Elon Musk’s Lawyer by Day, Professional Clown by Night — Inside Jaymie Parkkinen’s Unusual Double Life

Jaymie Parkkinen — an attorney on Elon Musk’s legal team in the high‑profile dispute with Sam Altman — also performs and teaches as a professional clown in the Los Angeles area. Parkkinen has taken an active role in the litigation, handling contentious discovery matters while continuing to run a popular “Clown Cardio” program and teach improv and clowning classes.

Case Background

Elon Musk and Sam Altman are engaged in a complex federal lawsuit over the origins and structure of OpenAI, trading a series of claims and counterclaims in San Francisco federal court. Musk filed suit in 2024 to challenge OpenAI’s transformation from a nonprofit to a corporate structure; Altman countered that Musk had largely stepped away from the organization and sought to undermine it to benefit his own AI efforts. The trial is scheduled to begin at the end of March.

Parkkinen’s Role in the Litigation

Jaymie Parkkinen is a serious litigator with an interest in improv.Jack Hackett

Working with boutique litigation shops representing Musk, Parkkinen has been deeply involved in discovery. He signed several major discovery filings and, at a July hearing, confronted three lawyers representing OpenAI and Microsoft on his own. Notably, he pressed to subpoena former OpenAI executive Mira Murati, and the judge permitted service of a deposition after 11 unsuccessful service attempts.

In another noteworthy filing, Parkkinen pointed out that Musk "does not use a computer," while noting that emails on Musk’s phone were searched for discovery — an attention‑grabbing detail that highlights the practical complexities of modern discovery.

Clowning, Performance, and Clown Cardio

Outside the courtroom, Parkkinen performs physical, improvisational clowning — a style he likens to the high‑concept physical comedy of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Lucille Ball rather than children’s birthday‑party fare. He emphasizes improvisation and audience interaction: establishing playful rules and then breaking them to reveal truths about the performer and the crowd.

Parkkinen launched Clown Cardio after realizing the significant physical effort involved in clowning.Jeff Lorch

Parkkinen founded "Clown Cardio" after realizing that the physical demands of clowning make it an effective workout. He runs hourlong sessions twice monthly in Los Angeles, and the program gained wider attention after The New York Times covered it in 2024. He has since taught classes in New York and Philadelphia and received inquiries about expanding to Europe.

How Clowning Informs His Lawyering

Parkkinen says his stage work has improved his courtroom presence. "So much of litigation is performance," he told Business Insider, arguing that connecting with judges, juries and opposing counsel shares common ground with connecting to an audience. He also urged lawyers to embrace more creativity — for instance, by taking improv classes — to break out of what he describes as a conservative legal culture.

Looking Ahead

Parkkinen plans to open his own law firm focused on the intersection of intellectual property and artificial intelligence. For now, he remains immersed in the Musk‑Altman litigation while balancing his creative work as a performer and instructor.

“At the end of the day, it's just about connecting with people, and so is being a lawyer,” Parkkinen said. “You're connecting with a judge, a jury, opposing counsel.”

Read the original reporting on Business Insider.