Sony Pictures Entertainment Names Jill Ratner General Counsel

Sony Pictures Entertainment has hired Jill Ratner as their EVP and General Counsel, overseeing all of the studio’s legal functions, compliance and labor relations, SPE music affairs, government/external matters, and corporate social responsibility teams. 

The news comes following the January announcement of Sony Pictures Entertainment SEVP and General Counsel Leah Weil’s departure from the studio after a 28-year run.

She starts on May 28 and will report to SPE Chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra.

Ratner has served as Deputy General Counsel at the Walt Disney Company since 2019 where she leads a worldwide legal team of over 200 staffers. Ratner currently has global responsibility for Disney’s Litigation, Intellectual Property, and Digital Antipiracy functions. She also leads legal support for the company’s Social Responsibility operations. Her extensive experience includes the areas of copyright, trademark, First Amendment, contract disputes, employment, antitrust, securities and class action matters.  Ratner also provides strategic IP legal support for wide-ranging business initiatives, including AI, rights acquisition and distribution, production clearance, social media, user-generated content, online liability and policy.   

Prior to joining Disney, Ratner was at 21st Century Fox from 2004 to 2019 where she most recently served as EVP and Deputy General Counsel.  At Fox, Ratner led global Litigation, Employment, Intellectual Property, Privacy and Content Protection legal teams in support of the worldwide operations of 21st Century Fox, including the film and television studios, digital media properties, the broadcast television network, sports and entertainment cable networks and their corresponding multi-platform assets. She advised on key business and legal issues for those existing businesses as well as on the acquisition and launch of new digital businesses including Hulu.  Ratner also helped steer the company through the sale of most of 21st Century Fox’s assets to Disney. In her litigation role, Ratner led the team through precedent-setting litigation including the Aereo U.S. Supreme Court case.

Prior to her time at Fox, Ratner served as Domestic Counsel at the Motion Picture Association, and as a litigation associate at Hogan Lovells LLP and at Hill Wynne Troop & Meisinger.

“Jill has a well-earned reputation as a trusted, results-driven advisor and legal strategist, and we are thrilled to have her join SPE as General Counsel,” said Vinciquerra.  “Having successfully led large legal teams at two of Hollywood’s biggest studio businesses during times of extraordinary change and transition, Jill is extremely well-suited for this role.  We look forward to having her wise counsel and advice to help us meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving industry landscape and to capitalize on opportunities for growth.”

“Sony Pictures has shown remarkable strength and resiliency at a time of tremendous change in our industry,” said Ratner. “I look forward to joining this exceptional leadership team and working alongside the outstanding groups Leah Weil has built at SPE. I want to thank Tony for this incredible opportunity.”