Meet THE SINGERS IN LAW
Sheri Bluebond, Soprano
The Honorable Sheri Bluebond, soprano, is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Central District of California. She received her B.A. and her J.D. from UCLA and, before joining the bench in 2001, co-chaired the Creditors’ Rights and Insolvency Group at Irell & Manella LLP in Los Angeles. As a performing arts major in high school, Judge Bluebond sang with Camerata, the school’s 16-voice vocal ensemble, and held leading roles in school musicals, including Marian the Librarian in Music Man and Kate in Kiss Me Kate. She has sung with the University Chorus at UCLA under the direction of Don Weiss, the University of Judaism Concert Singers under the direction of Tova Morcos, Legal Voices of the LA Lawyers Philharmonic under the direction of Jim Raycroft, and numerous other schools and synagogues choirs. She is honored to be the newest member of THE SINGERS IN LAW.
John Blumberg, Baritone
John received his BA in music (choral conducting and vocal) in 1972 from Cal-State Long Beach and went directly into law school. After a year, he applied to an NPR station to present a one-night-per-week classical music program, which also included local music and theater reviews. Even after graduating from law school and starting his law practice, he remained on the radio until 1982. In 1982 and 1983, he performed in two musicals (Pajama Game and Funny Girl) as the male lead. In 1984, he began a four-year stint as an occasional cast member (portraying an attorney) on the syndicated TV show, “Divorce Court.” In 1985, he and his wife began a 20-year relationship as the cantoral soloists for a Jewish congregation in the eastern Sierra for the High Holy Day Services. Since 2006, John has served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. In 2010, he joined the Legal Voices of the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic, and in 2013, he joined THE SINGERS IN LAW vocal jazz quartet. John leads a 4-lawyer law firm – Blumberg Law Corporation -- in Long Beach, which specializes in civil trials. He is triple board certified as a trial lawyer in legal malpractice law and medical malpractice law. John was elected to the American Board of Trial Advocates in 1991 and has the rank of Advocate, having tried over 75 jury trials to verdict. He has served on the boards of many attorney associations, including the American Board of Trial Advocates, the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys, and the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, where he also serves as its parliamentarian. John has lectured frequently and has written over 50 articles that have been published in state and national law journals. He is the author of the book Persuasion Science for Trial Lawyers.
Ken Freundlich, Tenor
Ken is one of the country’s leading authorities on intellectual property issues, focusing on copyright, trademark, DMCA/Internet matters, right of publicity, defamation, and related disputes. In his 37 years of practice, he has primarily focused on resolving complex business, entertainment, and IP disputes and is renowned for representing individuals and companies with his pragmatic aggressiveness, relatability, business acumen, and ability to handle everything from everyday business disputes to complex, ground-breaking cases.
Ken is a lifelong musician. Combining his legal and music skills, Ken has authored multiple amicus briefs on behalf of over a dozen musicologists in the Blurred Lines, Stairway to Heaven, and Katy Perry cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and has represented artists and companies in copyright infringement defenses including Pandora Media, LLC and Lyric Find, Inc., superstar Bad Bunny and Walter Afanasieff, co-author and producer of Mariah Carey’s All I want for Christmas Is You.
Ken is a seasoned litigator and trial counsel licensed to practice in the state and federal courts of New York and California (among other courts) and has had notable successes in multiple arenas in trials, arbitration, and mediations ranging from California Labor Commissioner proceedings, IFTA and AAA Arbitration, Copyright Rate Court proceedings and Guild arbitrations, to trial and appellate courts (including the United States Supreme Court). Ken also represents prominent artists and actors in their entertainment endeavors in all aspects of their careers and also advises on aspects of complex music publishing, distribution, motion picture and television, and licensing deals in all areas of entertainment for artists, actors, executives, and companies alike.
A few of Ken’s accomplishments include: prevailing at the U.S. Supreme Court as to the enforceability under the Federal Arbitration Act of arbitration clauses within artist/manager agreements (Preston v. Ferrer, 552 U.S. 346 (2008)); prevailing in a one-week federal jury trial on behalf of the band, the Spin Doctors, against the Miller Brewing Company as to Miller’s infringement of the band’s hit, “Two Princes”; prevailing on a motion for summary adjudication in a highly publicized lawsuit between actress Zooey Deschanel and Mr. Freundlich’s client (who was Ms. Deschanel’s longtime manager), resulting in the dismissal of Ms. Deschanel’s breach of fiduciary duty Cross-Complaint and, thereafter, the settlement of the action; prevailing at the California Court of Appeal (Brown v. Goldstein, 34 Cal. App. 5th 418 (2019)) and obtaining a multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of the founding members of the band, WAR, against their record company in decade-long litigation, aspects of which are still ongoing.
Ken is a graduate of Brown University (BA, Magna Cum Laude) and UCLA Law School (JD) and UCLA Anderson School of Management (MBA). He is a frequent panelist and moderator of panels throughout the country, on entertainment issues, is the Chair of the Litigation Division, and a member of the Governing Committee of the American Bar Association’s Sports and Entertainment Forum, the Copyright Society, the New York City Bar Association’s Media Law Committee, and the Grammy's (NARAS) Entertainment Law Initiative’s Grading Committee.
Linda Hurevitz, Alto
Linda is an experienced trial attorney, having tried 43 jury trials in both state and federal court. Her area of specialty is representing employers in all types of labor and employment matters, including whistleblower retaliation, harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, and wage and hour claims.
Linda is not only a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) holding the rank of advocate, but she has also been the Co-Chair of the ABOTA Masters in Trial program for the past five years with fellow Singer in Law, John Blumberg. And as a member of the Executive Committee, she has also served on its membership committee.
Linda’s skills as a trial attorney come from a unique background. Although Linda attended law school, she opted to go on the road as a performer rather than take the bar exam. As the lead singer of The New Deal Rhythm Band under the stage name Linda Asher, she replaced Cheryl Bentyne, who left to join the Manhattan Transfer. After many years of performing internationally and recording two albums, Linda decided to retire from the road and pursue a career in law. She tried her first case during her first year in practice.
Linda, nevertheless, has not abandoned her music. While she is the most dedicated to THE SINGERS IN LAW, she is also a featured soloist with Gary Greene’s Big Band of Barristers and Big Band Swing Express, and she contributes her torchy contralto to Legal Voices of the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic. Among the highlights of her performances have been Disney Hall five years in a row, annual performances for the members of the California Supreme Court, Catalina’s Jazz Club, Vibrato’s Jazz Club, and Vitello’s.