Thursday, November 16th
8 a.m PST | 11 a.m EST
When you’re thinking about where to donate, please consider supporting Los Angeles Regional Food Bank
Our special guest this week, Zazi Pope, Mediator/Arbitrator, Signature Resolution (formerly, SVP, Chief Litigation Counsel, Warner Bros. Discovery), will Present on:
The Best & Worst of Mediation from an In-House Counsel Perspective
Ms. Pope will reveal her best and worst experiences in mediation from her experience as the former SVP & Chief Litigation Counsel of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Join us for this unique behind-the-scenes look at how counsel view and experience mediation!
Offered by Will Work For Food and moderated by Jeff Kichaven (www.JeffKichaven.com ) and Jean Lawler (www.LawlerADR.com)
This worldwide conversation will be like nothing else. Join in! Share, learn, have fun, and raise money for food banks.
About Zazi Pope
With more than three decades of experience, veteran litigator Zazi Pope has overseen hundreds of arbitrations, mediations, trials and settlements, primarily involving entertainment industry disputes relating to the production and distribution of filmed entertainment, intellectual property, employment, defamation, right of publicity, profit participations and personal injury. As the first in-house litigator hired by Warner Bros. in 1992, Zazi built a stellar litigation team that oversaw the company’s global litigation portfolio, eventually rising to the position of Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel. Following the transactions with AT&T and then Discovery, Zazi’s responsibilities expanded to include litigation oversight not only of Warner but also HBO, the Turner networks including CNN, HBO Max (now Max) and the Discovery networks. She held the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Litigation Officer, Warner Bros. Discovery, before leaving the company in September 2023.
An honors graduate of Harvard Law School, where she first studied ADR with mediation pioneer Frank Sander, Zazi spent the early part of her career in private practice, representing creative talent and profit participants in disputes against the major studies, most notably the groundbreaking Buchwald v. Paramount lawsuit, in which a court struck down the studio’s profit definition (the case settled while on appeal). Among her many successes at Warner were a landmark ruling that confirmed the right of content creators to fictionalize real life stories and events, and a case affirming the principle that producers cannot be held liable for “copyright crimes” allegedly inspired by fictional characters. She also oversaw a number of high-profile trials and investigations, including the much-publicized case involving the murder of a talk show contestant following the taping of an episode about same-sex “secret crushes,” as well as the production shut-down and related legal claims involving the Bachelor franchise.
She has been recognized as one of Los Angeles’ “Most Influential Woman Lawyers,” a “Woman of Distinction in the Los Angeles Business and Legal Community,” 2 an L.A. Business Journal’s “Leaders in Law - Inside Counsel” one of the top 500 lawyers in America by Law Dragon, and a Super Lawyer by Law & Politics, an organization that honors the top 5% of the California Bar. A long-time social justice and human rights advocate, Zazi has served many public interest organizations throughout her career. She was one of the founders of the California Committee of Human Rights Watch, and its Vice-Chair for many years, participating in several fact-finding missions to Central and South America.
She is also a long-time board member of Big Sunday, the community service organization that has, since its founding in 1999, provided much-needed assistance to underserved communities throughout Los Angeles and thousands of volunteer opportunities. Among the many other non-profit organizations with which Zazi has been involved are United Friends of the Children, Public Counsel, Bet Tzedek, Amnesty International and the ACLU of Southern California. She is a former Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Founding Member of the Pacific Council on International Policy. Zazi has lived and traveled extensively all over the world, and speaks 5 languages.