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About USC Gould
USC Gould is a top-ranked law school with a 120-year history and reputation for academic excellence. We are located on the beautiful 228-acre USC University Park Campus, just south of downtown Los Angeles.
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Academics
Learn about our interdisciplinary curriculum, experiential learning opportunities and specialized areas.
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Admissions
USC Gould helps prepare you for a stellar legal career. You can pursue a JD degree, one of our numerous graduate and international offerings, or an online degree or certificate.
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Students
Participate in an unparalleled learning experience with diversity of people and thought. Get involved in the law school community and participate in activities that enhance your studies.
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Careers
We work closely with students, graduates and employers to support successful career goals and outcomes. Our overall placement rate is consistently strong, with 94 percent of our JD class employed within 10 months after graduation.
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Faculty
Our faculty is distinguished for its scholarship, as well as for its commitment to teaching. Our 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio creates an intimate and collegial learning environment.
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Yaphett Powell
USC Gould School of Law
- FACULTY DIRECTORY
- LECTURERS IN LAW DIRECTORY
- EXPERTS DIRECTORY
- FACULTY IN THE NEWS
- SCHOLARSHIP AND PUBLICATIONS
- DISTINCTIONS AND AWARDS
- + CENTERS AND INITIATIVES
- CENTER FOR LAW AND PHILOSOPHY (CLP)
- CENTER FOR LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCE (CLASS)
- CENTER FOR LAW, HISTORY AND CULTURE (CLHC)
- CENTER FOR TRANSNATIONAL LAW AND BUSINESS (CTLB)
- INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM INSTITUTE (IRI)
- PACIFIC CENTER FOR HEALTH POLICY AND ETHICS
- SAKS INSTITUTE FOR MENTAL HEALTH LAW, POLICY, AND ETHICS
- + WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES

Lecturer in Law
Email: ypowell@law.usc.edu699 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90089-0074 USA
Last Updated: August 16, 2018
Yaphett Powell is a senior international business affairs attorney and deal lawyer at The Walt Disney Company’s corporate headquarters, where he specializes in international and domestic distribution deals and strategy for Disney’s full portfolio of film & TV studios and networks, including Disney, Pixar, ABC, ESPN, Marvel and Lucasfilm.
He has extensive experience with all forms of entertainment and media distribution business models such as Over-the-Top streaming (OTT), Direct-to-Consumer Digital Distribution (DTC), Digital Download/Streaming rights (EHVL/EST), Digital Locker rights (Movies Anywhere), Video-on-Demand (VOD), Pay-per-View (PPV), TV Everywhere authentication rights (TVE), linear television (free and pay), physical home video media (Blu-ray/DVD), and film/TV content applications (Apps) for consumer electronics devices such as Smartphones, Tablets, PCs/Macs, Game Consoles, Connected TVs, and Streaming Boxes/Sticks.
Prior to joining Disney, Yaphett held dual roles as a TV network executive and entertainment attorney at FOX Networks Group and also served as a Vice President attorney at a leading global digital distribution company. Before entering his career as in-house entertainment counsel, he spent 8 years as outside counsel at national and international law firms, where his practice focused on corporate law, M&A, finance, and international corporate transactions.
Powell holds a MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management, a JD from the University of Miami School of Law, and a BS from the University of Florida. He is admitted to practice in California and Florida.
FACULTY IN THE NEWS
Law 360
May 20, 2022
Re: Thomas Lenz
Thomas Lenz was quoted in a story about Apple Store union organizers hoping to be as successful in unionizing as Starbucks workers. He said employers need to be aware of how fast news travels between different store locations. "It is completely foreseeable that employees in vastly different locations will be in touch and tracking what's going on and perhaps trying to coordinate their efforts in the best way to get a win if they're seeking representation," Lenz said. Story is behind paywall.
RECENT SCHOLARSHIP
Ariela Gross
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“Becoming Free, Becoming Black: Race, Freedom, and Law in Cuba, Virginia, and Louisiana,” Centre International de Recherches sur les Esclavages at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France.
Camille Gear Rich
March, 2022
“No More Boxes to Check: Imagining The Anti-Racist Law Firm,” NALP Annual Education Conference, New Orleans, LA.
Thomas D. Lyon
March, 2022
“Disclosure Among Child Abuse Victims” (with K. London and M. Eisen), Fourth Zoom Psychology and Law Symposium: Children in Legal Settings, Maastrict University, Maastricht, Netherlands.