel for a prominent Texas developer and reality TV star in connection with high-profile charges of felony sexual assault. Obtained a no-bill of the Texas charges, a no-custody California misdemeanor, and early termination of probation and dismissal of the conviction.
Complex Civil Litigation and Trials:
- Trial counsel for Netflix in its successful defense of a patent infringement case, largely defeating claims that sought approximately $300 million in damages.
- Trial counsel for the NCAA in a high-profile month-long trial arising from sanctions against USC related to star running back Reggie Bush, obtaining a complete defense verdict. The Court called the advocacy in the case "the best I've seen since I've been a judge."
- Trial counsel for plaintiff, the producer of a global television sensation, in its successful arbitration of a high-stakes breach of contract and intellectual property infringement case, terminating the defendant’s exclusive distribution rights.
- Represented a prominent actress in her federal retaliation suit arising out of her blockbuster hit film.
- Represented a global leading steel plant producer in federal trade secret litigation in Pennsylvania.
- Represented plaintiff developer Colonies Partners, L.P. and its managing partner in a novel civil rights suit brought after client's full acquittal on public corruption charges, securing a historic $65 million settlement from the County of San Bernardino.
- Represented FedEx Ground Package System in $600 million federal civil lawsuits brought by New York alleging shipment of contraband cigarettes.
- Represented a global pharmaceutical company in multi-plaintiff products liability suits in Missouri state court over its blockbuster statin.
- Represented a Qatari travel conglomerate before the district court and the Ninth Circuit in a suit alleging violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
- Represented counterclaimants in a putative class action involving alleged trade secret violations and violations of the Federal Wiretap Act.
- Represented billionaire family in cross-border disputes involving a range of sectors—including automotive, oil and specialty chemicals, banking and finance, cyber security, healthcare, and real estate.
- Counsel of Record in the U.S. Supreme Court for amici curiae Asian-American civil rights organizations in support of respondent in FBI v. Fikre, involving a challenge to the “No-Fly” List.
Investigations:
- Represented a global television network in internal investigations involving allegations of unlawful kickbacks and surreptitious recording, conducting the investigations in Spanish.
- Represented a Fortune 100 company in an internal investigation into the CEO’s leadership, including mismanagement, mishandling of the Company’s relationship with regulators, and claims of sexual harassment and assault.
- Represented a global financial institution in a DOJ white-collar healthcare fraud investigation.
- Represented a prominent director in studio’s internal investigation into allegations of sexual assault, obtaining a finding that the allegations were unsubstantiated.
*Kori advised on certain matters prior to joining Willkie.
Credentials
Education
Yale Law School, J.D., 2003 Swarthmore College, B.A., 1998
Bar Admissions
Court Admissions
United States Supreme Court United States Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit United States Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit United States District Court, Central District of California United States District Court, Northern District of California United States District Court, Southern District of New York United States District Court, District of Massachusetts United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois Supreme Court of New York United States District Court, District of Minnesota