Panelists

Professor Davey Jay is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Barry University School of Law and is licensed to practice law in Florida and Tennessee. For 18 years, she dedicated her practice to entertainment, intellectual property, and business law. She is a professional member of the Recording Academy/GRAMMYs and served as the Chair of the Florida Bar Entertainment, Arts, & Sports Law Section. She has negotiated and concluded deals with major enterprises such as HBO, Disney, Warner/Chappell, Discovery, Telemundo, Sony/Columbia, Universal Music Group, Little, Brown & Company, and Sub Pop, and has represented Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy winners. Professor Jay currently serves on the Board of Directors for two non-profit organizations: Timucua Arts Foundation, Inc. and Orlando Gay Chorus, Inc. In recognition of her community service and professional accomplishments, Professor Jay has been honored to receive the following awards: Women Who Mean Business (awarded by Orlando Business Journal), Legal Elite (awarded by Florida Trend), AV Preeminent (awarded by Martindale Hubbell), and Service Excellence Alumni Award (awarded by Barry University School of Law).

As a Trademark & Business Attorney at Berkley Sweetapple Law, Jessica specializes in supporting creative entrepreneurs and protecting the innovations that drive their businesses forward. In her day-to-day, she’s engaged in trademark and copyright prosecution, contract drafting, contract negotiation, and helping clients develop strategic safeguards for business. Her primary goal is to ensure her clients’ assets remain shielded from any potential infringement or legal disputes so they may be empowered to excel in the marketplace. With a background in intellectual property litigation, she has represented many clients in Florida and in various federal district courts throughout the United States, including those in Virginia, Tennessee, California, and the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Florida. She focused her litigation practice on matters involving trademark and copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, and other related causes of action. Prior to practicing intellectual property law, she began her legal career in criminal defense. This experience taught her the importance of tenacity and strategic thinking in advocating for my clients' interests. She brings that same dedication to protecting her client’s ideas and innovations, but now with a lot more passion. Outside of her legal practice, she is committed to contributing to her local legal community. Currently, she has the privilege of serving on the Board of Directors for the Brevard County Bar Association’s Young Lawyers’ Division and the Vassar B. Carlton American Inn of Court. When she’s not working, she enjoys being active and traveling with her family.

Ronnie Bitman is the managing partner and co-founder of Bitman O’Brien & Morat, PLLC. He has been recognized as a premier Florida attorney by various publications. He is general counsel to several business clients, advising on overall business strategy, risk prevention, transactions, litigation, and appeals.

A Sports Management major heading the firm’s Sports & Entertainment practice group, Ronnie represents celebrities, TV personalities, content creators, models, athletes, musicians, and sports clubs in various business dealings and litigation matters. Ronnie acts as local (Florida) counsel for multiple firms, often handling complex and high-profile litigation for celebrity clientele such as Justin Bieber, the Estate of Michael Jackson, Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney Kardashian, Lindsay Lohan, and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex (Markle)

In 2022, Ronnie created influencer counsel, a new division of Bitman O’Brien & Morat, PLLC focused on representing athletes, bloggers, celebrities, content creators, influencers, models and the like. This division represents these individuals and personal brands in the all aspects of contract law, intellectual property protection, defamation suits, FTC compliance, negotiations of compensation, and name, image, and likeness (NIL) protection.

Ronnie litigates a wide range of complex and unique matters, including defamation and first amendment matters, employment law, class actions, social media and influencer matters, contract negotiations/litigation, partnership disputes, and general business law. He also remains a mainstay in Florida’s consumer financial services litigation scene, overseeing one of the state’s most robust residential foreclosure practices representing banks and mortgage servicers.

Aside from handling the firm’s day-to-day management and operations, Ronnie also serves on various groups, committees, and organizations. He currently serves on the advisory board of the Greater Orlando Sports Commission, is a member of the George C. Young American Inn of Court (Orange County, FL), and is an appointee of the Florida Supreme Court, sitting on the Business Law Civil Jury Rules Committee.

Ronnie earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his law degree from Indiana University Maurer School of Law. He is a member of the California Bar, New York Bar, Florida Bar, and Washington D.C. Bar. He has been admitted to practice before various federal courts and the United States Supreme Court.

Attorney Sean Méndez-Catlin is a Founding Partner of MC & J Law, PLLC, located in Orlando, Florida. Barred in 2015, he focused his practice on business law, entertainment law, and intellectual property (IP) law. More specifically, Sean has gained varied experiences in the esports, video game, and content creation industries under the moniker The 1UP Lawyer. His representation in the Video Game industry includes indie game developers, console developers, Twitch streamers, name image and likeness representation, and representation with various peripheral companies. He also represents creatives in the music, Television, Art, and literary world. Sean is licensed to practice in Florida and New York. He is also registered with the Middle District of Florida. 

Sean started his legal career learning from and working with Arias and Pereira in Miami, Florida, handling immigration and criminal defense matters.  In 2016, Sean began work at the State Attorney’s Office (SAO) for the Ninth Judicial Circuit in Orlando, Florida, where Sean was awarded the 2017 MADD Award of Excellence for Central Florida. Sean was named to the Super Lawyers Rising Stars list in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and is expected to be named again in 2025. He was also featured in Innovate Gaming and Esports for his work in Video Games and Esports. In 2012, Sean earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and completed a minor in legal studies and history with the Wharton School of Business at UPenn. He earned his Law Degree from the University of Miami School of Law. While completing his J.D., Sean also earned his master’s in music business from The University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. Sean is currently co-chair of the OCBA IP committee and very involved in the Florida Bar IP committee and IP symposium.