Former entertainment industry executive and experienced litigator Kenneth L. Doroshow has joined Jenner & Block as a partner in the Firm’s Washington, DC office. He will be a member of the Firm’s nationally recognized Content, Media & Entertainment Practice. Mr. Doroshow has an extensive background in the major entertainment sectors, having served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the video game industry’s national trade group. Before his tenure at the ESA, Mr. Doroshow was Senior Vice President, Litigation and Legal Affairs for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
For the past decade, Mr. Doroshow has been at the forefront of legal issues confronting the entertainment industry in the Internet age. As ESA’s chief legal officer from 2008 to 2011, Mr. Doroshow was responsible for oversight and management of all legal affairs of the organization, including global anti-piracy enforcement on behalf of association members, public policy development and advocacy, litigation, corporate governance, copyright and trademark portfolios, and ethics and compliance. Notably, with Jenner & Block Partner Paul M. Smith, Mr. Doroshow led the legal team that won a landmark decision in 2011 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, et al., that video games are entitled to First Amendment protection.
For their roles in Brown, Mr. Doroshow and Mr. Smith received the Game Developers Choice “Ambassador” Award earlier this year.
At the RIAA from 2005 to 2008, Mr. Doroshow played a leading role in the design and implementation of the recording industry’s strategies for the protection and enforcement of sound recording copyrights, including numerous groundbreaking lawsuits throughout the country involving peer-to-peer software, Usenet services, satellite radio, link sites, search engines and transnational anti-piracy enforcement.
“Ken’s extensive industry experience adds yet another dimension to our award-winning Content, Media & Entertainment Practice,” said Jenner & Block Managing Partner Susan C. Levy. “We are pleased to welcome our former client to the Firm and the partnership.”
Most recently, Mr. Doroshow was Managing Director of the Burford Group, the investment advisor to the world’s largest provider of investment capital for commercial litigation. There, he analyzed and evaluated, for potential investment, large-scale litigation matters running the gamut from complex commercial disputes, including trade secret, antitrust, fraud, breach of contract, patent, trademark and copyright cases, to international arbitrations (commercial and investor-state) and domestic claims against governmental entities.
Steven B. Fabrizio, Co-chair of Jenner & Block’s Content, Media & Entertainment Practice, said, “ We’ve worked with Ken for years. In our field, he is one of the best. Ken has earned the respect and confidence of key players throughout the entertainment community – and for good reason. We are thrilled he is joining our team. ”
Mr. Doroshow began his legal career as a litigator in private practice in Washington, DC. He then joined the U.S. Department of Justice, where he served for many years as a civil trial attorney and a criminal prosecutor in the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section focused on intellectual property, computer crime, constitutional and administrative law and international arbitration matters.
“I have known and worked closely with Jenner & Block lawyers for a long time, on matters for both the recording and video games industries,” said Mr. Doroshow. “Jenner was always my ‘go-to’ firm as a client, and I am looking forward to working with them as partners to continue to build the Content, Media and Entertainment practice and Washington, DC office.”
Mr. Doroshow received his J.D., cum laude, in 1989, from Cornell Law School and his B.A., with honors, in 1985, from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Tauro, of the District of Massachusetts, following law school. He is a frequent speaker on emerging issues in media and entertainment law.
