Schwartz, Alan G.

Gary Schuster is Senior Counsel on the Business Team.

Gary received his B.A. in Government and Journalism from Lehigh University in 1979, and his J.D. from Fordham School of Law in 1988. He is admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and was admitted to the Florida bar in 2002.

Gary's varied practice includes formation, transactions and counseling for corporations, LLCs, partnerships and many kinds of not-for-profiits; purchases and sales of businesses; commercial and residential real estate transactions and leasing; franchising; estate planning, administration and litigation; guardianship proceedings; and media, copyright and trademark.

Gary has served on the board of directors of several nonprofit organizations and now serves on the New York Council of Nonprofits (NYCON), the Orange County Arts Council and ReThink Local. He represents numerous nonprofits and also volunteers for Charity Corps, a program of the New York State Attorney General that aims to strengthen nonprofit governance and compliance with nonprofit laws.

Gary has been a leader in educating the public about New York's new benefit corporation. His writing about B Corps is found in the Business Law section of the J&G blog.

Gary has extensive experience in music and art, which includes past employment with ASCAP, The Songwriters Guild of America, Dunvagen Music Publishers (owned by the composer, Philip Glass) and Knoedler Publishing (publishers of the artist, LeRoy Neiman). He has represented clients in art, music, film, video, dance, theater, photography, fashion modeling, publishing, the internet, museums and arts centers. He is a founding Board member, past President, and now General Counsel of the Orange County Arts Council. He has represented or advised KingsTheatre Co., Cornerstone Arts Alliance, Trestle, Inc., Newburgh Institute for Arts and Ideas, Newburgh Arts and Culture Commission and others.

Gary is also Adjunct Instructor at SUNY Orange in Middletown teaching Music Business.

Gary has written the following informational articles found on the Arts & Entertainment Law page:

• The Creative Industries - An Engine for Economic Development
• New Law Promotes Arts "Shared Use" Spaces
• Who Wrote That Song?
• Be an Arts Angel
• 50 Things to do with an Art Lawyer
• Differences between Copyrights, Patents and Trademarks
• Songwriters and Music Publishers - Partners in Rhyme
• The 'Rear Window' Case: James Stewart v. Sheldon Abend

Gary is from Rego Park, Queens, New York and moved to Orange County with his family in 2002.