Associate Professor of the Practice of Entertainment Law, Non-Tenure Track, August 2026

Chapman University • Orange, CA

25d

About The Position

Dale E. Fowler School of Law at Chapman University is seeking a non-tenure track, Associate Professor of the Practice of Entertainment Law beginning August 2026. Chapman University is a nationally ranked, R2 Carnegie-classified private institution offering traditional undergraduate and graduate programs in the heart of Orange County, one of Southern California’s most diverse and vibrant regions. Chapman's campuses are home to nearly 10,000 students representing 50 states, three territories, and 78 countries. The 11 schools and colleges of Chapman, including the Fowler School of Law, offer 65 bachelor's, 53 master's, and six doctoral programs, along with nearly 60 minors and 17 accelerated and bridge programs. Classes are taught by more than 1,100 dedicated faculty members who are leaders in their fields, including Nobel Prize recipients, MacArthur Fellows, National Medal of Science honorees, former U.S. Supreme Court clerks, and Emmy, Grammy, and Academy Award winners. Chapman University's Dale E. Fowler School of Law is an ABA-accredited private law school located in beautiful Orange County, California, just 35 miles from downtown Los Angeles and a short drive to both the beach and Disneyland. This California law school's high-caliber faculty includes three former U.S. Supreme Court clerks, a Nobel Prize winner, and a former five-term U.S. congressman ( Law School Faculty ). Here, our law students find countless opportunities, diverse academic programs, and a dynamic and personalized legal education. The Fowler School of Law is a place where future lawyers prepare for life as professionals and officers of the court, providing the groundwork for a lifetime of legal service. We are a strong academic community with connections to local, regional, national, and international bars; enviable student bar passage and employment rates; a low student-to-faculty ratio and curricular offerings with breadth and depth across multiple areas of specialty - all within a supportive and collegial environment where viewpoint diversity is respected. Students especially value close connections with their professors, a vibrant and engaged co-curricular environment, and a tremendous facility located within easy walking distance of the rest of campus and the coffee shops, restaurants, and cultural attractions of Old Towne Orange. The Entertainment Law Clinic provides students with a unique opportunity to work directly with low-budget independent filmmakers and to serve as production legal counsel for a feature-length motion picture. Filmmakers who have used the services offered by the Entertainment Law Clinic have won numerous awards and honors, including the Newport Beach Film Festival Audience Award for Best U.S. Film, the Netflix Find Your Voice Film Competition, and have premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival. The names of our clinic students appear in the on-screen credits for each film. Under the supervision of the successful candidate and other entertainment law faculty, participating students set up corporations or LLCs, file for copyrights, and draft all production-related contracts and documents, including crew, actor, and location agreements for real clients. In conjunction with entertainment industry organizations such as the Directors Guild of America, the successful candidate will identify eligible film(s) that are ready to begin production. The producer and/or director of the selected film then works directly with clinical students, who will draft all production-related contracts and documents.

Requirements

• Candidates must have outstanding academic credentials, including:
• A J.D. from an accredited law school
• Demonstrated success in the practice of entertainment law
• A record of successful teaching

Nice To Haves

• experience working in a law school clinical setting is preferred

Responsibilities

• Teaching 12 credit hours annually, 6 of which will be as co-director of the Fowler School of Law Entertainment Law Clinic, including securing clients for clinic services and supervising students.
• Teaching a 3-credit class in Entertainment Industry Contracts, a prerequisite to the Entertainment Law Clinic, or alternative class as may be assigned.
• Teaching other entertainment law and/or intellectual property and/or other courses as assigned
• Engaging in Law School and University service, to include committee assignments

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree