Lecturer Bios
Thomas A. Crowell, Esq.
Thomas A. Crowell, Esq. counsels clients on intellectual property matters and a broad spectrum of legal issues across media sectors including publishing, film, television, merchandising, licensing, music, video games, manufacturing, and the graphic arts. A seasoned negotiator, he leads deals for client programming featured on networks such as Nickelodeon, Discovery, Starz, DIY Network, TLC, SyFy, WE, and the Smithsonian Channel. With extensive experience in both narrative and unscripted television, he has also collaborated with the Dominican Republic Film Commission to help harmonize the country’s motion picture legislation with that of the United States.
Crowell represents several comic book publishing companies as well as many of the industry’s most notable artists and writers. He is the co-creator and former Director from Practice of The Indie Film Clinic at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and the Executive Director, emeritus, of New Jersey Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. Since 2015, he has taught continuing legal education courses on comic book legal practice at NY Comic Con and numerous other conventions nationwide. He currently serves as the copyright, intellectual property, and media law professor at CUNY School of Law in New York City.
An avid writer, Crowell is the series editor of Focal Press’s “Pocket Lawyer for…” series of legal guides for artists and the author of The Pocket Lawyer for Filmmakers (Focal Press, 3rd ed. 2024) and The Pocket Lawyer for Comic Book Creators, the first dedicated legal guide to the comic book industry. He is also a contributing author for LexisNexis in its entertainment law division.
Before entering the legal profession, Crowell worked as a television reporter, producer, and production executive, and later served as the Director of Business and Program Development for The Science Technology Network. He has written comics for Waxwork Comics and created the 1990s children’s television show Professor Potto’s Videolabs, which received the National Parenting Center Seal of Approval.
More information about his lectures and publications is available at his website:
www.thomascrowell.com
Jeff Trexler, Esq.
Jeff Trexler, Esq. (JD, Yale; PhD, Duke) is an attorney and Associate Director of the Fashion Law Institute.
Jeff has worked with media and fashion clients from around the world on issues ranging from start-up formation and tax strategy to corporate ethics and intellectual property.
jeff.trexler@gmail.com
@jefftrexler
Jason Yarn, Esq.
Jason Yarn, Esq. has been an agent for ten years and an attorney for six, working in the literary department and business affairs at Paradigm Talent Agency before going out on his own. His agency represents award winning and #1 New York Times bestselling authors of fiction and non-fiction for adults and children, in addition to handling film and television rights.
https://www.jasonyarnliteraryagency.com
@kalyarn
Jon S. Plevritis, Esq
Jon S. Plevritis, Esq., focuses on transactions, estate administration, and estate litigation at Diktas Gillen, PC. Before entering the legal profession, he worked on the scientific side of life at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Bell Laboratories, AT&T Technologies, and Allied Signal Aerospace.
Mr. Plevritis was admitted to the bars of New Jersey and New York in 1996, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in 1997, and the Southern District of New York in 1998.
He earned his B.S. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1978 and his J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law in 1995.
