In one of the stranger Bay Area legal mashups, one of Elon Musk's attorneys in the high-profile fight with Sam Altman spends his off-hours teaching people to play clown in Los Angeles. Attorney Jaymie Parkkinen has been turning up in federal court while also running an improv-heavy workout class called Clown Cardio, splitting his time between signing discovery papers for Musk's team and leading sessions that mix theater games with aerobics. The unlikely double life has become part of the running subplot as the case marches toward a March trial.
According to Business Insider, Parkkinen plans to open a firm focused on intellectual property and AI, and says courtroom work borrows heavily from performance. "At the end of the day, it’s just about connecting with people," he told the outlet, explaining that clowning sharpened his sense of audience and timing. The profile describes how his improv and physical-comedy practice has become a colorful backdrop to one of Silicon Valley’s thorniest lawsuits.
Clowning and court filings
Parkkinen has not only appeared on stage, he has been a visible player in the litigation’s discovery fight. In a June 22 letter to the judge, Parkkinen wrote that "Mr. Musk does not use a computer" while explaining that plaintiffs had searched the CEO’s phone for responsive emails, language that has drawn attention in subsequent filings. The letter and related documents spell out how searches of phones and corporate accounts have turned into a flashpoint in the case, according to Courtlistener.
He has also been active at hearings, arguing over subpoenas and procedural issues from the plaintiffs’ table. A hearing transcript records Parkkinen pointing out that X Corp was only sent a subpoena two weeks ago as he pushed back on defense claims about plaintiffs’ collection efforts. Court records show he pressed to subpoena former OpenAI executive Mira Murati, a move that followed repeated delays in scheduling her deposition, according to Courtlistener.
Clown Cardio, explained
Parkkinen created Clown Cardio as an hourlong class that turns improv warm-ups and theater games into a physical, laughter-first workout. The program was profiled in 2024, with descriptions of bicycle horns, mini circus tents and chaotic dance competitions filling a Los Angeles performance space. Those reports note that the class meets in several LA neighborhoods and that Parkkinen has taught workshops elsewhere even as his legal work has ramped up, according to The Seattle Times.
Legal stakes and what to watch
The lawsuit, filed in 2024 and intensifying through 2025, is scheduled for trial at the end of March, and the discovery battles over phones and corporate email accounts could shape what testimony and documents make it in front of a jury. As Business Insider has noted, recent subpoena skirmishes have been a major focus, and the judge’s public calendar lists a steady run of motion hearings and pretrial activity. See the U.S. District Court calendar for upcoming dates.
For Bay Area readers, the story is less about the novelty of a performer in a suit and more about how showmanship and procedural grind collide in a case that could influence parts of the AI industry. Coverage from outlets including The Independent has highlighted Parkkinen’s view that both clowning and courtroom advocacy are ways of connecting with an audience, and that in this respect his two careers are not as far apart as they look.
