Bryan J. Freedman was selected as an inaugural Variety500 2017 honoree. The Variety500 is an unranked international professional index of 500 business leaders shaping the global 600 billion dollar entertainment industry. Professionals are indexed based upon nominations received from the Variety editorial board, industry leaders, data and research.
Bryan J. Freedman was selected as one of the most influential entertainment litigators in the country by The Hollywood Reporter in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and in all those years has been named in the Top 100 Power Lawyers list. Bryan has the distinction of being selected to THR’s 2023 Power Lawyers: Troubleshooters list. Additionally, Bryan was recognized as a Southern California “Super Lawyer” in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024, a peer-based award reserved only for the top 5% of all lawyers in Southern California. Also, Bryan has the unique distinction of being selected as an Honoree to Variety’s 2015 Legal Impact Report, 2019, 2020, 2021 & 2022.
Bryan has been a trial lawyer since 1991 and has extensive experience litigating unique and complex entertainment, real estate, employment and commercial disputes.
Bryan has been at the forefront of some of the most interesting and groundbreaking cases in the last 20 years. His cases have had meaningful implications nationwide. He has become the go to lawyer in Entertainment and Sports representing numerous talent agencies, management companies and sports agencies such as United Talent Agency, Brillstein Entertainment, Untitled Entertainment, Principato Young, Primary Wave Entertainment, The Collective, Studio71, Evolution Entertainment, Klutch Sports Group, Athletes First and many others including Rebel Entertainment partners in disputes concerning profit participation interests in Judge Judy.
Bryan has represented some of the biggest entertainers in the world including Seth Rogen, Vin Diesel, Octavia Spencer, Gabrielle Union, Kate Beckinsale, Bella Thorne, Maria Menounos, Jodie Sweetin, Julia Roberts, Robert Downey Jr., Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, Chris Columbus, Quentin Tarantino and Kenya Barris. Bryan has also represented numerous musical artists including Mariah Carey, Alanis Morisette, Linkin Park and Lil Pump. He also is litigation counsel to The Michael Jackson Estate.
He has become the go to lawyer in crisis litigation recently representing Deborah Dugan the Whistleblower who revealed the truth about the Recording Academy and the Grammys. He also handled Megyn Kelly’s internationally publicized dispute with NBC news and currently handles Gabrielle Unions dispute with America’s Got Talent. He also has handled crisis litigation for the Michael Jackson Estate and numerous high profile executives in the employment disputes. [Most of which are confidential] Including Amy Powell and Megan Colligan protecting woman’s rights.
Bryan has also become the lawyer of choice in the gaming and influencer world having recently filed a ground breaking esports lawsuit for Turner Tenney known as “Tfue”in a contract dispute with Faze Clan. Bryan also represents the Fortnite World Cup champion “Bugha” and successfully represented the Sentinels esports team in a dispute with Kroenke esports company. He has also advised both Jake and Logan Paul in various matters, along with numerous other influencers. In that regard, he filed a lawsuit for Studio71 against famous influencer Bethany Mota arising out of branding deals.
Bryan has also been involved in extremely high profile litigation by filing a lawsuit for Brad Krevoy and Steve Stabler against Red Granite Pictures arising out of a contactual dispute involving the motion picture “Dumb & Dumber To”. He also currently represents the Real Wolf of Wallstreet, Jordan Belfort against Red Granite Pictures to obtain the derivative and television rights to the major motion picture “The Wolf of Wallstreet”.
Bryan also obtained one of the first ever significant settlements as a result of defamation arising out the social media platform Twitter. That matter involved a judgement obtained against Cortney Love which arose from libelous comments she made about Bryan’s client, a fashion designer.
Additional high profile cases involve Bryan’s representation of famous Entertainment lawyer Jake Bloom and his former law firm against claims made by Johnny Depp who was seeking to recover more than 30 million dollars from his former lawyer.
Bryan also has extensive experience in representing various media companies in high stakes litigation. He has represented the website PerezHilton.com since its inception & has also represented Deadline Hollywood, Hollywood Life and Variety for many years.
The Hollywood Reporter has called Bryan’s deposition of actor Wesley Snipes “The Greatest Deposition Ever” [see link to this page and video below]. In addition, Bryan was victorious in a landmark case representing UTA against “Men In Black” director Barry Sonnenfeld which provided for commissions to the talent agency on any future sequels of “Men In Black” wether or not that talent agency was representing Mr. Sonnnenfeld throughout the term of any one sequel.
Bryan and his partner, Michael Taitelman have been friends since their college days at the University of California at Berkeley, and started Freedman & Taitelman, LLP in 1997 to provide the same large firm litigation expertise and aggressiveness along with smaller firm client attention and efficient cost management. Bryan takes an active role in all matters and focuses on effective strategies to help his clients attain their goals.
