ABOUT KIRK
Kirk T. Schroder has an extensive entertainment and arts law practice. Kirk is named in the current edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for the field of entertainment law. He is also rated an “AV”* lawyer by Martindale-Hubbell, its highest rating for lawyers. Kirk was elected by his national peers in the entertainment and sports law profession to be the current Chair of the American Bar Association Entertainment & Sports Law section. His law practice draws entertainment and arts-related clients from all over the United States and the world.
Kirk serves as counsel for production companies and film financiers who have distribution agreements with major Hollywood studios for theatrical motion pictures. He represents a significant number of award-winning independent filmmakers and producers and has extensive working knowledge of the many legal and business aspects of filmmaking (including production matters, applicable union and guild collective bargaining agreements, and financing and distribution arrangements). He continues to serve as counsel on numerous major studio productions for Universal Pictures and has done so for more than a decade. Other production clients come from Europe and the Middle East. Many of his clients have production deals with cable networks such as the Discovery Channel, HBO, and Showtime. He also handles a variety of talent issues on behalf of radio and television personalities, several of whom are nationally syndicated and have some of the highest rated television shows on cable networks.
Kirk represents a variety of authors in the literary publishing field from beginning authors to well-established authors who command advances well into the six figures and above range. He is very experienced with major literary publishing house deals and other publishing deals with regional and academic presses and niche publishing houses. Kirk can negotiate all aspects of literary publishing deals, including agent-author relationships, book publishing contracts, and ancillary rights matters. Kirk also represents magazine publishers in legal matters concerning the publication of several magazines. He also represents several syndicated writers who publish in major magazines and newspapers.
Kirk’s work in music is primarily talent-oriented, but he also represents various regionally known record labels. Representative clients currently include a variety of artists with major or independent record label deals. He represents several major live performance promoters and venues. He was instrumental in the formation and provided legal representation for one of the leading public speakers forums in the United States. This involved negotiating public appearances for celebrities such as Bill Cosby, Oprah Winfrey, Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, and many other nationally popular speakers. Kirk also represents various regional theater playhouses and has represented clients in off-Broadway and off-off Broadway related theater matters.
Kirk has significant experience in representing several national and regional advertising agencies. For many years, he served as general counsel to a major national advertising agency, The Martin Agency. Kirk is very familiar with a wide range of legal issues related to advertising and marketing and has negotiated numerous deals related to advertising, promotional, and marketing industry clients.
Kirk is one of the few practitioners in the Mid-Atlantic with a significant practice involving public and private art. He is past chairman of the Virginia State Bar’s Lawyers for the Arts Committee and has been honored for his legal work for the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts. He is a frequent lecturer on arts- and law-related topics.
An interesting part of Kirk’s law practice involves people who work in various alternative arts who have issues similar to the entertainment field. Kirk’s practice includes professional herbalists, eastern spiritual practitioners, shamans and psychic mediums who are well established in the national media, feng shui experts who consult in a variety of capacities, astrologers active in the field of commerce, and others in similar activities.
On a personal level, Kirk is very active and passionate about education and children’s issues. While maintaining his private law practice, Kirk served as president of the Virginia Board of Education from 1998–2002 along with other distinguished education institutions such as the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in Atlanta. He is the first president of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Public Education Fund and also holds a Ph.D. in education from the University of Virginia. Kirk is also the chair of the education policy committee for the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. While he does not advertise as an education lawyer, Kirk has very substantial education policy experience. A very limited portion of his practice involves education policy issues for specific causes of interest and other circumstances (such as K-12 or higher education student disciplinary matters or unique education issues of interest) where he feels his involvement can be of assistance.
Specialties
Motion Picture/Television/Radio Broadcast
Literary Publishing/Book Deals
Music/Music Publishing
Multimedia/Internet
Theater/Public Speakers/Live Performance
Advertising and Marketing
Visual Arts
Personalities Involved in Alternative Arts
Entertainment and Art Law Teaching Experience
Entertainment Mediation & Arbitration
EDUCATION
University of Virginia (Ph.D.)
University of Richmond (J.D.)
University of Richmond, (B.A. & B.S.B.A.)
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION
American Bar Association Forum on Entertainment & Sports Industries (Chair)
Virginia State Bar
AWARDS & HONORS
Listed in The Best Lawyers in America®
Ranked an “AV”* attorney by Martindale Hubbell, its highest available rating
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Faculty Lecturer in Entertainment Law, University of Virginia School of Law (1997–2000, 2007–2009)
Faculty Lecturer, University of Virginia School of Education (2004–2005, 2007)
Adjunct Professor in Entertainment Law, University of Richmond School of Law (1991–1998)
Adjunct Professor, Graduate School of Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University (1993–2001)
Program Chair, Harvard Law School/ABA Symposium on Entertainment Law (1995–1997)
Director, Virginia Sports & Entertainment Law Institute (VA CLE Foundation) (2006–Present)
PUBLIC SERVICE & COMMUNITY SERVICE
President, Virginia State Board of Education (1998–2002)
Member, Southern Regional Education Board (1999–2005)
President, Charlottesville-Albemarle Public Education Fund (2004–Present)
Chairman, Education Policy Committee, Virginia Chamber of Commerce (2007–Present)
Senate Appointee, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Commission (Virginia) (2004–Present)
Board Member, Paramount Theater (Charlottesville) (2007–2009)
Board Chairman, The Charlottesville Ballet (2008–Present)
Board Member, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (2002–2004)
Board Member, Virginians for the Arts (1996–1999, 2008–Present)
Vice-Chairman, Virginia Tourism Authority (1996–1998, member, 1998–2001)
Vice-Chairman, Virginia Technology Council (1994–1996)
Chairman, Virginia Film Board (1996–2001)
*CV, BV, and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards, and policies.
