Entertainment & Sports Law Society
HOLDS UNIQUE CAREER SEMINAR
A panel discussion about career opportunities in this highly specialized field becomes a conversation. Industry Night: Breaking into Sports and Entertainment Law features alumni, faculty, and other industry leaders who described what it’s like to spend a day in their shoes.
At Seton Hall Law
November 4, 2009
It took place during the sixth game of the World Series on November 4. But the Entertainment and Sports Law Society (ESLS)welcomed a standing-room only crowd for an intimate discussion between the movers and shakers of the sports and entertainment industries, and the students who desire to be in those positions in the future.
ESLS President Krista Lynn Peckyno ’11 kicked off the discussion, in which speakers and students sat shoulder-to-shoulder at a large table.
Michael Gold, Sr. Counsel at the National Hockey League, spoke about what it’s like to work in-house for a major sports league, noting that, “Every day is different. Some days are filled drafting and negotiating contracts, others I feel like I am cleaning up a lot of messes.” As an in-house attorney, he see his job as ensuring his organization’s actions are methodically planned and executed from a legal standpoint.
Ronald Bienstock, founder/partner of Bienstock & Michael, P.C. which recently won a landmark ruling in favor of 17 guitar manufacturers over the Fender guitar company, spoke of creating his own law firm and what he specifically looks for in hiring associates at his firm. “I get hundreds of resumes every year from students saying: ‘I took Copyright, I can be a great asset to you!’ What they don’t understand is that it is a major investment for me to hire a new person, and they don’t know everything. It takes a special kind of person to work in entertainment law, and it is similar to being an artist. You shouldn’t be in this particular kind of law unless you can’t imagine doing anything else. Your passion, your determination to work in this field, is what I look for. I look for someone who can’t live without practicing entertainment law.”
Andrew Fisher, former Senior Writer at NBC-Universal, discussed his experience as a non-attorney working with attorneys in the arts: how a lawyer interacts with a writer to edit content that will eventually be shown on the air.
Bill Campbell ’94, Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs at Sony Music Entertainment, detailed his route from Seton Hall Law to Sony Music, and how he took lower-level jobs in the company at first just to “break in” to the industry, eventually becoming Sony’s Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs. He also spoke about his recent decision to leave Sony Music to work as Director of Digital Music Development for Universal Music Group.
Professor Brenda Saunders Hampden, Seton Hall Law Professor and Faculty Advisor to ESLS, concluded the discussion by reminding students of how the externship program in entertainment law provided students with remarkable opportunities by working with attorneys and executives at any one of the law school’s entertainment partners— such as Warner Brothers Music, Sony-BMG Music, Universal Music Group, or MTV Business and Legal Affairs. All of the speakers emphasized the importance of networking at every possible moment— and each speaker had a personal story of how networking out of the office ultimately led to a future opportunity.
To learn more about the event, visit the ESLS student blog at http://shulawesls.blogspot.com.
