Behind the Scenes

Lawyers put their organizational and analytical ability to work in all kinds of careers.

Leonard Horn went to work at the Miss America pageant as the Chief Executive Officer.

Hal Schaffel (died 1993) started out as an attorney but soon went into show business production. He was the producer of “The Patti Page Show” and “Howdy Doody” and also worked on such series as “The Nurses,” “Naked City” and “The Defenders.” Among the movies he helped produce were Midnight Cowboy, Silence of the Lambs and Dances With Wolves.

Another lawyer, Joseph Hazen, served as the Warner Brothers Studios attorney for many years, but also as a producer, and joined Hal Wallis to form Hal Wallis Productions in 1944. The pair produced such movies as King Creole, True Grit, and Anne of the Thousand Days. Hazen was also a philanthropist, giving funds to the History of Science Society and to various cultural and educational organizations.

Pamela Wisne, a University of Detroit Law School trained attorney, produces many of the Ally McBeal episodes.

Kelly Costello is an associate in a Los Angeles law firm who produced a “mockumentary” on the “dotcom” industry.

Bascom Lamar Lunsford established the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in 1931, devoted to the arts of Appalachia.

Joel Wachs, a Los Angeles city councilman and lawyer, is president of the Andy Warhol Foundation.