Pepperdine Caruso Law Hosts Twentieth Annual National Entertainment Law Competition
Pepperdine Caruso Law hosted its Twentieth Annual National Entertainment Law Moot Court Competition in Malibu, California, on November 16 and 17. Law students from across the country engaged in the mock appellate advocacy competition, acting as advocates debating a set of novel legal issues involving the fair use and the copyrightability of a visually depicted character before top entertainment industry lawyers who served as judges for the competition.
The final round judges included entertainment law attorneys: Lincoln Bandlow, Law Offices of Lincoln Bandlow and one of the Hollywood Reporter's "100 Top Entertainment Power Lawyers"; Christopher Sabec, Fox Rothschild, LLP, who served as CEO and Manager of the Jerry Garcia Estate LLC, attorney and manager for Hanson and The Dave Matthews band; and Jessica Stebbins Bina, Latham & Watkins, who has represented media, entertainment, and technology companies such as Apple Inc, Talent Agency ICM Partners LLC, Association of Talent Agents, Harmony Gold USA Inc, and concert promoter AEG Live.
The semi-final round judges included Pepperdine alumni, such as Joseph Gargano (JD '82), founder of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society at Pepperdine Caruso Law, prominent Los Angeles entertainment law attorneys, and Pepperdine Caruso Law Academic Dean Victoria Schwartz. The competition problem, written by Pepperdine Caruso Law second-year student Nicole Geiser, was highly complimented by the competition judges.
Pepperdine Caruso Law congratulates the competition National Champions, Cassidy Newcomer, Clayton Hart, and Marcela Arevalo of South Texas College of Law Houston, and Finalists, Sarah Jo Lambert, William Langford (winner of Best Advocate in the final round), and Patrick LeMasters from Texas Tech University School of Law. The semifinalist teams were Chapman University Fowler School of Law and Cardozo School of Law. The competition was hosted and administered by Pepperdine Caruso Law's Moot Court Board and co-chairs Katlynn Clinich and Nicole Geiser, with faculty advisors Professor Maureen Weston and Dean Naomi Goodno.