Keith Fink is an American attorney, author, and academic. He represented a business in a contract dispute with

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...

dubbed by the media as "Iggygate". In 2017, Fink became embroiled in a dispute with the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

regarding the importance of free speech, academic freedom, and viewpoint diversity in the collegiate setting. Fink is the author of two books: ''Free Speech in the Workplace'' and ''Sex, Politics, and Race: Free Speech on Campus''.

Biography

Keith Fink was born in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

, and grew up in

Bel Air, California Bel Air (or Bel-Air) is a residential neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Founded in 1923, it is the home of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden and the American Jewish Universi ...

. He attended University High School and then went to college at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

. Fink won dozens of debate tournaments throughout the country. Fink and his debate partner Lisa Allred set the single season college debate record for most tournament wins in a year while juniors. After college, Fink taught debate at the Harvard School while also editing a college debate handbook called Fink's Files, which provided analysis and arguments on the yearly college debate topic. Fink also taught Speech at Stephen S. Wise Temple. Fink subsequently earned a Juris Doctor degree

Southwestern Law School Southwestern Law School is a Private university, private Law school in the United States, law school in Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and enrolls nearly 1,000 students. Its campus includes the Bulloc ...

and was admitted to the State Bar of California.

Legal career

Fink began his legal career as an associate attorney at Cotkin, Collins & Franscell. He subsequently joined Kindel & Anderson. Fink later joined Baker & Hostetler. During Fink's early years as an attorney, he successfully litigated numerous 42 U.S.C. § 1983 cases, leading to one that was heard by the Supreme Court of California in which Fink's client prevailed. Fink's focus expanded to labor, employment, business, and commercial litigation. In March 1997, Fink founded Keith A. Fink & Associates, a boutique litigation firm that primarily handles

employment discrimination law Employment discrimination is a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace based on legally protected characteristics. In the U.S., federal anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination by employers against employees based on age, race, g ...

, labor, business,

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

, and

entertainment law Entertainment law, also referred to as media law, is legal services provided to the entertainment industry. These services in entertainment law overlap with intellectual property law. Intellectual property has many moving parts that include trade ...

matters. Fink litigates cases in both state and federal courts throughout California.

Teaching

Fink began teaching as an adjunct professor at

in 1993. He taught Civil Rights & Civil Liberties, Labor Law, Employment Discrimination, and Pretrial Civil Practice. In the 2007-2008 academic year, Fink stopped teaching at Southwestern Law School and began teaching at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, his alma mater. For the next decade, Fink's teaching focused on the First Amendment, freedom of speech, employment law, entertainment law, and debate. Fink designed and taught four courses: ''Race, Sex & Politics: Free Speech on Campus''; ''Free Speech in the Workplace''; ''Entertainment Law''; and ''Abortion'', ''Gun Control, and the Death Penalty: Arguing Contemporary Social Issues''. Fink's classes were generally well-received by students; with some describing his classes as among the "most influential and developmentally-important classes they've taken at UCLA." Throughout the first half of 2017, Fink was engaged in an academic freedom dispute with UCLA administrators, leading to Laura E. Gómez (the former Dean of Social Sciences) opting not to promote him to Continuing Lecturer, effectively ending his employment with the Department of Communication Studies on June 30, 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fink, Keith Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers California lawyers People associated with BakerHostetler People from Santa Monica, California Southwestern Law School alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni