Associate Counsel/Counsel, Legal Affairs, Universal Studio Group

Company Description

Join our NBCUniversal EPIC Legal Team! EPIC symbolizes key foundational principles as we strive to be extraordinary partners to our businesses in an evolving environment. Here at NBCU Legal, we are Expert Partners who provide Inspiring and Creative solutions to our clients. We are subject-matter experts who collaborate with our legal colleagues and clients to guide, solve and push for our collective success. We inspire by bringing optimism and positivity to our work, and apply strategic and innovative thinking to support our businesses.

NBCUniversal owns and operates over 20 different businesses across 30 countries including a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks and a premium ad-supported streaming service. Here you can be your authentic self. As a company uniquely positioned to educate, entertain and empower through our platforms, Comcast NBCUniversal stands for including everyone. We strive to foster a diverse and inclusive culture where our employees feel supported, embraced and heard. We believe that our workforce should represent the communities we live in, so that together, we can continue to create and deliver content that reflects the current and ever-changing face of the world. Click here to learn more about Comcast NBCUniversal’s commitment and how we are making an impact.

Job Description

Role Purpose

Universal Studio Group is looking for an Associate Counsel or Counsel who will have the opportunity to support Universal Studio Group, NBCUniversal’s collection of entertainment television studios – including Universal Television, Universal Content Productions, Universal International Studios, and USG Audio. We are seeking a candidate who will embrace the “show lawyer” model – a holistic, business-friendly approach, providing timely and practical legal advice during the development, production, and exploitation of our scripted entertainment content. The person in this position will receive best in-class training; work on a team that highly values collegiality, collaboration, and professional development; and handle a broad variety of issues and tasks. These tasks will include script and concept vetting; clearance advice; drafting and negotiating agreements with writers, producers, directors and/or other talent; rights acquisitions and analysis; copyright and trademark issues; defamation and First Amendment advice; and other legal matters arising during development and production.

Job Duties

• Deliver show lawyer services to business and creative partners
• Work directly with writers, producers, and studio executives to navigate interesting legal issues relating to television and podcast projects, including: defamation, copyright, trademark, and right of publicity issues
• Train writers and show personnel on NBCU policies and practical ways to avoid problems
• Draft, review, negotiate, and interpret talent, rights, and other production-related agreements
• Partner with our clients, as well as colleagues in the Legal Function, to develop and implement best practices and formulate new processes in connection with business needs and priorities
• Collaborate with the team to navigate major changes to the television industry, and find creative and effective approaches to implement long-term business strategies

Qualifications

Basic Requirements

• JD or LLM degree from an accredited law school
• Member of New York, California, or other U.S. state bar
• A minimum of 1 year of experience for Associate Counsel, or 4 years of experience for Counsel, in entertainment, intellectual property, media law, entertainment transactional and/or other relevant experience

Desired Characteristics

• Strong academic credentials
• Experience with copyright, trademark, right of publicity, defamation and/or other media law issues
• Collaborative, team-oriented approach, but also the ability to work autonomously
• Excellent drafting and negotiating skills
• Demonstrated ability to:
  • Proactively identify, prioritize, and resolve legal issues quickly and effectively; and to
  • Explain complex legal concepts and risks to, and collaborate with, business and creative executives
• Professional and polished demeanor, with executive presence
• Sound business judgment, with flexibility and adaptability to manage multiple, wide-ranging matters, conflicting deadlines, and new areas of expertise as business needs change
• Relevant in-house experience