S. Jean Ward
Jean Ward is counsel to our Entertainment Group.
She is one of New York’s best-known theatre lawyers, with over 30 years’ experience representing producers, authors, film companies and other stage rights holders, not-for-profit theatre companies, theatre owners, creative personnel, and investors. She is recognized in the 2023-2026 editions of Best Lawyers in America for Entertainment Law – Theatre and is listed as a “Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyers magazine.
She negotiates and structures domestic and international transactions including rights acquisitions on behalf of both producers and the licensors of stage rights to films and other underlying materials (including, recently, a license of underlying rights to the film version of Good Night, and Good Luck), theatrical syndication financing, state tax credit incentives, creative personnel agreements, development deals, licensing deals and a variety of other production agreements. She represents triple-threat author Anais Mitchell (Broadway’s “Hadestown”) ,the co-bookwriter/director of the upcoming “Blues Brothers” stage musical, and creative team members on several other productions in development.
Ms. Ward has been production counsel for Broadway and off-Broadway productions of such shows as “Stomp” (currently running on tour), ”Woman in Black” at the McKittrick Hotel, ”Living on Love”, “Born Yesterday”, “The Toxic Avenger”, “Les Miserables”, “The Phantom of the Opera”, “Five Guys Named Moe” and “Miss Saigon”. She has been production counsel for non-Equity and Equity Tier U.S. and international touring productions of such shows as “Cats”, “Phantom of the Opera”, the Lincoln Center production of “My Fair Lady”, “Tootsie”, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Wizard of Oz”, “42nd Street” (U.S. touring and Moscow productions), and many others. She has represented one of Ireland’s premier theatre companies, Druid Ireland, and its artistic director Garry Hynes on commissioning, licensing and producing numerous productions. She is also working on various projects for the Irish Arts Center, and on an upcoming Broadway production based on the life and music of Ritchie Valens and “Get Happy”, a new musical based on the Judy Garland/Gene Kelly film “Summer Stock”.
Ms. Ward graduated from Harvard Law School and has lectured on theatre law at the Practicing Law Institute, New York Bar Association, and National Law Journal seminars as well as in classes at Columbia Law School and NYU’s Stern School. She is admitted to practice in New York.