NEW YORK, August 16, 2007 – LAWFUEL – The Law Firm Newswire – Loeb & Loeb LLP announced today that four attorneys have joined the firm’s Advertising and Promotions Practice Group in the New York office. Rose Meade Hart and Pam Benjamin join as Senior Counsel and Drew Weinstein and John Um join as associates. The laterals join a group of nearly 50 attorneys who practice in the firm’s Advertising and Promotions and Entertainment and Media Groups.
These additions are part of the continuing expansion of the Entertainment and Advertising Groups with lawyers who specialize in advertising, media, technology and content. Recently, the New York office hired lateral Tom Guida whose practice focuses on the development, licensing, financing and protection of intellectual property assets, with a particular emphasis on digital and interactive media, branded entertainment, entertainment technology and complex licensing transactions. Also an expert in domain name disputes, Guida is the fourth partner to practice in the IP area to join in the past few months.
“The explosion of deals bringing advertising together with entertainment content to an array of devices and evolving media platforms indicates where our business is today,” said James Taylor, the Chair of Loeb & Loeb’s Advertising and Promotions Group. “Our newest additions to the team have the background our clients need in the current market which is driven – more than ever before – by the convergence between technology, advertising and entertainment.”
John Frankenheimer, Co-Chairman of Loeb & Loeb added, “Investing in our advertising and promotions practice allows us to offer our clients a greater depth of experience in branded entertainment and content-to-technology transactions, which has been for some time, a core practice for us, and continues to grow at a rapid rate . The advertising and promotions practice is also a key component of our recently launched Fashion and Luxury Brands Industry Group.”
Loeb & Loeb LLP’s Media and Entertainment lawyers received high praise in the 2007 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, including a # 1 ranking for the Advertising Practice among all other law firms in the New York market.
Biographies
Pamela Benjamin advises clients on transactional entertainment and advertising law. Her practice includes licensing music and video content; negotiating deals and draft agreements for celebrity endorsements, concert broadcasts, photo syndication and joint marketing programs; and developing privacy policies and digital rights management terms-of-use.
Ms. Benjamin’s clients include high-profile music artists, music-industry firms and consumer service companies. Ms Benjamin has also counseled ad-supported digital download services on advertising and promotional law. In that capacity, she has negotiated terms for the licensing template and advised on royalty structures and technological requirements for territory verification, security and consumers’ use of service.
Ms. Benjamin has extensive experience as an in-house attorney. While at The Columbia House Company, she advised on direct marketing, online advertising and open and members-only web site sales. At Prodigy Communications, an Internet service provider, she handled contract negotiation for online content, joint promotional programs, e-commerce, Internet advertising sales and site sponsorship, agency-client, customer support vendors and talent contracts. As Vice President and Senior Attorney with N.W. Ayer & Son, Inc., a national ad agency, she was involved in its interactive, media, direct mail and public relations units.
She earned her J.D. at Cornell Law School (1990) and a B.A. at State University of New York at Binghamton, with Honors (1987).
Rose Meade Hart focuses her practice on media transactions. She negotiates and administers talent, production, distribution, and acquisition agreements in the television, film and music industries. She represents television networks, film and television production companies, Internet content providers, technology companies, executives and talent. Ms. Hart also has experience licensing content across all media, including Internet and mobile platforms. She also has expertise in intellectual property and fluency with technology. An area of interest for Ms. Hart is branded entertainment and the convergence of advertising and media content, particularly when combined with technology.
Prior to joining Loeb & Loeb LLP, Ms. Hart was a founding partner of Hart Law Group LLC, a boutique media law firm based in New York and was managing partner at Hart Rayner, LLP. Prior to that, Ms. Hart practiced with the entertainment firms Tavel, Thea and Baker and Marshall, Morris in New York where she represented numerous successful independent record labels, producers and recording artists in the urban music sector.
At the start of her career, Ms. Hart practiced in Hollywood, California as in-house counsel to a television and film production company. Prior to practicing law, Ms. Hart worked a computer consultant and has been online since 1985.
She earned her J.D. at Boston College Law School (1991) and her B.F.A. at Arizona State University (1988).
John Um practices in all aspects of advertising and marketing law with a particular emphasis in on-line media and other new media platforms. He reviews advertising and marketing campaigns’ for compliance with all laws and preservation of third party intellectual property rights, crafts sweepstakes and promotions agreements and counsels on issues relating to privacy and Internet advertising. He has particular expertise with various Federal and State statues and regulations affecting advertising and marketing. In addition, he has handled governmental agency regulatory investigations and inquiries, including those of the Federal Trade Commission and various attorneys general.
Prior to joining Loeb & Loeb LLP, Mr. Um served as Vice President, General Counsel & Chief Privacy Officer at Traffix, Inc. (NASD: TRFX), where he created a legal compliance process for marketing and advertising copy, facilitating compliance with various state and federal unfair and deceptive trade practices laws. He was also actively involved creating industry-wide self regulatory principles and best practices, including those for cookies, adware, legitimate e-mail practices and privacy concerns.
He earned his J.D. from Albany Law School (1996) and his B.A., with Honors, at Binghamton University (1992).
Drew Weinstein counsels clients on a range of new media legal issues, including intellectual property protection, licensing, branding, integrated digital promotions and general technology development. Mr. Weinstein has considerable experience using new media to extend brand communication via mobile and Internet devices.
Weinstein has represented content, software and hardware developers, both from licensor and licensee viewpoint. He drafts website Terms of Use, Privacy Policies, End User License Agreements, Shrink Wrap Agreements, etc. for advertisers, content developers and infrastructure companies. He works with website developers, handling a range of back and front-end development issues. Weinstein has represented a range of different clients in the outsourcing of key services such as online advertising sales, customer service support, promotion fulfillment, data hosting and co-location agreements.
Prior to joining Loeb & Loeb LLP, Mr. Weinstein served as co-founder of ISIT LLC, an interactive consultancy that provided strategic marketing services and developed mobile and Internet software solutions for major brands, agencies and leaders of the telecommunications industry.
He earned his J.D. at Northwestern University School of Law (2001) and his B.A. at Brown University (1996).
About Loeb & Loeb LLP: Loeb & Loeb LLP is a multi-service national law firm with 275 attorneys focusing on select core industries and practice areas, rather than endeavoring to be all things to all clients, and is recognized as a leading law firm in the areas of corporate and securities matters; litigation; entertainment and media law; finance; real estate; intellectual property; private equity; employment; advertising and promotions and tax and wealth services. The firm represents multi-national, Fortune 100 company in their mid-market transactions and litigation matters, and serves as primary outside counsel to a multitude of mid-market clients. The firm also represents clients ranging from high tech start-ups to high net worth individuals and families. The firm has four domestic offices in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Nashville and an affiliation in Asia and Europe.
