Kerry Garvis Wright  

Kerry Garvis Wright is the founder and chair of the employment department at Glaser Weil Fink Howard Jordan & Shapiro LLP. She joined the firm in 1999.

Her recent marquee clients include Jeff Zucker, the former CNN president; Jeff Shell, the former CEO of NBC/Universal; and Victoria Alonso, the film producer and founding member of Marvel Studios.

“Working in Hollywood keeps life interesting, that’s for sure,” Garvis Wright said. “A lot of colorful people. But I don’t do opening nights. I’m more Hollywood-adjacent.”

The new department has come together over the past couple of years, she said. “It’s an evolution. I started as a general business litigator and trial lawyer, doing a lot of work in the entertainment space. Now, we’re a formal department here. I just hired a senior litigation associate and a woman who will deal with HR issues. It’s coming into focus.”

She added: “As a result of the #MeToo and #Time’sUp movements, entertainment industry employers now are very intolerant of missteps. They act quickly out of concerns about litigation and the potential for getting a black eye in the media. It’s an unforgiving environment.”

Garvis Wright’s high Tinseltown profile got a further boost in April when Variety featured her and three of her Glaser Weil colleagues in a piece titled “Meet Hollywood’s Top Entertainment Dealmakers and Litigators.”

When Zucker abruptly resigned from CNN in February 2022 for failing to disclose a consensual romantic relationship with the network’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, he turned to Garvis Wright. She helped negotiate the terms of Zucker’s separation agreement and consulted on media issues surrounding his departure.

Zucker has moved on, Garvis Wright said. “He’s working for a private equity firm, heading up their media unit. He didn’t need my help with that.”

Much of her work with Zucker took place over a three-week span. “It’s the kind of fast-moving representation that I happen to like,” Garvis Wright said. The same was true with Shell and Alonso. “Typically, I’ll be coordinating with the client’s transaction lawyers and the PR people in any case that is certain or likely to be in the press. It’s exciting and fun, and at the same time, I have a great sense of responsibility in these cases. It’s their career, it’s their livelihood, their identity. I take pride in taking that very seriously.”

For many of her clients, litigation isn’t the first consideration. “It’s often less about the law and more about strategy and PR and caring for these people,” Garvis Wright said. “No day is ever the same.”

- John Roemer