Lauren Antonino is a Georgia sports and entertainment lawyer
who has the privilege of serving as General Counsel to Playbook, Inc., a sports
marketing and athlete representation agency with talent nationwide. In this
capacity, Ms. Antonino handles representation and talent agreements,
broadcast agreements with networks such as EPSN, Fox Sports, NFL Network,
ABC and CBS Sports, modeling contracts, reality television show agreements,
and marketing and endorsement engagements, both here in the United States
and in Canada. Ms. Antonino is the principal of the Atlanta-based firm, The
Antonino Firm LLC, which she founded in 2009.
Ms. Antonino is a 1984 magna cum laude graduate of Duke University and a
1987 graduate from The University of Virginia School of Law, where she
served as defense counsel in front of the University’s Honor Board and on the
Editorial Board of the Virginia Tax Review. Following law school, Ms.
Antonino clerked for the Late Honorable M. Oliver Koelsch of the United States
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Ms. Antonino is a member of The American Mensa Society and Phi Beta Kappa.
She appeared for five consecutive years in Georgia’s Super Lawyers listings
and has been listed extensively in numerous Who’s Who publications,
including Who’s Who in American Law, Who’ Who in American Women, and
Who’s Who in America. In 2012 and 2013, Ms. Antonino was recognized as a
member of The Top 100 Trial Lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers
organization. Ms. Antonino presently serves on the Executive Committee for
the National Women Trial Lawyers. Ms. Antonino has also been active as a
member of the Sports Lawyers Association and the Entertainment and Law
Section of the State Bar of Georgia.
Jennifer L. Blackburn, PhD
Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton LLP
Jennifer Blackburn focuses her practice on intellectual property matters in the chemical
industry, including USPTO post-grant proceedings, patent litigation, prosecution, and opinion
work. Dr. Blackburn has experience in a wide range of technologies, including chemistry,
polymers, textiles, materials engineering, medical devices/coatings, agricultural chemicals,
and biotechnology. Dr. Blackburn has substantial experience in USPTO post-grant
proceedings, and subsequent appeals to the Federal Circuit, both successfully attacking the
validity of patents on behalf of third-party requesters and defending patent validity on behalf
of patent owners. She has been involved in ex parte and inter partes reexamination
proceedings, as well as the new inter partes review proceedings. She regularly speaks on
procedural and substantive aspects of inter partes review proceedings.
Karl Braun
Karl Braun has developed his entertainment transactional and litigation practice over the last
20 years with the firm Hall Booth Smith. As a senior shareholder in the firm, Karl opened the
Nashville office almost 13 years ago to expand the entertainment and IP practice areas. In
these capacities, he has served clients in all facets of the entertainment industry. In addition to
his entertainment/IP focus, Karl maintains an active litigation practice in the areas of
professional negligence, family law, transportation, construction and general liability.
Marla Butler
Marla Butler is a Partner in the Intellectual Property and Technology Litigation
practice at Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. and a Fellow of the Litigation
Counsel of America. Ms. Butler has spent more than 15 years litigating and
leading high-stakes intellectual property and patent litigation trials, Markman
hearings, mediations, and arbitrations. Her representations, which have included
critical early case evaluations and assessments, have helped technology clients in
the medical, semiconductor, LCD, networking, and other electronics technology
industries monetize their patent assets and/or defend against lawsuits that
threaten their businesses.
She serves as both Assistant Managing Partner and Hiring Partner for the firm’s
New York office, and has served as a member of the firm's Executive Board. She
also served as the firm’s Diversity Committee Chair from 2008 to 2014.
Overview
Mr. Crownover is the Practice Leader for Dickinson Wright's Entertainment Law practice,
counseling various entertainment and media executives and company owners. He
represents some of the hottest songwriters, publishers and producers in the country as
well as some the most active entrepreneurs in the entertainment and IP sectors in the
South. He works with each client as a “primary care physician” of sorts assisting with
LLC funding deals, real estate sales, asset purchase agreements, recording
agreements, audits, employment agreements as well as tax and wills and trusts
matters.
He is “go-to” counsel for mid-sized publishing companies, indy record labels,
songwriters and artists who own their copyrights, and mid-sized worldwide publishing
administration companies, advising each on licensing, lawsuits, and liability issues
daily. His music clients have sold over 400 million records.
Derek C. Crownover
Member, Music Row
Entertainment Law Practice
Leader
T: 615-577-9602
F: 615-256-8386
[email protected]
Professional Involvement
●
●
●
●
Nashville Bar Association
● Entertainment and Sports Law Section
● Corporate Section
Tennessee Bar Association
● Entertainment and Sports Law Section
Country Music Association, Voting Member (1996-present)
Copyright Society of the South, Member
Areas of Practice
Community Involvement
●
●
●
●
●
●
Media, Sports & Entertainment
Corporate
Information Technology
Real Estate
Estate Planning & Administration
Litigation
●
●
●
●
Education
Auburn University, B.A., 1990
● Academic All-SEC shortstop, 1989
University of Tennessee College of Law, J.D.,
1994
● Founder and President, Sports and
Entertainment Law Society
● Winner, Ray Jenkins Trial Competition
Acknowledgements
●
●
Named a "Best Lawyer in Entertainment
Law," Smith and Naifeh's Best Lawyers
and Best Law Firms, 2009-present
Named a "Super Lawyer," Mid South
Super Lawyers
●
Former adjunct professor of entertainment law at the Curb Music Business
School at Belmont University in Nashville
T.J. Martell Foundation, Nashville Counsel, 1996-present
T.J. Martell Foundation, National Counsel, 2012-present
T.J. Martell Foundation, National Board, 2011-present
Ministry Incubators, Counsel, 2013-present
Licensed to Practice
●
●
Tennessee (all state and federal courts)
New York
Philip Furgang is a founding partner of Furgang & Adwar, LLP. He represents clients
across all areas of intellectual property law, with a special focus on complex patent, trademark,
copyright, and unfair competition matters, including litigation. He leverages his background in
electrical, mechanical, and civil engineering and extensive cross-disciplinary legal experience.
He represents his clients in all other aspects of intellectual property law, including licensing,
litigation, intellectual property evaluation and purchase of major corporate assets, major project
computer systems, advertising agreements, software agreements, non-disclosure “work for hire”
agreements, settlement and release agreements, employment agreements, contracts for the
performance of scientific research and to settle litigation, antitrust, mergers and acquisitions,
transactional work, internet and e-commerce, advertising review, antitrust, and international
transactions.
Mr. Furgang contributes his expertise to bettering the practice of his colleagues in
intellectual property law through publications, lectures, and leadership in professional
organizations. Most recently, he is co-authoring a book on Patent Prosecution (Matthew Bender
2014), an essential text for attorneys interested in securing the strongest patents possible for their
clients’ businesses.
Education
-New York University, School of Law (JD)
-New York University, Polytechnic School of Engineering (BEE)
-Brooklyn College, City University of New York (BA)
Bar Admission:
-United States Supreme Court
-United States Patent and Trademark Office
-Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
-Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
-Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
-Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
-Bar of the State of New York
-United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
He has appeared before the International Trade Commission and pro hac vice before the
United States District Courts of: Arizona, California (Central District), Florida (Southern
District), Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North
Carolina (Eastern District), Pennsylvania (Middle District), Rhode Island, and Utah. He has been
-1-
Michael Grieco is a Miami Beach Criminal Defense Attorney and City Commissioner.
Following his undergraduate career at American University, during which he worked in both the
US Congress and at C-SPAN, he moved to the greater Miami area in 1997. After graduating the
University of Miami School Of Law in 1999, Michael started his legal career as a Miami-Dade
Assistant State Attorney, spending a majority of his six years focused on Gang and Narcotics
enforcement before becoming a supervising Felony Division Chief in 2005.
Michael then opened his law practice in 2007 and has built a successful boutique trial practice
focusing on client care. Grieco has represented multiple celebrities including Micky Rourke,
Jennifer Capriati, NBA's Kenny Anderson, and a several other entertainers and professional
athletes. Michael continues to act as a legal expert on CNN and with multiple print and online
press outlets.
Michael is also perpetual philanthropist, as he has organized and/or acted as title sponsor for
multiple causes including Miami Children’s Museum, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and as well as
both the Mount Sinai and Miami Children’s hospitals.
Mitch Harris maintains a solo practice in Athens, GA, centered around patent acquisition, licensing and
consultation in support of patent litigation, with a focus on electronics and computer systems. A former
partner of Weiss, Moy & Harris, P.C. in Scottsdale and associate at a mid-sized IP boutique in Austin, TX,
he spent 15 years as an electronics designer and software engineer in both the large corporate and
entrepreneurial environments before entering the practice of law.
Carolyn Herman has been the sole owner of her law firm in Jacksonville Beach,
Florida since 1993, practicing almost exclusively in the areas of entertainment,
intellectual property and small business law. Her clients include musicians,
songwriters, record labels, music publishers, film producers, actors, authors,
illustrators, and visual artists. Prior to moving to Florida, Ms. Herman was a
commercial litigator and an Administrative Law Judge in her native City of New
York. She is currently a member of the Mayor’s Film Advisory Board (City of
Jacksonville), a member of the American Bar Association’s Entertainment and
Sports Law Forum and the Intellectual Property Law Section, pro bono counsel to
the Beaches Hospitality Network, and a pro bono mediator for the Fourth Circuit
Small Claims Mediation program. She is a former Chair of the Entertainment, Arts &
Sports Law Section of the Florida Bar and continues to serve on its Executive
Council. She is also a former member of the Board of Governors of the National
Academy of Arts & Sciences (Florida Chapter), President of the Florida Motion
Picture and Television Association (Northeast Chapter), and Chair, Entertainment
Law Section, Jacksonville Bar Association. Ms. Herman is a graduate of Cornell
University (B.S.), Fordham Law School (J.D.) and George Washington University
National Law Center (LL.M. in Administrative Law and Economic Regulation). She
retired in 2013 after fifteen years as a Professor of Professional Skills at Florida
Coastal School of Law, having taught on a regular basis Entertainment Law,
Intellectual Property Survey, Advanced Trademark and Copyright (Skills), Torts,
Trust & Estates, Law Practice Management, and Florida Practice and Procedure. Ms.
Herman has spoken at numerous Entertainment Law Continuing Legal Education
seminars and is the founder of the Independent Film & the Law Seminar held in
conjunction with the Jacksonville Film Festival.
MICHAEL D. HOBBS, JR.
A partner in the Atlanta intellectual property practice group of Troutman Sanders, Mike is actively involved
in counseling clients on intellectual property matters and is engaged in intellectual property registration,
licensing and litigation throughout the United States and internationally.
Mike is a past president of the
Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of Georgia and a frequent speaker and writer on intellectual
property issues. He has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for Intellectual Property, selected
as a Super Lawyer by Law & Politics and Atlanta Magazine for Intellectual Property Law, named to Georgia
Trend magazine’s Legal Elite in intellectual property and is listed as one of America's Leading Lawyers for
Intellectual Property by Chambers USA.
1954624v2
Atlanta01 1954624v2
--KIMBERLY D. KOLBACK is a Florida Bar Board Certified
Intellectual Property Lawyer and corporate attorney specializing
in the entertainment, arts, sports and leisure industries, with
offices in Miami, FL. Ms Kolback represents local, national and
international promoters, musicians, artists, authors, producers,
athletes, agents and designers, in addition to private and
public entertainment and leisure entities and institutions. She
is also the owner of TheTrademarkTeam.net, an internet trademark
and copyright registration website.
Larry H. Kunin
Bio
Larry Kunin is a partner in Morris, Manning & Martin’s Litigation practice and serves as Chair
of the firm's Data Security and Breach practice. Mr. Kunin concentrates in business, technology
and intellectual property litigation and consultation.
Mr. Kunin is active in both the Georgia and Florida Bars, including:
• Current the Chair of the Computer & Technology Law Committee of the Business Law
Section of the Florida Bar
• Appointed by the President of the Florida Bar to serve on a Special Committee on
Technology/Law Office Management.
• Member of the Florida Bar Business Law Section Executive Council
• Member of the Florida Bar Out-of-State Practitioner Division Executive Council.
• Past Chair, Technology Section Litigation Committee, State Bar of Georgia
• Member, Electronic Discovery and Digital Evidence Committee of the ABA
• Founding Member of Georgia Bar eDiscovery Section
Thomas R. Leavens Bio:
Thomas Leavens is a partner in the law firm Leavens, Strand, & Glover, LLC. Tom’s career as an attorney
has involved transactions, counseling, and litigation in all areas of performing, visual, and literary
expression, new media, intellectual property, and technology.
Prior to forming Leavens, Strand, & Glover, LLC, Tom was General Counsel for LRSmedia, LLC, a media
production and brand development company, whose initial project was the PBS television series
LEGENDS OF JAZZ with Ramsey Lewis. His responsibilities there included general business management,
development of business models, artist and other talent agreements, publishing and record company
clearance, distribution agreements, business development, union agreements, and intellectual property
protection. Prior to joining LRS, Tom was General Counsel for MusicNow LLC, a pioneer digital music
company that commercially launched a subscription music service, webcasting, and the sale of music
downloads in 2002.
Tom has also served as General Counsel and Senior Executive Vice President of Platinum Entertainment,
Inc., a public company which grew from its formation in 1992 to become at one point the largest USbased independent record company. While there he also served as executive producer of various
recording and television projects, and compiled and produced 16 House of Blues Essential Blues
recordings released by the company under its joint venture with HOB Entertainment. Prior to Platinum
Tom was a partner with the law firm McBride, Baker & Coles in Chicago, where he chaired the firm's
intellectual property department.
Tom was the first recipient of the Thomas R. Leavens Award, presented by Lawyers For The Creative
Arts, for contributions to law and the arts in Chicago, was the recipient of the David C. Hilliard Award,
presented by the Chicago Bar Association for Outstanding Committee Service to the Legal Profession
and Community, and has served as an elected member of the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar
Association, the Board of Directors of the Digital Media Association, and the National Recording
Preservation Board of the Library of Congress. Tom is also an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern
University School of Law and at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah, an Associate
with The Henry Lydiate Partnership in London, the premiere arts consultancy in the UK, a voting
member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and a member of the Authors Guild.
Tom has also served as an expert witness in litigation concerning issues pertaining to the music industry.
Tom has also received the highest AV Peer Review Rating from the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, is
included in The Best Lawyers in America, is ranked in Band 1 in Media & Entertainment: Transactional by
Chambers and Partners, and has been named as a SuperLawyer.
Tom is the author of the book MUSIC LAW FOR THE GENERAL PRACTITIONER, published by the American
Bar Association in 2013.
Johnna A. Lee is an associate at the Atlanta, GA based law firm, Cohen, Cooper, Estep & Allen, LLC, where her practice
focuses on transactional Entertainment Law and Criminal Defense. Her entertainment practice includes representation of
recording artists, songwriters, recording companies, music publishers, on-camera meteorologists, models, and reality show
participants. She also handles trademark and copyright matters. Johnna also represents clients facing criminal charges,
many of whom are members of the entertainment industry.
In her spare time, Johnna is an avid sports fan (especially of UGA football—Go DAWGS), loves good music, and enjoys
fitness, cooking, good wine, and good food. She is a passionate yoga practitioner, a pretty good cook, and an awful (but
determined) guitar and mandolin player.
Paul LiCalsi is a seasoned litigator with a particular concentration in entertainment and media. He has
represented many leading entertainment and media institutions and individuals, including Apple Corps
Limited (The Beatles) Taylor Swift, Sir Elton John, Billy Joel, Dominic Dunne and the American Society of
Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). His experience includes copyright, trademark, Internet
rights, enforcement of personal services contracts, contract and commercial disputes, rights of publicity,
and unfair competition.
Cliff Lovette, Esq.
Cliff has practiced entertainment law, digital media, and Internet law, representing recording
artists, record companies, motion picture producers, digital media agencies for over 30 years.
During the 90's, Cliff was Senior Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs of LaFace Records,
reporting to multi-Grammy producers Antonio "LA" Reid (President of Arista) and Kenny
"Babyface" Edmonds.
Cliff founded Lovette Entertainment Law Group, a firm servicing various entertainment clients
such as Usher, Organized Noize Productions, The Estate of Lisa Lopes and Fathom Studios.
Prior to working at LaFace, Cliff was a senior associate of the entertainment law firm, Katz,
Smith & Cohen.
Cliff's specialties include creating and running in-house legal affairs departments. He is currently
General Counsel at Macquarium, Inc., an agency specializing in user experience design, and was
also General Counsel at Definition 6, an award-winning digital media marketing agency.
Cliff graduated from Emory Law School in 1982.
Michael Olsen, Esq. –
Michael Olsen is President of Entertainment One Nashville. Entertainment eOne markets
over 150 feature films a year including the Twilight Saga, Silver Linings Playbook, and the
Hunger Games. eOne currently produces over 30 television series worldwide including Mary,
Mary, The Sheard’s, Hell on Wheels, Haven and Rookie Blue. eOne Music debuted more than
30 albums in the Billboard Top 200 in the past year.
ESIP 2014 Bio – Hillel I. Parness
Hillel I. Parness is a highly-experienced commercial litigator and trial attorney and the founding member
of Parness Law Firm, PLLC (www.hiplaw.com), where he focuses on commercial and intellectual
property litigation. From July through November 2014, Hillel also served as Acting Head of Litigation for
Warner Music Group. Since 2002, Hillel has served on the Adjunct Faculty of Columbia Law School,
where he teaches Internet and intellectual property topics.
Over the course of his career, Hillel has represented a broad spectrum of domestic and international
companies and individuals in a variety of industries. His clients have included major financial
institutions, rapid-growth and technology-leveraged enterprises, and large entertainment and media
companies. In particular, Hillel has substantial experience assisting clients with issues arising from the
intersection of emerging technology, media and the Internet, as well as matters arising from the
complex business activities of both traditional and Internet-based businesses.
Hillel received his J.D. from Columbia Law School and his A.B. from Columbia College in 1995, through
the Accelerated Interdisciplinary Legal Education program.
email: [email protected] ♦ cell: 646-526-8261 ♦ office: 212-447-5299 (212-HIPLAWZ)
Chip Petree – Bio
Chip Petree opened the Nashville office of Ritholz Levy in June 2014 as a partner in the firm’s
Entertainment Group after a decade heading up his own law practice, Petree Law. As a practitioner
specializing in transactional work in the music and entertainment industries, Chip represents a diverse
group of individuals and companies in all areas of the entertainment industry, including #1 songwriters,
critically acclaimed and chart-topping recording artists, record producers, independent music publishers,
new media service providers, and on-air television talent. In addition to his own law practice, since its
inception in 2004 Chip has also served as General Manager for Copyright Exchange, LLC, a consulting
and brokerage firm that specialized in the buying and selling of copyright catalogs. Through his law
practice and Copyright Exchange, Chip has closed over thirty catalog sales worth over $70 million and
has established himself as a leader and authority on the catalog market.
Chip began his career in as a lawyer in two boutique entertainment law practices in Nashville, and he has
spent two years practicing technology law at a major international law firm in Silicon Valley. Chip has
also served in the in-house legal departments at the RIAA, BMG Entertainment and CBS Cable/MTV
Networks, where he was primary counsel to CMT.
Chip is a 1993 graduate of Davidson College and a 1997 graduate of the Wake Forest University School
of Law. He is a member of NARAS/The Recording Academy, Academy of Country Music, AIMP,
Country Music Association, Copyright Society of the South, Nashville Bar Association (and its Sports
and Entertainment Law Committee), and Leadership Music (Board Member).
0027913
Josh Pond
Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton LLP
Josh Pond is a registered patent attorney who focuses his practice on intellectual property
counseling, including all aspects of patent litigation and portfolio strategy. He has experience
with pre-suit investigations, district court Markman hearings and jury trials, and International
Trade Commission (ITC) investigations and trials. Josh also counsels clients on patent portfolio
development and acquisition, patent licensing and negotiations, as well as patent prosecution and
validity challenges before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Josh has an active post-grant
practice, including prevailing for his clients through final determinations on two inter partes
reviews; both proceedings are now in appeals to the Federal Circuit, which Josh is also
handling. Josh studied Mechanical Engineering and Political Science at Stanford University, law
at Georgetown University, and was an artillery officer in the United States Marine Corps.
Brian Roof
Mr. Roof serves as General Counsel in the Business & Legal Affairs department for CSE, a full-service,
integrated sports, marketing, and entertainment agency, with expertise in client representation,
television development and production, corporate marketing, sponsorship, promotional, experiential,
digital, and media services.
Mr. Roof has extensive experience in negotiating employment and endorsement agreements for talent
in print, radio, television, internet and other electronic related media and in representing CSE's NBA and
NCAA coaches. Mr. Roof has negotiated contracts for clients such as Doc Rivers, Kevin McHale, Mark
Richt, John Smoltz, Ernie Johnson Jr. and Hines Ward.
Mr. Roof works with brands such as Aflac, AT&T, Coca-Cola and Kellogg to ensure proper compliance
with FTC regulations and other applicable state and federal laws relating to their advertising and
marketing campaigns, including in social media, and in securing appropriate third party intellectual
property rights.
In addition, Mr. Roof serves as the General Counsel for the Justice Network, a multicast broadcast
television network that will deliver crime and investigation programming to U.S. households, with a
launch date of January 2015.
Henry W. Root
Lapidus, Root, Franklin & Sacharow, LLP
1299 Ocean Avenue, Suite 306
Santa Monica, California 90401
Main: (310) 395-6800 X104
Direct: (310) 395-3313
Main Fax: 310-393-7777
Email: [email protected]
Henry W. Root is a partner in the entertainment media firm of Lapidus, Root, Franklin &
Sacharow, LLP. He has over 30 years of legal and business affairs experience in the music, television and
media industries. He began his legal career at MCA Records, Inc. after several years of working with top
internally renowned recording artists as a tour manager and lighting designer. Mr. Root has
represented recording artists signed to nearly every major label as well as award-winning songwriters
and producers, independent music publishers, record labels and the principal cast members of several
reality TV series. Root has also overseen business and legal affairs for the delivery of programming to
every major network as well as for distribution on the internet.
Mr. Root’s practice is concentrated on providing sophisticated advice to sophisticated clients
and the negotiation of complex content agreements and related strategic planning. He provides
counseling and guidance as to applicable copyright law in the digital media space, including analysis of
complex rights acquisition and licensing issues.
His current clients include a major banking institution in connection with collateralized lending
activities in the music industries, a leading internet service provider producing original programming, a
major shoe manufacturer in the area of branded entertainment, and a major cable television network.
Mr. Root is currently a member of the Governing Committee of the American Bar Association
Forum Committee on the Sports and Entertainment Industries, for which he previously chaired the
Music & Personal Appearances Division for six years. Root is a former officer and director of the
California Copyright Conference and a founding member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of
Interactive Arts and Sciences. He is a frequent panelist and lecturer on music, media and internet legal
issues. He is also on the Executive Board of the Entertainment Law Initiative, a nationwide essay writing
contest for law students, which is co-sponsored by NARAS (the Recording Academy) and the ABA. He is a
contributing author to the Matthew-Bender publication "Entertainment Industry Contracts: Drafting and
Negotiating Guide" and subject of the two part series published in the Entertainment and Sports Law
Reporter titled "Obtaining Rights to Artists and Content for Use in Music-Driven Television Productions."
Root was also selected for inclusion in the 2005, 2007, 2010, and 2011 Southern California editions of
Super Lawyers. He volunteers his time as a member of the Board of Directors of Project Echo, an annual
high school business plan competition, for which he also serves annually as a judge of the competition.
Dan Santos:
Since 1995, Dan has worked as a patent attorney focusing primarily on patent
application drafting and prosecution in the arts of computers, software, electronics,
telecommunications, mobile phones, and optics. His background is in electrical
engineering. He also counsels clients on patent validity, infringement, freedom to
practice and design around issues. He has experience in intellectual property litigation,
arbitration and mediation. He has published articles on various intellectual property
issues including means-plus-function claiming, patenting of computer-related inventions
and inequitable conduct/duty of disclosure. He is a former patent examiner. He has
participated in many intellectual property seminars and workshops over the years as a
panelist and as a moderator.
Charlotte Towne, Esq.
Charlotte Towne, P.A.
954-306-6624
[email protected]
Charlotte Towne, Esq. is an entertainment and intellectual property attorney who devotes her
practice to the representation of passionate and talented individuals and businesses.
Ms. Towne’s law firm, Charlotte Towne, P.A., is a South Florida based boutique entertainment
and intellectual property law firm located in Dania Beach. The law firm of Charlotte Towne, P.A.
handles every aspect of music, art, fashion, internet, copyright,
and trademark law ranging from drafting and negotiating
contracts and licensing matters to litigating complex breach of
contract, copyright infringement, and trademark infringement
matters. Ms. Towne was selected as a Florida Super Lawyers
2014 Rising Star in Entertainment and Sports Law.
Ms. Towne received her Bachelor of Music degree in Music
Business and Entertainment Industries from the University of
Miami. Charlotte continued her focus on entertainment, the
arts, and intellectual property while attending and earning her
law degree from Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad
Law Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Before opening the law office of Charlotte Towne, P.A., Ms.
Towne lived and worked in Los Angeles where she earned two film credits: Music Supervisor for
the feature film “Window Theory” and Music Coordinator for the feature film “Dark Streets.”
She also managed an extensive music publishing catalogue dealing with licensing, copyright
administration, collection of royalties, and international music publishing matters for a Los
Angeles based music producer, songwriter, film music supervisor, and film music composer.
Ms. Towne is licensed to practice in the state of Florida and the U.S. District Court Southern
District of Florida. She has been an active member of the Florida Bar Entertainment, Arts and
Sports Law section (EASL), serving on its Executive Council for many years.
Tim Warnock is a member of Riley Warnock & Jacobson, PLC. He is certified in
Tennessee as a civil trial specialist by the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal
Education and Specialization and is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
He is a former Chair of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Sports & Entertainment Law
Section and of the Nashville Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Law and Sports &
Entertainment Law Committees. He is currently a Co-Chair of the Nashville Bar
Association Entertainment, Sports & Media Law Committee and an alumnus of
Leadership Music.
Alyson L. Wooten, PharmD
Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton LLP
Alyson Wooten focuses her practice on patent litigation, inter partes and ex parte patent
reexamination proceedings, and inter partes review proceedings. Registered as a patent attorney
and pharmacist, Dr. Wooten has broad experience litigating patents in many different technical
areas including electronics, medical devices and pharmaceuticals and has handled numerous
patent reexamination proceedings and inter partes reviews before the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office. Dr. Wooten is an active member of Kilpatrick Townsend’s Reexam and Inter Partes
Disputes Team. Dr. Wooten was recognized in 2014 and the three years immediately
preceding as a Georgia "Rising Star" in the area of Intellectual Property Litigation by
SuperLawyers magazine.
Claire Zovko
Claire M. Zovko serves as of-counsel to the Buckner Sports Law firm on issues relating to global sport,
intercollegiate athletics and sports law. She has assisted with sports law appeals, contractual matters, and
negotiations for FIBA, NBA, WNBA players/agents/coaches, a sport federation (before the Court of
Arbitration for Sport), Olympic athletes and NCAA student-athletes. Ms. Zovko also is the founder of
Sports Law Chat, which is a Twitter chat dedicated to informed discussions on relevant topics of sports
law. Currently, she teaches International and Comparative Sports Law with the Instituto Superior de
Derecho y Economia on the campus of St. John's University School of Law within the International
LL.M. program, the Globalization of Sport at the University of Miami, and co-teaches the Olympic
Games & the Law at the University of Miami School of Law.
Ms. Zovko has worked with the NBA’s Seattle Supersonics/Oklahoma City Thunder, the WNBA’s
Seattle Storm and the University of Miami athletics compliance office. Ms. Zovko also has traveled
abroad as a teaching assistant for international sports law programs in Florence, Italy; Lausanne,
Switzerland; and London, England during the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Ms. Zovko serves as a board member of Sports Leadership. She is an active member of the Sports
Lawyers Association.
Ms. Zovko received a B.A. in Business Administration and a Mathematics minor from Pacific Lutheran
University, where she played collegiate basketball, and a J.D. from the University of Miami School of
Law. A native of Seattle, Ms. Zovko is licensed to practice law in Florida and based in Miami. You can
follow her on Twitter @clairezovko where she tweets often on sports business and law.
James G. Zumwalt
James “Jim” Zumwalt is an equity partner of Shackelford, Zumwalt & Hayes, LLP, in the Firm’s
Nashville office with his practice concentrating in entertainment and media law and has practicing
nationally and internationally for 39+ years. He is a graduate of the Leadership Music Program and
has served on the Leadership Music Board of Directors; he formerly served as President of the
Leadership Music Alumni Association. Mr. Zumwalt is a voting member of the National Academy of
Recording Arts and Sciences and has served on the Board of Governors.
For over twenty five years, Mr. Zumwalt has regularly lectured on entertainment industry topics at
various Universities and Conferences. Jim’s clients include record labels, television production
companies, independent film companies, publishing companies, recording artists, music producers,
television and film personalities, authors and composers, banks and telecommunications.
server/jzpersonal/zumwaltlongbiorevised/7-20-04