Entertainment Law Forum

[0LFTW]

How much does entertainment law start at (not talking about being an agent)?

What schools would be best for it?

[MrKappus]

You can expect to start at $114,456.71/year. Golden Gate's the best school for it, but if that's unworkable...Yale.

HTH.

[PinkCow]

You can expect to start at $114,456.71/year. Golden Gate's the best school for it, but if that's unworkable...Yale.

HTH.

wut.

[tyro]

You can expect to start at $114,456.71/year. Golden Gate's the best school for it, but if that's unworkable...Yale.

HTH.

I miss your old avatar. That's all.

[Meerkat Manor]

boobalooooooo

[blsingindisguise]

Lady Gaga has cut her legal staff from 1500 to 1100 but if you make top 25% at a top 100 law school you still have a good shot. Starting pay is 10-15% below market for biglaw, but the perks more than make up for it.

[NoleinNY]

How much does entertainment law start at (not talking about being an agent)?

What schools would be best for it?

Serious response: It depends.

If you're working for the Entertainment Law practice of a big firm, then they'll pay whatever the market rate for a big law associate firm is in LA or NY (probably between 120-160). As for firms that specialize in it, few people can answer that for you here (hence the joke responses). It is too varied to give an accurate picture. The money is green, which should suffice.

People are going to tell you that you absolutely need to be top X% at a top X school to get into it... and that isn't true. Probably as much or more than any other field, it is about WHO YOU KNOW. Everyone I've ever met, regardless of school and background, got their job in entertainment law because they knew someone/had connections/networked. This goes for a) BigLaw top 30 grad going in-house, b) Southwestern grad starting at a major studio because of working for an alum her 1L year and c) a LLS 1L getting entertainment-related transactional work because of their SO.

[RVP11]

How much does entertainment law start at (not talking about being an agent)?

What schools would be best for it?

Serious response: It depends.

If you're working for the Entertainment Law practice of a big firm, then they'll pay whatever the market rate for a big law associate firm is in LA or NY (probably between 120-160). As for firms that specialize in it, few people can answer that for you here (hence the joke responses). It is too varied to give an accurate picture. The money is green, which should suffice.

People are going to tell you that you absolutely need to be top X% at a top X school to get into it... and that isn't true. Probably as much or more than any other field, it is about WHO YOU KNOW. Everyone I've ever met, regardless of school and background, got their job in entertainment law because they knew someone/had connections/networked. This goes for a) BigLaw top 30 grad going in-house, b) Southwestern grad starting at a major studio because of working for an alum her 1L year and c) a LLS 1L getting entertainment-related transactional work because of their SO.

You don't have to "know someone" to get a job with a BigLaw office in Century City.

[thecilent]

You can expect to start at $114,456.71/year. Golden Gate's the best school for it, but if that's unworkable...Yale.

HTH.

wut.

What don't you get?

[PinkCow]

You can expect to start at $114,456.71/year. Golden Gate's the best school for it, but if that's unworkable...Yale.

HTH.

wut.

What don't you get?

The mediocre trolling

[Moral_Midgetry]

You can expect to start at $114,456.71/year. Golden Gate's the best school for it, but if that's unworkable...Yale.

HTH.

wut.

What don't you get?

The mediocre trolling

That's an overly generous assessment.

[MrKappus]

The mediocre trolling

Hey now...that's unnecessary. I think my trolling, at the very least, was slightly above average. OP asked kind of a silly question, on two fronts:

(1) I'm sure LA biglaw offices have entertainment lawyers that work with studios/talent, and I'm also sure there are 2-person shops in the Valley that do work for porn companies. Both are entertainment shops and I bet the salaries are very different, so asking what an "entertainment lawyer" will make is unanswerable, and so deserves a mediocre slightly above average trolling response.

(2) It's widely known by looking at 7/8 of the TLS threads that you don't go to schools that are "best" for anything. You go to the best school you can get into, taking into account region and money, and then you decide are told what kind of law you want can get a job in. I thought this was sufficiently common knowledge to deserve medi slightly above average trolling, as well.

[PinkCow]

The mediocre trolling

Hey now...that's unnecessary. I think my trolling, at the very least, was slightly above average. OP asked kind of a silly question, on two fronts:

(1) I'm sure LA biglaw offices have entertainment lawyers that work with studios/talent, and I'm also sure there are 2-person shops in the Valley that do work for porn companies. Both are entertainment shops and I bet the salaries are very different, so asking what an "entertainment lawyer" will make is unanswerable, and so deserves a mediocre slightly above average trolling response.

(2) It's widely known by looking at 7/8 of the TLS threads that you don't go to schools that are "best" for anything. You go to the best school you can get into, taking into account region and money, and then you decide are told what kind of law you want can get a job in. I thought this was sufficiently common knowledge to deserve medi slightly above average trolling, as well.

You win. I can't stay mad at Mac.

[NoleinNY]

How much does entertainment law start at (not talking about being an agent)?

What schools would be best for it?

Serious response: It depends.

If you're working for the Entertainment Law practice of a big firm, then they'll pay whatever the market rate for a big law associate firm is in LA or NY (probably between 120-160). As for firms that specialize in it, few people can answer that for you here (hence the joke responses). It is too varied to give an accurate picture. The money is green, which should suffice.

People are going to tell you that you absolutely need to be top X% at a top X school to get into it... and that isn't true. Probably as much or more than any other field, it is about WHO YOU KNOW. Everyone I've ever met, regardless of school and background, got their job in entertainment law because they knew someone/had connections/networked. This goes for a) BigLaw top 30 grad going in-house, b) Southwestern grad starting at a major studio because of working for an alum her 1L year and c) a LLS 1L getting entertainment-related transactional work because of their SO.

You don't have to "know someone" to get a job with a BigLaw office in Century City.

True; to clarify, they knew someone who helped them go FROM the Big Law job to an in-house position with a studio.

[RVP11]

True; to clarify, they knew someone who helped them go FROM the Big Law job to an in-house position with a studio.

Huh? My point is that a ton of lawyers at BigLaw firms in Century City do entertainment law, and you don't have to be specially connected to get a job at one of these firms. One big example is O'Melveny & Myers.

[Anonymous User]

The party favors sniff sniff make up for the cut in pay

[Noval]

Sorry but Entertainment Law is a closed, small and very elitist circle, even the best of the crop fail to get decent positions in that field.

You need contacts, motivation, amazing grades from a Top Notch school(In this case Top 10 or gtfo) and a shit ton of luck.

If you're a girl, you can always try a pussy pass.


Anyhow, don't go to Law School with Entertainment Law as your only goal, but if you happen to be among the lucky bastards, have fun making a very satisfying salary.

[nealric]

IMO, the obsession with these niche practice areas is kind of silly.

I've done work that I guess could be classified as "entertainment law", but much of it is really no different from regular transactional work other than who the client happens to be.

[NoleinNY]

True; to clarify, they knew someone who helped them go FROM the Big Law job to an in-house position with a studio.

Huh? My point is that a ton of lawyers at BigLaw firms in Century City do entertainment law, and you don't have to be specially connected to get a job at one of these firms. One big example is O'Melveny & Myers.

Ah. Sorry, I'm a bit scatterbrained right now and couldn't tell what you were getting at.

You are correct, you don't need to be specially connected to be specially connected to get into the practice of BigLaw firm that happens to do entertainment work. My rationale (if you can call it that) was dependent on working with an entertainment company (or a practice that focuses solely on entertainment).

[tyro]

Yeh Mr. Kappus I kind of liked your trolling, don't listen to em. Anyway, entertainment law is something that a lot of young undergrad 'pre-law' students are interested in before they are exposed to some of the realities of this specialty. For one thing, yes, your school's ranking matters and your class standing matters (a lot). Additionally, people who are involved in entertainment generally care a lot about being cool/their ego. Not surprisingly, they are attracted to professionals who care a lot about being cool/their ego. SOO be a frat boy from a T14 with connections and you may be in!