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Alumnus establishes entertainment law scholarship

Alumnus Bryan Freedman

Alumnus Bryan Freedman, ’90, recently established a scholarship for law students interested in pursuing careers in entertainment law.

A recent commitment from McGeorge School of Law alumnus Bryan Freedman, ’90, will establish a scholarship for law students interested in pursuing careers in entertainment law. Freedman said he has envisioned creating this scholarship since the beginning of his legal career 32 years ago.

“I always wanted to do something for the school. I knew that if there was a way to help students with their tuition or to help get them through law school, I wanted to help," Freedman said.

Freedman founded Freedman + Taitelman, LLP in Los Angeles with his law partner Michael A. Taitelman in 1997. Freedman is an extremely successful litigator who has a wealth of experience in the entertainment, business, copyright, employment, online, real estate, and sports law fields. Freedman has served clients from all over the world in a wide variety of large and small companies, A-list entertainers, actors, writers, television studios, media and production companies, talent agencies, entertainment executives, and business management firms.

Freedman has represented many high-profile clients, including Seth Rogen, Julia Roberts, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Harrison, Gabrielle Union, Michael Jackson, Quentin Tarantino, and Mariah Carey.

Bryan obtained one of the first-ever significant settlements because of defamation arising out of the social media platform Twitter. That matter involved a judgment obtained against singer Courtney Love, which arose from libelous comments Love made about one of Freedman’s clients.

For the past 17 consecutive years, Freedman has been recognized as a "Super Lawyer" and received a peer-based award given to the top five percent of attorneys in Southern California. He has also been named as one of the most influential entertainment lawyers by the Hollywood Reporter 15 times. He has been featured multiple times on Hollywood Reporter’s “Top 100 Power Lawyers” list and listed several times in Variety magazine’s Legal Impact Report, a selective list comprised of the top 22 attorneys in Hollywood.

Freedman has successfully represented clients in lawsuits that have resulted in million-dollar and multi-million-dollar verdicts.

Freedman credits McGeorge School of Law for providing him with the foundational knowledge and skills he needed to start his career. After receiving encouragement from professors, he developed the confidence necessary to begin a career in entertainment law.

“I'd heard amazing things about the school. When I met the professors there, it felt like they really took an interest in me as a person,” Freedman said. “I had not seen that anywhere. In other places, you’re seen as a number, but I felt McGeorge was really interested in who you were and what you wanted to do.” 

McGeorge played a significant role in shaping Freedman's legal career. When he was still a student, faculty encouraged Freedman to give back to the law school after graduation. 30 years later, Freedman said he has thought about this conversation often. As a result of recent conversations with McGeorge Dean Michael Hunter Schwartz, Freedman felt inspired to follow through with his promise to help future generations of law students. 

“The scholarship I established is open to any McGeorge student interested in entertainment,” Freedman noted. “I want to help as many people as possible.” 

Freedman advises students to accept rejection and use it as motivation to drive themselves forward. 

“I love to mentor young kids and meet them,” Freedman said. “Welcome rejection. You should be excited about rejection. If you don’t get rejected three times today, it’s not a good day because it only takes one. There’s always a chance.” 

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An interview with McGeorge alumnus Bryan Freedman, '90

For more information about McGeorge School of Law, visit our website.

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