What Your Need To Know on Fraud in the Motion Picture and Television Industry

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.

Chenxi “Tracy” Liang, CPA, has more than 10 years of experience in entertainment accounting and forensic investigations. She specializes in performing audits of the production and distribution of motion picture and television programs on behalf of investors and third-party participants as well as royalty audits with focus on video games and licensing industries. Tracy has also provided consulting services in entertainment litigation matters. She has authored several blogs for GHJ’s Media Clips blog and has been involved with GHJ’s China initiative.