Attorney Allan B. Gelbard is an active First Amendment, Intellectual Property, and Entertainment attorney in Los Angeles. After an unusual path to becoming a lawyer, he has gained notoriety with several high-profile cases.
With his start in music, Allan was deeply involved in Los Angeles’ early electronic music community. In the 70s, he worked with many high profile recording artists and groups providing sound design. His passion for music led him into the electronics and media world, where he eventually worked with several adult entertainment companies. In 1992, while shooting a political fund-raiser for the Free Speech Coalition, the trade association for the adult entertainment industry, his equipment was seized by police who raided the gathering and arrested all involved. While Allan was never charged with a crime, the police refused to release his equipment. This encounter inspired him to pursue a career in law. In 1996, after graduating from the University of La Verne, College of Law, with a Juris Doctor, Cum Laude, and passing the California Bar Exam bar on the first attempt, Allan opened his solo practice in Encino, California.
Since then, Allan has taken on several high profile cases. In 1997, he successfully represented a group of motorcycle enthusiasts who had been harassed at a “biker event” by the Simi Valley Police Department. He successfully defended Alisha Klass, Samantha Stylle, and Halli Aston, the “Tushy Girls” against public indecency charges in 1998. In 1999, he successfully represented adult actress Christi Lake in a defamation action against an on-line reporter. In 2002, he successfully defended J.M. Video against state obscenity charges. In 2007, representing Evil Angel, a top adult entertainment company, he obtained an eleven million dollar jury award in a federal copyright and trademark infringement action, the largest ever obtained in an adult entertainment case. Later that same year, he successfully defended J.M. Video in a federal obscenity prosecution in Arizona. In 2010, he was part of the team that successfully defended the famous adult director John Stagliano against federal obscenity charges brought in Washington, D.C.
Allan also supports the First Amendment outside of the courtroom. Working for the Free Speech Coalition, first as a legal intern and subsequently as a member of the Board of Directors, he penned proposed legislation to protect privacy rights and small businesses. One proposal pertaining to seized business records, became law in California in 2004.
Allan is a past President and National Chair of the First Amendment Lawyers Association.
He is also the President of Consensuality, Inc., a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit that hosts the Orgy Dome at Burning Man.
Allan frequently speaks on industry panels, and has been featured in Wired Magazine, Adult Video News, X-Biz, and most recently the LA Times.