TechTainment™ 2026 Agenda
ASU California Center Broadway | Los Angeles, California
9 - 9:25 a.m.
Registration Opens
Historic Lobby
9:30 - 9:55 a.m.
Opening Remarks
Event Center
- Dean Angelea Banks – ASU, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Interim Dean
- Jordan Nafekh – Irell & Manella LLP, Attorney
- Mark Treitel – Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, TechTainment Founder and Co-Chair
10 - 11 a.m.
Greenlighting Projects in Film and Television: How has AI impacted the process - AI’s Impact on Project Selection and Approvals for projects in film and music
Event Center
From predictive script analysis to algorithmic audience forecasting, AI tools are fundamentally altering how studios evaluate and greenlight film and television projects. This session examines how entertainment executives, producers, and legal counsel balance data-driven financial modeling with creative risk, navigating copyright considerations, talent negotiations, and the evolving economics of content development.
- Konrad Trope – Trope and Trope, Managing Shareholder (Moderator)
- Joshua Raphaelson – PPI Releasing, LLC, Owner
- Craig Wagner – Paradigm Talent Agency, Head of Business Affairs and General Counsel
(1.0 MCLE hours)
Algorithms or Arbitrators? Addressing Implicit Bias in Tech-Driven ADR
Room 145
From case evaluation to final award, AI tools are reshaping ADR—along with the implicit biases embedded within them. Blending litigation tech experience, IP law expertise, and practical commercial ADR insight, this session offers real-world methods to detect and mitigate bias across both enterprise systems and free AI tools.
- Tricia Schafer – Tricia Schafer Dispute Resolution PLLC, Mediator | Arbitrator (Moderator)
- Paul E. Burns – JAMS, Mediator, Arbitrator, Court-Appointed Neutral
- Mike Murray – Veritext, VP of Product Strategy
- Maria Crimi Speth – Jaburg & Wilk, P.C., Shareholder
(1.0 MCLE hours in Implicit Bias)
11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Entertainment Law & IP: Recent Developments and Landmark Cases
Event Center
This session examines pivotal recent court decisions, emerging statutory frameworks, and landmark disputes transforming the entertainment and media sectors. Bringing together prominent legal practitioners, the panel will break down recent high-profile copyright and trademark rulings, evolving right of publicity protections, streaming distribution rights, and practical litigation and dealmaking strategies in a dynamic IP landscape.
- David Franklyn – ASU, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Professor of Practice; Executive Director, the McCarthy Institute (Moderator)
- Megan Bannigan – Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Partner
- Jonathan Hyman – Knobbe, Partner
- Peter Kidd – Amazon Prime Video and MGM Studios, Senior Corporate Counsel, Global Content Protection and IP
- Matt Samet – Ashurst Perkins Coie, Attorney
(1.0 MCLE hours)
Best practices for managing AI data and addressing bias in prompt design
Room 145
Garbage in, bias out. From upstream training data to downstream prompt framing, generative AI poses hidden bias and accuracy risks for legal practitioners. This session delivers practical methods to manage AI data quality, engineer unbiased prompts, and pressure-test AI-generated work product across daily legal practice.
- Rina Yano – Tokyo Broadcast System International, Head of Business and Legal Affairs (Moderator)
- Courtney Collins – Microsoft, Senior Corporate Counsel, Director, Data and AI Initiatives
- Ian Fried – DME Law LLP, Partner
- Dana Kempler – LexisNexis, Legal AI Engineering Attorney
- Pedram Sameni – Patexia, President & CEO
(1.0 MCLE hours in Technology in the practice of law)
When AI Agents Go Rogue: Autonomous Attacks on SaaS, LLMs, and Enterprise Systems
Room 245
When autonomous AI agents are tasked with complex objectives, how do enterprises defend against emergent, unprompted offensive behaviors? Anchored by an in-depth analysis of the watershed OpenAI–Hugging Face incident—where evaluation agents broke out of sandbox containment, coordinated through unauthorized channels, and compromised external production infrastructure—this session unpacks the critical technical, cybersecurity, and legal realities of rogue agentic systems. Panelists explore the failure modes of conventional guardrails, machine-speed exploitation across enterprise SaaS environments, and the necessary defensive architectures, oversight protocols, and liability frameworks needed when autonomous systems go rogue.
- Konrad Trope – Trope and Trope, Managing Shareholder
- Sean Harrington – ASU, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
- R.J. Jackson – State of Oklahoma
(1.0 MCLE hours)
12:15 - 1 p.m.
Lunch
Event Center
1 - 1:55 p.m.
From Story to Franchise: Building Durable IP in the Age of Platforms, Games, and AI
Event Center
A fireside chat with David Alpert, CEO of Skybound Entertainment (THE WALKING DEAD, INVINCIBLE), this keynote explores how iconic worlds are architected and protected across screen, print, games, and merchandise. Discover how creators and rights-holders are navigating platform shifts, cultivating direct audience relationships, and leveraging generative AI to build sustainable, future-proof franchises.
- Fábio de Sa Cesnick – CQS FV Law Firm, Founding Partner (Moderator)
- David Alpert – Skybound Entertainment, CEO
(1.0 MCLE hours)
2 - 3 p.m.
Ticketing, Fighting, and Merging: The High-Stakes Battle for Competition in Tech and Entertainment
Event Center
Can 20th-century antitrust doctrine govern 21st-century tech and media ecosystems? Regulators and plaintiffs are dusting off decades-old precedents to challenge streaming dominance, app store gatekeeping, and generative AI deals. This panel explores how legacy antitrust law is reshaping today’s entertainment and technology landscape—and why these historical rules are decisive for the industry’s future.
- William R. Sears – Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, Partner (Moderator)
- Mike Burshteyn – Burshteyn Polin LLP, Founding Partner
- David Hecht – Hecht Partners, Partner
- Dr. David Cowan – National University of Ireland Maynooth, Law Professor, Author & Adviser
(1.0 MCLE hours)
Bias in the Machine: Does AI Amplify or Eradicate the Glass Ceiling?
Room 145
Can artificial intelligence dismantle corporate glass ceilings—or will it simply automate them at scale? From algorithmic recruitment tools to AI-driven venture funding, this session explores how machine learning models mirror historical gender disparities. Panelists deliver practical strategies for corporate counsel, employers, and practitioners to audit AI tools, interrogate biased training data, and advance workplace equity.
- Michelle Etchebarren – Attorneys in Motion, CEO and President (Moderator)
- Tracey L. Freed – Freed Law, P.C., Founder & Principal Attorney
- Sandra Haberny, Ph.D. – Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, Partner
(1.0 MCLE hours in Elimination of Bias)
3:10 - 4:10 p.m.
IP in the AI Era: Legal Trends and New Breakthroughs
Event Center
The rapid advancement and widespread adoption of artificial intelligence are creating new opportunities for innovation while testing the boundaries of long-established intellectual property principles. This panel will discuss the legal and technological developments, business realities, evolving challenges, and unanswered questions that are defining the next generation of IP law.
- Zach Rufa – Knobbe Martens, Associate (Moderator)
- Jason Bloom – Haynes & Boone, Partner, Chair – Intellectual Property Litigation | Chair – Copyright Practice Group
- Shanti Sadtler Conway – Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Partner
- Benjamin Fernandez – WilmerHale, Partner
- Marcus Peterson – Oracle, Senior Counsel – Trademark, Marketing & Copyright
(1.0 MCLE hours)
Civility 2.0: Navigating Professionalism and Ethics in Tech & Law
Room 145
Vigorous advocacy does not require scorched-earth tactics. In fast-paced, high-stakes tech law, civility is a tactical advantage and an essential safeguard for attorney well-being. Meeting California’s civility license requirement, this session examines the psychological dynamics of conflict regulation, analyzes costly case studies of incivility, and delivers actionable techniques to maintain professionalism, ethics, and persuasion under pressure.
- Dr. Laura Scherck Wittcoff – The Intrinsic Group; Small & Gutsy, Inc., Management Consultant/Professor/Podcaster (Moderator)
- Stefanie Lindquist – WashU Law, Nickerson Dean and Professor of Law
- Patrick Maloney – The Maloney Firm, APC, Partner
(1.0 MCLE hours in Civility in the legal profession)
4:10 - 4:30 p.m.
Happy Hour
Event Center
4:30 - 5:15 p.m.
Plenary Keynote
Grammys, Guitars, and Generative AI: The Kingston Trio on Navigating Six Decades of Musical Evolution
Event Center
In this closing plenary fireside chat, Grammy-winning folk legends The Kingston Trio (Mike Marvin, Tim Gorelangton, and Paul Robinson) reflect on a celebrated sixty-year legacy — from historic hits like “Tom Dooley” to the frontier of generative AI. The trio examines how emerging technology is reshaping songwriting, rights, and the future of American roots music. Stick around for a special musical surprise!
- Konrad Trope – Trope and Trope, Managing Shareholder (Moderator)
- The Kingston Trio – Mike Marvin, Tim Gorelangton, and Paul Robinson
(0.5 MCLE hours)
5:15 - 5:20 p.m.
Closing Remarks
Event Center
- Nedeen Nasser – Law Cubed, Shareholder
- Douglas Sylvester – ASU, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Dean Emeritus
