Qualifications and Career Profile
Alan R. Friedman has nearly 25 years of commercial litigation experience and has handled numerous securities, contract, fraud and other disputes for plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts from inception through the appellate stages. In addition, he has represented individuals and companies before various arbitral bodies and in SEC and DOJ regulatory investigations. He also has substantial intellectual property and entertainment litigation and transaction experience and has handled many contract, copyright, trademark and participation/royalty claims in the music and entertainment industries. He is listed in
New York Super Lawyers as a Super Lawyer in Entertainment Law (2006-2009) and in
The Best Lawyers in America (2010-2011).
Mr. Friedman served as General Counsel at Miramax Film Corp., a position he held for a six year period that ended in 2005 when Miramax’s founders separated from the company. As a result of his senior level in-house and outside counsel positions, Mr. Friedman has first hand understanding of the demands upon in-house counsel in managing litigation and the importance of using litigation as a tool to serve the business needs and objectives of their companies.
During his tenure, Miramax successfully opposed numerous commercial and intellectual property claims without litigation or payment of any settlement amounts and favorably resolved many other matters in Court and in arbitration. Mr. Friedman actively participated in the company's major court hearings and arbitrations and was responsible for planning and executing the company's litigation and settlement strategies. He led the Company in successfully overcoming a wide variety of challenges to such well known and successful films as "Shakespeare in Love," "Chicago," "The Cider House Rules," the "Scary Movie" releases and many others. He also reviewed Miramax films and marketing materials prior to release to evaluate and avoid risks of infringement, defamation and right of publicity/privacy claims.
Mr. Friedman regularly represented Credit Suisse First Boston and Oppenheimer & Co. in litigation and regulatory matters while he was a partner at Gold, Farrell & Marks. Among the matters he oversaw were extensive SEC, DOJ and class action proceedings and investigations in connection with trading practices and an alleged price-fixing conspiracy among major Nasdaq market makers. Notably, following a lengthy pre-filing investigation, the DOJ took action against numerous industry participants but not against the broker-dealer represented by Mr. Friedman.
Mr. Friedman's successful litigations in the entertainment industry prior to becoming General Counsel of Miramax include:
- The Beatles-owned company, Apple Corps Ltd.: Mr. Friedman handled multiple litigations for Apple involving trademark and copyright infringement of The Beatles’ intellectual property rights, unauthorized uses of The Beatles name and likeness and the unauthorized manufacture and distribution of Beatles' concert films. He also represented Apple and The Beatles in their long-standing royalty accounting dispute arising from the exploitation of their records.
- Billy Joel: Mr. Friedman handled copyright and other litigation matters for Mr. Joel, including a major multi-party litigation against, among others, Mr. Joel's ex-manager and ex-accountants, raising a host of fraud, fiduciary duty, contract and accounting issues.
- Miramax: Mr. Friedman represented Miramax in numerous matters, including disputes with former employees, contract disputes in connection with the production and distribution of Miramax product, copyright and trademark claims asserted against the Company's films and marketing materials, and protection of the Company's intellectual property.
Education and Bar Admissions
Mr. Friedman graduated
cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1981, where he was an editor of
The Georgetown Law Journal. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978, where he graduated
cum laude with Distinction in Economics. He is admitted to practice in New York and California.