David Anderman insists that he has never been bored during his 11 years with his current employers – Lucasfilm, the production company founded in 1971 by Star Wars creator George Lucas.

In 1973, Lucasfilm released its second feature film, American Graffiti. Made on a $750,000 (£460,000) budget, the movie grossed more than $100m (£61m), and Lucasfilm has since grown to become one of the world's leading entertainment companies.

Anderman's role as general counsel means he is the point person for any and all legal issues faced by the company. His team handles transactions with licensees and forges agreements with talent and their agents. Legal details connected with distribution deals are on the menu, as are issues regarding production work that Lucas performs for other studios and the company's game division.

Anderman considers himself an intellectual property (IP) specialist who became a generalist at Lucasfilm. "Every day is a masterclass on the edges of IP law," he says, noting that, workwise, almost everything he does touches upon IP and IP-related licensing deals. On one occasion, he helped match the licensing of two brands; thus was born the 'Darth Tater' – a combination of the Darth Vader and Mr Potato Head characters.

As enforcer of Lucasfilm's worldwide IP, Anderman sometimes assumes the role of litigator. Advertising, normally the responsibility of the marketing and public relations departments, occasionally spills over into the legal department. Anderman has union-related duties with subsidiary company Skywalker Sound, which works in conjunction with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

Every year or two, legal work related to location filming comes his way. There are insurance issues for the group to resolve. The day-to-day operation of Skywalker Ranch, Lucas's California production facility, brings legal activity as well. From time to time, he meets with Lucas himself, primarily during board of directors meetings.

Lucasfilm's 25-member legal department includes eight lawyers. Eight paralegals, called contract administrators, and a versatile support staff round out the operation. This relatively small in-house group is augmented by outside lawyers with a wide range of expertise.

Morrison & Foerster is the company's go-to firm, both in the US and globally, and it helps manage Lucasfilm's trademark portfolio, anti-piracy efforts and real estate transactions. Anderman maintains relationships with external lawyers in San Francisco, Los Angeles and around the globe. He says he hires them based on their ability and history with Lucasfilm.

The company has registered trademarks in more than 100 countries and maintains a production facility in Singapore. Immigration-related duties come into play involving its Singapore-based employees. "Our local counsel know the ins and outs of our business," Anderman says. Lucasfilm has many licensees in China that manufacture Star Wars merchandise.

Managing the Star Wars brand is an essential element of Anderman's job. He tries to encourage devotees' enthusiasm while protecting the Lucas brands.

Anderman cites an example of how the general counsel of "a company at the intersection of entertainment and technology" explores the boundaries of trademark and copyright law. Last year, US comedian Stephen Colbert presented the 'Star Wars Green Screen Challenge' on his TV show The Colbert Report. The contest centred around homemade digital movies featuring the comedian using a Jedi light saber. The situation arose after footage of Colbert jumping around with a light saber found its way onto the internet. Rather than having the legal department intervene and shut down the Colbert video, Lucasfilm and Colbert Report broadcaster Comedy Central agreed to launch the contest. The winner was "a random guy from Ohio," whose entry defeated the effort of "George L from Marin County" – actually George Lucas, Anderman said.

In determining "what is fair use and what is fan use," Anderman and his team turned what could have been treated as a case of infringement into a positive public-relations event, he says.

Anderman launched his career as an IP litigator in Silicon Valley. He practised at legacy firm Brown & Bain, now part of Seattle-based Perkins Coie, doing some work for the Lucas companies. In 1996, he moved to Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. A partner who he had worked at Brown & Bain asked if he would like to submit his resume to Lucas for an opportunity that had just opened. Anderman interviewed at Skywalker Ranch and, in 1998, became Lucasfilm's associate director of business affairs.

Lucasfilm's many subsidiaries keep evolving, and the company is "always on the cutting edge," Anderman said. Lucas consummated the first deal for digital cinema in 1998. Digital technology has been applied to all of its recent activities, including the second Star Wars trilogy, animated television shows, the movie and TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and live-action TV. The company's special effects are state-of-the-art, and it pioneered interactive role-playing video games. Anderman is thrilled to be along for the ride.

This article first appeared in The National Law Journal, a US sister title of Legal Week.<!–