The 13 Best Law Schools to Jumpstart Hollywood Career
BERKELEY
The school just added a new NIL course (name, image, likeness) in response to the NCAA’s decision to allow college athletes to market their personal brands.
CARDOZO
Keeping up with the times, this NYC-based campus recently added an AI and the Law course, focusing in part on the legal implications of digital replication.
COLUMBIA
This Ivy League institution on New York’s Upper West Side holds top-notch seminars on the law and the entertainment industry and offers students an array of showbiz-adjacent internships.
GEORGETOWN
Nestled in the heart of the nation’s capital, this D.C. school offers internships and holds a well-attended annual Sports, Entertainment and Media Law symposium.
HARVARD
Maybe you’ve heard of it? Graduates from this Cambridge Ivy — where students get hands-on experience at campus clinics like the Recording Artist Project (or RAP) — usually hop to the front of the Hollywood recruitment line.
LOYOLA
Located in DTLA — where many of the city’s entertainment law firms are headquartered — the school offers an Entertainment & Media Law concentration.
NYU
Students at the law school are offered a concentration in Antitrust, Intellectual Property & Information, just one of a slew of entertainment-related courses.
SOUTHWESTERN
This L.A. school, located in Mid-Wilshire, began offering an array of new entertainment and media courses in 2024, including AI in the Entertainment Industry; International Live Theater Business and Legal Affairs; and Law and Literature.
STANFORD
The Silicon Valley school boasts a world-renowned copyright and trademark curriculum and robust job search support and hosts an impressive parade of industry professionals for guest lectures.
UC SAN FRANCISCO
Along with an intellectual property concentration and courses in entertainment law, the school hosts the UC Law SF Entertainment Law Society, connecting students with professionals across the industry.
UCLA
No other school on this list boasts a program that fast-tracks students into internships at WME and CAA. Home to the Ziffren Institute for Media, Entertainment, Technology & Sports Law, there are courses taught by Ken Ziffren and Mattel executive vp Jonathan Anschell.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
The Ann Arbor-based school gives students a chance to focus on Intellectual Property and Antitrust while also offering a catalog full of related courses like Entertainment Law and Music Copyright.
USC
USC is now offering a Media and Entertainment Law masters degree, open to anyone with a law degree. Like so many others on and off this list, the L.A. school is keeping an eye on AI, offering a new class called Legal Issues of AI and Media Entertainment.
This story first appeared in the June 12 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
