New EASL Chair Sarah Robertson Is Aiming To Build Upon The Section’s Robust Foundation
3.22.2024
A continued emphasis on creating high-quality content and recruiting younger members are the priorities for Sarah Robertson who took over as chair of the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section earlier this year.
“I’ve always been passionate about the content that EASL puts out, whether in their dedicated journal or their CLE programs and other programs. There’s a continued focus on the high-quality industry content and on getting the word out more broadly about what we produce. We have a great group of industry specialists as part of the EASL membership and so that’s one thing I feel good about for EASL and I want to build on that.”
Robertson added that a key for the section’s future is targeting and attracting its next generation of leaders.
“We have a very robust and active executive committee, but I’m concentrating on the next generation and getting younger membership. We need a fresh cohort and so we have some great younger lawyer committee members and chairs but an emphasis for EASL is bringing in the next generation of entertainment and IP attorneys to take over from us.”
The section has at least six programs scheduled for the next year including one on alternative dispute resolution in sports. It was involved with the International, Health Law and Women in Law sections’ screening of the documentary Symphony of Courage earlier this month. The film illustrates the plight of women in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and its ban against all non-religious music.
Robertson said such programming is a mere starting point for how the section benefits its members. Its greatest asset is providing its members the space to position themselves at the cutting edge of legal developments and industry norms.
“EASL gives you the substantive underpinnings for a successful career. It has been my experience that entertainment lawyers have arrived there somewhat by accident and probably because it wasn’t such a formally established legal area with an umbrella over the top. But the section certainly provides some good networking and mentorship opportunities.”
Robertson still leans on the advice she received while starting out as an entertainer litigator when her supervisor advised her that reading and understanding the rules and other fundamentals are of paramount importance to build upon to become a successful attorney. Her tenure as section chair now allows her to pass on similar advice to those who aim to follow in her footsteps.
Robertson is a partner at Dorsey & Whitney in New York City. She is originally from Toronto where she graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University.
Her practice area centers on helping clients protect, enforce and exploit their intellectual property assets. She oversees clients’ general business needs, particularly in the creative industries along with the tech, financial and consumer product sectors.
