On Wednesday, November 4th, 2009, The Entertainment and Sports Law Society presented “Industry Night: Breaking Into Sports and Entertainment Law”. Guests included Bill Campbell, Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs at Sony Music Entertainment, Andrew Fisher, former Sr. Writer and NBC-Universal, Michael Gold, Sr. Counsel at the National Hockey League, and Ronald Bienstock, founder/partner at Bienstock & Michael, P.C.
Embracing a different format and structure than the traditional setting used for such a distinguished panel of speakers, the event was standing room only in the multi-purpose room of the law school and featured he speakers immersed amongst the students in attendance. Andrew Fisher, former senior writer for NBC-Universal, commented that, “It was wonderful to be sitting right next to the students, rather than on a pedestal above them or behind a podium. This allowed the students to be more comfortable with the speakers, with each other, and provided a chance for us to answer them by looking them directly.”
The evening began with an introduction to guests and visitors by ESLS President, 2L Krista Lynn Peckyno. Miss Peckyno set the tone for the evening by reminding speakers and students alike as to the purpose of the event- to facilitate an intimate conversation between the movers and shakers of the sports and entertainment industries and the students who desire to be in those positions in the future. This led to a brief introduction by each of the guests as to their background and what it is like to spend a day in their shoes at their respective companies. Michael Gold spoke of what it is 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.” He further noted that the main function of an attorney working in house is to prevent your company from getting into messes- being proactive and taking steps to ensure that the actions taken by the organization are methodically thought out and analyzed. Ronald Bienstock spoke of creating his own company and what he specifically looks for in hiring associates at his firm. Ronald said, “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 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 engaged the membership of the Entertainment and Sports Law Society on what it is like, as a non-attorney working in the arts, to work with attorneys. He noted common frustrations and complaints, and educated the students on how to avoid similar paths. He also spoke of how a lawyer interacts with a writer in editing content that will eventually be shown on the air. Seton Hall Law School alumni (’94) Bill Campbell first discussed his route from Seton Hall to Sony Music, and how he took lower level jobs in the company at first just to “break in” to the industry, and then the systematic and well-thought out approach he had to climbing his way up to his current position. He also spoke of his recent decision to leave Sony Music to work as Director of Digital Music Development for Universal Music Group. Bill, along with all of the guests, spoke of the importance of networking at every possible moment, and each had a personal story of how networking out of the office led to an opportunity for them in the future.
Following introductions and brief background, the remainder of the evening was spent with students asking questions to the guests. 2L Nicole DeMuro, ESLS Vice President of Sports, began by asking each panelist to name a particular quality or attribute that attorneys are looking for in hiring associates. The panelists responded to Miss DeMuro by first agreeing that grades are perhaps the most crucial deciding factor, with journal or moot court participation coming in a close second. Michael Gold added that he couldn’t imagine someone being in sports law without participating in an organization such as ESLS on an executive level. Ronald Bienstock added that grades are less important to his company, as he first seeks someone that is committed and dedicated to entertainment law. 2L Nima Ashtyani asked Bill Campbell for his thoughts on whether the music industry might be wasting time and resources pursuing individual music “pirates” rather than trying to eat the loss until they learn to adapt technology to prevent the problem. Bill spoke as to how there were changes being made in the industry to prevent this problem from happening again, but right now the technology being developed by hackers is too quick to keep up with it and that their time and resources are often far greater than what the music industry can keep up with.
Many questions asked by students were predominantly focused on each of the panelist’s particular journeys to their current positions. While each spoke of a journey comprised of hard work, networking and determination, they also spoke of the role luck played in their journey. Andrew Fisher complemented this thought by adding that, “You make your own luck by the things you do every day.” Seton Hall Law School Professor and Faculty Advisor of ESLS Brenda Saunders concluded this discussion by informing students how the externship program in entertainment law provided students remarkable opportunities to “create their own luck” 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.
Following the event, both panelists and students alike enjoyed a wine and cheese networking reception where students had the chance to speak one on one with the panelists and ask any additional questions they didn’t get a chance to answer. Due to the response by the student body, the Entertainment and Sports Law Society will likely host a similar event in both the fall and spring semesters of the 2010-2011 academic year. Questions can be directed to Krista Lynn Peckyno or any of the executive board at SHUlawESLS@gmail.com or by visiting the ESLS student blog at http://shulawesls.blogspot.com.
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