40 Under 40: Brian D. Stoltz
Mazel Tov to Brian D. Stoltz for being named to Jewish Atlanta's 40 Under 40.
Brian Stoltz’s somewhat eclectic work history has seen him land with one foot in law and the other in comedy.
Stoltz grew up going to Shearith Israel and attending both Greenfield Hebrew Academy (now Atlanta Jewish Academy) and The Weber School.
After college and before law school, he took two years off to try a slew of things, including working at Disneyworld, working as an extra on some TV shows, and trying his hand at standup comedy.
The latter would be a recurrent interest from then on. Since law school, he’s joined and become partner at his firm, Pierson Ferdinand, focusing on trade secrets and employment case law.
According to his nominator, “Brian’s experience on stage has cultivated an exceptional ability to connect with an audience, communicate complex ideas in an engaging and accessible manner, and remain composed under pressure.”
He served on the LawJam committee of the Atlanta Bar Association for three years which organized an annual concert raising money for pro bono legal services. And he emcee’d the concert one of these years.
Meanwhile, he stretched his comedy chops on the Brisket Belt Comedy Tour – a tour of Jewish comedians through the Bible Belt and has recently become a board member of one of Atlanta’s most prominent comedy/improv clubs, Dad’s Garage, and is on the New Works Committee of the Alliance Theater.
Throughout both careers, Stoltz has won a few recognitions, including as a Quarterfinalist in New York City’s Laughing Devil Comedy Festival and a Finalist in Windsor’s Next Best Comic Competition in Ontario, Canada. He was also a finalist in The Grammy Foundation’s 16th Annual Entertainment Law Initiative Writing Competition while in law school. But the media coverage he is most proud of was his feature in the Bar Mitzvah Spotlight in Atlanta Jewish Times in 2001.