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Eric Akira Tate co-chairs the firm’s Global Employment and Labor Group. He represents technology and other companies in bet-the-company trade secrets and employee mobility cases. Eric also represents boards of directors and companies in #MeToo and other sensitive internal investigations and disputes with executives, whistleblower, wrongful termination, discrimination and harassment, and other employment litigation.

Eric also advises companies in employment law compliance and transactional matters, including restrictive covenants and other personnel policies and procedures, and employment aspects of mergers and acquisitions throughout the United States and globally.

Kwan Park’s practice focuses on employment and labor litigation and counseling.

Kwan has represented clients in both defensive and affirmative trade secret misappropriation and employee mobility matters. He has, for example, successfully opposed a preliminary injunction motion in a lawsuit involving claims related to the alleged breach of a non-compete by the plaintiff’s former senior executive in China. Kwan has defended clients against claims of employee and customer raiding and unfair competition and has also investigated and prosecuted claims in matters involving the misappropriation of proprietary and confidential information by former employees.

In addition to trade secret misappropriation and employee mobility matters, Kwan has defended employers against a wide-range of employment-related claims such as discrimination, whistleblower retaliation, and independent contractor misclassification, including successfully defending through a successful summary judgment motion a pattern and practice age and national origin discrimination case for a transnational technology company. Kwan has represented employers at the bargaining table during negotiations with unions and in labor arbitration and has defended clients against unfair labor practice charges before the National Labor Relations Board. Kwan also has experience litigating complex wage and hour actions across the nation and has represented clients before the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and the California Employment Development Department.

During law school, Kwan served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Edward J. Davila in the Northern District of California. He has also worked as a Ford Foundation Fellow for the National Health Law Program and as an intern at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the National Labor Relations Board.
Kwan is a graduate of Stanford Law School, where he was an articles editor of the Stanford Law Review. He received his B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University’s ILR School.

Kwan is fluent in Korean and is admitted to practice in California and New York.

Emily Evitt is an experienced intellectual property litigator who works with film and television studios, record companies, music publishing companies, video game companies, and other major online content providers. She defends her clients against copyright and trademark infringement allegations and brings actions to enforce their rights.

In addition to copyright and trademark, Emily also practices in related areas of law relevant to her entertainment and technology clients, such as idea submission/breach of implied contract, right of publicity, First Amendment, and defamation, including California’s “anti-SLAPP” statute.

Many of Emily’s clients rely on online distribution of their content or are faced with threats of Internet piracy. Emily protects clients from online theft of their copyrighted content and “cybersquatting” on their trademarks. Emily is well-versed in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) and the Communications Decency Act (“CDA”).

Emily is also very experienced with California’s free speech law, and its interplay with private property rights. She has successfully defended against protestors’ demands to demonstrate on her clients’ land.

Danny Walvick is Senior Corporate Counsel, Music at Sirius XM + Pandora, where he focuses exclusively on music-related transactions, product counseling, and regulatory/compliance matters for the company. Prior to joining Sirius XM + Pandora, Danny has held in-house counsel roles at Vevo, Warner/Chappell Music, and Rdio. Danny is an alumnus of UC Law SF and completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Southern California. Danny also serves as Chair of the Music & Personal Appearances Division of the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries.

Oana Ruxandra is Chief Digital Officer & EVP of Business Development for Warner Music Group. In this capacity, Oana oversees WMG’s global digital strategy and is charged with creating additional revenue opportunities and forging new partnerships, as well as maximizing relationships with key existing partners. Additionally, Oana and her team focus on commercial innovation, attracting non-traditional partners, and identifying entrepreneurial M&A opportunities for the company.

Oana previously spent four years at WMG, where she advanced to VP of Digital Strategy and Business Development. In 2016, she moved to Universal Music Group for a two-year stint as SVP of Digital Strategy and Partnerships. Oana began her career in the financial industry, working at Constellation Capital Management and BlackRock. She holds a B.A. degree in Economics and Political Science from Columbia University and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Schnur is Worldwide Executive and President of EA Music Group, responsible for the pursuit, creation and continuous development of the global vision for music in all EA games. His ability to bridge the gap between both the digital and music worlds has made him a leader in digital music marketing.

With the formation of Artwerk Music Publishing Group, Steve, as its President, has signed multiple breakthrough artists.

Schnur is also the Creator and Executive Producer of the E! Global network show “Opening Act”, along with Executive Producer partner Nigel Lythgoe.

Schnur has held executive positions with WMG, EMI and BMG in NY, LA and Nashville. Steve additionally has worked as music supervisor for Sandra Bullock’s Fortis Films, where he supervised and produced music for the hit comedy MISS CONGENIALITY (which garnered a Golden Globe nomination for best original song).

Steve has been profiled by the New York Times, London Financial Times and CNN. He was selected as “One Of The Most Creative People In Entertainment” by Entertainment Weekly,“One of the Most Powerful People in the Music Business” and “One of the Top 20 Power Players in Digital Entertainment” by Billboard Magazine and “One of The Top 25 Power Players in the new Hollywood” by The Wall Street Journal. In 2009 he was awarded “International Music Person of the Year” by MusExpo.

Steve Schnur is a board member of City Of Hope, a voting member of the NARAS and its Producer and Engineer Wing, a board member of the Country Music Association and served as both Chairman and Chairman Emeritus of the Grammy Foundation. In 2009, Schnur received the ACLU “Bill of Rights” Award alongside Robert Redford of the Sundance Film Festival. In 2011, Steve produced the number one Billboard dance chart hit “Dance On” and top five Billboard dance chart hit “Undivided”, featuring Snoop Dogg. Additionally on Grammy day in 2012, Steve received the Music Supervisor of the Year Award from the Guild of Music Supervisors.

Specialties: music supervision expertise for film, television and video games, music licensing, music contracts, music marketing, music publishing, creative music recommendation and selection, budget development, copyright, music production, orchestration, orchestra and recording management.

Described as having “something approaching rock star status” in her field by The New York Times Magazine, Joan C. Williams has played a central role in reshaping the conversation about work, gender, and class over the past quarter century. Williams is a Sullivan Professor of Law and Founding Director of the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Williams’ path-breaking work helped create the field of work-family studies and modern workplace flexibility policies. Williams is ranked in the top 50 legal scholars in the country based on h-index, and one of the most cited scholars in her fields of critical theory and employment law. She has authored 11 books, over 100 academic articles, and her work has been covered in publications from Oprah Magazine to The Atlantic. Her Harvard Business Review article, “What So Many People Don’t Get About the U.S. Working Class” has been read over 3.7 million times and is now the most read article in HBR’s 90-plus year history. Her TED talk, “Why Corporate Diversity Programs Fail – and How Small Tweaks Can Have a Big Impact” was viewed over 1.2 million times. Her most recent book, Bias Interrupted: Creating Inclusion For Real and For Good (Harvard Business Review Press, 2021), offers a fresh approach to inclusion that is concrete, evidenced-based and actionable. She is also the author of White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America.

Veda Cruz serves as in-house counsel at Gearbox Entertainment, where she started working immediately after law school. At Gearbox, she works on almost every facet of the business: development and publishing deals, license agreements, asset reviews, intellectual property, privacy, and more. Veda received her B.A., J.D., and MBA at the University of Miami. She is a regular volunteer at the Game Developers Conference and strives to make legal and business issues in the video game industry digestible and fun for game developers. She is currently working on her own game in Unreal Engine. When not working, Veda spends her time at the dojo training in karate and jiu-jitsu.

As Counsel in the Legal and Business Affairs department at Epic Games, Erica Carter supports a range of Epic’s products and services, including Fortnite, Rocket League and Houseparty. In her role, she is responsible for Epic’s philanthropic activities, handles partner, content and music licensing; content production; accessibility; clearances; establishes DMCA processes for acquired companies; and negotiates and drafts agreements across these areas. Prior to joining Epic Games, Erica worked as Counsel in the Legal and Business Affairs department at Sesame Workshop. Prior to working at Sesame Workshop, Carter worked in-house as an attorney for The Collective, also known as Marc Ecko or Ecko Unlimited. Carter earned her J.D. and Certificate in IP, Media, and Information Law in 2015 from Brooklyn Law School. She received her B.A. in Communications, with a minor in Public Relations from Belmont University in December of 2010, where she was an NCAA Division I student-athlete. Erica has served as the New York City Chapter Co-Chair of the Copyright Society (2020-2022), and as Assistant Treasurer on the board of the Copyright Society from 2018-2020. She is also a member of the junior board of the non-profit Youth Represent, is an active mentor in PALS (Practicing Attorneys for Law Students) and a member of the New York City Bar Association. In 2019, she received the Brooklyn Law School Entertainment and Sports Law Society Alumni of the Year Award for her inspiring accomplishments in entertainment law.

Sarah Briglia serves as Corporate Counsel at Sony Interactive Entertainment, commonly known as PlayStation, where she supports the consumer experience organization and focuses on online safety efforts. Prior to SIE, Sarah was an Assistant District Attorney at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York, handling cases involving cyberstalking, child exploitation, sex trafficking, and other cybercrimes.

Maria Abesa is Senior Counsel at Square Enix, Inc. In that capacity, she supports development, marketing, and publishing functions and assists in finance and corporate governance matters. Prior to working at Square Enix, Maria was an associate in the Mergers and Acquisitions group of Sidley Austin in Century City. Maria spends her spare time cycling the bike trails of Los Angeles, building mechanical keyboards, and playing video games.

Entertainment lawyer Steve Weizenecker serves as counsel on tax incentives and financing for film, television and videogame clients. He has also worked with numerous jurisdictions on developing or improving their economic incentives for the entertainment industry. Personable and patient, Steve takes the time to listen to what each client needs, understand their concerns and incorporate their goals into each step he takes. Clients and colleagues alike know that they can rely on Steve to serve as a resource for information when helping them to take advantage of production incentives in the U.S. and abroad. Whether Steve is advising on state or country tax credits, production grants or financings, he is able to help leverage opportunities to benefit his clients. In addition to his deep experience in production incentives, Steve advises on the corporate law issues his clients face doing business today. He delivers practical legal solutions and comprehensive business advice on complex corporate financings; film, television and new media production and distribution agreements; and commercial arrangements.

Steve frequently serves as outside general counsel for production companies and other entertainment businesses. Steve delivers an essential mix of personal commitment and industry know-how to those he serves. Regardless of the challenge at hand, Steve’s legal experience, dedication to understanding his clients’ businesses and goals, and decades of experience as an entertainment lawyer are grounded in prudent decision-making and utilitarian advice.

Haden Blackman is a writer, game maker, and creative director who has enjoyed over two decades working with scores of incredibly passionate and innovative people across a wide range of media, with an emphasis on video game development. His career includes a long stint at LucasArts, where he led multiple teams of designers, engineers, and artists in telling new interactive stories within the Star Wars universe and beyond. He is also the founder and former President and Chief Creative Officer of Hangar 13, a 2K development studio and the creators of MAFIA III – a game set in New Orleans in 1968 and lauded for an eclectic soundtrack and original score. Blackman is currently co-founder and CEO of Escape Velocity Entertainment, an independent game developer working on a new original IP title.

Andra is the Chief Operation Officer & Managing Partner of Forshay, A human resources + people operations executive search and consulting firm. Andrea joined the gaming and digital media industry as head of HR for Lucasfilm’s gaming division and later led the company-wide people team. Andrea jumped over into consulting as an independent HR expert and recruiter and helped a variety of gaming/VFX studios including Perpetual Entertainment and The Orphanage. In 2011, Andrea became the founding team member of Forshay, and in the past 12 years she has played a key role in scaling and supporting companies including Ngmoco, Electronic Arts, Activision, Glu Mobile, Pixar, Sony and Griffin Gaming Partners. With deep relations and broad talent networks across the San Francisco, New York and Boston markets, she is the first person companies call when they have a key open role or business issue that needs addressing.

Andrea earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial and labor Relations from Cornell University and is a rowing coach in her spare time.

Hailun Ying is Head of Privacy, Legal at Roblox, an online UGC gaming platform, where she manages the team dedicated to privacy and cybersecurity legal matters. Hailun provides guidance on both domestic and international privacy matters, including GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, AADC, and COPPA. Hailun also advises the business on various privacy and data protection requirements for product launches, data incidents, privacy policies, and other initiatives involving user or employee data. Prior to joining Roblox, she handled privacy matters at PayPal specializing in M&A, product, and incident response. Hailun is the current Vice Chair of the California Lawyers Association – Privacy Law Section and has been an Executive Committee member of the section since it was founded in 2020. Hailun received her JD from Santa Clara University School of Law and her BA in Economics, Political Science, and Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley

Emma C. Smizer is an associate in the Interactive Entertainment and Privacy & Data Security Groups at Frankfurt Kurnit. Her work focuses on the intersection of entertainment and technology, assisting interactive entertainment developers and publishers in transactional matters. Ms. Smizer frequently shares insights regarding legal issues within the video game industry on Frankfurt Kurnit’s Technology and IP & Media Law Updates blogs. She also holds a strong passion for offering pro bono support to the trans and non-binary communities of Los Angeles as they navigate the legal name and gender marker change petition process. She is also a Certified Information Privacy Professional in U.S. data privacy laws (CIPP/US).

Felix Hilgert is a European technology and video games lawyer with a focus on helping North American companies expand and succeed abroad. His practice centers on IP/IT agreements, e-commerce, as well as specific issues of the interactive entertainment industry. He provides comprehensive legal advice regarding the content and distribution of entertainment products for the German market. Felix joined Osborne Clarke’ Cologne office as a lawyer in 2011 after studying in Cologne and Paris and training with an international law firm in Vancouver. He has also worked at a Toronto law firm specializing in cross-border advice. In 2021, he relocated to Osborne Clarke’s San Francisco office. Felix has published on IT, privacy and youth protection law and regularly speaks at legal conferences around the world. He also contributes to the specialized blog www.gameslaw.org.

Seth J. Steinberg, principal of Digital Arts Law, is a commercial transaction and intellectual property attorney focusing on entertainment and licensing. Mr. Steinberg has extensive experience in the interactive entertainment and digital media spaces, and advises senior executives, founders and management teams involved in a variety of digital entertainment, content creation, technology, distribution and commercial ventures on complex business and legal matters. Mr. Steinberg also serves as an outside general counsel, provides guidance on M&A matters and has served as an expert witness opining on licensing and trademark-related matters. Mr. Steinberg recently additionally served as interim general counsel for Big Fish Games, part of Pixel United and an Aristocrat Technologies-owned mobile-first game company, and then as a special counsel to Pixel United. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Steinberg was general counsel and director (head) of business affairs for LucasArts, a Lucasfilm company, and legal counsel for Sony Computer Entertainment America’s 989 Sports / 989 Studios division.

He is a member of the California, Illinois and District of Columbia bar associations, was previously selected by his peers as a Northern California “Super Lawyer”, is division chair of the Electronic Gaming and eSports division and on the Governing Committee for the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Sports and Entertainment Industries, co-chairs the Digital Media & Video Game legal conference, guest lectures at universities and law schools, was among a select group of US attorneys featured at the Asia Pacific IP Symposium in Seoul, Korea, and has spoken at a variety of legal conferences.

Patrick is a Partner and member of the Executive Committee of Shamrock Capital. He has extensive media, entertainment, and communications experience with specific expertise in entertainment content. Patrick previously served as a director of Consilio, a prior portfolio company of a Shamrock Growth Fund. Before joining Shamrock in 2014, Mr. Russo was a Senior Managing Director with FTI Consulting where he co-managed the firm’s Valuation and Financial Advisory Services Group. He was also a co-founder of The Salter Group (acquired by FTI in 2012), a leading global independent financial and strategic advisory firm that specialized in the entertainment and media industry. Mr. Russo is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Happy Hippie Foundation.

Mr. Russo graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University and earned his MBA from the Fordham University Graduate School of Business.

Greg Richardson is the Founder and Managing Partner of Juno Capital Partners, based in San Francisco. A leading Advisory and Private Equity Fund focused on Digital Entertainment.

Greg has 30+ years of experience as a senior executive, investor, and advisor in the digital entertainment market.
Prior to Juno, Greg was the founder and CEO of Rumble Entertainment, a F2P Mobile Developer which he sold to Pixel United in 2016. He was a partner at Elevation Partners, a $1.8B Private Equity fund focused on digital media. While at Elevation, Greg helped source and lead the investment in BioWare and Pandemic, combining and transforming the two companies, eventually serving as CEO of the newly formed company leading up to its sale to Electronic Arts.

Prior to Elevation, Greg served as the VP and GM of EA Partners, the SVP of Product Development at Eidos and the VP of Sales and Marketing, VP and GM of Studios, and the Head of Corporate and Business Development at the 3DO Company. In his career, Greg’s been involved in the development of over a dozen hit video games.

Michael Metzger is an award-winning media and tech investment banker with over 25 years of experience advising on M&A and financing transactions as well as serving Internet and tech companies in operating and corporate development roles. Before joining Drake Star in 2018, Michael was a senior investment banker at Houlihan Lokey’s TMT group, a Principal at merchant bank MESA Global, and a Co-Founder and Principal of Internet and digital media-focused investment bank Covert & Co. Previously, he held senior management and engineering positions at AT&T, IBM, and Mindspeed. He received an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California (UCLA), Los Angeles and an MSEE from the University of Ulm, Germany. Michael holds five patents in the field of communications and serves as the Chairman and Board Director of the German American Business Association in Southern California (GABA).

Dan Emerson has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Take-Two since October 2014. He joined the Company as a Vice President in June 2005 and served in various capacities of increasing responsibility within the legal department, including Senior Vice President, Corporate Secretary and Deputy General Counsel. In addition to serving as the General Counsel of Take-Two, Dan oversees administrative management of Internal Audit on behalf of the Audit Committee. Prior to joining the Company, Dan was a partner in the New York offices of the law firm Blank Rome LLP, where he represented public and private companies in mergers and acquisitions, securities law, financing, and general corporate matters. Dan holds a J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law and a B.S. from Cornell University.

Experienced senior lawyer working in the digital interactive entertainment and mobile games industries. Strong legal professional skilled in licensing, commercial transactions, international trade, game development, and government procurement.

Sara F. Hawkins leads the Consumer Regulatory Affairs Center of Excellence at Aristocrat Technologies, Inc. As Assistant General Counsel, Sara works with stakeholders across the company in design, development, marketing, privacy, and other areas to guide the business on all aspects of consumer regulations for the global digital games businesses. Sara was in private practice attorney for nearly 20 years working with startups, entrepreneurs, marketing and advertising agencies, as well as major corporations providing counsel on all aspects of federal and state, as well as global, marketing, advertising, sweepstakes and contests, international promotions, social media, and internet law. She is a recognized expert in marketing promotions law, influencer/celebrity disclosure compliance, sweepstakes, contests, and user-generated content promotions. With a background in consumer product marketing compliance and claim substantiation, Sara has worked with clients to create policies and procedures for engagement with agencies, celebrities, and influencers.

Sara has a B.S. in Marketing and an MBA in Operations and Ethics from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. She earned her JD from the University of Oklahoma College of Law.

Ben Golant has nearly a decade of experience working on law and policy issues affecting the video game industry, first as Chief Counsel at the Entertainment Software Association in Washington, DC, and now as Senior Director for Global Game Policy at Tencent. In both positions, he has worked extensively on player health and safety issues in addition to a wide range of matters focusing on the social and economic benefits of video games. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center where he teaches a highly popular class on video game law and policy.

Ben had a long career working on communications policy and copyright law at three US agencies including: (1) the Federal Communications Commission, (2) the United States Copyright Office, and (3) the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where he focused on communications law, and his BA/BS in social psychology and advertising from Boston University.

Nicholas McMann, principal of McMann Law LLC, is a transactional attorney with a deep focus on the entertainment and corporate sectors. He boasts a rich background in intellectual property and trademark related matters, and the formation of both corporate and non-profit entities, among other business-related transactions. Before founding his own firm, Mr. McMann was an associate at a prominent Maryland firm, handling a diverse range of legal matters from civil and criminal litigation to corporate transactions.

A proud member of the Maryland Bar Association, Mr. McMann actively contributes to the Electronic Gaming and e-Sports division of the American Bar Association’s Forum on Entertainment and Sports. He also dedicates his time as a volunteer for the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. Beyond his professional commitments, he is a passionate gamer with a deep-rooted love for all things video game related.