Entertainment Law Forum

[alecks]

don't kill me, I don't even know if this is the right place for this... I'm trying to realistically consider whether going to law school for entertainment law is worth it, mainly if anyone has had success / knows a guy who has had success / knows a guy who failed miserably. I've been working in my chosen entertainment law field (music) for a while, and I know a lot of music lawyers / am pretty well connected for my age / experience level. It's certainly possible I could network my way into a job upon graduation, but I also am not sure I would be happy if I ended up working outside of the music industry (a few years I could probably deal, but what if I never made it back???) I know that nobody gets entertainment law jobs out of law school, etc. etc, but still. and I know, don't go to school if you only want to work in entertainment law, etc. I'm considering taking a full ride at a lower rank school to minimize risk as well.

also if there is another industry where band agreements are necessary maybe I can also try and work there, haha.

[kalvano]

I had a class in school from a local lawyer that does "entertainment law" and it's basically transactional contract work. There are jobs out there, but they are very few and far between and require contacts and a lot of luck to get into. I definitely wouldn't go to school just work in entertainment law, and I for damn sure wouldn't go if I was going to limit myself to music only. Most of what he did was trademarks and copyright stuff, with a lot of contract review and drafting.

[Finnick]

If you go to school in the Los Angeles area, there are opportunities there. From what I've been told the production studios and music companies have good summer internships programs (some paid). As far as securing a job, I'm not sure. I've just been told that networking is key.

[cloy26]

For most of us commoners, entertainment law isn't something that's going to pay the bills. I've had the opportunity to speak with a handful of different lawyers practicing in the field and who happen to save some fairly famous clients -- they still have supplemental work. The way it was explained to me was that entertainment law is for fun, but crim/appellate pays the bills.

I've played in bands all my life and I originally wanted to do entertainment law, too. Not saying it's impossible, especially with the music industry morphing into the direct band-fan relationship as opposed to the big record companies, but it's tough. If you're already in the industry (I don't know what that entails), you seem to have a leg up, so use it to your advantage. Also, depending on where you want to practice (ie. what scene) depends on where you should go. Of course you have the UCLA, California schools for that market, the new york market, the south fla (UM) market, and the Tennessee market for music row (Vandy).