{{short description|American attorney and novelist (born 1951)}} {{Infobox person |name = Robert Rotstein |birth_name = Robert Henry Rotstein<ref>{{cite web | title=Robert Henry Rotstein Profile - Los Angeles, CA Lawyer | website=Martindale.com | url=https://www.martindale.com/los-angeles/california/robert-henry-rotstein-24759864-a/ | access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref> |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1951|06|28}} |birth_place = Glendale, California, U.S. |occupation = Lawyer, writer |education = University of California, Los Angeles (BA, JD) }} '''Robert Henry Rotstein''' (born June 28, 1951, in Glendale, California)<ref>{{cite book |last=Hubbell |first=Martindale |date=April 1995 |title=Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory (1995, Volume 2-California A-O) |url=https://archive.org/details/martindalehubbel06mart |publisher=Martindale-Hubbell |isbn=9781561601127 |url-access=registration }}</ref> is an American attorney and novelist currently based in Los Angeles, California. He has published four novels so far, including ''Corrupt Practices'', ''Reckless Disregard,'' ''The Bomb Maker's Son''<ref>Robert Rotstein, Official Website, http://robertrotstein.com/</ref> and ''We, The Jury'' (2018). He is also currently a partner at the law firm of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP, focusing on entertainment law, intellectual property law and commercial litigation.<ref name=Bio>Robert Rotstein Bio, MSK, http://www.msk.com/attorneys-Robert_Rotstein</ref>
==Background== Rotstein grew up in Culver City, California, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1973, summa cum laude.<ref name=Bio/> He also received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from UCLA School of Law in 1976, graduating Order of the Coif and serving as an editor on the ''UCLA Law Review''.<ref name=Bio/><ref name=About>[http://robertrotstein.com/about-the-author/ Robert Rotstein, About The Author]</ref>
==Legal career== Upon graduation from law school, Rotstein served as a judicial law clerk to now U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, then Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.<ref name=About/> Rotstein then entered private practice at a firm in Beverly Hills, specializing in entertainment law and copyright law.<ref name=About/> Over the course of his over 38 year legal career in private practice, Rotstein represented various major motion picture studios and clients such as Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Lionel Richie, John Sayles, Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, and James Cameron (e.g. obtaining a Summary judgment for Cameron and his company in a lawsuit involving Cameron's blockbuster motion picture ''Avatar'').<ref name=About/><ref>{{Cite web |title='Avatar' Was James Cameron's Idea, Judge Rules In IP Suit - Law360 |url=https://www.law360.com/articles/413027/avatar-was-james-cameron-s-idea-judge-rules-in-ip-suit |access-date=2023-11-23 |website=www.law360.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Ted |date=2015-02-11 |title=Appellate Court Considers ‘Avatar’ Idea Theft Case |url=https://variety.com/2015/biz/news/appellate-court-considers-avatar-idea-theft-case-1201431183/ |access-date=2023-11-23 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Couch |first=Aaron |date=2014-09-17 |title=James Cameron Wins ‘Avatar’ Idea Theft Lawsuit Against Artist |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/james-cameron-wins-avatar-idea-733904/ |access-date=2023-11-23 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Patten |first=Dominic |date=2012-09-18 |title=James Cameron, Fox Get 'Avatar' Copyright Suit Dismissed |url=https://deadline.com/2012/09/james-cameron-fox-get-avatar-copyright-suit-dismissed-338086/ |access-date=2023-11-23 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref>
Rotstein also authored a law review article in the ''Chicago Kent Law Review'' entitled "Beyond Mataphor: Copyright Infringement and the Fiction of the Work," 68 Chi.-Kent. L. Rev. 725 (1992)<ref>Robert H. Rotstein, Beyond Mataphor: Copyright Infringement and the Fiction of the Work, 68 Chi.-Kent. L. Rev. 725 (1992); Available at: http://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/cklawreview/vol68/iss2/9 and http://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2892&context=cklawreview</ref> that explores the relationship between literary theory and copyright law, and has also taught as an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, California, teaching Copyright Law.<ref name=Bio/>
Rotstein is currently a partner at Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP, where he co-chairs the firm’s intellectual property department.
==Books== Rotstein has published a series of three novels all revolving around the trial attorney protagonist of Parker Stern. In October 2018 his first stand-alone novel, ''We, the Jury'', was released.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.blackstonepublishing.com/we-the-jury-robert-rotstein|title=Blackstone Publishing - We, the Jury by Robert Rotstein|website=www.blackstonepublishing.com|language=en|access-date=2018-10-30}}</ref>
The first novel in the series, ''Corrupt Practices'' (2013), introduces Parker Stern as an attorney hired by an affluent former client named Rich Baxter to defend him in a lawsuit filed by a powerful Los Angeles church alleging that Baxter has embezzled millions from them.<ref name=Corrupt>Robert Rotstein, Books, Corrupt Practices, http://robertrotstein.com/book/corrupt-practices/</ref> Stern reluctantly takes the case because he has not set foot in a courtroom since his mentor, Harmon Cherry, committed suicide.<ref name=Corrupt/> Yet he gets drawn into the case once realizing that Cherry did not kill himself but was murdered by someone connected to the church.<ref name=Corrupt/> The book received a starred review from Booklist and other positive reviews from ''New York Journal of Books'' and ''Publishers Weekly''.<ref name=Corrupt/>
The next novel in the series, ''Reckless Disregard'' (2014), follows Stern taking on a case for an elusive video game designer simply known as "Poniard."<ref name=Reckless>Robert Rotstein, Books, Reckless Disregard, http://robertrotstein.com/book/reckless-disregard/</ref> In Poniard's popular online game "Abduction," a movie mogul is charged with murdering and kidnapping a beautiful movie actress who disappeared in the 1980s; the mogul proceeds to sue Poniard for libel.<ref name=Reckless/> However, when potential witnesses start dying, and survivors become too frightened to talk, Stern begins to feel like trapped in a game - or something larger - himself.<ref name=Reckless/> The novel received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.<ref name=Reckless/>
The most recent installment in the Parker Stern series is ''The Bomb Maker's Son'' (2015) involves Stern representing, at the urging of his mother, a man named Ian Holzner - otherwise known as "The Playa Delta Bomber" that planted a bomb in 1975 that allegedly killed four people.<ref name=Bomb>Robert Rotstein, Books, The Bomb Maker's Son, http://robertrotstein.com/book/bomb-makers-son/</ref> When another "Holzner bomb" explodes and other violent terrorist acts begin to escalate with increasing frequency, Stern slowly begins to undercover the truth behind Holzner and realities involving his family and his own past.<ref name=Bomb/> The book received positive reviews from Lee Child, Booklist, ''Kirkus Reviews'' and ''Publishers Weekly''.<ref name=Bomb/>
Rotstein is also a member of the Mystery Writers of America and the International Thriller Writers.<ref name=Bio/>
==Bibliography== *Parker Stern Novels **''[http://robertrotstein.com/book/corrupt-practices/ Corrupt Practices]'' (2013) **''[http://robertrotstein.com/book/reckless-disregard/ Reckless Disregard]'' (2014) **''[http://robertrotstein.com/book/bomb-makers-son/ The Bomb Maker's Son]'' (2015) * ''We, the Jury'' (2018) *Law Review Articles **"[http://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2892&context=cklawreview Beyond Mataphor: Copyright Infringement and the Fiction of the Work]," 68 Chi.-Kent. L. Rev. 725 (1992)
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== *[http://www.robertrotstein.com Robert Rotstein Official Site] *[http://www.msk.com/attorneys-Robert_Rotstein Robert Rotstein Bio at MSK (Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP)] *[https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6892098.Robert_Rotstein Robert Rotstein on Goodreads] *[https://twitter.com/rrotstein1 Robert Rotstein on Twitter] *[http://abovethelaw.com/2015/07/an-entertainment-lawyer-and-a-novelist-an-interview-with-robert-rotstein/ An Interview with Robert Rotstein: Above The Law]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotstein, Robert}} Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:American male novelists Category:UCLA School of Law alumni Category:California lawyers Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni Category:People from Culver City, California Category:21st-century American novelists Category:21st-century American male writers Category:Novelists from California