The New York State Bar Association’s Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section welcomes Section members and visitors. EASL Section’s more than 1,700 members represent varied interests, including some of the sexiest issues grabbing headlines being debated in Congress and being heard by the courts. The EASL Section provides substantive case law, forums for discussion and debate and information-sharing in the EASL e-community.
The section has a large, active and diverse membership, with lawyers occupying every corner of the entertainment, art and sports law fields, at every level, from law students and first-year attorneys to senior partners at leading national and international firms and senior legal and business affairs executives at multinational media corporations. While the majority of our members are located in New York City and around the state, we also have members in 28 other states and 20 countries, notably in Canada, China, most European countries and the UK, Japan, Korea and throughout the Pacific Rim.
The section is comprised of 28 committees, chaired by the members of the Executive Committee—all leading entertainment, art and sports law practitioners—and each committee hosts frequent, outstanding, and frequently oversubscribed CLE programs.
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Contact the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section Liaison
To learn more about this Section, please contact Sharmin Woodall
[email protected]
(518) 487-5686
Please do not contact the Section liaison with a request for legal advice or an attorney referral. You can instead visit our ‘Public Resources’ or ‘Lawyer Referral Service’ page for this type of request.

Ethan Bordman
Ethan Bordman is the Chair of the Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law Section (EASL) of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA).
Ethan Bordman is an entertainment attorney who represents Emmy® award winning producers and directors, screenwriters, actors and authors. Before starting his practice, he was an Assistant Executive Director with AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists). At AFTRA, Ethan worked on projects with networks including ABC, CBS, FOX, TNT, Canadian Television and Lifetime Networks.
Ethan has been active with the NYSBA and EASL since becoming a member, holding several positions. He has served as First Vice-Chairperson (2020-2022) and Secretary (2018-2020) of EASL’s Executive Committee. He most recently served as Co-Chair of the NYSBA EASL Cowan-Bresler Scholarship Committee, (2020-2022) which gives law students the opportunity to earn scholarships by writing about issues in entertainment, arts, sports law and related areas. He has also served as Co-Chair of EASL’s Motion Pictures Committee (2016-2022) and Co-Chair of EASL’s Membership Committee (2012-2013). He encourages EASL members to become active with the section.
Scholarships
Law students, take note of this publishing and scholarship opportunity: The Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section of the New York State Bar Association (EASL)’s Phil Cowan – Judith Bresler Memorial Scholarship, named after two esteemed former EASL Chairs, offers up to two awards of $2,500 each on an annual basis in Phil Cowan’s and Judith Bresler’s memories to law students who are committed to a practice concentrating in one or more areas of entertainment, art or sports law.
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How Can The Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section Benefit Me?
For students the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section can provide a terrific opportunity for students to become well-versed in the legal issues facing the entertainment and sports industries. Section events can provide unique opportunities for students to network and be introduced to potential employers. The Section’s Law Student initiative giving law students a chance to publish articles both in the EASL Journal as well as on the EASL Web site. Click Below to learn more about what EASL has to offer.