Heather DeSerio

**-** ******** ***. ********, NY 11377 727-***-**** ac530c@r.postjobfree.com

BAR ADMISSION

New York State

EDUCATION

New York Law School, New York, NY Juris Doctor, May 2017

Honors: NYSBA Fellow 2016-2017 Victor Herbert Scholarship, NYLS 2016-2017 for Excellence in Copyright Law Nunez Scholarship, NYLS, 2014-2015

Relevant Coursework: Drafting IP Documents Copyright Law Intellectual Property Law Art Law Corporations Start-Ups and Venture Capital Wills Trusts and Estates Property Law Drafting Contracts Drafting: General Principles Constitutional Law Torts Criminal Law Criminal Procedure Legislation and Regulations Legal Research Legal Writing I & II.

Ringling School of Art & Design, Sarasota, FL Bachelor of Arts, Fine Art – Painting, 2007

LEGAL EXPERIENCE

Viacom, Inc., New York, NY

Legal Coordinator, 11/2017- Current

Review and draft contracts, amendments, deal memos, and amended and restated agreements for international distribution deals and movie acquisitions for Viacom’s umbrella of networks. Correspond with various internal departments to finalize international distribution agreements. Analyze distribution agreements and proposals to determine if Viacom owns the rights and can grant distribution rights to distributors and their licensee’s under the current agreements. This requires me to review contracts to synthetize legal information into spreadsheets to tracking the active agreements and corresponding payments in preparation for communication with various internal and external departments. Create internal rights and clearances tracking reports and compare them with the distribution agreements to ensure clarity when working with the business and sales teams regarding potential distribution and licensing deals. Manage contracts by using Viacom’s internal document database (DM5/eDocs) to upload documents to create new documents and new versions of documents. Work on bankruptcy matters involving movie licensing agreements with my supervisor and outside counsel. Part of this tasks involves reviewing numerous movie acquisitions agreements, relevant amendments, and TV shows production agreements to determine a course of action. A small part of this position involves working with Paramount Network’s legal department to draft sweepstakes agreements and affidavits of eligibility.

Center for Art Law/Tarsis Law Firm, Brooklyn, NY

Legal Extern, 1/2017- 5/2017

Researched and drafted legal memorandum on issues affecting cases involving artist/gallery agreement disputes, art organizations, art restitution cases for Nazi looted art, and various trusts and estates. Assisted in completing discovery request and attended probate court proceedings for complex art dealer related trust and estates cases. Performed research to edit and draft arguments for use in legal memorandum supporting petitioner's motions in probate court. Organized and coordinated with venues and speakers for events on topics relevant to the art community and artist immigration issues. Also, drafted and edited articles for publication on various issues affecting the artists, artist foundations and estates, and the arts community for publication in the newsletter and the Center for Art Law’s well-respected law blog. Drafted comparison memo and best practice guide on auction houses consignment agreements and artist-gallery consignment agreements.

Waseme Associates, PLLC., New York, NY

Legal Extern, 8/2016-12/2016

Performed research on the USPTO website for trademarks in the state, national, and international databases. Drafted advising letters to clients regarding trademark registration. Worked on filing trademarks with USTPO and drafting responses to USTPO letters. Also, researched copyrights for ownership dispute on pre-1972 and post-1972 sound recording. Worked on a complex IP litigation case involving music sampling of spoken word poetry and improper licensing in violation of numerous copyright laws. Performed legal research and drafted arguments in response to the defendant’s motions and answers about parody, fair use, and the appropriate standard of review. Drafted responses and strategies for oral argument. Performed comparative analysis of forming businesses in New York or Florida and advantages to each business structure.

NYC Department of Information, Technology and Telecommunications, General Counsel, New York, NY

Summer Intern, 6-2016-8/2016

Performed legal research and drafted legal memoranda on Antitrust and Patent Law issues for negotiations with vendor in IP agreements. Drafted disclaimer and terms and conditions for New York City for Developer’s website. Revised and edited agreements, worked on negotiations for contracts with vendors and NYC, and helped to come up with plan of action for NYC DoITT to comply with City laws. Reviewed FCC orders and drafted legal memorandum. Reviewed FOIL request, draft responses to FOIL request, and redacted documents in accordance with privacy policy and in compliance with FOIL regulations.

NYC Human Resources Administration, Department of Social Services, Supplemental Needs Trusts, New York, NY

Summer Intern, 6/2015-8/2015

Reviewed hundreds of Supplemental Needs Trust yearly accounting reports for five boroughs of NYC to ensure compliance with rules regulations, thereby preventing fraud, waste, misappropriation, or other abuses. Drafted legal correspondence to attorneys, banks, and trustees regarding improper accountings to resolve discrepancies. Worked with SNT attorneys to discuss improper accountings and discuss whether to pursue litigation. Drafted a legal memo on Arizona’s Special Needs Trust Program and Medicaid.

Law Office of Richard Griesinger, Palm Harbor, FL

Legal Assistant, 8/2007 to 1/2008

Conducted legal research and assisted with preparation and the filing of court papers for family law practice. Assisted attorney with clerical work and client management. Drafted correspondence with clients. Trained attorney in the use of Pro Docs to streamline efficiency and computer document storage. Maintained filing system for law firm.

OTHER EXPERIENCE

First Choice Staffing Agency (Information Life Systems, Inc.), New York, NY

Temporary Administrative Support, 9/2017- 9/2017

Provided support for medical company that handled meals on wheels program in the aftermath of hurricane Irma when Florida office was inoperable due to flooding. Answered phones, sent emails to Florida manager and FL meals department to coordinate emergency efforts, and scheduled meal delivery to provide support for various health care providers and recently discharged patients. Learned online computer system very fast and adapted to an emergency situation to help provide care and coordinate emergency meals to those in need and without electricity and food.

Precision Edge Design LLC, Palm Harbor, FL

Founder, 8/2008 to 7/2014

Created websites using HTML, HTM5, CSS, CSS2, Java, Flash, Photoshop, and Dreamweaver. Organized marketing campaigns and photo shoots to develop numerous companies’ brand awareness using social media and online marketing. Recruited talent to work as a team on client projects from initial design phase to completion that utilized custom backend programming. Developed several successful internet radio station websites. Conducted webinars on strategy and best practices.

ABC Supply Co. Inc./Town & Country Industries, Hudson, FL

Specialty Purchaser & Inside Sales, 2/2010 to 7/2014

Created high volume of window and door quotes/orders for the entire southeast region under short turnaround times. Trained Florida outside sales staff on doors. Drafted training manual for Florida Sales Staff. Handled disputes with manufacturers.

Private Voice, Inc./National Business Com., Inc.- Clearwater, FL

Quality Control, Monitor, 6/1999 to 8/2007

Monitored live phone calls for compliance with banking standards, company policies, and FCC regulations for phone sales of credit cards and other products. Developed computer monitoring system to streamline efficiency and accuracy for the monitoring team.

AWARDS

Art Slant Showcase Winner Round 8, 2013 Trustee Nominee in Painting & Painting Exhibited in Best of Ringling Art Show, 2005 2nd Place Florida Community College Association Award for Artwork in Pentangle Magazine, 2003

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Lexis Nexis Research Certification MEFLA & ILSA (NYLS) Dali Museum, Volunteer, 2012 to 2014 Santaella Studios for the Arts, Marketing Consultant & Fine Artist, 2013 to 2014 St. Petersburg College, Clearwater, FL, Paralegal Course Work for Post-Bachelorette Certificate, 2008.

Contact this candidate