About

John Rogovin’s formula for success as an in-house lawyer is no-nonsense but undoubtedly highly effective. ‘Put your head down and work hard’, he says; ‘people notice’. This conscientiousness, extreme work and attention to detail, as well as significant legal talent, has served him well throughout his career, and his current role as executive vice president and general counsel of Warner Brothers sees him in a position at the very top of the profession. The career highlights that Rogovin picks show why, including high-level work on some of the highest-grossing and popular films made in recent years: ‘I resolved long standing disputes with Superman, and Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit series. Both opened up additional exploitation of the property, which is our core business’. As well as defending the company’s interests, Rogovin has been proactive in establishing new techniques within the legal team and keeping it up to date with emergent internal trends. ‘We have established a shared service model where it makes sense, and that has allowed us to deliver top-level service by experts in their field’, he says. ‘There are also a number of management reforms that allowed us to deliver services faster, cheaper, better, and they give us one of the strongest teams in the media and entertainment business’.