David Albert Pierce, an entertainment attorney who founded Pierce Law Group, LLP, in Beverly Hills in 1996 and over the course of his career represented clients from Milton Berle and The Comedy Store to such films as the 2012 Oscar-winning film The Artist, died July 29 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 56.
His death was announced by his family. A cause of death was not disclosed.
Born in Lewiston, NY, Pierce graduated from University of Binghamton and earned his law degree at Cornell Law School. His name is listed on-screen in many films, including The Hunger Games, Cabin Fever and this year’s Theater Camp.
In addition to his practice, Pierce taught an annual course on the business of running a motion picture production company at UCLA Extension since 1998, serving as an adjunct professor at Elon University and Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television, and served as a guest lecturer at St. Petersburg University in Russia. He regularly gave lectures at film festivals and other seminars throughout the United States and the world, including the Slamdance Film Festival, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and in the Dominican Republic.
Pierce served as the Chair of the Entertainment Law Section of the Beverly Hills Bar Association , and as a Board member of the Friars Club in Beverly Hills. He was a regular columnist for MovieMaker Magazine.
He is survived by wife Eliane Vieira Gomes Pierce, sisters Jamie Albright and Alyse Brovitzand, brother Jeffrey Pierce, their spouses and other extended family.