Michael Grizzi

Michael Grizzi is senior vice president of legal affairs for Paramount Pictures Corporation, where he is responsible for negotiation and documentation of high-level talent employment, rights acquisition, term deal and related agreements for Paramount’s motion pictures. He joined USC Gould School of Law as a lecturer in law teaching legal writing in Fall 2005 and has taught Entertainment Law since Fall 2008. Grizzi holds a JD from UCLA School of Law, where he was editor of the UCLA Law Review and graduated Order of the Coif. He received a BS from Northwestern University. After law school, Grizzi practiced for three years with Irell and Manella in Los Angeles, where he handled corporate legal matters, including negotiation of employment, distribution, licensing and settlement agreements, for several public companies. He also served as Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs for New Line Cinema from 2002 to 2005.

FACULTY IN THE NEWS

The Washington Post
December 2, 2019
Re: Jonathan Handel

Jonathan Handel was quoted on Pete Davidson's nondisclosure agreement for attending his comedy shows, barring the audience from speaking about his shows. Handel mentioned that successfully suing a random fan for $1 million would be nearly impossible. “The optics of going to court and suing one of your fans is really pretty ugly,” Handel said. “It would be foolish to do that.”

RECENT SCHOLARSHIP

Scott Altman
October, 2019

"Are Boycotts, Shunning, and Shaming Corrupt?” Legal Theory Workshop, University of Virginia Law School, Charlottesville, VA.

Gregory Keating
October, 2019

Gregory Keating’s paper, “Is Tort Law ‘Private’?” was reviewed by Ellen Bublick as a significant work of scholarship relating to Tort Law in JOTWELL: The Journal of Things We Like (Lots), on October 15, 2019.

Dan Simon
October, 2019

“Confessions True and False,” Korean Society for Criminal Law, Yonsei University Law School, Seoul, South Korea.