Donald Woodard

Donald Woodard is the Founder and Attorney at Carter Woodard, LLC. He is the Deputy General Counsel and Chief Business Affairs Officer of USA Track & Field, Inc. He handles the complex day-to-day transactional matters of USATF and intellectual property rights impacting the organization. In his role, he is also a core member of the team who manages the organization’s corporate partnerships, sponsorships and entertainment matters. He assists in the management of corporate governance, general litigation matters and all legal matters impacting USATF’s diverse constituents in addition to its elite athletes.

Prior to joining USATF, Woodard served as a partner in the Atlanta office of Gordon & Rees, LLP, where he was a leading entertainment lawyer counseling entertainment companies, entertainers, recording artists, celebrities, radio station personalities and influencers. Woodard specialized in negotiating and drafting entertainment industry transactions in the areas of music, television, emerging media, digital rights and strategy, copyright, intellectual property rights, rights of privacy and rights of publicity. He counseled clients with respect to all areas of entertainment law and associated agreements such as recording agreements, music publishing agreements, live performance agreements, production and development agreements, unscripted television talent and production agreements, literary property, content licensing and acquisition agreements, distribution agreements, co-branding agreements, sponsorship agreements and executive compensation agreements.

Mr. Woodard has been recognized as a Georgia Super Lawyer, 100 Most Influential People in Entertainment by Rolling Out, Who’s Who in Black Atlanta and was among the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “40 Under 40 Rising Stars.” He was the first African American federal judicial clerk on the Northern District of Georgia’s Bankruptcy Court, and oversaw the high profile bankruptcy of best-selling and Grammy award winning recording group TLC.

Mr. Woodard is a frequent speaker on the lecture circuit. He serves on the board of directors for the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association and is the Southern Regional Captain for the Sports Lawyers Association. Also, he is a member of the Advisory Board of Future of Music Coalition and The Copyright Society of The U.S.A, among other organizations. Mr. Woodard is a former member of the Board of Governors for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (the Grammy’s) and was the Chairman of the Black Women Film Network, the first man to ever serve in such a capacity

Mr. Woodard is originally from Temple Hills, Maryland and is a graduate of Morehouse College and Indiana University-Maurer School of Law, Bloomington.