Eric Ervin, Esq.

Eric Ervin grew up in San Francisco California attending Saint Ignatius College Preparatory. The step-son of the outwardly liberal criminal defense attorney Tony Serra, Mr. Ervin was introduced early to the interaction of legal minds and creative minds. Eric grew up interacting with such bay area music influences as Bill Graham and Jerry Garcia. At an impressionable age Mr. Ervin recalls playing basketball with Bill Graham back stage at a Grateful Dead show at UC Berkeley’s Greek Theatre. They spoke about music, and Mr. Graham explained that he just enjoyed making sure that it could “all go down smooth”. Understanding that comment to describe that there had to be a facilitator and a protector of the arts, whether they are music or fine art, Mr. Ervin idolized Bill Graham and decided early that being an advisor and protector of creative people and passions was a position of esteem and importance.Mr. Ervin went to New York University for his undergraduate degree, majoring in political science and philosophy. While in college, Mr. Ervin began his career in the entertainment industry by working for the Legal and Business Affairs office of the respected indie record label TVT Records. At TVT Mr. Ervin was responsible for securing the rights to soundtracks and compilations, including the films Scream and Strangeland, and various TV’s Greatest Hits compilations. Mr. Ervin was then hired by LoveCat Music Publishing to help start their business operations and oversee administration of publishing rights and licensing deals.Mr. Ervin attended Cardozo School of Law in New York City and excelled in its prestigious Intellectual Property program in the areas of copyright and trademark. Following his first year of law school, Mr. Ervin was hired as a summer associate at the entertainment law firm Rudolph & Beer LLP, where he worked on a variety of projects for such major recording artists as Britney Spears, Aaron Carter and Keith Murray. At Rudolph & Beer, Eric also gained experience working in the independent film industry, assisting on projects involving rights clearances, film financing and distribution.When Rudolph & Beer dissolved Eric struck out on his own to work as a solo-practitioner representing entertainment and art clients. He started as the producer’s attorney for the film Last Party 2000, dealing with clearances for bands such as Rage Against the Machine, Willie Nelson, and The Dandy Warhols. He then began representing unsigned bands that were getting booking contracts and licensing opportunities. He also developed a practice of representing fine art photographers and painters in exploiting their work commercially; or in the converse protecting their work from unwanted commercial exploitation.Currently Eric is serving as an Of Counsel attorney at the entertainment law firm of Kaplan & Gamble LLP, which has an extensive practice in intellectual property, music, film, television, fashion and related civil and litigation matters. Eric represents a few of up and coming bands in the New York City rock scene including Group Sounds and Overnight. He also represents a variety of young artist’s of all types, designers, photographers, painters giving them advice and protection when they are faced with adversity. Please feel free to contact Mr. Ervin if you have any questions or comments.