Honors & Awards

  • “Super Lawyer,” Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine, 2021-2022
  • “Rising Star,” Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine, 2015-2019
  • “Legal Impact Report,” Variety, 2019

Education

  • University of Southern California, B.A., 1996
  • Roskilde University in Denmark, M.A., 2004
  • University of Texas School of Law (Associate Editor, Texas Law Review, high honors, Order of the Coif.), J.D., 2008
  • Law Clerk to the Honorable R. Lanier Anderson, III in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Aaron Liskin is a Partner at KHIKS. Mr. Liskin handles a wide range of complex litigation matters, and his areas of expertise include entertainment, intellectual property, and general commercial litigation. Mr. Liskin has represented clients in high profile profit participation litigation, including Frank Darabont and Creative Artists Agency in The Walking Dead matter, the executive producer on Bones, and the creators and showrunners on Smallville. Mr. Liskin also regularly represents talent in profit participation audit support and pre-litigation settlements.

Mr. Liskin regularly represents clients in complex litigation involving partnership, LLC and joint venture disputes. He has represented clients in disputes involving music royalties, contract, fraud, defamation, trade secrets, unfair competition and employment disputes. He has represented clients in state and federal courts in trial and appellate matters. A strategic litigator, Mr. Liskin is highly regarded in handling complex matters for major estates, corporations, and high-net worth, and high-profile professionals.

Mr. Liskin graduated with high honors from the University of Texas School of Law. After graduating, he clerked for the Honorable R. Lanier Anderson III, on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. He currently serves on the board of a non-profit, Youth Emerging Stronger (YES).

  • Board of Directors, Youth Emerging Stronger (Member)
  • California and Texas Bars (Member)

Representative Matters

  • Represented the creator, writer, and executive producer of the worldwide hit television series The Walking Dead, and leading talent agency CAA, in a suit against the AMC television network. The plaintiffs alleged that AMC produced the show and licensed it for broadcast to itself for license fees well below market rates, resulting in diminished profits for the show and its participants. After the trial team of Dale Kinsella, Chad Fitzgerald, and Aaron defeated two of AMC’s motions for summary judgment and several key motions in limine, the case settled for $200 million plus future revenue sharing related to streaming exhibition of The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead.
  • Represented the executive producer of the hit television series Bones in a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox Television, the Fox network and affiliated companies. The plaintiff alleged that 20th Century Fox Television cheated him out of his share of profits from the show, and that network executives threatened to cancel the series if he did not accept a lower licensing fee from Fox. The arbitration resulted in a $179 million award for the plaintiffs. The case settled pending appeal of the award.
  • Represented the creators, writers, and executive producers of the hit television series Smallville in a suit against Warner Bros. Television (the studio that produced the show), The CW network (the network that broadcast the show) and other Time Warner entities.  The plaintiffs alleged that Warner Bros. Television licensed the show for broadcast on its affiliated “sister” network The WB (which became The CW) for fees well below market rate, resulting in diminished profits for the show.
  • Ongoing representation, with Jonathan Steinsapir, Katherine Kleindienst, and the late Howard Weitzman, on matters for the Estate of Michael Jackson.
  • Successfully represented producer Tony Thomas and his ex-wife against their former business manager and attorney in a lawsuit that went to trial on the issue of whether the defendants had wrongly received over $1.5 million in profits from the sale of one of Thomas’s real estate holdings. The Court awarded Thomas and his ex-wife a total of $2,193,461.
  • Represents the producer of the television miniseries It in lawsuit against Warner Brothers arising out of the record breaking two-part film adaptation.
  • Represents Willowbrook Capital in an LLC dispute against Joan Dangerfield regarding a new entertainment technology venture.
  • Represented Bell-Phillip Television Productions, Inc., the producer of The Bold and the Beautiful, in a defamation suit brought by a hairstylist on the series. The case was successfully dismissed on summary judgment.

Honors & Awards

  • “Super Lawyer,” Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine, 2021-2022
  • “Rising Star,” Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine, 2015-2019
  • “Legal Impact Report,” Variety, 2019

Education

  • University of Southern California, B.A., 1996
  • Roskilde University in Denmark, M.A., 2004
  • University of Texas School of Law (Associate Editor, Texas Law Review, high honors, Order of the Coif.), J.D., 2008
  • Law Clerk to the Honorable R. Lanier Anderson, III in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

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