Lecturers in Law

Alan J. Levine joined the faculty at the USC Gould School of Law in the Fall of 2013 where he created and continues to teach two “skills” courses entitled Business Planning: Structuring and Financing a New Enterprise and Deal Strategy, Structure, Drafting & Negotiation. Levine brings to the faculty a uniquely broad experience of over the past 46 years in the entertainment, communications and convergent media industries; he has been an attorney, a chief studio executive, investment banker and media and financial consultant.

Most recently, Levine was the managing partner of Canon Media Partners (“CMP”) that provided a broad range of operational, business, financial and strategic advice and counsel to clients in the entertainment and media industry. Founded in January of 2010, CMP was the former J.P. Morgan Entertainment Advisors (“EA”), which was formed as a unit of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in 2007. CMP and EA focused on assisting clients in the development and structuring of all forms of business strategies and models and the selection of, and ongoing advice to, management, the assembling of management teams to operate new or existing businesses, the creation of new industry initiatives, and the launching of new media businesses.

Levine is also the former president and chief operating officer of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (“SPE”) having joined SPE in that role when Sony purchased Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc. in 1989. While at SPE, Levine was responsible for all aspects of SPE’s business and corporate operations, which included the motion picture, television, home video, merchandising, exhibition, studio facilities, corporate development, community relations, corporate affairs, legal, finance, human resources and administrative activities of the company worldwide.

As an attorney, Levine was counsel to the law firm of Ziffren, Brittenham, LLP, and a senior partner in the law firm of Armstrong, Hirsch & Levine; his legal and consulting practices consisted of representing individuals and companies in all aspects of the entertainment and media business, including public and private media entities, independent production and distribution companies, recording and music publishing companies, theatre chains, actors, directors, writers, producer, playwrights, music artists, athletes, executives, agents and managers.

Levine holds a BS degree in Business Administration and a JD in Law from USC. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the State Bar of California and has served on the Boards of Directors of DreamWorks Studios, Castle Rock Entertainment, and a variety of other civic, charitable and education boards and committees, including the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, the Boards of Councilors of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and USC Gould Law School, the Boards of Directors of the USC Associates, the Roundtable of the Museum of Radio & Television, and the Frank Sinatra Foundation. He has also lectured at numerous entertainment and media conferences, including presentations at the Harvard Business School, Howard University, UCLA and USC.
 

FACULTY IN THE NEWS

Newsweek
June 22, 2018
Re: Orin Kerr

Orin Kerr was quoted about a case before the U.S. Supreme Court that decided whether cell phone records could be obtained by the federal government without a warrant. According to Kerr, the government’s case relied on older cases stemming from the 1970s when technology was inferior to today’s wireless and heavily interconnected world.

RECENT SCHOLARSHIP

Jonathan Barnett
April, 2018

Jonathan Barnett's original op-ed posted in The Hill "SCOTUS is About to Hear the Easiest Antitrust Case Ever" was reprinted in Competition Policy International on April 2, 2018.

George Lefcoe
April, 2018

George Lefcoe attained SSRN's designation as being in the top 10% of Authors on SSRN by all-time downloads.

Daniel Klerman
April, 2018

“Reputational Economies of Scale” posted to SSRN and BePress.