Brooklyn Law School Launches Advanced Entertainment Deals Course with Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks
Pictured (L to R): Dean David D. Meyer; attorneys Kenny Meiselas, Eric Sacks, and Lawrence Shire; and Professor Seán O’Connor.
Brooklyn Law School has launched Advanced Media & Entertainment Deals, a new, one-of-a-kind course designed to give students an insider’s look at how major entertainment deals actually happen—across film, television, music, sports, theater, and more.
Co-taught by Professor Seán O’Connor, the inaugural Allen Grubman Chair in Media and Entertainment Law, and partners from Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks, the nation’s premier entertainment law boutique, the course brings real-world practitioners directly into the classroom to share practical and strategic insights from the front lines of the industry.
The first class featured named partners Eric Sacks, Lawrence Shire, and Kenny Meiselas, who discussed the realities of high-stakes dealmaking and shared perspectives shaped by their work with prominent artists and athletes, including LeBron James, Usher, Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen, and Madonna. For students, it was a rare opportunity to learn not from hypotheticals, but from professionals actively shaping the entertainment business.
The course is structured to spotlight different sectors of the entertainment industry throughout the semester, with each class focusing on a distinct area—such as music, film and television, publishing, theater, or sports—and led by lawyers whose practices are deeply embedded in those fields.
A Cornerstone of BLS’s Expanding Entertainment Law Vision
Advanced Media & Entertainment Deals reflects Brooklyn Law School’s longtime emphasis on experiential learning and its expanding footprint in media and entertainment law. It also aligns closely with O’Connor’s long-term vision for the program.
O’Connor joined Brooklyn Law School in July 2025 as the inaugural Allen Grubman Chair in Media and Entertainment Law, bringing decades of experience as a scholar, teacher, and innovator in intellectual property, entrepreneurship, and creativity-focused legal education. The group's goal is to build a world-class entertainment law program at Brooklyn Law School—laying the foundation for a future Entertainment Law Center that will serve as a hub for scholarship, practice, and student opportunity.
At Brooklyn Law, O’Connor is developing a curriculum that emphasizes the business and dealmaking dimensions of entertainment law—areas they have noted are often underemphasized in traditional legal education despite being critical to students’ career development. Advanced Media & Entertainment Deals is among the first of several new offerings designed to close that gap.
A Deepening Alumni Partnership
The course also represents a deepening partnership between Brooklyn Law School and its alumni, including famed music lawyer Allen Grubman ’67, a BLS graduate and one of the most influential figures in entertainment law.
In 2024, Grubman and his wife, Deborah, endowed the Allen Grubman Chair in Media and Entertainment Law with a $1.5 million gift, enabling the Law School to recruit a nationally recognized scholar in the field and further cement Brooklyn Law’s reputation as a leader in media and entertainment law. The Chair is central to the Law School’s efforts to expand programming, experiential opportunities, and industry engagement in this space.
Grubman, who will teach in the course later this semester, is senior partner of Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks, the largest U.S. law firm specializing in media, entertainment, and sports law. The firm represents prominent companies, talent, and executives across music, film, television, live theater, books and magazines, fashion, and sports. Its team of attorneys is widely respected for its industry knowledge, longstanding relationships, and legendary dealmaking.
For Brooklyn Law students, the partnership offers something rare: direct access to practitioners who are shaping the entertainment industry in real time.
A Defining Experiential Opportunity
The launch of Advanced Media & Entertainment Deals marks an important step in Brooklyn Law School’s next chapter in media and entertainment law—one that blends academic rigor, industry expertise, and hands-on learning in ways designed to open doors for the next generation of lawyers.