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

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 Californias most diverse and vibrant regions. Chapmans campuses are home to nearly 10000 students representing 50 states three territories and 78 countries. The 11 schools and colleges of Chapman including the Fowler School of Law offer 65 bachelors 53 masters and six doctoral programs along with nearly 60 minors and 17 accelerated and bridge programs. Classes are taught by more than 1100 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 Universitys 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 schools 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 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.

Responsibilities

Appointment as a non-tenure track faculty member will be pursuant to the Fowler School of Law Guidelines and Procedures for Appointment Retention and Promotion of Full-Time Non-Tenure Track Faculty. Responsibilities include:

• 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

Required Qualifications

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; experience working in a law school clinical setting is preferred