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Arnold Peter is Of Counsel to Peter, Rubin & Simon, LLP.

Mr. Peter has a combination of specialized legal and business experience with national law firms, the public sector and international companies. He divides his practice between employment matters and complex entertainment and other commercial transactions and litigation. He currently represents a variety of clients for litigation and transactional matters, including clients in television and cable, new media, location-based entertainment, hospitality, real estate and franchising.
 
Mr. Peter began his career in the entertainment industry as Director of Labor Relations for Universal Studios. He has negotiated more than 40 labor agreements with ten unions representing more than 15,000 employees. Mr. Peter became an expert in employment contract negotiations with complicated equity compensation components. He was promoted to Vice President of Legal and Business Affairs for Universal Studios and led a 12-attorney team that negotiated agreements for the expansion of Universal Citywalk. Prior to Universal Studios, Mr. Peter was Assistant City Attorney for the City of Fresno, where he handled labor and employment issues and was elected Chair of the California State Bar Labor and Employment Section. He also was a partner and chair of the Entertainment and Media Practice at the international law firm of Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP. Through an American Bar Association project, Mr. Peter served as a consultant to the Republics of Belarus and Bulgaria on revisions of Labor and Employment codes.
 
As an adjunct professor at California State University, Fresno, Mr. Peter taught graduate-level courses in personnel management and labor relations. He was appointed to chair two academic inquiry teams for Fresno State University in charge of academic fraud against a professor seeking a National Science Foundation grant and violations of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Code of Conduct by the football team. Recently, Mr. Peter was named a Southern California “Super Lawyer” and a National Finalist for Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers in America.
 
Mr. Peter has published numerous articles in law reviews and journals and industry publications. He is a frequent lecturer and media commentator on legal and business issues and has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, Fox and various international news outlets.

Education
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, J.D., 1984
California State University, Fresno, M.S. in Criminology, 1999
California State University, Long Beach, B.S. in Criminal Justice, 1981

Bar Admissions
California, 1985
United States District Court (All Districts in California)
U.S. Court of Appeals (9th Circuit), 1985
U.S. Court of Appeals (11th Circuit), 1988

Professional and Community Organizations
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
American Bar Association
House of Blues Foundation, Advisory Board
Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, General Counsel and Board Member
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
National Association of Television Program Executives
National Cable and Television Association
National Sports Marketing Association
Los Angeles 2012 Olympic Bid Committee
Southern California Committee for the Olympics
State Bar of California, Former Chair, Labor and Employment Section and Committee on Federal Courts
U.S. Fund for UNICEF, Advisory Board

Barbara M. Rubin, co-founder of Peter, Rubin & Simon, LLP, is a veteran entertainment attorney who has put her extensive network and studio business and legal affairs experience at the service of writer/producers, actors, directors and small production companies in both television and film.

The former Head of Business and Legal Affairs for Spelling Television (reporting directly to Aaron Spelling), A&E Television Networks (West Coast) and Rysher Entertainment, Ms. Rubin came up through the business and legal affairs departments of CBS Television and Theatrical Films as well as Disney Television.
 
Twice elected to the Board of Governors of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and twice appointed to its Executive Committee, Ms. Rubin is an active member of the entertainment community. She was recently elected to the Motion Picture and Television Fund’s Professional Advisory Committee and served on the Emmy License Fee Negotiation Committee and the Primetime Emmy Awards Committee. Ms. Rubin teaches "Negotiating the Writer's Deal" at UCLA and is a guest lecturer or panel moderator at USC, UCLA, ATAS,CLE, Association of Talent Agents, CSUN, Woman In Film, California Bar Association, NAPTE, Writers Guild of America, Woman’s Leadership Summit .
 
Ms. Rubin is a long standing member of the Planning Committee for the USC Institute on Entertainment Law and Business and she is the author of two cover articles for Los Angeles Lawyer: "The Secrets of the Business Affairs Executive" (co-authored with Kyle Stewart) and "Negotiating with Media Giants." Emmy Magazine called Ms. Rubin "a top industry negotiator." Ms. Rubin is married to Emmy Award winning filmmaker, Pierre Sauvage. They have two grown children.

Education
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, J.D., 1978
California State University, Northridge, M.A. in Economic Education
Secondary Teaching Credential
California State University, Northridge, B.A. in History

Bar Admissions
California, 1978
U.S. Court of Appeals (9th Circuit), 1978

Professional and Community Organizations

Motion Picture and Television Fund Professional Advisory Committee-Present
USC Institute on Entertainment Law and Business, Planning Committee, 2003-present
Chambon Foundation, Board of Directors and Officer, 1985-present
ATAS, Co-Chair, Next Act Committee, 2003- 2007
ATAS, Executive Committee, 2002-2004
ATAS, Board of Governors, 1997-2001
Hon. Wm. P. Hogoboom, Presiding Judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court, Clerk, 1977-1978

Jody Simon is the managing partner of Peter, Rubin & Simon, LLP.

With more than twenty years of private practice and in-house experience, Mr. Simon has worked on virtually every kind of deal in the entertainment industry in such areas as feature films, television, publishing, music and live stage. Jody Simon represents television networks, production companies and executive producers in all aspects of development, production, distribution and the negotiation and drafting of agreements and counseling in copyright, trademark and clearance issues. He works extensively on licensing, branding and merchandising deals for clients including marquee performers, video game publishers, visual artists, auto manufacturers, and universities. Mr. Simon works in both live-action and animated programming, in the world of comic books, and has unique strength in reality television and in Canadian and other international co-productions.
 
Mr. Simon began his entertainment career in New York, in the mailroom at the William Morris Agency. He worked in the theatrical and publishing departments of the agency before leaving to attend Columbia Law School, where he graduated among the top five in his class. Mr. Simon has worked at some of the leading entertainment boutiques in New York and Los Angeles and developed in-house experience as Director of Business Affairs at NBC Entertainment.
 
Mr. Simon is a former member of Governor Schwarzenegger's Entertainment Industry Advisory Council. He served five terms as Governor of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and two terms on the ATAS Executive Committee. As chair of that organization's Runaway Production Committee, he was profiled in a special issue of Emmy Magazine. Mr. Simon also has served as chair of the ATAS Bylaws and Industry Credits Committees. His article "Facing Reality" (co-authored with Arnold Peter) appeared in the annual Entertainment Law issue of the magazine Los Angeles Lawyer.

Mr. Simon served as editor-in-chief of M/E Insights, the magazine of the Association of Media and Entertainment Counsel. He is called upon as an industry insider to speak at seminars such as the Banff Television Festival. He has moderated panels on behalf of the Association of Media and Entertainment Counsel and at the NAPTE convention.

Education
Columbia Law School, New York, NY, J.D., 1982
Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, B.A. in Liberal Arts, 1975
Editor, Columbia Law Review
Notes Editor, Columbia Journal of Law and the Arts

AWARDS AND HONORS
Beck Property Prize
Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, 1980, 1982
James Kent Scholar, 1981

Bar Admissions
California, 1991
New York, 1982

Professional and Community Organizations
Governor Schwarzenegger Entertainment Industry Advisory Council, Member
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Governor
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Member, Executive Committee
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Chair, Runaway Production Committee
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Chair, Industry Credits
CommitteeAcademy of Television Arts and Sciences, Chair, Bylaws Committee
M/E Insights Newsletter, Co-Editor-In-Chief
Notre Dame High School, Member, Board of Directors

Kyle Stewart is a veteran production counsel for television, film and new media projects and assists in the business development for entertainment production companies while also performing trademark services.

Prior to joining PR&S, Ms. Stewart served as Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs of USA Cable Entertainment, where she assisted in the formulation of division and departmental policies and procedure, and handled the business and legal affairs for all scripted pilots and series produced for initial exhibition on USA Network and the SciFi Channel. She also negotiated and drafted series staff, talent, development, acquisition and distribution agreements, and researched and reconciled union violations.

Previously, Ms. Stewart served as a business and legal affairs paralegal attorney for Rysher Entertainment. She began her career at Spelling Television, Inc. where she was a business and legal affairs coordinator.

Education
Whittier Law School, Whittier, CA, J.D., 1998
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, B.A. in Political Science, 1993

Bar Admissions
California, 1998

Professional and Community Organizations
League of Young Voters, Co-Founder
League of Young Voters Education Fund, Co-Founder
League of Young Voters Political Action Committee, Co-Founder

Amy Bersch counsels clients on general corporate and transactional matters and the negotiation and drafting of various business agreements including those related to television.

Ms. Bersch has considerable in-house, hands-on corporate experience in leading technology and entertainment companies. Prior to PR&S, Ms. Bersch held the positions of general counsel for Boingo Wireless, Inc., counsel for Sammy Studios, Inc. and Associate General Counsel at eCompanies, LLC. In these roles, Ms. Bersch was responsible for all legal matters affecting those companies, including structuring and negotiating business development, sales and licensing transactions, overseeing and negotiating equity financings, developing intellectual property strategies, managing corporate governance issues and compliance, advising on employment matters and counseling senior management and the board of directors on various strategic matters.

Prior to working in-house, Bersch began her career in the corporate/real estate department of the international law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy. 

Education
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, J.D., 1995 (cum laude)
Barnard College, Columbia University, B.A. in Art History, 1991
Editor, Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review
Order of Coif

Bar Admissions
California, 1995

Natalie LeVeck is an associate at Peter, Rubin & Simon, LLP.

Prior to beginning her legal career at PR&S, Ms. LeVeck was a copy editor for the Daily Breeze, a newspaper covering the South Bay. At Loyola Marymount University, Ms. LeVeck was the editor-in-chief of The Los Angeles Loyolan and the anchor of a news show on the Roar Network.

While at Loyola Law School, Ms. LeVeck interned in the in-house legal departments at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, NBC Universal, and Lionsgate Entertainment, where she worked in rights management, television production and music business affairs, among other areas.

Education
Loyola Law School, CA, J.D., 2011
Loyola Marymount University, CA, B.A. in Communication Studies; B.S. in Political Science, 2007

AWARDS AND HONORS
First Honors Award in Defamation Law and Trademark Law

PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS
California Lawyers for the Arts
Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles
Beverly Hills Bar Association
Professional Entertainment Female Attorneys

Bar Admissions
California, 2011