"The entire legal profession, lawyers, judges, law professors, has become so mesmerized with the stimulation of the Courtroom that we tend to forget that we ought to be healers of conflicts. For many claims, trials by adversarial contests must in time go the way of the ancient trial by battle and blood. Our system is too costly, too painful, too destructive, too inefficient for a truly civilized people."
-- Chief Justice Warren E. Burger |
James S. Mulholland, Esq.
Chairman, Advisory Board
Co-Founder and Managing Director
James S. Mulholland is an attorney, as well as a certified Mediator and Arbitrator, with over 25 years experience in private law practice as an entertainment attorney in Los Angeles, California. He was a Partner at the prestigious Entertainment Law Firms of Wyman, Bautzer, Rothman, Kuchel & Silbert in Century City and at Cooper, Epstein & Hurewitz in Beverly Hills.
Mr. Mulholland's practice has included representation of major individual and corporate entertainment clients, domestically and internationally, involving complex contract negotiations, production financing, "negative pick-up" arrangements, production insurance, completion bonding; production, distribution and net profit agreements for motion pictures, television, cable, and stage plays; intellectual property issues and protection of copyrights; options and acquisitions of literary properties; literary publishing agreements; music protection, licensing and publishing; employment agreements for screenwriters, actors, directors, producers, and studio executives; name and likeness protection; agency and management agreements; product licensing agreements; artist/corporate endorsement arrangements; sale of theatrical, syndication, and ancillary rights; licensing of emerging technology rights; establishment of corporate business relationships, joint ventures, strategic alliances and global expansion strategies; entertainment agreements for SEC public and private offerings; union/guild labor negotiations and mediations; advice to non-profit organizations; and legal advice to and participation on corporate boards of directors.
Senator Charles M. Calderon
Vice Chairman, Advisory Board
Co-Founder and Managing Director
Senator Charles M. Calderon is an Attorney and Mediator with over 25 years of legal, trial and mediation experience. Calderon is a member of the California State Assembly representing the 58th District. He is a member of the Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism & Internet Media. Calderon also chairs the Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation.
Calderon is the former Majority Leader of the California State Senate. During his tenure in the Senate, he also served as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. As Chairman, he had oversight of all policy initiatives relating to mediation and arbitration matters. Calderon is a past member of the State Judicial Council, the administrative arm of the Courts responsible for establishment of policy, guidelines and rules pertaining to State courts, mediation and arbitration.
As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Calderon also had oversight responsibility for all policy initiatives relating to entertainment matters. In addition to his responsibilities as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he served as Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Motion Pictures and Entertainment. The Senator carried legislation providing for, among other things, a "Zone of Privacy" for public people, a new cause of action in extreme cases of defamation by tabloids, and a new property right in one's name after death.
Ron Mardigian
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
Ron Mardigian was born in Pasadena, California. He attended Stanford University and then the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Theater, with a minor in Economics. He is a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
Following a stint in the US Army, Mr. Mardigian began working for the William Morris Agency in the now famous William Morris mailroom as an agent trainee. Many of his “classmates”, including Mr. Mardigian, matriculated to becoming senior agents, running various departments of the William Morris Agency over time.
After Mr. Mardigian spent several years as a literary agent in the television and motion picture literary departments, he was made Senior Vice President and Head of the William Morris Motion Picture Literary Department, West Coast. In that capacity, he supervised the Beverly Hills literary operation in an administrative capacity while he continued to serve as an agent with emphasis on screenwriters and directors. During his years at the William Morris Agency, Mr. Mardigian represented a great number of well-known film and television clients and was involved in structuring and packaging many major motion pictures projects throughout his career.
David A. Braun, Esq.
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
David Braun practiced law in New York City and Beverly Hills, California for many years as a notable and well-respected entertainment attorney. A graduate of the New York City public school system, he received his A.B. from Columbia College and his J.D. from Columbia Law School. As an esteemed graduate he also served on Columbia’s Board of Visitors and received the John Jay Award from the college.
Mr. Braun practiced in New York until 1974 and thereafter in California. Almost the entirety of his practice has been in the entertainment industry, well before the key elements were included as part of law school curricula and well before the common use of the phrase “intellectual property” to signify intangible assets created by the human mind.
His initial experience was in the television business, representing advertising agencies, television writers, performers and producers. In New York, Braun became President of the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and in that post worked to train minorities to fill industry jobs behind the camera. He also worked on legitimate theatre matters, book publishing, talent agency and personal manager matters, as well as the bread and butter matters of an active general practice, involving, for the most part, persons in the entertainment business.
But if he has achieved any notoriety in one area of the entertainment business, it is in the music industry. There he developed expertise as the representative of artists, songwriters, and music publishers. It began with the representation of Connie Francis and included the representations of Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, George Harrison, The Band, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Brian Wilson, The Manhattan Transfer, Diana Ross, Peter, Paul and Mary, Judy Collins and many other well-known performers. Armed with the support of these clients and accompanied initially by one of the best known personal managers in the business, Albert Grossman, Mr. Braun was able to change dramatically the standard phonograph record and music publishing agreements with recording artists and songwriters. Many of the concepts considered normal in today’s marketplace were achieved only after very long and difficult battles by Mr. Braun with industry officers, including rights of reversion, advances inclusive of recording costs, limited term foreign publishing rights with substantial advances and considerably higher royalty rates.
Irwin E. Russell, Esq.
Member, Advisory Board
Senior MediatorIrwin Russell began his legal career as an attorney after receiving his Bachelor of Science Degree (B.S.) in Economics from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce from the University of Pennsylvania, and his Juris Doctorate Degree (J.D.) from Harvard University. He is a member of the New York and California State Bar Associations.
Mr. Russell initially served in the U. S. Army Air Corps and was assigned to the Administrative Inspector in the Office of the Air Inspector General at Gunter Field in Alabama.
He subsequently served as an Associate to the prominent New York Labor Relations attorney and arbitrator Robert Feinberg in New York City. Soon thereafter, he became an attorney in the Office of the Chief Counsel at the National Wage Stabilization Board in Washington, D.C., where he drafted, interpreted and administered National Wage Control Regulations, supervised Regional Offices and served as a Congressional Liaison.
Entertainment Law Practice: Mr. Russell served as Vice President, General Manager and Counsel for Bob Banner Associates, a major independent television production company for many years. He later served as Counsel and Vice President of the Elektra Records Corporation, a major independent Record and Music Company from inception until after its sale to Warner Bros, Inc.
He also served as Executive Vice President, Treasurer and Director of The Wolper Organization, Inc., a quasi-public company controlled by the well-known and honored producer David L. Wolper. Mr. Russell had executive responsibility for the operations of the entire company. When the company was sold to Warner Bros., he remained on retainer with Warner Bros. for an additional 5 years. David Wolper, in his many years in show business, made over 700 films which won over 150 awards including 2 Oscars, 50 Emmys, 7 Golden Globes and 5 Peabodys for his outstanding body of work, many of which were produced while Mr. Russell was associated with the company.
Mr. Russell is currently in the private practice of law in Beverly Hills, representing major entertainment clients involved in the Entertainment Industry. He represents production companies, independent producers, executives, and other types of firms and individuals in connection with their business, financial and legal matters.
John Schulman, Esq.
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
John Schulman is a partner and chairman of the entertainment department of Los Angeles-based law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp. Mr. Schulman retired in 2009 after a 25-year career at Warner Bros., where he was the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the studio. One of the most respected attorneys in the entertainment industry today, Mr. Schulman joined Warner Bros. in 1984 as Vice President & General Counsel, charged with building the Studio's in-house legal department. In 1989, he was promoted to Senior Vice President & General Counsel, and he served as Executive Vice President & General Counsel since 1991.
After graduating from U.C. Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, Mr. Schulman started his legal career by working in private practice at the law firm of Kaplan, Livingston, Goodwin, Berkowitz and Selvin. During his nine years at the firm, he worked on a variety of Warner Bros. assignments, including some of the litigation and negotiations regarding the "Superman" franchise and first "Superman" movies. In 1981, he became a founding partner of the law firm then known as Weissman, Wolff, Bergman, Coleman & Schulman, where he continued to serve as one of Warner Bros.' primary outside litigation counsel.
Mr. Schulman was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Music Center, which includes oversight over The Music Center, The Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, The Mark Taper Forum, The Center Theater Group and The Ahmanson Theatre. He is also developing an entertainment law program in conjunction with the Dean of the USC Law School.
Claire L. Rothman
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
Claire Rothman has had a most diverse career in the entertainment business, including senior executive roles in venue management, concert and sports administration and on the Olympic Committee Board of Directors, as well as a Member of the Board of Directors for a number of major women’s and charitable organizations.
During her distinguished career, Ms. Rothman served as Executive Vice President of Ticketmaster and Executive Vice President in the Office of the President of Ticketmaster. She previously served as Senior Vice President for Community Affairs for Ticketmaster.
Ms. Rothman also served as President of the California Forum, as well as General Manager of the Great Western Forum and Vice President of California Sports. Ms. Rothman has participated in extensive labor and union negotiations in her executive capacities within the entertainment industry throughout her career.
She formerly served on the Board of Directors of the International Women’s Forum, the International Association of Auditorium Managers, and as President of the Los Angeles Convention Center Commission. She was also a Charter Member of the Los Angeles Sports Council.
Ms. Rothman served on the Board of Directors of the 2012 Olympic Bid Committee for Los Angeles and on the Board of Directors of the 1984 Olympic Committee.
She also served on the Board of Directors of the City of Hope, Beckman Research Institute, as well as Chaired the Medical Center Board for the City of Hope.
Jerry West
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
During his 14-year playing career with the Los Angeles Lakers, West became synonymous with brilliant basketball. He was the third player in league history to reach 25,000 points (after Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson). He was an All-Star every year of his career and led Los Angeles to the NBA Finals nine times. He left the game holding records for career postseason scoring and the highest average in a playoff series.
Despite a level of intensity on the court so high it could melt lead, West was one of the most admired and well-liked figures in professional basketball. His ferocity rarely, if ever, rubbed players, coaches or fans the wrong way. After the Lakers' heartbreaking loss to the Boston Celtics in the 1969 NBA Finals, John Havlicek walked up to West and said, "Jerry, I love you." Such comments were not uncommon.
West left the game as the NBA's third-leading career scorer, then became the Lakers' head coach for the 1976-77 season. He became general manager in 1982, helping to build the Lakers' dynasty of the 1980s. West was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979. West was named the NBA Executive of the Year for 1995 after the Lakers posted their best record in four seasons. Under his reign, Los Angeles won seven championship rings.
West is currently retired from basketball; he serves as the Executive Director of the PGA Northern Trust Los Angeles Open. He is a Senior Mediator with Entertainment Mediation Institute in Beverly Hills where he brings to the table his vast experience and ability to work with people in resolving disputes in the sports and entertainment world.David Wardlow
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
David Wardlow has been a well-known theatrical agent and studio executive in the entertainment industry for over 30 years.
Mr. Wardlow began his career at Warner Bros Studios where he worked with Studio Production Head Walter MacEwan and served as Personal Assistant to Warner Bros President Ben Kalmenson.
Following owner Jack Warner’s sale of the studio to Seven Arts, the Chairman of the William Morris Agency, Abe Lastfogel, and his chief lieutenant and Senior Agent Stan Kamin solicited Mr. Wardlow to join the agency as an agent in the William Morris Motion Picture Department.
Partnering with another Senior Agent Phil Kellogg, Mr. Wardlow represented such actors as Dustin Hoffman, Liza Minnelli, Roger Moore, Maximillian Schell, Malcolm McDowell and many other William Morris theatrical clients. Mr. Wardlow also represented Dale Wasserman, author of “Man of La Mancha”, Leslie Bricusse and other authors and screenwriters of note. Mr. Wardlow was also involved in the financing and packaging of many hit motion pictures, including “Ryan’s Daughter” and “Lenny”, Dustin Hoffman’s breakthrough performance as the doomed comedian Lenny Bruce.
Mr. Wardlow is currently the head of Wardlow & Associates, a boutique agency in Los Angeles that represents writers, producers and directors. The agency also represents the Estate of Truman Capote, the Estate of Joseph E. Levine, the flamboyant owner of Embassy Pictures, and the Estate of Leslie Charteris, the creator and author of the internationally well-known property “The Saint” series of novels, movies and televisions series.
Ralph Kamon, Esq.
Member, Advisory Board
Senior MediatorRalph Kamon is an Attorney and Mediator with over 40 years of Legal Experience, serving as Entertainment Production and Corporate Counsel to United Artists Corporation and Paramount Pictures Corporation, responsible for Studio Legal and Business Affairs for Motion Pictures produced and distributed during his tenure. Mr. Kamon received his Undergraduate Degree from St. John's University and his Law Degree from Brooklyn Law School and is licensed to practice law in both New York State and the State of California.
During his studio tenures, Mr. Kamon negotiated and prepared numerous innovative motion picture production agreements, financing agreements, and employment agreements for major writers, directors, actors and producers. Mr. Kamon was extensively involved in the acquisition of rights in all media, including ancillary rights in film, television, music and merchandising. He has negotiated numerous complex distribution agreements with all of their variations and facets for the studios.
Gregory Bernstein, Esq.
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
Greg Bernstein began his legal career as an attorney at the prestigious national law firm of O’Melveny & Myers. While at O’Melveny he litigated cases on behalf of a number of Fortune 500 companies, including Ford Motor Company, CBS Television and Exxon Corporation, as well as the City of Los Angeles.
Mr. Bernstein then became vice president of business affairs at Columbia Pictures and later at Tri-Star Pictures. During this time he negotiated more than two hundred agreements, including agreements with major motion picture directors, producers, actors and writers, as well as extensive rights acquisition agreements. Those agreements often involved complicated net and gross profit participations and also included co-production agreements with other financing entities. He also participated in on-going contract negotiations with the Writers Guild of America.
Mr. Bernstein subsequently served as the assistant executive director of the Writers Guild and was responsible for managing a number of Guild activities. These included the Guild’s legislative affairs efforts, its member outreach programs, and its various publications, including the magazine “Written By,” the Guild’s monthly newsletter, and all of the Guild’s web content. In addition, Mr. Bernstein worked with the Guild’s general counsel on a variety of legal matters, conducted strategic planning, and participated in all WGA board of directors meetings.
Mr. Bernstein’s twenty-five years of entertainment business and creative work has allowed him to become extremely familiar with and sensitive to a wide variety of issues often faced by people working in the entertainment industry. As a mediator, he can offer a unique perspective and broad understanding of issues that involve both sides of the table.
Frederick Kuperberg, Esq.
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
Fred Kuperberg joined The Walt Disney Company in November of 1987 and was Executive Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs for the Disney/ABC Cable Networks group when he most recently transitioned to mediation and consulting in the entertainment and media arenas. Mr. Kuperberg has over 30 years of entertainment industry experience and brings exceptional business acumen to complex legal and business situations. He has extensive knowledge in domestic and international production, distribution, and digital media agreements. His expertise extends to intellectual property and licensing contracts, as well as writer, director, producer and talent deals. He was a former litigator and a certified mediator with experience in both mediation and arbitration. He is known for building consensus and driving collaborative relationships with business partners.
Mr. Kuperberg has vast network and cable television expertise, and intimate familiarity with original programming, co-productions, third party acquisition agreements for linear networks, and new media platforms. He has negotiated and closed carriage distribution agreements with cable operators and DBS affiliates.
Franklin R. Johnson
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
Frank Johnson spent 36 years with the international accounting firm Price Waterhouse LLP, serving as the Managing Partner of the firm’s entertainment industry practice. In that capacity, he oversaw the balloting for the Academy Awards for 22 years. Mr. Johnson also held the position of Chief Financial Officer of Rysher Entertainment, the producer and distributor of theatrical films and television programming originally owned by Cox Enterprises and sold to Paramount Pictures in 2000. Mr. Johnson now works as a business consultant and expert witness in entertainment industry litigation and also serves on the boards of two public companies.
Johnson has served on the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Board for 11 years including his term as Chairman of the Board and President for 2005-06. Johnson also is Vice President of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and a member of the ITF Board and the ITF Finance Committee, as well as the Chair of the ITF Media Commission. He was also a member of the Grand Slam Committee, 2003-06.
Senator Steve Peace
Member, Advisory Board
Senior Mediator
Steve Peace is a film writer and producer and formerly served in the California State Senate and Assembly. Senator Peace was elected to represent the 40th Senate District in December of 1993 after serving in the State Assembly since 1982. Senator Peace's 40th District in San Diego County includes the cities of Chula Vista, El Cajon, Lemon Grove, La Mesa, National City, Spring Valley, and the San Diego communities of Encanto, Nestor, Paradise Hills, and San Ysidro.
Early in his political career, the native San Diegan signaled both his independence and his willingness to take on tough fights, when, in 1988, then-Assemblyman Peace joined four Democratic colleagues in an effort to reform the California Legislature itself. Taking on powerful leaders from both parties, the "Gang of Five" and their year-long battle for reform led to many significant changes, including subjecting legislative committees to the provisions of the Open Meetings Act.
Senator Peace earned a reputation as the person the Legislature turned to on particularly difficult and complex issues. He is credited with presiding over forums that were "bipartisan, exhaustive and open to a full airing of views."
Ron Weinstein
Senior MediatorRon Weinstein's professional career encompasses a variety of fields from professional sports management to real estate mediation. After graduating from the University of California at Irvine in 1978, Mr. Weinstein immediately joined Jack Kent Cooke, then owner of the Los Angeles Kings and Los Angeles Lakers, in the marketing and promotional field. He remained with California Sports and current owner Jerry Buss for 13 years. While under Jerry's reign, Mr. Weinstein helped create the Senate Seat Program which became the foundation for what is now commonplace suites in all entertainment venues throughout the US. In 1982, Jerry called upon Mr. Weinstein to create the Los Angeles Lazers professional indoor soccer team of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). Mr. Weinstein oversaw every aspect of the Lazers from 1982 to 1989.
From 1989-1991 he teamed up with Johnny Buss to create Buss-Weinstein Productions, an entity geared towards developing wholesome music television for the "tween" generation. In 1991, Mr. Weinstein re-entered the professional sports field and joined forces with Jerry Colangelo, then owner of the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks, and Jerry Buss to create what many will argue was the most successful professional sports league, at inception, ever created in the United States, the Continental Indoor soccer League, CISL. The CISL consisted of 15 teams primarily made up of NBA and NHL owners along with a number of entrepreneurs throughout the US and Mexico. As founder and Commissioner of the League for its entirety, Mr. Weinstein oversaw and was involved in every aspect of the league from national television negotiations to player/management disputes. His mediation skills became fine tuned while playing the middleman in all league disputes and negotiations from referees to the owners.