Program Faculty
To see a full bio of any speaker, please click on their name.
Elena M. Paul, Esq.
Executive Director
Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
Elena M. Paul is the Executive Director of VLA. In addition to being the Chief Operating Officer and head of development, Ms. Paul advises and represents artists and arts organizations at VLA, specializing in corporate and contractual matters. She also creates many of its original programs, including the VLA Clinic; the Statewide Service Initiative; this Legal and Business Bootcamp; the Ask the Lawyer Program; and the MetLife Foundation Clinics and Classes for the Arts. Prior to VLA, Ms. Paul was the Executive Director of Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts. Before WALA, Ms. Paul acted as University Counsel in the Office of the President at the University of Maryland, College Park. Ms. Paul previously served as an attorney at two major national law firms, Patton Boggs and Bryan Cave.
Ms. Paul serves on several boards of nonprofit arts organizations and advises many others, including other VLA-type organizations. She also serves as development consultant for various cultural and arts projects in addition to television, film and theatrical productions.
Ms Paul lectures nationally on a variety of arts and entertainment topics, including contracts for arts professionals, intellectual property, fundraising and institutional development, and creating nonprofit, tax-exempt corporations. Ms. Paul is an Adjunct Professor at the Brooklyn Law School for a program she created, the VLA Transaction Law Clinic and Seminar.
Ms. Paul received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Davidson College, phi beta kappa, and her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. In 2000, Ms. Paul was a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow at Harvard Law School. She is admitted to practice in New York and the District of Columbia.
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Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq.
Fettmann, Tolchin and Majors, P.C.
Brian Taylor Goldstein is a principal in the law firm of Fettmann, Tolchin and Majors, P.C., with offices in both New York City and Fairfax, Virginia, where his practice concentrates on representing and counseling clients in the fields of entertainment and the arts--including television, music, motion pictures, the fine arts, the performing arts, publishing, artist management, and non-profit arts related organizations--with regard to such matters as intellectual property, licensing, corporate matters, contracts, and obtaining visas for foreign artists and performers. His clients include award-winning artists and performers, nationally and internationally known opera and ballet companies, regional and off-Broadway theater companies, award-winning producers and directors, and critically acclaimed fine-artists and designers. He also serves as general counsel for a number of leading performing arts managers and agents.
Mr. Goldstein is a regular speaker on a variety of legal subjects of importance to the artistic community, including entertainment law, intellectual property, artist management, business development, and immigration issues for artists. In addition to teaching workshops and seminars for the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (WALA) in Washington, D.C. and the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts in New York City (VLA), his speaking engagements have included: the International Dublin Theater Festival, Midwest Arts Conference, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters National Conference, the American Symphony Orchestra League National Conference, Opera America National Conference, the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts, the Brooklyn Arts Council, the American Choral Directors' Association, the American Association of Theater Educators, and the United States Institute of Theater Technology. He has been interviewed for numerous publications, including the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, and Inside Arts Magazine. He is the author of A License To Manage: State Licensing Requirements for Artist Managers as well as the Model Artist Management Contract, both published and distributed by NAPAMA (North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents).
In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Goldstein is President and Artistic Director of Lord Foppington & Company, LLC, a theatrical production company dedicated to the performance of period and period-themed comedies. The company has performed to critical acclaim throughout the United States, as well as in Europe, and wrote the scripts for and performed on Colonial Fair, a sound recording featuring music and stories inspired by the 18th Century which was awarded the Best Children's Album of the Year by the National Association of Libraries. Mr. Goldstein is the author of numerous plays which have been produced and performed by the company.
Mr. Goldstein received a B.A. (With Distinction and Recognition) in English and Theatre from George Mason University in 1988 and his J.D. from American University in 1991. He is a member of the Virginia State Bar, the New York State Bar, the American Bar Association, the Fairfax Bar Association, the Lawyers for Non-Profits and the Arts Committee of the Virginia State Bar, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. He serves as Legal Advisor to NAPAMA, the Board of Governors of The Little Theatre of Alexandria, and the Intermixx Independent Recording Artist Network. He also serves on the Northern Virginia Board of Governors of Virginia Opera and the Advisory Board of the Arts Council of Fairfax County. He is a member of the Washington Area Music Association (WAMA), Americans for the Arts, VLA, WALA, and the British & Commonwealth Society of North America. He is the recipient of the WALA 2000 Educational Programs Award and was nominated for a 2003 Outstanding Entertainment Executive of the Year Award by WAMA.
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Gary E. Redente is a senior associate in the New York office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he represents creative talent and business entities. Handling both transactional and litigation matters, Mr. Redente's entertainment practice involves contract negotiation and drafting, music licensing and clearance, copyright and trademark, publishing, business entity formation, and contract dispute resolution. His experience includes advising musicians and songwriters regarding recording contracts, agent and management contracts, internal band agreements, the protection and exploitation of intellectual property interests, and artist development. In addition to being a speaker for the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts in New York City, Mr. Redente has counseled artists at legal clinics for the Washington Area Lawyer for the Arts, and has taught for the D.C. Bar's Pro Bono Program. Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Redente spent several years in the music industry recording and/or touring professionally with numerous artists, including Gary U.S. Bonds, Smokey 007, and Lucille Almond. Mr. Redente is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Hunter College (B.A., summa cum laude). He received his law degree from Boston University School of Law in 1999, earning the distinction "Honors, Litigation and Dispute Resolution Concentration." He is admitted to practice in New York and the District of Columbia.
NOTABLE EMERGING ARTISTS REPRESENTED
TINATIN, a protégé of Chris Neil (Celine Dion, Cher, Rod Stewart) http://www.tinatinonline.com/
DYLAN RICE, 2005 Outmusic Award Winner, "Best Debut Recording - Male" http://www.dylanrice.com/
NEFRIT EL-OR, 2004 WAMA Award Nominee for "Best Rock Instrumentalist," "Best Rock Debut Album," and "Best Rock Album" http://www.nefritel-or.com
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
ABA Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries
The Copyright Society of the USA
DC Bar Arts, Entertainment, and Sports Law Section
New York State Bar Association's Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Section
Member, Committee on Music and Recording Industry
Member, Committee on Litigation
Peter Rienecker, Esq.
Vice President and Senior Counsel, Original Programming
Home Box Office, Inc.
Cahn & Samuels, LLP
Frederick N. Samuels has been involved in the field of intellectual property since 1986. Mr. Samuels began his career as a Patent Examiner in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and has been in private practice since 1990. Mr. Samuels has extensive experience in all aspects of intellectual property, including litigation, administrative proceedings, patent and trademark procurement, technology transfer and licensing. Mr. Samuels focuses his broad experience to provide clients with strategic, business-orientated counseling in the acquisition, management and exploitation of their intellectual property. In this regard, Mr. Samuels has devised and implemented intellectual business strategies for clients of all sizes and at all stages of development.
Mr. Samuels has prosecuted numerous patents in a vast array of technologies and has successfully handled patent appeals to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. Mr. Samuels also regularly prosecutes trademarks and copyrights for his clients both foreign and domestic. In addition to ex parte matters before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Mr. Samuels handles opposition and cancellation proceedings for his clients.
Mr. Samuels received his Juris Doctor from George Washington University School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland. Mr. Samuels is a former Board Member of the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts and is a current Board member of the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Samuels' hobbies include sports and photography.
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