Hollywood lawyers reject WGA customization solution to the war of packaging – Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Writers who have put their agents canned this weekend and plan to encourage their lawyers or their leaders to negotiate new agreements for them while the WGA and the Association of Talent Agents are fighting over a new code of driving must be reflected.

"The word circulating throughout the city for entertainment lawyers is" a damaged pencil, "Deadline told a reputable lawyer in a repeated phrase today, while lawyers face the new reality with the assertive attitude between the WGA and the ATA.

This edict comes despite the Writers Guild's persistent assertions that lawyers or officials can essentially be responsible for most of the duties of the officers before the start of the mass layoffs on April 12, after talks between the Guild and the ATA had finally failed.

The complete move by the Guild asking members to fire their non-signatory agencies on April 11 will not be felt for several weeks. Which meant that in today 's studios, representatives like lawyers and lawyers were working under ongoing agreements, for the time being.

We hear that some agents are willing to enter into pacts for their client writers who must run the risk of being eventually punished by the WGA. We also hear that some lawyers are negotiating new pacts and planning to continue to do so.

This is part of the current confusion in the industry, as clarity is very limited.

Los Angeles and New York lawyers and personal officials have entered offices that had become professional purgatory because of the widely approved anti-packaging code of conduct and the dismissal of agents that writers began Friday night. . A state of affairs that could see writers and agencies, who fought against this, find new jobs in the industry being stuck in the coming weeks.

A status quo that appears legally guaranteed by the laws of Golden State and Empire State.

"No person may occupy or engage in an agency activity without first obtaining a license from the labor commissioner," states the California Talent Agencies Act. Although some lawyers and others have tried in the past to entrust work to clients without the intervention of an agent, they have almost always defeated losers when such actions have been challenged under the law. work.

"The WGA does not have the right to appoint a person as a de facto agent to do anything to one of its members, what an agent would do", said another Tinseltown lawyer, a heavyweight. "If they want to inform their members on the way to the garden, I suggest they read the relevant laws of New York and California," he added.

For lawyers in particular, working without a franchisee representative could, despite what the WGA said last week, give rise to a complaint to the state bar. All complaints must be investigated and can become a write-off – which any lawyer does not want, no matter what risk he is willing to take.

In the same vein, many literary leaders have spent hours consulting lawyers on Monday to try to determine what is permitted and forbidden to do so. "Everything is in the Wild West, nothing is clarified," said a prominent leader.

Because of this, some managers are afraid to take on simple daily tasks, such as organizing a meeting for their client. Many believe that doing this without being associated with a franchisee representative, which are only agents, could lead to lawsuits against them.

At the same time, with the Talent Act that takes a critical look at lawyers and who does not know what position will adopt the WGA, these law firm pencils are very far from the city.

So far as a scribe has even attempted to compose his own contract, we have been told that he would have great difficulty in finding a reputable lawyer or a personal administrator who would agree to take the risk of delisting or legal risk by offering them advice. If the problem concerns a past or current contract, CAA, UTA, ICM Partners and UTA still represent their client writers, even if they have been fired in the last 72 hours.

Regarding the new agreements – "Forget it, the situation is too toxic," proclaimed an influential lawyer. The same lawyer rejected the WGA's view that the federal law actually allowed a process like "misplaced thinking of amateurs who mistreat their members with misinformation".

Last week, the WGA countered ATA's assertion that it "will take appropriate measures, if any, against any person engaging in unfair competition, in order to protect the legitimate interests of its members".

"The agencies are trying to intimidate lawyers and officials to stop them from doing the work they do regularly," WGA said Friday, as hours were counted for dismissal of agents and that the situation will certainly be settled and resolved in court. rather than around the conference table at any time.