Julia B. Cherlow 

Julia B. Cherlow practices high-profile business litigation with an emphasis on entertainment industry breach of contract and profit participation claims as a principal at Bird, Marella, Boxer, Wolpert, Nessim, Drooks, Lincenberg & Rhow, P.C. She joined the firm in 2018 and made partner in 2021.

She brings an unusual background to her work. A former ballerina and Stanford Law School graduate, she served as a law clerk at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and as an intern at a talent and literary agency.

“I had that little girl ballerina dream from age three, and I didn’t let it go until I’d accomplished it,” Cherlow said. She studied in Los Angeles and at the New York City Ballet, then danced professionally in California. A favorite role was the Waltz Girl in George Balanchine’s “Serenade,” she said. “I danced until I was 21, then retired and went to school.”

At Stanford, she learned about the Balkans conflict and the opportunity to join the United Nations court dealing with war crimes. “I wrote draft opinions in chambers at the trial court level,” Cherlow said. After law school, she did business consulting for a time. “I looked at it as a paid MBA.”

Now, as a litigator in complex business cases, she sometimes channels her inner dancer. “The feeling I had waiting in the wings is very similar to what I feel as I’m about to step up with a cross-examination or opening statement,” she said. “There are butterflies in my stomach and I’m gathering all my faculties — stepping onto the stage or up to the podium. I’m ready to bring it home.”

In mid-May, Cherlow was in arbitration representing Eric Kripke, the creator of the TV drama “Supernatural,” in a nine-figure dispute with a major studio. Kripke v. Warner Bros. Television Production Inc., 1220057510 (JAMS, filed Sept. 1, 2017).

Last year she was on the Bird Marella trial team that won a complete defense jury verdict following a three-week trial for client FIGS Inc., a health care apparel and lifestyle brand. The plaintiff, asserting a $200 million damages claim, was an industry heavyweight that alleged false advertising and intentional interference with prospective economic relations. Strategic Partners Inc. v. FIGS Inc. et al., 2:19-cv-02286 (C.D. Cal., filed March 27, 2019).

The win was one of The Daily Journal’s Top Verdicts of 2022. “They had no case,” Cherlow said of the plaintiff. “It was a lot of bluster to try to take an upstate competitor out. Our client’s co-founders weren’t going to let it happen, and after we put on our case, the jury got it.”

— John Roemer