Attorney
Yen serves as outside general counsel to clients in the digital entertainment and media industry, including in esports, content creation, and video games.
In his esports practice, Yen leads player and content creator contract negotiations that result in his organization clients signing top talent in major esports titles and some of the biggest influencers in the industry. He also handles tournament participation agreements for major competitive ecosystems, such as the VCT.
Yen helps his clients monetize the popularity and success of their organization, players, and influencers. He prepares team sponsorship deals and activation agreements, and his efforts have generated tens of millions in revenue to esports organizations and millions more paid out to influencers. Further, Yen’s work on intellectual property license agreements and merchandise agreements have led to some of the most popular collaborations in esports and gaming.
In addition to his esports work, Yen:
Provides legal support in connection with major productions and events, such as game shows, esports tournaments, and other entertainment productions, including by drafting talent agreements, venue agreements, production agreements, sponsorship agreements, and providing general legal advice.
Prepares and negotiates commercial transactions, intellectual property license agreements, and other deals of all sizes.
Assists clients with intellectual property and brand strategy, including filing trademark applications and enforcing clients' intellectual property rights.
Advises clients regarding disputes at the pre-litigation stage and collaborates with outside litigation counsel in connection with arbitrations and court actions.
Before joining ESG Law, Yen spent almost a decade litigating complex cases at two of the most distinguished law firms in California—the trial boutique Keller/Anderle LLP (now Keller Anderle Scolnick LLP) and the appellate boutique Horvitz & Levy LLP. At those firms, Yen litigated billion-dollar disputes at the trial level, argued cases before the California Supreme Court, and represented clients before the United States Supreme Court. For example, he scored a critical appellate victory in the famous dispute between MGA Entertainment and Mattel over the Bratz dolls, helped convince a judge to dismiss a multi-billion-dollar real estate partnership dispute for a client on the eve of trial, and successfully argued on behalf of amici curiae before the California Supreme Court in the Southern California Gas Leak Cases. Before working at those firms, Yen clerked for the Honorable Joseph R. Goodwin in the Southern District of West Virginia.
Yen has written extensively on video games and esports law, and his writings have been published by the Pepperdine Law Review, the Journal of Intellectual Property Law, and the Washington University Journal of Law & Policy. He is member of the Esports Bar Association and a 2021 Fellow of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, an organization of more than 350 chief legal officers and law firm managing partners designed to help a more diverse generation of attorneys ascend to leadership positions.