Best Lawyers in California, United States for Entertainment and Sports Law
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Vincent H. Chieffo is an entertainment and media litigator with significant trial and appellate experience. His practice also includes entertainment transactional work. His litigation experience encompasses disputes throughout the entertainment business, including those involving copyright and trademark infringement, right of publicity, defamation, the rights of estates and heirs in copyrights and other entertainment assets, idea submission, royalties and participations, and distribution and ...
Michael Kump is a problem solver who fights tenaciously to protect his clients’ valuable intellectual property and contractual rights. Representing plaintiffs and defendants in a broad and sophisticated litigation practice for over thirty-five years, Mr. Kump has extensive experience and success inside and outside the courtroom in all aspects of intellectual property, entertainment, contract, trade secrets, and antitrust litigation. He represents a wide array of corporate and individual...
Bonnie E. Eskenazi is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation, Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television, Entertainment Law - Music and Litigation - Intellectual Property. Bonnie E., who practices law in Los Angeles, California, has been recognized since 2007. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Bonnie E. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal pract...
Representing clients in a variety of commercial sectors, Sophia Yen counsels both lenders and borrowers in debt financing transactions. She also advises entertainment industry clients on debt and equity finance deals, as well as other transactional matters. As lender’s counsel, Sophia advises financial institutions in transactions that include single-lender and syndicated senior-secured, second-lien, mezzanine and unsecured acquisition and working capital loans; cross-border lending tra...
Ivy Kagan Bierman’s practice includes the representation of entertainment and related companies in labor, production, distribution, technology and other business matters. She handles both transactional and litigation matters for clients. Ivy is one of a select few entertainment industry labor lawyers looked to for representation in guild and union matters by film and television production companies, digital companies and networks, cable networks, public broadcasting companies, distribut...
Gary Gilbert, a leader in the music industry, concentrates his practice in the area of music transactions. His clients include renowned performers, including Jackson Browne, Death Cab for Cutie, Rick James Estate, B.B. King Estate, George Thorogood, Pat Benatar, Dixie Chicks, Wynonna Judd, Michael McDonald, Sara Evans, Peter Frampton, Jennifer Nettles, George Benson, k.d. lang, Lyle Lovett and several alumni from American Idol . He has been recognized as a “Top Music Lawyer” by Bi...
Jeremy S. Goldman is a partner in the Litigation Group and Co-Chair of the Emerging Technology Group, focusing on intellectual property, entertainment, media, privacy, technology, and commercial law. Jeremy is an accomplished media and entertainment litigator, focusing on copyright, trademark, privacy, intermediary liability, right of publicity, First Amendment, and business disputes. Jeremy draws on his sophisticated understanding of law, technology and industry, along with creative problem-...
Kristen Spanier is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television. Kristen, who practices law in Los Angeles, California, has been recognized since 2020. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Kristen is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
John V. Berlinski is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation, Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television and Litigation - Intellectual Property. John V., who practices law in Los Angeles, California, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which John V. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Ron Nessim has been lead trial counsel in numerous civil and criminal trials and arbitrations. He has argued numerous appeals in both federal and state courts, including in the United States Supreme Court, and has been at the center of numerous precedent-setting, high-profile entertainment, commercial and white-collar criminal law cases. His clients value his attention to detail, ability to think strategically, tenacity and his trial skills. Prior to joining Bird Marella, he served as an Assi...
Jacqueline C. Charlesworth is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Copyright Law and Entertainment Law - Music. Jacqueline C., who practices law in Los Angeles, California, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Jacqueline C. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Suann C. MacIsaac is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation and Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television. Suann C., who practices law in Los Angeles, California, has been recognized since 2018. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Suann C. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Jason Karlov is the Entertainment, Media and Sports Practice Group Chair at Barnes & Thornburg. He represents a variety of clients in the music, entertainment, live events, advertising and technology industries. Client highlights include individuals, such as Bob Dylan, as well as institutions that work and invest in entertainment and technology, including such well-known brands as, Feld Entertainment, UrbanOne, Twitch, Beachbody and throughout the Olympic Movement since 1998, He also acts...
Andrew Hurwitz is a partner and Co-Chair of the Entertainment Group at Frankfurt Kurnit and a founding partner of the firm’s Los Angeles office. He represents award-winning entertainment talent and owners of intellectual property and is widely considered one of the nation’s top film and television industry lawyers. Mr. Hurwitz provides a full range of transactional and advisory services to clients in the motion picture, television, and digital rights businesses. He has negotiated ...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.