John V. Berlinski

John Berlinski is regarded as one of Hollywood’s most respected lawyers, with a practice focused on representing top actors, producers, directors, talent agencies, guilds, independent studios, casinos, resorts, and recording artists in their most significant disputes.

John has been at the forefront of some of the most hot-button legal issues facing the entertainment industry today, representing clients in high-stakes and high-profile licensing, distribution, intellectual property, residuals, and “backend” profit participation disputes. In a case that drew national attention, John represented actor-producer Scarlett Johansson in her groundbreaking lawsuit alleging that The Walt Disney Company had improperly failed to release her film Black Widow as promised, opting instead for a “day-and-date” release on streaming service Disney+ that deprived Ms. Johansson of tens of millions of dollars in box office bonuses. John is also well known for his role in obtaining the largest award in the history of profit participation arbitration, on behalf of David Boreanaz, Emily Deschanel, and Kathy Reichs, the actors and author-producer behind the hit Fox television series Bones. He currently represents actor Brad Pitt and his company in highly publicized multi-jurisdictional lawsuits against Angelina Jolie and others concerning the parties’ interests in Château Miraval—the highly regarded French winery.

Prior to joining Bird Marella, John was the Chair of his prior law firm’s entertainment practice. Before that, he spent seven years at NBCUniversal, where he was the Senior Vice President & Head of West Coast Television Litigation. John has received numerous awards and accolades, including being recognized by Forbes as one of the Top 200 Lawyers in America; by Variety as a top entertainment litigator in its Legal Impact Report: Top Attorneys Winning Cases and Making Deals in Hollywood; as one of Hollywood’s top attorneys by The Hollywood Reporter on its “Power Lawyers: Hollywood Top 100 Attorneys” list; as an Entertainment Trailblazer by The American Lawyer; and by The National Law Journal for his groundbreaking work.