Addressing the Rise of Incivility in the Practice of Entertainment Law

Ellen A. Pansky is the founder of Pansky Markle Attorneys at Law, South Pasadena, California, specializing in State Bar disciplinary defense and Bar admissions, legal ethics consultations, professional liability litigation and expert testimony. Ms. Pansky is a California State Bar Certified Legal Malpractice Specialist. Ms. Pansky has had extensive experience before the State Bar Court, and State Superior Courts, and has been admitted to practice before several districts of the U.S. District Court. She is a California State Bar certified MCLE provider. Ms. Pansky is active in the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (President, 1996), which awarded her the prestigious Charles W. Kettlewell Legal Ethics Advisor Award in 2016. Ms. Pansky served as President of the National Association of Women Lawyers (2003). She is an inaugural member of the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility, and she served as a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility. She also was a member of the Editorial Board of the ABA/BNA Lawyers Manual on Professional Conduct (2004-2007). She is a member of the United States District Court, Central District, Standing Committee on Discipline (2008-present). Ms. Pansky served as an Assistant Vice President of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Board of Trustees and is a longstanding member of the L.A.C.B.A Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee (chair 1996-97).

As a full-time neutral, Judge Meisinger is known for his extensive preparation, his honest evaluation of the merits of each case, and his persistent and diligent work with counsel to help resolve disputes in a mutually beneficial and expedient manner. 

Judge Meisinger’s wide-ranging legal knowledge, intellect and experience allow him to bring a unique perspective and approach to every case he handles. Since retiring from the bench, he has specialized in resolving high-stakes, high-value and complex litigation disputes and matters, including many class action and mass tort cases.  He has successfully mediated and served as Claims Administrator for a number of mass tort cases including on behalf of victims of a mass shooting, wildfires (mediation), defective products (mediation), legal malpractice and, currently on behalf of tens of thousands of victims of a massive gas leak.  

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Meisinger founded the preeminent media, arts and entertainment law firm Hill Wynne Troop & Meisinger, where he focused on entertainment and complex business matters. In 1998, he joined The Walt Disney Company as general counsel, where he oversaw global legal affairs for five years. He was then recruited by the international law firm of Sheppard Mullin where he successfully established the firm’s Entertainment & Media Group. Finally, after more than 40 years as a litigator in both state and federal courts, Judge Meisinger was appointed to the Los Angeles Superior Court, where he served as a trial, family law and settlement judge for five years. 

Scott Cummings is the Robert Henigson Professor of Legal Ethics at the UCLA School of Law, where he teaches and writes about the legal profession, legal ethics, access to justice, and local government law. A recipient of the UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award, Professor Cummings is the founding faculty director of the UCLA Program on Legal Ethics and the Profession, which promotes empirical research and innovative programming on the challenges facing lawyers in the twenty-first century, and a long-time member of the UCLA David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy. In 2021, Professor Cummings was selected as the Fulbright Distinguished Chair at the European University Institute and a fellow at the Stanford Center for the Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences to study the role of lawyers in strengthening the rule of law. He was awarded a 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship to study the role of lawyers in democratic backsliding.