Charles ("Chuck") Colman founded Charles Colman Law, PLLC, in January 2011 in order to provide cost-effective, industry-specific legal representation to individuals and companies in fashion, music, art, film, media, new technology, and other creative fields. Chuck previously worked as a litigator at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, where he handled cases involving breach of contract, false advertising, copyright, trademark, and right of publicity, among many other areas of law.
Chuck graduated from Yale College with a B.A. in Linguistics (cum laude, distinction in major), where he also studied the history of art, music, and film. He received his J.D. from Columbia Law School (James Kent Scholar; Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar), where he served as an Articles Editor for the Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts and worked as a research assistant for leading copyright scholar Professor Jane Ginsburg.
Chuck often speaks on panels where legal issues in fashion, music, art, and technology are discussed and debated. He has appeared before audiences at the New York City Bar Association, the New York County Lawyers' Association, the Copyright Society of the U.S.A., the International Association of Lawyers, and the Institute for Information Law and Policy at New York Law School, as well as at Brooklyn Law School, Cardozo Law School, Columbia Law School, Howard Law School, NYU Law School, Penn Law School, and Parsons, The New School for Design. Chuck currently serves as a Lecturer at the Fashion Institute of Technology. In June 2013, he will join the full-time faculty of NYU Law School as an Acting Assistant Professor of Lawyering.
Chuck regularly posts at this site's companion blog, LAW OF FASHION, about legal issues of interest to individuals and companies in fashion, media, and art. (The blog's affiliated LinkedIn group, also called LAW OF FASHION, counts among its nearly 2000 members many leading law firm partners and in-house counsel at top fashion corporations.) Chuck has also written for Law360 and several other web publications, and contributed articles on intellectual property law to print periodicals like LANDSLIDE (the American Bar Association's bimonthly magazine on IP law) and Intellectual Property Magazine.
Chuck is the author of a chapter on intellectual property law in West's Navigating Fashion Law: Leading Lawyers on Exploring the Trends, Cases, and Strategies of Fashion Law, and will contribute a section on copyright law to the highly anticipated second edition of Barbara Kolsun and Guillermo Jimenez's Fashion Law: A Guide for Designers, Fashion Executives, and Attorneys. Chuck's writing on IP law has also appeared in Professor Alan Nemeth's undergraduate textbook v. (versus): Case Law, Concepts, & American Society (Cognella 2012). Chuck is currently putting the finishing touches on the first installment of a treatise, Colman on Fashion Law, slated for publication by LexisNexis-Matthew Bender in late 2013.
Chuck has been profiled by Forbes and by top-ranked legal industry blog Above The Law, and has been quoted in publications ranging from fashion industry trade magazines to periodicals for intellectual property law practitioners to mainstream media outlets. His firm's matters have been covered by the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, The Atlantic, and Time, among many other media outlets.
Chuck is active in multiple bar association committees. From 2010 to 2013, Chuck served as the Co-Chair of the Fashion Design Legislation Subcommittee at the American Bar Association, in which capacity he was responsible for evaluating legislation that would accord copyright-like protection to certain fashion designs. Chuck is also the sponsor (and an active member) of the Fashion Law Committee at the New York City Bar Association, which first convened in June 2011.
Chuck is admitted to practice law in the State of New York, before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
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Brian Lehman is the Firm's Executive Director, overseeing its day-to-day management.
After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1996, Brian attended the University of Chicago Law School, where he was a co-founder and articles editor of the Chicago Journal of International Law. Brian received his J.D. (with honors) in 2000, and went on to clerk for the Honorable Alex Kozinski, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. From 2001-2002, Brian clerked for the Honorable Shira A. Scheindlin, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
After clerking, Brian worked as an independent consultant for various law firms, as well as arbitrators and mediators at JAMS, gaining experience in a wide range of commercial and complex litigation matters. Brian first collaborated with Charles Colman Law in 2011; he took on a formal role at the Firm earlier this year, assuming the title and responsibilities of Executive Director in May 2013.
Brian is admitted to practice law in the State of Connecticut, with admission pending in New York State.
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Paul Eli Mehrer is Of Counsel to the Firm.
Paul has substantial experience providing legal counsel to individuals and businesses in new media, photography, graphic design, fashion, and the entertainment industries. Having trained in the legal departments of The Authors Guild, The William Morris Agency, and (most recently) Condé Nast Publications, Paul is well versed in drafting and negotiating licenses and other contracts; advising on business formation mechanics and strategies; consulting on risk management, especially in the realms of advertising and marketing; and registering and prosecuting trademarks before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Paul received a B.A. in History from Tulane University (cum laude), and earned his Juris Doctorate at New York's Cardozo Law School (Dean's Scholarship, 2002-2005.) He has been licensed to practice law in New York State since 2006, and is an active member of the Bar Association of The City of New York and the New York State Bar Association.
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Aldo Panunzio is Of Counsel to the Firm.
Aldo has several years of experience in large and small law firm environments, where he has focused on issues in real estate law and, more recently, employment law. Having first studied law in his home country of Italy, Aldo has particular familiarity with cross-border real estate transactions. He has additional experience counseling clients in the entertainment, public relations, publishing, and sports sectors.
After receiving his law degree from the University of Florence and passing all qualifying examinations, Aldo went on to complete an LL.M. at Penn State Law on a full merit scholarship. He has worked for DLA Piper in Milan, and for Paul Hastings in New York. Aldo is licensed to practice law in New York State.
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Joseph ("Joe") Taub is Of Counsel to the Firm.
Joe has handled diverse adversarial matters in both state and federal court, including commercial disputes, IP litigation, and securities-related matters. Joe is admitted to practice law in New York and before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
Upon graduating from Fordham Law School, Mr. Taub took a position at Allen & Overy LLP, where he worked on matters in the areas of banking, corporate finance and M&A. He has since worked for and with several nationally renowned litigators on a number of major cases.
During law school, Mr. Taub interned at the U.S. Attorneys’ Office for the Eastern District of New York, where assisted attorneys in the Business Fraud and Violent Crimes & Terrorism Sections. Mr. Taub was also a member of the Fordham Tax and Consumer Rights Litigation Clinic, where his advocacy on behalf of low-income clients earned him Fordham's Archibald R. Murray Public Service Award.
