CBA Record March-April 2025

Participants in the CBA Media and Entertainment Committee discussion on advocacy in Sports Law.

Media & Entertainment Law Committee Rings in New Year with Noteworthy Collaborations By Jonathan Safron, CBA Media & Entertainment Law Committee

T he CBA Media & Entertainment Law Committee fosters connections throughout Chicago and worldwide. The Committee kicked off the bar year with a robust program line-up. Georgia Fights for Freedom Denmark-based attorney Mariam Mgeladze joined members to talk about the outcome of the country of Georgia’s October 2024 elections. The Committee previously hosted attorneys and students from Georgia’s legal community for a discussion on media rights and the parliamentary election earlier in the bar year. Mgeladze led a discussion exploring the election results and the media’s role in covering the protests in the South Caucasus nation for the past several months. Amundsen Davis’s attorney, Tina Ramishvili, helped coordinate the presentation. “The Call on the Field Stands” The Committee hosted a conversation about how alumni affili ated with the “Law and Society” undergraduate course at Mon mouth University earned an audience with Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred. WGN-9 sportscaster Josh Fryd man moderated the discussion. It featured the course’s professor, retired New Jersey Superior Court Judge Lawrence R. Jones, and three students. Professor Jones and his students were part of the storytelling on ESPN’s 2024 E:60 episode “28 Outs: An Imper fect Story,” on Detroit Tiger’s Armando Galarraga’s near-perfect game and its controversial call on what should have been the final out (the umpire ruled the runner safe despite what appeared to be a sure out at first base, spoiling Galarraga’s bid at perfection).

The students presented a study to Major League Baseball to get Galarraga recognized for a perfect game. Although the outcome did not change, the students shone as rising stars in advocacy and learned about precedent in sports law. Frydman steered the conversation to topics pertinent to future lawyers and leaders in sports and media law. How Consumer Issues Make News Consumer Law Committee Chair Mia Segal and Vice-Chair Daniel Schneider collaborated with the Media & Entertainment Law Committee to go behind the scenes of Chicago news media to learn more about the investigation and broadcasting/publication of consumer issues. Featured presenters Stephanie Zimmermann, Consumer Investigations Reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, and Jason Knowles, Consumer Investigator (I-Team), WLS-TV, provided tips and insights on gathering these types of stories and shared their perspectives on whether anything is truly “off the record.” And since they were definitely on the record with us, we can share: as veteran, professional reporters, the two present ers follow industry standards and take everything down unless there is an explicit request to go off the record. The presenters graciously answered this audience question and others running the gamut from AI to the CTA, and left attendees impressed with their dedication to craft and to improving our city. Jonathan Safron of Amundsen Davis LLC and Chris Diaguila of McCarthy Duffy LLP co-chair the Media & Entertainment Law Committee. To join the Committee, sign up at www.chica gobar.org (and access archived on-demand video of past meetings at Learn.ChicagoBar.org).

12 March/April 2025