Ivy Kagan Bierman, an Entertainment partner at Loeb & Loeb LLP, and one of the leading authorities in entertainment industry guild and union relations, will be honored as the 2015 Entertainment Lawyer of the Year by the Entertainment Law Section of the Beverly Hills Bar Association (BHBA), at its prestigious annual Awards Dinner on Wednesday, September 16, 2015, at 5:30 p.m., at The Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Actress/comedian Kate Flannery (The Office, Saturday Night Live, Curb Your Enthusiasm) is Master of Ceremonies, and Grammy Award-winning singer Patti Austin, accompanied by celebrated jazz pianist Shelly Berg, Ms. Kagan Bierman’s brother, offer a special musical tribute to the lawyer of the year. Proceeds from the event support the BHBA’s education and community outreach programs.
The Entertainment Lawyer of the Year Award honors leaders of the entertainment law field for their contributions to the profession and has been presented annually since 1989 by the BHBA, which has the largest entertainment law section of any bar association in the world.
BHBA Entertainment Law Section Chair Susannah Jeffers states, “The Beverly Hills Bar Association is proud to recognize Ivy Kagan Bierman for her incredible impact on the entertainment industry. Ms. Kagan Bierman is well respected in the industry for her exceptional skill at facilitating harmonious labor relations on productions and resolving extremely high profile and time sensitive labor disputes. She is also known for her commitment to women in the entertainment industry.”
Ms. Kagan Bierman is one of a select few of entertainment industry lawyers looked to by film, television and digital media companies, and national advertisers and advertising agencies for representation in guild and union matters. She was one of the first attorneys to negotiate interactive and multi-media agreements with SAG, the WGA and the DGA and, most recently, one of the first attorneys to negotiate groundbreaking deals with all three guilds in connection with long standing television series that were subsequently produced for online exhibition. Ms. Kagan Bierman strategizes with film and television production, distribution and finance companies with respect to the WGA, SAG-AFTRA and DGA negotiations and potential strikes. She also regularly advises clients with respect to the guilds’ and unions’ evolving positions regarding reality television, brand integration and the development and exhibition of content over the Internet and mobile devices.
Ms. Kagan Bierman is often the “go to” attorney when productions are threatened by pickets and strikes. She has developed a reputation for being able to negotiate guild and union deals that get crew back to work in sometimes a matter of hours. Major companies have entrusted her with high profile investigations and defense of claims involving popular television series such as “American Idol” and “Fashion Police.”
Ms. Kagan Bierman also gives back to the entertainment industry and to the community through her work on the boards of Women in Film, the Hollywood Radio and Television Society, and the Anti-Defamation League.
Previous BHBA Entertainment Lawyer of the Year recipients include L. Lee Phillips, Nina Shaw, Marty Singer, Ken Kleinberg, Eric Weissmann, Maren Christensen, Patti Felker, Barry Hirsch, Ken Ziffren, Tom Hansen, Stanton “Larry” Stein, Jay Cooper, Don Passman, Russell Frackman, Don Biederman, Louis Meisinger, John Schulman, Melanie Cook, Bruce Ramer, Peter Dekom, Frank Rothman, Bertram Fields, Martin Gang, Norman Tyre, Marvin Meyer, Allen Susman, Leon Kaplan and Edward Rubin. Past BHBA honorees for Outstanding Entertainment Law Scholarship are Jay Dougherty and Lionel Sobel.
Variety is media sponsor of the Entertainment Lawyer of the Year Awards Dinner.
The Beverly Hills Bar Association, founded in 1931, is the fifth largest bar association in California, with nearly 6,000 members. Its mission is to serve its members, to lead the legal profession and to advocate for justice in the community.
Tickets to the Beverly Hills Bar Association’s Entertainment Lawyer of the Year Dinner are $300 per person ($325 after September 9, 2015). The Beverly Wilshire Hotel is located at 9500 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. For tickets, tables, Sponsorship, Tribute Book ads and other information, please call (310) 601-2422 or visit www.bhba.org .
