About

Valerie has been in private practice and as a sole practitioner since 1980, and has been active in the entertainment and intellectual property fields since that time. Early in her practice, she was a partner in an LA-based personal management company for entertainment and sports personalities, a company for which she remains an adviser.

Moving her primary office to San Diego in 1984, she has continued to concentrate her area of practice in the entertainment and intellectual property arenas, performing such services as review, negotiation and drafting of agreements in the film, television, music and publishing fields, as well as in the prosecution, protection and licensing of trademarks and copyrights.

Valerie has previous experience serving as an arbitrator for the Superior Courts of both Los Angeles and San Diego Counties.

Previously an adjunct professor of business law at the University of Redlands and a director of the Entertainment Section of the San Diego County Bar Association, Valerie is co-founder and, until 2017, a Board of Directors member of the San Diego Entertainment and Sports Lawyers, an MCLE-providing nonprofit corporation serving professionals and students in the legal and entertainment industries. Valerie has served as a guest speaker for numerous events in the industry, covering both practical and legal issues in such areas as film production, music ownership and licensing, literary intellectual property and publishing matters.

education

University High School Graduating Class of 1971
B.A. Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1976
J.D. from Whittier College School of Law, 1979

PERSONAL

Born in Sutton Surrey, England, Valerie moved while still an infant with her family to Los Angeles, where she lived until moving to San Diego in 1984 and where she now resides in the North County area.

Interests

The arts, music, film, travel, history, politics, the environment and people

Professional Affiliations

Past & Present

State Bar of California, Intellectual Property Section
San Diego County Bar Association, Sports and Entertainment Law Section
California Lawyers for the Arts
Independent Feature Project West
Writers Guild West Signatory
National Association of Female Executives
Who’s Who of American Women
Women’s Global Network; Board Member
San Diego Entertainment & Sports Lawyers Inc., Co-Founder & Board Member
For partial list of Film Credits (IMDB)
Author; Indie Film Legal Documents (Red Diamond Media)
American Jurisprudence Award; Contracts
WSET Certification – Wine
Featured Speaker – SD Author’s Guild- SD Songwriters Guild – San Diego – SDESL – Phoenix Film Festival – (Please contact for more)