MILLER KORZENIK SOMMERS RAYMAN - Key Persons
Carolyn Schurr Levin's practice focuses on media, publishing, First Amendment, and intellectual property law. She has wide ranging experience in prepublication legal review of content and editorial risk management.
Ms. Levin joined the firm in 2019 after 16 years at Long Island University, LIU Post, in various roles, including as an assistant professor in the Department of Communications and Film, the director of the journalism program, and the assistant dean of the School of Visual and Performing Arts from 2010 to 2012 and from 2016 to 2017. She was the faculty adviser for the LIU Post student newspaper from 2010 to 2019. While she was the faculty adviser, the LIU student newspaper won 28 local, state and regional awards, and Ms. Levin was honored in 2017 with the national Distinguished Newspaper Adviser Award from the College Media Association. At LIU, she was also the director of the summer high school honors journalism institute and the producer, judge and host of the Best of High School Journalism Awards.
From 2008 to 2019, Ms. Levin was a Lecturer of Media Law at the Stony Brook University School of Journalism, where she also served in the role of Media Law Adviser from 2013 to 2019. She has taught a graduate course in Legal Aspects of Publishing Law at Pace University and an undergraduate course in Media Ethics and Law in the Department of Journalism and the Writing Professions at Baruch College.
Before teaching full time, Ms. Levin served as the Vice President and General Counsel of Ziff Davis Media and the Vice President and General Counsel of Newsday. She began her legal career as a litigation associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.
Over the course of her career, Ms. Levin has published numerous articles for, among other outlets, the College Media Review, Student Press Law Center Report, New York Law Journal, New York Times Book Review, American Bar Association Journal, Corporate Counsel Newsletter, Barrister magazine, Special Counsel newsletter, the Authors Guild Bulletin, Anton Media Group, and Patch.com. She has served as the book reviewer for the College Media Review, the flagship academic journal of the College Media Association.
Ms. Levin has been a peer reviewer for journalism and mass communication conference papers and books, and a judge for numerous journalism contests. She has worked as an editor and reporter for a weekly community newspaper.
Ms. Levin is a sought-after speaker, commentator, panelist, and trainer on First Amendment issues. She is a member of the advisory board of the Fair Media Council, the College Media Association, the Student Press Law Center, and the Society of Professional Journalists, and was the Vice President of Reading Dream.
She earned her undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University after a three year accelerated program, and her law degree from the University of Chicago Law School. She is admitted to the bars of New York, Connecticut and the District of Columbia. Ms. Levin and her husband Sam, a civil engineer, live in New York with their two children.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Adjunct Professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
- Member of the Media Law Resource Center, Magazine Publishers
David Korzenik represents numerous publishers, magazines, broadcasters, new media and technology companies, producers, authors, agents, advertisers and software companies in rights acquisitions, intellectual property matters, licensing, electronic and multimedia distribution, and litigation concerning these areas. He represented Spy Magazine throughout its 11-year existence and presently manages claims, litigation, pre-publication review and business matters for a wide variety of magazines and other publications. He acts for media insurers handling a variety of claims and litigations against insured media.
Mr. Korzenik's practice extends to the international aspects of his client's intellectual property matters. He represented the German Government in the defense of copyright claims brought against its central medical library by an international group of publishers in connection with electronic rights to medical journals.He has overseen the defense of litigation in India on behalf of Forbes and Forbes Asia. He regularly works with foreign media defense counsel and manages claims against U.S. media and human rights groups in foreign nations.
David Korzenik has been an Adjunct Professor at The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law teaching Media Law, Entertainment Law and Advanced Copyright for the past 18 years. He previously taught as adjunct faculty at The Columbia University School of Business. He is the author of numerous articles and reports, including:
* Why Are the British Not More British?: The Recurrent Theme of the MLRC London Conference since 1998 and the Underlying Philosophical Differences between U.S., U.K. and ECHR Law on Freedom of Expression. - in "Developments in International Media Law," Media Law Resource Center, London Conference 2019.
Press Freedom in the Balance: A Comparative Explanation and Critique of ECHR's Developing Case Law on Privacy and Libel published in "Publishing in the Global Environment - Developments in European and American Media Law", Media Law Resource Center, London Conference, 2007.
An American Lawyer's Comparative Introduction to the Developing Law of the European Court of Human Rights in Libel Cases published in "International Media Liability", Media Law Resource Center, 2003.
Libel and Privacy Suits Against U.S. Media in Foreign Courts published (1997 and 1998) in PLI book on "Print & Electronic Publishing: Legal and Business Issues".
Moral Rights of Authors and Artists under U.S. and International Copyright Law in "Entertainment Industry Contracts" treatise (Matthew Bender & Co).
He has lectured on Media Law, Copyright, Electronic Publishing and Arts Law at various universities, seminars and bar association conferences (Practicing Law Institute, MLRC, Copyright Society, NYS Bar Association , NYU, Parsons School of Design, Publishers Weekly Conference on Multimedia, Fulcrum 2001 Conference on Multichannel Publishing, BNC Online Journal of Conflict Resolution conference on "Alternative Dispute Resolution in Intellectual Property Cases"; Cardozo IP LLM Program/Copyright Society conference on the Napster case; Cardozo/Squadron Program Conference, "Copyright: Creation Control and Censorship" April 2002; Cardozo IP/CLE Program June 2002; Copyright Society program on Database Proctection under U.S. and European Law; Brooklyn Law School, Constitution Society panel on "The Necessity of a Federal Privilege for Reporters" March 2005.
As a commentator for Court TV, Mr. Korzenik has analyzed a variety of cases involving copyright, entertainment and publishing -among them, Random House v. Joan Collins, Williams v. Crichton (The "Jurassic Park" Case), Pagones v. Sharpton (Libel), and the Candid Camera case
David Korzenik is a member of the Media Law Resource Center, Magazine Publishers of America, Legal Affairs Committee and Chair, International Media Law Committee, and the Copyright Society as well as the Bar Association for the City of New York and the New York State Bar Association.
David Korzenik received an A.B. from Harvard University in 1972 and an MA from Columbia University in 1976. He received his law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 1979, where he served as Articles Editor for the Law Review. He is admitted to practice law in the courts of the State of New York, as well as in the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, and Ninth Circuit, the United States Districts Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and the U.
Eric Rayman is a partner at the firm, where his practice focuses on media and publishing, employment and copyright.
Mr. Rayman joined the firm in 2008 after serving as an in-house attorney at three major media companies, followed by several senior executive roles at three media businesses, one of which he co-founded. Mr. Rayman was General Counsel to The New Yorker magazine from 1997 to 2000, and Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Simon & Schuster from 1984-1997. Between 1980 and 1984, he was Vice President and Chief Counsel, Studio and Network Operations at Home Box Office.
From 2002 until 2007, Eric Rayman served as President of Budget Living, a national women's lifestyle magazine that he co-founded. Budget Living earned a number of accolades including the American Society of Magazine Editors' award for General Excellence and its nomination for Personal Service Journalism. In 2007, the Hearst Corporation purchased Budget Living. After selling the magazine, Eric Rayman was Senior Vice President for QuePasa Corporation, a NASDAQ-listed social networking company catering to Latino audiences. From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Rayman was the Executive Vice President for Publishing of the Digital Convergence Corporation.
Eric Rayman began his career at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where he practiced law from 1977 to 1980. Mr. Rayman was an Adjunct Professor at Cardozo School of Law, where he taught media and entertainment law for over 20 years.
Eric Rayman is also a freelance writer whose articles have appeared in The New York Times, Condé Nast Traveler and other publications, and a producer of the feature film FireDancer and the documentary film Return to Afghanistan. He is a graduate of Columbia Law School and Harvard College, a member of the Entertainment Law Committee and the Art Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association and longtime director of several non-profit organizations including The Harvard Lampoon, No Strings Productions and the Academy of American Poets.
Gillian Vernick is an associate attorney at Miller Korzenik Sommers Rayman. She previously worked as the Technology and Press Freedom Project Fellow at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, focusing on issues at the intersection of media law and tech civil liberties through amicus briefs, impact litigation, policy work and advocacy. During law school, Gillian was a legal intern at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Maryland Court of Appeals. She graduated cum laude from the Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law in 2021, where she served as an editor on the Drexel Law Review, and is an alum of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.
Jeffrey Craig Miller handles intellectual property matters, pre-publication review and libel defense, and residential real estate transactions. He has handled as commercial litigation, domestic and international business transactions, and has tried cases before federal and State juries, as well as conducting bench trials in Federal District Courts, New York State Supreme Court and Surrogate's Court, and has argued appeals before all levels of appeals courts in the New York including the Court of Appeals in Albany, and before the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He has handled many labor arbitrations, and has represented unions as well employers, and has handled commercial arbitrations, as well.
An artist and author, Jeffrey Craig Miller was the Co-editor (1998-2000) of The Art Law Volume of the "Entertainment Industry Contracts" Treatise Published by Matthew Bender & Co. Mr. Miller received a B.A. from Clark University in 1973 and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 1976. He is admitted to practice law in the courts of the State of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the United States Districts Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
Laury M. Frieber has represented major book, magazine and online publishers in all areas of media law as a sole practitioner and now in her capacity as Of Counsel to Miller Korzenik Sommers Rayman LLP. She provides counsel in defamation, privacy and intellectual property matters and has exceptional depth of experience in prepublication legal review and editorial risk management.
Prior to her independent practice, she was on the legal staff of Time Inc, during which she was sole counsel to a variety of magazines and their associated websites, including Fortune magazine (14 years), Life magazine and its photo archive (15 years) as well as Money, Essence, All You, Fortune Small Business and nearly two dozen niche publications including Popular Science and Golf. She also reviewed the weekly Time Inc. titles on a regular basis including Time, People, Sports Illustrated and Entertainment Weekly.
She has worked on many legally sensitive and investigative articles and manuscripts and has consistently gained the trust of the editors, authors and journalists with whom she has worked. She has been publicly recognized for her skill in supporting editorial integrity and impact while minimizing unnecessary risk.
She graduated from University of California, Berkeley (A.B. with highest honors) and University of California, Hastings (Law Review, Articles Editor) and has published two articles on First Amendment law. She is licensed to practice in the State of New York and is a member of the Media Law Resource Center and the MLRC's Pre-Pub/Pre-Broadcast Committee.
Louise Sommers has over thirty-five years' experience handling litigated matters involving mass media, new media, art law and intellectual property (copyright, trademark, unfair competition), defamation and publication torts. Her broad civil, commercial and regulatory litigation practice in state and federal courts, arbitrations and before administrative agencies has also involved contracts, insurance, employment, real estate, securities, foreign currency, business torts, and other types of business issues. She also handles intellectual property transactions and pre-publication review as well as counseling and commercial claim prevention strategies.
She has represented a wide range of corporate and individual clients, from media and publishing companies, financial services firms, internet start-ups and other commercial businesses to artists, photographers, authors, entrepreneurs and employees. A trained mediator, Ms. Sommers also served on the Mediation Panel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and handled private mediations involving copyright, employment and other intellectual property and commercial matters.
Louise Sommers began her career at the international law firm of Rogers & Wells LLP (now Clifford Chance US LLP), where she practiced as a litigation partner from 1985-1998, and earlier as an associate. While there, among other matters, she handled federal/state/bankruptcy court and administrative agency litigation, including complex, multi-district and class action litigation, for major financial services, media, insurance, banking and other clients.
She also managed that firm's pro bono program for 10 years. Prior to becoming associated with Rogers & Wells, Ms. Sommers served as law clerk to Hon. Kevin Thomas Duffy, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York (1976-78). An author and lecturer, Louise Sommers taught Entertainment and Mass Media Law as an Adjunct Professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2001, and Communications Law (1987-91) and Trial Advocacy (1986) as an Adjunct Professor at Brooklyn Law School.
She is a member of the Copyright Society and New York Women in Film and Television, and a former board member of Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. She is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the New York State Bar Association, and a former member of the NY Women's Bar Association, where she served as Co-chair of its Committee on Communications and Entertainment Law (1995-99).
Louise Sommers received a B.A. with honors from Douglass College and her law degree magna cum laude from Brooklyn Law School, where she served as a Senior Editor of the Brooklyn Law Review. She is admitted to practice law in the courts of the State of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the United States District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and has practiced on a pro hac vice basis in numerous other courts throughout the country.
Matthew Leish has represented media companies, journalists, and authors for over 20 years, handling a wide range of First Amendment and intellectual property-related litigation. Prior to joining MKSR, Matthew was Assistant General Counsel at Tribune Publishing Company, where he was the sole newsroom lawyer and primary litigator for the company's digital and print publications in the Northeast, including the New York Daily News. He regularly defended Tribune and the Daily News against defamation and copyright suits, quashed subpoenas served on reporters, fought for access to court proceedings and documents, litigated public records disputes, vetted articles, and advised editors, reporters, and senior business executives on a host of matters ranging from photo use questions to trademark disputes. Previously, in private practice, he represented publishers, authors, journalists, and broadcasters in a variety of defamation, copyright, access, and subpoena cases.
Matthew speaks and writes frequently on media law and First Amendment issues and teaches media law to journalism students as an Adjunct Professor at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. He is a member of the New York City Bar Association's Communications Law Committee and the New York State Bar Association's Media Law Committee, and is a past co-chair of the Media Law Resource Center's Internet Law Committee.
Matthew received his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar, and his B.A. with honors from the University of Chicago. He is admitted to practice in New York; Florida (inactive); the Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of New York; the Middle District of Florida; and the Second, Third, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeal.
Mona Houck advises writers, journalists, news organizations, and publishers on defamation, copyright, privacy, and other issues. She handles a wide range of media matters, including intellectual property litigation, libel defense, prepublication review, and drafting and negotiating of agreements.
Before joining the firm, Mona Houck worked as a reporter and an editor for newspapers from a small midwestern weekly to The New York Times. She was a law clerk for the Honorable Robert C. Chambers in the Southern District of West Virginia and is an adjunct professor at New York Law School and at the Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, where she teaches Legal and Ethical Issues in Journalism. She previously taught media law and legal writing at the W&L School of Law in Virginia.
She is a graduate of Drake University and New York Law School, where she was a member of the Law Review and the Media Law & Policy journal.