Kelli L. Sager

Sager's practice covers all areas of media and entertainment law, including idea submission claims and copyright and trademark law.

To most people, however, she's one of the most highly regarded First Amendment rights specialists in the field.

In December, Sager won a case on behalf of the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers against the California Legislature after it refused to disclose budget records to the publications. The papers had sought the records after a dispute arose about the budget allocation of one of the members of the legislature.

The case was not appealed, a decision Sager said she believes may be because the legislature recognized the public's right to know how their tax dollars were being spent and the issue wasn't something the government officials wanted to be publicly fighting about.

But Sager said these cases are not the norm. Many of her clients are television and radio broadcasters, cable companies, motion picture producers and distributors and Internet companies.

"It's funny, people talk about us being the First Amendment practice, [but] a lot of our work has nothing to do with access to government records. It's really more entertainment law," Sager said, though she added that a lot of the firm's cases center on First Amendment issues.

Currently, Sager has two cases pending in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. In both cases athletes allege the company used their images without their consent and that the use of their "persona" is protected under the First Amendment.

"I have a particular passion for First Amendment issues because I have always thought that it's so important that those rights be protected," Sager said.

- CONNIE LOPEZ