Edward Klaris is the Managing Partner of Klaris, a firm he founded in 2015 after serving as a litigator at Davis Wright Tremaine and spending 17 years in-house at The Walt Disney Company, The New Yorker, and Condé Nast. Since 2005, Ed has also been an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, where he teaches media law and intellectual property.

Over a career focusing on movies/television, journalism, digital media, AI, and the creator economy, Ed has guided some of the world’s most influential content companies through significant industry transformations. From defending journalism and First Amendment freedoms to providing insight into complicated copyright questions, he has helped shape how content is created, protected, and distributed. Today, he leads a 21-lawyer IP and media law boutique with a stellar group of lawyers who share his passion and commitment to the law and to serving clients well.  

Ed represents companies of all sizes. He is a key strategic advisor to company leadership, specializing in providing clear, unequivocal advice at the toughest moments. His media and entertainment practice focuses on the big-ticket issues, including large AI licensing deals, bet-the-company litigations, crucial transactions, complex chain of title and underlying rights matters, and knotty content clearance situations.  His trademark practice is global and includes all types of work in the IP lifecycle.

Since founding Klaris, Ed and the firm have been recognized by prestigious organizations, including Chambers, the Financial Times, U.S. News & World Report, and Variety. The Hollywood Reporter honored Ed a Legal Legend, a prestigious lifetime designation, writing that Ed does not just “close deals”, he has “helped define the business.”  

Ed has published widely and contributed to several books, including three chapters in the American Bar Association’s Intellectual Property and Technology Due Diligence. He speaks at conferences worldwide, has long been involved at Human Rights Watch, and is an active member of the Media Law Resource Center and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Vassar College and was Editor-in-Chief of the Arts & Entertainment Law Journal at Cardozo Law School. He is admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court and the federal and state courts in New York.

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