Description:
As lawyers, we negotiate on behalf of clients practically every day. You know the legal ethics rules require you to be truthful but how do you apply those general pronouncements in a context where puffing, posturing and concealing one’s bottom line are more the rule than the exception? This program uses a hypothetical negotiation between lawyers representing a writer seeking to sell a script and a film studio seeking to buy it to illustrate how the ethics rules apply when lawyers act as negotiators. Participants will walk away with concrete, practical advice, including: What you can and cannot misrepresent or conceal in a negotiation and why; wow to handle tricky issues such as estimates of price or value, willingness to compromise, bottom lines and settlement authority; what statements of law or fact may be considered “material” in negotiations; and when puffing, posturing and exaggerating cross the line.Speaker:
Zachary S. McGee, Senior Vice President, Business Affairs, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Los Angeles, CA
Zach McGee is a Senior Vice President, Business Affairs, for Sony Pictures Entertainment in Los Angeles where he negotiates distribution deals for feature films and television series. Before joining Sony Pictures, Zach held senior in-house legal positions at NBCUniversal and Miramax. Zach began his career as a law clerk to the Honorable Michael B. Mukasey, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and as an associate with DavisPolk in New York, New York, and Menlo Park, California. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and he received his Masters of Business Administration from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Zach is also a successful entrepreneur and founder of educational content companies in the legal space.