What major is best for an entertainment lawyer?
The complete career guide to be an Entertainment Lawyer: salary, job growth, employers, best schools, and education you may need to get started.
$136,260 Potential Avg. Salary | Growing Demand |
Job Outlook | Deal Making |
Entertainment lawyers represent clients who work in the entertainment industry. This may include film, theater, publishing, television, music, or digital media. They draw from a variety of legal disciplines—intellectual property, contract negotiation, and corporate law—to protect and defend their clients.
The following job responsibilities are common for individuals in entertainment lawyer roles:
- Entertainment lawyers represent clients who make their livings working in the entertainment industry in film and television production, music, theater, publishing, or digital media.
- They may work with movie stars, novelists, musicians, or YouTube personalities.
- The majority of entertainment lawyers live and work in the three major areas in the U.S. for entertainment: California, New York, and Nashville.
- However, many also work in secondary markets with a strong entertainment presence.
Some entertainment lawyers focus their efforts on transactional law. Transactional lawyers create contracts, engage in negotiations, and ensure contracted parties adhere to agreements. These lawyers often work with the agencies who represent clients, negotiating working agreements and pay rates that are favorable to clients, and ensuring clients do not enter into unfavorable agreements. They may also work with entertainment lawyers and participate in union negotiations or create union contracts.
Other entertainment lawyers are focused on litigation. These lawyers specialize in representing and defending clients who have filed lawsuits against a third party, or whom have had a lawsuit filed against them. Often, entertainment lawsuits revolve around issues of intellectual property, copyright infringement, defamation, or liability. Additionally, entertainment lawyers may need to defend clients against major corporations who’ve filed claims, so they must be familiar with corporate law as well.
Most entertainment lawyers work full-time schedules during normal business hours, but overtime is common in law practice. Attorneys may need to work in evenings or on weekends to accommodate client schedules, or to review or finalize paperwork to meet deadlines.
Many entertainment lawyers work for private law firms: they may run their own practice, share a practice with one or more other lawyers, or work as an employee of a privately-owned law firm. Some may also be employed by corporations in the entertainment industry to handle paperwork and litigation. Others work for entertainment agencies, preparing legal contracts for clients on behalf—and in the best interest of—the agency.
The first step in becoming an entertainment lawyer is to earn a bachelor’s degree. Pre-law majors are common for aspiring entertainment lawyers.
Are lawyers in demand in the US?
The Legal profession and industry are constantly evolving. Increased tech adoption is changing the skills required for jobs. Regulatory changes around the world are changing the day-to-day tasks of lawyers. Recessions and economic changes are impacting the jobs in the market. Automation is taking some tasks from the lawyer’s plate and affecting the demand for lawyers now. If you are jumping into the legal job market now, this post will help you find the most in-demand legal practice areas and what trends are shaping up the industry in 2025.
Lawyers rank 1st in best social services jobs, 14th in best-paying jobs, and 17th in 100 best jobs in 2024 US rankings. Law remains an exciting and impactful profession in the job market. The below data shows how:
Lawyer openings will have the second-largest increase in positions requiring a graduate or professional degree. There will be an increase of 62,400 job openings for lawyer positions from 2022 to 2032.
Out of 30,160 new graduates from the class of 2023, 85.6% quickly got employed full-time. When a similar study was done for the class of 2022, the number was 84.6%. The unemployment rate for new lawyers is slowly dropping, making it a promising field.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average US annual salary is $65,470. But lawyers have a median annual wage of $145,760. The least a lawyer made was somewhere less than $69,760, and lawyers at the top of their game made even more than $239,200.
We analyzed the following industry reports on legal market and hiring trends:
The following practice areas are where currently most lawyers provide legal services:
- Regulatory and compliance is an important practice area that ensures companies are compliant with laws and regulations. Any slip in this domain directly attracts fines and a bad reputation, so lawyers specializing in this area are regularly in demand in the job market.
- Ethics and corporate governance are legal practice areas that ensure companies operate transparently and benefit shareholders, employees, customers, and the community. It also makes sure that companies are aware of the long-term impact of their operations on society and the environment. Ethics and corporate governance are essential components of managing a company. As a result, there is a great need for lawyers with expertise in these fields.
- Litigation lawyers represent people in civil lawsuits in courts or before government agencies. They advise clients throughout legal proceedings, from pre-action to filing, trials, and appeals. Common litigations include contract breaches, ownership disputes, and discrimination. It’s a popular practice area as people seek good litigation lawyers to represent them and win the case.
- Labor and employment law is a broad legal practice area monitoring the rights and responsibilities of employers and workers. It covers pay, work hours, hiring, leaves, benefits, discrimination, and workplace safety. To the advantage of workers, governments are
How to become an attorney in Brazil?
Introduction to the Regulatory Framework
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How many categories of lawyer are there in your jurisdiction?
In Brazil there is only one category of lawyer (advogado). Only lawyers duly enrolled with the Brazilian Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil) have rights of audience before the Brazilian Judiciary (this restriction does not apply to filing a writ of habeas corpus) and to provide consultancy and guidance on legal matters (see Question 7).
The incorporation document of Brazilian companies must be executed by a lawyer to be registered with the relevant public registry. Exceptions to this rule apply to microcompanies (companies with annual gross revenues equal to or less than BRL360,000) and small companies (companies with annual gross revenues between BRL360,000 and BRL4.8 million).
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What stages of legal education must be completed to qualify as a lawyer in your jurisdiction?
To be admitted to practise law in Brazil, an individual must obtain a Bachelor of Laws degree from an accredited institution. The law degree is a five-year course.
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What are the requirements to obtain a practising certificate/licence? How often must this be renewed?
After completing the legal education and obtaining a Bachelor of Laws degree from an accredited institution, candidates must pass the Brazilian Bar Examination. It is not necessary to complete an internship, although it is highly recommended. There is no specific additional requirements to practise as an in-house lawyer.
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Are there any limitations on lawyers advising throughout your jurisdiction?
A lawyer enrolled with the Bar Association chapter (branch) of a given state is only eligible to handle up to five legal proceedings in another state without enrolment with the other state’s chapter. Failure to comply with this can trigger the opening of administrative proceedings before the ethics tribunal of the state in which the lawyer is not enrolled. A qualified lawyer can advise on any area of law.
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Are there any written codes of conduct or handbooks, or rules and/or principles that lawyers are required to abide by?
The two main sets of rules governing the conduct of lawyers in Brazil are the:
- General Rules of the Bar Association, enacted by the Bar Association’s Federal Council.
- Ethics and Disciplinary Code of the Bar Association.
The decisions of the Federal Bar Association and each state chapter of the Bar Association are also binding. Lawyers must also defend the rule of law, human rights and fundamental guarantees, citizenship, morality, justice and social peace.
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What are the key rules governing the legal profession in the jurisdiction?
The main piece of legislation governing the legal profession in Brazil is Law No. 8,906/1994 (Bar Association Statute).
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Who has the right to conduct litigation in court, and who has rights of audience?
Right to Conduct Litigation: Only lawyers can conduct litigation in court. In general, any individual or entity pleading before a court must engage a lawyer. However, in…
Where do most lawyers live in the UK?
Whether you want to help people seek justice, follow in the footsteps of other prestigious professionals or simply build transferable skills that will help you transfer into another career path, law can be a fulfilling career path. However, certain cities offer brighter prospects when it comes to finding a job that pays well and allows you to maintain a decent standard of living. Read on to discover the top cities for legal professionals.
The research revealed that, despite the high cost of living, London is still the top UK city for those looking to work in the law industry, with an index score of 8.6 out of 10. Legal professionals in the capital city can expect to earn an average of £71,737 with approximately 17% of their monthly earnings being spent on day-to-day expenses (excluding rent).
Surprisingly, Wigan beats out larger cities like Birmingham and Manchester and takes the second spot, with an index score of 7.9. On average, lawyers working in Wigan take home £63,079 a year, with just 8.5% going towards general expenses.
At 6.3 Birmingham takes the third spot. Lawyers in the second city make an average of £58,444 per year. Rounding off the top 5 are Plymouth (5.9) and Manchester (5.8).
Preston has been crowned as the worst city to have a legal career, with an index score of 3.5. With average annual earnings of £50,209, lawyers in this city can expect nearly a third (29%) of their income to go toward daily living expenses – and this does not even take into account rent.
Swindon is the second-worst city, with an index score of 3.71. Although lawyers in Swindon (£39,893) can expect to make slightly more than those in Sheffield (£34,701), there are far more job opportunities in Sheffield and the cost of living is lower.
With a score of 3.95, Stoke-on-Trent takes the fourth spot, followed by Derby (4.04).
Witan looked at the average reported salary for legal professionals in the UK’s 50 most populated cities, as well as the number of job opportunities currently available on Indeed. To improve the accuracy of the data, cities with less than 20 reported salaries were excluded from the dataset. The team also looked at the average cost of living in each area based on reported monthly expenses (excluding rent). Each city was ranked based on an index score out of 10. The city with the highest index score was crowned the best city to have a legal career.
If you have any questions about our findings or methodology, please email [email protected].
How much do top entertainment attorneys make?
Annual Salary
Monthly Pay
Top Earners
$129,284
$10,773
75th Percentile
$101,700
$8,475
Average
$99,309
$8,275
25th Percentile
$78,000
$6,500
What is the highest paying lawyer type?
With its excellent opportunities to receive high earnings, the legal profession is an enticing place for students. Some specializations, however, can bring in even more lucrative salaries. This guide takes one through the most salaried types of lawyers, going into the factors behind the high income these specializations enjoy. Furthermore, it has highlighted the skills and qualifications a lawyer must possess to work to the top in a field. This is preparation for law students, young lawyers, and career changers- a valuable resource that should help prospective attorneys understand how to optimize their future income.
The demand for legal services is the most critical determinant in the variation of salaries among lawyers. For example, lawyers specializing in corporate law, intellectual property, and tax law typically get better remuneration because these services are highly required within various industries like technology, finance, and healthcare. Lawyers in high demand may charge much higher fees when businesses and people need legal services to interact with complex regulatory environments.
Lawyers who practice in complex, high-risk areas tend to be compensated much more because of the high level of specialized knowledge and risk of liability. Medical malpractice, corporate mergers, and intellectual property litigation are all examples of practice areas within which the legal framework is highly complex, and the economic risks to the client are very high. Compensation for lawyers within these areas may be higher because few lawyers have the expertise to navigate such case types.
Geographical location counts a lot in lawyers’ salaries. Generally, lawyers in large metropolitan areas such as New York, London, or San Francisco have been known to experience higher returns than small-city or rural lawyers. In such cities, one will likely find more large corporate clients, persons with high net worth, and other lucrative industries requiring specialized legal services. These raise legal fees and, consequently, salaries.
While different types of lawyers can generate various earning potentials, one’s general experience, reputation, and the ratio of success in cases play critical roles. Lawyers with long experience with cases won and commanding high regard in their field can charge high-end rates. Clients will pay more to get the services of an experienced lawyer with enough proven successes, more so for complex or high-stakes legal issues.
Corporate lawyers handle business legal matters, such as mergers, acquisitions, corporate governance, and compliance with various regulatory standards. Thus, in-house counsel members become essential to large corporations, especially when multimillion-dollar transactions or complex litigation cases are an issue.
The Average Salary Range is $120,000–$350,000 per year, depending on the size of the firm, location, and the intricacy of the work.
Intellectual property lawyers help individuals and companies protect their intelle
What major is best for an entertainment lawyer?
The complete career guide to be an Entertainment Lawyer: salary, job growth, employers, best schools, and education you may need to get started.
$136,260 Potential Avg. Salary
Growing Demand Job Outlook
Deal Making Career Attribute
Entertainment lawyers represent clients who work in the entertainment industry. This may include film, theater, publishing, television, music, or digital media. They draw from a variety of legal disciplines—intellectual property, contract negotiation, and corporate law—to protect and defend their clients.
The following job responsibilities are common for individuals in entertainment lawyer roles:
Entertainment lawyers represent clients who make their livings working in the entertainment industry in film and television production, music, theater, publishing, or digital media. They may work with movie stars, novelists, musicians, or YouTube personalities. The majority of entertainment lawyers live and work in the three major areas in the U.S. for entertainment: California, New York, and Nashville. However, many also work in secondary markets with a strong entertainment presence.
Some entertainment lawyers focus their efforts on transactional law. Transactional lawyers create contracts, engage in negotiations, and ensure contracted parties adhere to agreements. These lawyers often work with the agencies who represent clients, negotiating working agreements and pay rates that are favorable to clients, and ensuring clients do not enter into unfavorable agreements. They may also work with entertainment lawyers and participate in union negotiations or create union contracts.
Other entertainment lawyers are focused on litigation. These lawyers specialize in representing and defending clients who have filed lawsuits against a third party, or whom have had a lawsuit filed against them. Often, entertainment lawsuits revolve around issues of intellectual property, copyright infringement, defamation, or liability. Additionally, entertainment lawyers may need to defend clients against major corporations who’ve filed claims, so they must be familiar with corporate law as well.
Most entertainment lawyers work full-time schedules during normal business hours, but overtime is common in law practice. Attorneys may need to work in evenings or on weekends to accommodate client schedules, or to review or finalize paperwork to meet deadlines.
Many entertainment lawyers work for private law firms: they may run their own practice, share a practice with one or more other lawyers, or work as an employee of a privately-owned law firm. Some may also be employed by corporations in the entertainment industry to handle paperwork and litigation. Others work for entertainment agencies, preparing legal contracts for clients on behalf—and in the best interest of—the agency.
The first step in becoming an entertainment lawyer is to earn a bachelor’s degree. Pre-law majors are common for aspiring entertainment lawyers.
How much do entertainment lawyers make in New York?
As of Nov 26, 2024, the average annual pay for an Entertainment Attorney in New York is $132,481 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $63.69 an hour. This is the equivalent of $2,547/week or $11,040/month.