David Lessoff
USC Gould School of Law

David Lessoff is currently senior vice president of business and legal affairs at Ingrooves Music Group, a division of Universal Music Group, where he serves as the head lawyer responsible for all legal issues in connection with Ingrooves’s businesses including the global music distribution of over 3,000 labels and artists. In his role at Ingrooves, he is also responsible for all commercial agreements entered into on behalf of Ingrooves, as well as all legal matters pertaining to intellectual property and regulatory compliance, including recommending legal strategies and initiatives to senior management to minimize legal risks with respect to existing business operations and proposed business actions.

Prior to joining the Ingrooves/Universal Music Group, he served as senior in-house counsel at Capitol Records, New West Records and Rhino Entertainment, a division of Warner Music Group, and he spent four years as an attorney at the law firm of Manatt Phelps & Phillips, where he represented recording artists, record companies, publishing companies, film companies, producers, composers/songwriters as well as technology companies.

In addition to his legal work and teaching Music Law in Practice at USC’s Gould School of Law, he has also been, for the past 16 years, an adjunct professor of law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, where he teaches a Music Law survey course. He is a member of several industry trade associations and is a frequent guest speaker and lecturer at SXSW and at many other universities, law schools, seminars and conferences.

He received his BA and MA in English with honors from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and he received his law degree with honors from Gonzaga University. He is a member of the bar in Washington, Oregon and California, and an honorably discharged veteran of the United States Army.

FACULTY IN THE NEWS

LLM Guide
June 5, 2023
Re: USC Gould School of Law

Law schools have been adapting to the increase in technological advancements, especially with the increased need for attorneys with the creation of AI. “Attorneys work on the front end, conducting threat assessments to ensure that their clients’ systems and data are protected, and on the back end, to navigate any legal issues that may arise as a result of the attacks," Gruzas said.

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