New Yorks Top 20 Entertainment Attorneys
From staging Broadway shows to helping stars launch beauty lines, these NYC lawyers are at the top of the game.
December 3, 2021 9:30am
Published on December 3, 2021
As Broadway returns, musicians go back on the road and talent across the entertainment industry looks to diversify income following the pandemic, New York’s Power Lawyers are there to negotiate and help clients navigate the new normal. In The Hollywood Reporter’s second spotlight, meet the 20 attorneys with specialties in theater, fashion, media and music who are at the forefront of deals and disputes.
Profiles by Kirsten Chuba, Ashley Cullins, Mia Galuppo, Eriq Gardner, Tatiana Siegel, Georg Szalai and Alex Weprin.
This story first appeared in the Dec. 1 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
Lisa Alter
Alter Kendrick & Baron
New York University School of LawAmid a boom in music catalog sales, Alter has worked on transactions to the tune of more than $2 billion over the past year. She advised South Korean powerhouse HYBE, the home of BTS, in its acquisition of Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings; helped Primary Wave Music Publishing on deals for stakes in the catalogs of the likes of Stevie Nicks and Luther Vandross; and represented Reservoir in the purchase of legendary hip-hop label Tommy Boy Music.
Pandemic habit I hope people keep “Recognizing that it’s possible to allow for personal flexibility while still maintaining excellent work standards.”
What’s the most New York thing about your life? “Walking – not a Hollywood thing. Walking from my apartment in Tribeca up to our office in Flatiron.”
The key to work-life balance is… “You have to really make an effort to try and carve out those life moments, because work is now 24/7 and there are very few boundaries.”
Andy Bart
Jenner & Block
Columbia University School of LawBart is a go-to litigator in the music industry, representing such labels as Sony, UMG and Atlantic as well as Live Nation and the RIAA. In a big moment for music rights holders, Bart won summary judgment for the Recording Academy in a suit against hip-hop mixtape site Spinrilla. He’s also representing Chance the Rapper in a dispute against the star’s former manager. In recent years, Bart has branched out with work for top Hollywood clients like Marvel and Warner Bros.
Most New York thing about my life “I’m a New York City kid. I grew up in Astoria and live in Long Island City now. I walk to work over the 59th Street Bridge.”
David Berlin
Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham
Texas Law“It’s busier than ever,” Berlin says of Broadway’s almost-post-pandemic scene, though “development never stopped.” He negotiated Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s deal to write songs for Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell’s upcoming Spirited; secured Sam Gold to direct Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga in Macbeth on Broadway; and handled deals for Nicholas Sparks, Ingrid Michaelson and Bekah Brunstetter for the musical telling of Sparks’ The Notebook.
My 2021 favorite “Tick, Tick … Boom! and Stephen Karam’s film adaptation of his Tony-winning play The Humans.”
Marcie Cleary
Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz
Yale Law SchoolCleary spent much of 2021 helping clients navigate transitions “into new mediums or phases of their careers” — like Desus and Mero, who landed an overall deal with ViacomCBS. She also negotiated pacts for Jamie Granet Bederman as the new showrunner for The Tonight Show (along with Cody Wilkins as a staff writer); for Charles McBee as head writer of Charlamagne tha God’s Tha God’s Honest Truth; and for Aida Osman to star in Issa Rae’s Rap Sh*t on HBO Max.
My 2021 favorite “My favorite podcast was The Read.”
Gray Coleman
Davis Wright Tremaine
University of Virginia School of LawWith clients like the Public Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club and Annapurna Theatre, Coleman says, “I hope I never have to live through another period like the last 18 months, but at the same time, I will look back on this period as a time of which I am most proud.” He also serves as production counsel for film and TV series and theatrical projects like Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag.
Pandemic habit I hope people keep “Aggressive hand washing.”
Sandy Crawshaw-Sparks
Proskauer
Fordham University School of LawA stealth fixer known for her ability to get litigation resolved quietly, quickly and practically, most of Crawshaw- Sparks’ cases never become public. One that did was her successful representation of Madonna and Live Nation in five class-action suits filed in Florida and New York over tickets sold to the star’s Madame X tour performances (not counting another 150 related arbitrations). Among her clients are U2 and the Recording Academy, representing the latter in its now-settled dispute with ex-president and CEO Deborah Dugan.
Most New York thing about my life “I always say what I think. Period. Full stop. I almost have to become a different person when I get to L.A. because nobody ever tells you what they really think.”
Lisa Davis
Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz
New York University School of LawClient Bird Runningwater’s first-look deal with Amazon Studios was a major highlight. “I watched Bird advocate for Indigenous filmmakers for decades,” she says, adding that it’s exciting “to see recognition in the marketplace for his taste and his ability to shepherd important stories.” Davis, who has clients in publishing, music, theater and Hollywood, says a trend she’s seeing is “podcasts as backdoor pilots and proof of concept.”
Most New York thing about my life “I’ve been to four Broadway shows in the last month: Tina, Thoughts of a Colored Man, The Lehman Trilogy and Trouble in Mind.”
Ariel Deckelbaum
Paul, Weiss
McGill University Faculty of LawDeckelbaum has a track record of big M&A work, such as advising the CBS board’s special committee on the merger with Viacom and Jeffrey Katzenberg in DreamWorks Animation’s acquisition by NBCUniversal. This year, he represented major Discovery shareholder Advance in the planned merger with AT&T’s WarnerMedia. “At the moment, the consensus seems to be that bigger is better,” with various players “pursuing both horizontal and vertical opportunities,” he says.
My 2021 favorite Dune
What’s the most New York thing about your life? “Walking everywhere, usually on a conference call.”
The key to work-life balance is… “having fun.”
Stuart Fried
Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks
New York University School of LawFried started as a music lawyer but now helps top talent across entertainment and fashion like Lizzo, The Weeknd, Lady Gaga, Vera Wang and LeBron James with their business endeavors and brand endorsements. “Despite COVID, we did some exciting new deals,” says Fried. For example, Sofía Vergara expanded her license deal with Walmart, is launching a beauty line with Cantabria Labs, and her Latin World Entertainment is teaming with food tech platform C3 on a series of culinary brands.
Pandemic habit I hope people keep “No longer having a five-day workweek in the office.”
Justin Hamill
Latham & Watkins
Boston College Law SchoolHamill has had a busy year thanks in no small part to Endeavor. He advised the company on it sale of 80 percent of Endeavor Content to Korean entertainment giant CJ ENM, its $1.2 billion acquisition of sports betting firm OpenBet, and its IPO. Hamill says demand for content is keeping the M&A market hot: “There is an incredible amount of activity around film and TV production. Access to high- quality content is exciting for investors and corporates alike.”
The key to work-life balance “Trust in two forms: trust in your team, and your clients trusting that you will be available to help them.”
Benjamin Jaffe
Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard
Cardozo School of Law
As “digital distribution platforms continue to compete for audience share,” Jaffe says, “there has been an increase in the overall size and scope of deals.” Amid the clamor for content, he’s striking pacts for top podcasting talent and companies — like the partnership between iHeartMedia and client Cloud10 Media, and a deal for an animated Comedy Central adaptation of Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey’s popular Office Ladies podcast.
Most New York thing about my life “I love to walk everywhere.”Christine Lepera
Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp
New York Law SchoolLepera is preparing to go to trial on behalf of Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald in his long- running defamation battle with Kesha Rose Sebert, ahead of which he’s trying to convince an appeals court New York’s recent anti-SLAPP law changes (which would require him to prove malice) shouldn’t apply retroactively. She’s also representing Post Malone in a copyright suit over his hit “Circles” and lead the National Music Publishers Association’s fight with Roblox, which ended in a settlement.
My 2021 favorite “Dare I say Squid Game?”
Jonathan Lonner
Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks
Northwestern University Law School“There used to be a reluctance of many theater professionals to agree upfront to grant live-capture and other audio-visual rights,” says Lonner of pre-pandemic practices. But the Broadway shutdown and successes like Disney+’s Hamilton live capture have proved producers need “flexibility to do more than just present shows to live audiences.” Lonner, who helped usher the upcoming Hugh Jackman-fronted The Music Man to the stage, counts Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and Andrew Lloyd Webber as clients.
Most New York thing about my life “I’m a total New York bagel and pizza snob.”
Elizabeth McNamara
Davis Wright Tremaine
UNC School of Law
With a booming First Amendment practice, McNamara vigorously defends free speech. When Sacha Baron Cohen was sued after using a fictional pedophile-detection device, she aided the comedian in protecting his satiric brand. This past year, she also scored wins in favor of Billions producers and Gizmodo and is in court on behalf of CNN.My 2021 favorite Mare of Easttown
Adrian Perry
Covington & Burling
Georgetown University Law CenterHollywood’s embrace of nonfungible tokens and the push into the “metaverse” are creating novel problems that Perry is hoping to solve. “I don’t see the world becoming less digital,” he says. “It might take different shapes, but I don’t think we are going back.” Perry advised clients Sony Music and Fox Corp. on their push into NFTs, including
the recently launched “Mask- Verse,” based on Fox’s The Masked Singer, and handled sports betting partnerships involving leagues and teams.My 2021 favorite “I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson. I’m a huge comedy fan, and I think he is out of his mind.”
Brad Rose
Pryor Cashman
Hofstra University School of LawRose reps top entertainers like Jay-Z, Kanye West and Bruno Mars on trademark, copyright and right of publicity matters. As someone who “protects, exploits and procures IP rights anywhere on the planet,” his practice is split between litigation and transactional work, which he says rebounded to pre-pandemic levels with “re-energized interest in creating credible celebrity brands and endorsers.”
Pandemic habit I hope people keep “Covering your nose and mouth when sneezing and coughing.”
Joshua Simmons
Kirkland & Ellis
Columbia Law SchoolWith a background in computer science, Simmons’ sweet spot is the exploding intersection of entertainment and tech. For video game giants Take-Two and Epic Games, he has litigated 11 cases involving whether dance steps are intellectual property and, in January, he’s heading to trial for Take-Two in a case involving tattoos in WWE 2K. Other clients are A24, MLB and the NFL.
The key to work-life balance “Loving my job and having a really supportive family.”
Alli Stillman
Latham & Watkins
Penn LawStillman traverses the tech and media spaces with a practice that often involves thorny rights battles. When music publishers filed copyright claims against Roblox, she helped the gaming platform get to a settlement that will drive future growth. She’s doing the same for Spotify, defending copyright suits including the closely watched case from Eminem’s music publisher.
Pandemic habit I hope people keep “Video calls instead of audio-only.”Ken Weinrib
Franklin Weinrib
Cardozo School of LawAs the nonfiction boom chugs along in the pandemic, Weinrib has been brokering deals for Imagine Documentaries, which is behind the ultra-popular Netflix series The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel. The attorney, who also counts Idina Menzel and Harry Connick Jr. as clients, says the industry shutdown was a reminder of the vulnerability of creative fields. He notes, “It is my hope that the industry writ large will consider resources to ensure a stable and healthy creative economy.”
The key to work-life balance “Having two goldendoodles.”
Nancy Wolff
Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard
Rutgers University School of LawWolff’s intellectual property practice is anything but simple. Her cases involving embedded Instagram posts, massive interactive art installations and rights to Mexican painter Frida Kahlo’s work raise discrete issues of broad significance. She’s currently got her eyes on litigation over NFTs given the gold rush but perhaps lack of carefulness surrounding crypto-assets.
My 2021 favorite “Call My Agent, Ted Lasso and many others.”
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