Trends in Motion Picture and Television Financial Litigation

Ashley R. Yeargan is a Partner at Russ August & Kabat and Co-Chair of the firm’s Media & Entertainment group. She represents leading talent and media companies in high-profile disputes involving defamation, privacy and publicity rights, copyright and trademark infringement, and breach of contract. Widely recognized for her work, Ashley has been repeatedly honored by Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and Super Lawyers as a leading entertainment litigator.

Ilan Haimoff, CPA, CIA, CFE, CFF, is the Entertainment Practice Leader at GHJ. His specialty includes profit participation and forensic accounting on behalf of talent, investors and co-producers at both the major and mini studios. Ilan has over 30 years of accounting experience in public accounting and private industry serving clients primarily in the entertainment, financial services and distribution service industries.

Ilan has written various articles and other publications and regularly participates in speaking engagements focusing on entertainment, profit participation, royalty, internal controls and anti-fraud. He also hosts GHJ’s Media Clips Podcast, leading vital discussions about the state of the entertainment industry.

Ilan is a member of the CalCPA Entertainment Conference Planning Committee (and has served as Co-Chair at least four times). He is also a member of the California State University Chancellor’s Advisory Council on the Entertainment Industry, the Institute of Internal Auditors, the Beverly Hills Bar Association, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and the AICPA.

Ilan is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) by the AICPA. Ilan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from California State University, Northridge.

Robert M. “Bobby” Schwartz is a partner in Quinn Emanuel’s Los Angeles office and co-chair of the Media & Entertainment Industry Practice. Over the last 30 years, Bobby has become a nationally recognized leader in large-stakes and often precedent-setting cases, particularly in the entertainment and media fields. He has represented every major motion picture studio and broadcast network, as well as film production companies, pay TV services, video game developers, record companies, recording artists, producers, writers, directors, and actors. He has had extensive experience and success in copyright, trademark, unfair competition, royalties and participations, First Amendment, defamation, employment, and complex business disputes. As noted in the Notable Representations tab, he has also handled substantial disputes for companies well outside the media industry and entertainment industries.

Chad Fitzgerald is a nationally recognized entertainment litigator whose practice focuses on complex disputes and transactions for clients at the highest levels of film, television, music, and digital media. His experience spans profit participation and vertical integration disputes, streaming and distribution matters, copyright, trademark, and trade secret litigation, as well as claims involving fraud, defamation, and rights of privacy. Chad represents actors, directors, producers, writers, showrunners, musicians, professional athletes, major talent agencies, guilds, and production and distribution companies, in addition to clients in the fitness, apparel, toy, and gaming industries. His work has included landmark matters such as profit participation disputes involving The Walking Dead, Bones, The Office, Cheers, Frasier, The Simpsons, Emily in Paris, and Smallville, as well as high-profile trials and arbitrations resulting in substantial verdicts and settlements.

In addition to his litigation practice, Chad is a thought leader in entertainment law. He has authored numerous articles, regularly speaks on industry panels, and is frequently quoted by outlets including The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline, and the Daily Journal. He teaches entertainment law at UCLA School of Law and serves on the Advisory Board of UCLA’s Ziffren Institute for Media, Entertainment, Technology and Sports Law. Chad has been named a “Power Lawyer” by The Hollywood Reporter, a member of Variety’s “Legal Impact Report” and “Hollywood’s New Leaders,” a “Super Lawyer,” one of The Best Lawyers in America, and one of the Los Angeles Business Journal’s “Leaders of Influence.” He earned his B.A. with distinction in English Literature from Yale University and his J.D. from UCLA School of Law, and joined KHIKS in 2007 after working at Universal Pictures and Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan.