company , seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages and a permanent restraining order .
Our client provides us with a copy of his contract with the production company and a copy of the lawsuit . The contract clearly prevents our client from disparaging , competing , or disclosing anything about the production unless and until the production company gives him advance permission in writing . We contact the lawyer representing the production company . She advises us that , on at least on two separate occasions , a cease-and-desist letter was sent to our client both by e-mail and regular mail . Our client tells us that he never received any such letter and suggests that it went to an email address he no longer uses . After conferring with the production company ' s attorney and then again with our client , however , we learn that the letters were sent to and received by the appropriate person at the correct physical and email addresses .
An arbitration in Orange County , California has been set . We strongly advise our client to settle as quickly as possible . Alas , he responded that he “ will not settle . I want to fight this .” We file an answer and continue our dialogue with the attorney for the production company . We also doggedly insist to our client that we cannot win this arbitration , and it will be in his best interest settle . Our client is unpersuaded .
The production company ’ s attorney advises us that if our client signs a settlement agreement , the company will keep the judgment but never file it . Therefore , he loses nothing other than his ego and the knowledge that if he changes his mind and chooses to disparage the production once again , he will be in for a serious financial disaster . Finally , our client relents . He agrees to settle and tells us while signing the settlement agreement at our final conference , “ I guess if I had listened to you guys earlier , I would have saved a lot of money , time , stress and aggravation .” He was correct .
Scenario 2 : A lovely lady of 91 makes an appointment . It seems that she is the bestknown individual jewel thief in the world . She would like to have her life made into a major motion picture and , at the same time , wants a large cash infusion . But she has a problem : she has already entered into life-rights agreements with several different production companies . Our client has no money and no means to compensate us , so we agree to take the case on a contingent fee basis .
We immediately contact the attorney for one of the would-be production companies , a subsidiary of a major film studio , that is financially able to produce the film . Fortunately , that company does not appear to be completely dissuaded from making the film given that the other grants of life rights are accounted for . Unfortunately , we only heard back one time : a phone call indicating that their lawyer would be in touch . We nonetheless continue to work to convince the company that our client ’ s life story should be in film .
We also exchange correspondence with another one of the production companies . This company apparently harassed our client while she was in intensive care at Northside Hospital , coercing her into signing away her rights .
IN THE PROFESSION
Scenario 3 : We represent one of the owners of a production company . As the story goes far too often , there was no written partnership agreement between our client and her then partner . Undaunted , they decided to move forward with a web series . Production , principal photography , and editing have all taken place .
Our client and her partner now have major disagreements . We spend countless hours working with the attorney for the other partner trying to negotiate a resolution . Sadly , the relationship is irreparably broken , and the production is shelved .
Conclusion : I have had the pleasure of representing celebrities , TV personalities and the like , who I do not feel comfortable mentioning by name , all which makes my specialty in the field of entertainment law diverse and sometimes exciting . I often draw from my years in “ the business ” and contacts I have developed , all which require knowledge of a variety of legal issues . It is fun , challenging , rewarding and well worth it !
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