Sony Pictures legal affairs executive John Fukunaga speaks at Elon Law

Fukunaga oversees a team that handles legal matters relating to television, home entertainment and digital distribution, joint ventures, film financings, mergers and acquisitions and television network operations around the world. Fukunaga spoke with Elon Law students about corporate law in the entertainment industry context and in-house counsel careers. He provided students with advice about developing essential skills for a successful career in law.

He advised them to always seek out challenging matters to work on, to be prepared for the opportunities that come their way and, ideally, to try to practice in an area of law that they find interesting.

Fukunaga holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics/Business from UCLA and a Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law. After law school, he served as an associate with the law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP. He joined Sony Pictures Entertainment in 1994, where he has served in several senior positions for almost twenty years, most in the legal department. Variety featured Fukunaga in 2013 as a top in-house attorney in the entertainment industry.

Among those in attendance at the forum were several Elon Law Business Fellows, as well as Andy Haile, associate dean for academic affairs, and law professors Enrique Armijo and Tom Molony.