Howard Z. Berman

Howard Z. Berman is Of Counsel in ECJ’s Business and Corporate Law Department where he focuses on a broad range of corporate transactions, including contract negotiations, finance and securities matters, venture capital financing, private placements, mergers and acquisitions, loan transactions, leveraged buyouts, initial and secondary public offerings of equity and debt securities, executive compensation (including equity incentive plans)

Since July 2007, Mr. Berman has served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel to Cinram International Inc., the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of pre-recorded home entertainment products for consumer use, primarily DVDs and CDs. Representing Cinram for over 10 years while a partner at ECJ, he spearheaded Cinram’s contract negotiations with its major studio and music label customers, and advised Cinram on a multitude of other business issues, including new product development matters, supplier contracts, mergers and acquisitions, joint venture and licensing arrangements and general corporate matters. He also advised Cinram on various intellectual property matters, including copyright compliance issues associated with the materials to be replicated and distributed by Cinram.

Mr. Berman also provides a broad range of technology and Internet related legal services to his other clients, including organizing and counseling technology and healthcare related businesses, licensing of technology and other intellectual property, venture capital funding and private placements, web site and software development agreements, fulfillment agreements, executive employment agreements, equity compensation programs for employees and employee confidentiality agreements.

Mr. Berman also serves as corporate counsel for several local entertainment law firms and business management firms, helping these firms set up companies and structure investments for their clients. In this capacity, he has established a number of independent film production companies, and assisted these companies in structuring private placements and other equity financing transactions.

Mr. Berman received his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Southern California in 1986, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif. He also received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from USC in 1983, graduating Magna Cum Laude and receiving the Alpha Kappa Psi Scholarship Award and the Delta Sigma Pi Scholarship Key Award for achieving the highest cumulative grade point average.

Mr. Berman is a member of Business Law Section of the State Bar of California and the Business & Corporations Law Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. Mr. Berman also is the author of ECJ’s Legal Update, Summer 2000, Raising Money for Your New Company What You Should Know about Regulation D; Using the Internet for Some Real Information, ECJ’s Legal Update, Winter 1999; and A New Protection for Officers and Directors Against Employee Lawsuits . . . Maybe, ECJ’s Employment Law Reporter, February 1998.