Lecturer Bios
Konrad Lytell Trope, Esq.
Konrad Trope is the Managing Shareholder of Trope and Trope Law Group. The firm represents an international clientele concerning patents, trademarks, copyrights, and entertainment projects including issues involving film finance, motion picture distribution rights, music licensing agreements, and website content infringement and domain name disputes.
Mr. Trope has authored more than a dozen articles and spoken on a variety of topics, including the impact of AI on copyrights, trademarks, and entertainment properties, as well Internet security, government wiretapping, VoIP, and other related Internet/e-commerce issues. He also serves on the faculty of the National Association for Continuing Legal Education where he provides national webinars on copyright and trademark litigation.
Mr. Trope is also the Co-Chair of the conference known as TechTainment, held annually in Los Angeles for the past 10 years. The conference is sponsored by the Los Angeles Intellectual Property Law Association (LAIPLA). This is Mr. Trope’s third consecutive year of serving as co-chair of TechTainment. As co-chair, Mr. Trope has focused on developing programs and panels that address ever changing world of Artificial Intelligence in the Entertainment industry.
Mr. Trope obtained his law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law in 1985. While at UCLA, Mr. Trope served as an Editorial Staff Member of the UCLA Law Review, as well as the Senior Articles Editor of the Century City Bar Association Journal, and the Associate Editor of the Beverly Hills Bar Association Journal.
After law school, from 1985-1987, Mr. Trope served as law clerk to the Honorable H. Robert Mayer of the United States Claims Court and law clerk to the Honorable Wilson Cowen, Senior Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Mr. Trope’s federal litigation practice has resulted in the publishing of several precedential decisions by various courts. His transactional practice has involved motion picture financing projects as well as serving as executive producer for various live concert projects. Mr. Trope also advises clients on a variety of new technologies, including Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Laura Scherck Wittcoff, DSW, LICSW
Laura Wittcoff, DSW, LICSW is the co-founder and principal of the Intrinsic Group, www.theintrinsicgroup.com, a boutique consulting firm, and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and currently teaches as an Adjunct Instructor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. Laura maintains a therapy practice in Massachusetts, Zencare_Laura Wittcoff. She consults with organizations and presents at business conferences in the areas of strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, change management, mentorship, and culture.
Laura has worked with all levels of employees from front-line supervisors to executives through coaching both individuals and teams facing organizational challenges. Laura has developed a decision-making method, Gamifying Engagement®, for organizations to capitalize on understanding various vantage points, and delivering the best message.
In January 2021, Laura developed and launched a podcast, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, Small & Gutsy®, www.smallandgutsy.org, to support nonprofits and social enterprises in their efforts to spread their message and broaden their networks.
Laura previously served as the Associate Director for JRI Health’s Realize Resources, a capacity and leadership-building practice. In this role, she designed and directed all areas of organizational capacity development, focusing on strategic thinking, staff development, and change management, where she values building and coaching internal teams to lead change efforts.
Prior to her work at JRI, Laura was a manager with Health Resources EAP, where she developed organizational development consulting services for their core EAP business offerings.
Laura’s partial client list: USC Department of Public Safety, The Massachusettes Department of Public Health, The Massachusetts Office on Disability, Boston University Health and Disabilities Working Group, The University of Massachusetts, Columbia University, The Massachusetts Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program, John Snow, Inc.
Laura received her doctorate from the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, her master’s degree in Social Work from Boston University, and a post-graduate fellowship in Organization Development from the Boston Institute for Psychotherapy. She is also certified to administer the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Laura was a key contributor to the team that was awarded the Brandon Hall Award recognizing advances in Learning and Development and was honored as the recipient of the Jane Addams Award from the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, recognizing the faculty member selected by graduating students as providing academic, administrative and moral support.
