MOMENTUM
Gift Establishes the Kenneth Ziffren Scholarship
U
UCLA Law has received a generous gift from Laura and Casey Wasserman and alumni Samuel (“Sam”) ’82 and Leah ’82 Fischer to create the Kenneth Ziffren Scholarship Endowment. The scholarship was established in honor of Ken Ziffren ’65, founding partner of Ziffren Brittenham LLP, who is Laura’s father, and Sam’s law partner and friend. It will be awarded to a student of high merit with demonstrated financial need and an interest in pursuing a career in entertainment, media or intellectual property law. “UCLA School of Law is such an important part of my father’s life. He has always been an ardent supporter of the law school,” Laura Wasserman said. “We are so happy to be able to honor him in this way, while also promoting access to a stellar legal education and the training that will allow the next generation to follow in his footsteps.” Ziffren is one of the leading entertainment lawyers in the nation. In 2014, he was named by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti as the city’s film czar, charged with increasing film and television production in California. He was a partner of Ziffren & Ziffren from 1967 to 1978, and, in 1979, became the founding partner of the successor law firm of Ziffren Brittenham LLP. He served as a neutral mediator in resolving the Writers Guild strike in 1988, acted on behalf of Starz in
Kenneth Ziffren
establishing a premium pay television service in 1994, and served as special outside counsel to the National Football League in negotiating contracts with the networks as part of an extensive transactional practice in the entertainment and media industries. An adjunct professor at UCLA Law, he teaches two seminars, Network Television and Motion Picture Distribution. He also serves on the UCLA School of Law Board of Advisors, as chair of the advisory board for UCLA Law’s Entertainment, Media, and Intellectual Property Law Program and as a member of the UCLA Law Campaign Cabinet. During law school, he was editor in chief of the UCLA Law Review, and after graduation, he clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren.
Million Dollar Student Scholarship Challenge and Financial Aid Fund Launched A consortium of anonymous donors has made a major challenge gift to enhance the law school’s scholarship program. The gift established the Million Dollar Student Scholarship and Financial Aid Fund Challenge, which will match gifts to support student scholarships dollar for dollar until the funds are expended. The challenge gift underscores the importance of furthering the law school’s commitment to providing an exceptional legal education for all students of merit. The challenge will have an immediate and substantial impact on UCLA Law’s ability to offer more scholarships to the members of the incoming class of 2018 and beyond. “Supporting our students by building our Student Scholarship and Financial Aid Fund is a top law school priority. This inspirational gift will double the impact of gifts for student scholarships and will help to empower a new generation of leaders,” former Dean Rachel F. Moran said when the gift was announced in May. For more information, please visit law.ucla.edu/ScholarshipChallenge or contact Jennifer Gray at 310.206.1781 or gray@law.ucla.edu.
FALL 2015 | UCLA LAW MAGAZINE 63