74 BILLBOARD | AUGUST 2 4 , 2 019
BACKSTAGE PASS
CHA
P
MA
N
:^
JER
O
D
HA
R
R
IS/GE
T
T
Y
IMA
GES.^
A
LT
E
R
:^
A
LTE
R^K
E
N
D
R
ICK^&
BA
R
O
N.^
C
H
A
R
LES
WO
R
T
H
:^
MR
C.^
A
N
D
E
R
S
O
N
:^ CO
UR
TES
Y
OF
DA
V
ISWR
IGH
T
TR
E
M
AINE.^
B
A
R
:^
D
E
N
N
IS
CA
H
L
O.^
C
A
R
R
O
L
L
:^
CO
U
R
T
ESY
OF^CCG
G
L
A
W.^
CO
H
E
N
:^
R
YAN
MA
R
T
IN.^
G
R
O
F
FM
AN
:^M
AR
K
SELIGER.^ K
AR
A
LIA
N
:^
R
A
ND
O
LE
IJ
A.^ B
AR
T:
DA
V
IDBE
Y
D
A
ST
U
D
IO.^
B
EC
K
E
R
:^
S
W
AN
S
O
N
MA
R
TIN
&BE
L
L.BE
R
LIN
E
R
:^
A
L
EXJ.^ B
E
R
L
INER/AB
IMA
G
E
S.^ B
IED
E
R
MA
N
,^
B
R
O
ML
E
Y,CU
S
TER
,^
G
ILB
E
R
T,J
A
C
O
B
S
,^
PHILL
IPS
,^ TA
S
H
MA
N
:^
MA
NATT
PH
E
L
P
S
&PH
ILL
IPS
.Becker’s Chicago ties were key to his drawing
clients Chance the Rapper and Valee, who’s
“young and homegrown [and] moving up the ranks
of Def Jam,” says Becker. For Chance, ahead of
the rapper’s Magnificent Coloring Day festival
in 2016, Becker secured temporary restraining
orders that “allowed us to pull all of the counterfeit
merchandise off of the streets — around the festival,
around the tour sites across the country. We
were able to [do] that twice for him.” Becker also
represents Pink Slip and Anthony Pavel — ”these
two kids that live in California in their early 20s that
have been going to writing camps in Korea.”
Jill Berliner
Partner, Rimon Law
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GOULD
SCHOOL OF LAW
Berliner, 62, focuses on transactions for legacy acts
like Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, Beck and
Ann Wilson of Heart. She also represents Nirvana,
both generally and in connection with the band’s
copyright claims against Marc Jacobs. “Enforcing
my clients’ rights and pursuing infringers is part
of what I need to do. Infringements happen all the
time,” she says. “Being able to advocate for art is a
pretty beautiful job.”
Charles J. “Jeff ” Biederman
Partner, Manatt Phelps & Phillips
VANDERBILT LAW SCHOOL
Jordan Bromley
Partner/leader of entertainment
transactions and finance group, Manatt
Phelps & Phillips
BROOKLYN LAW SCHOOL
Eric Custer
Partner, Manatt Phelps & Phillips
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SCHOOL OF LAW
Gary L. Gilbert
Partner, Manatt Phelps & Phillips
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES,
SCHOOL OF LAW
Robert Jacobs
Partner, Manatt Phelps & Phillips
SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL
L. Lee Phillips
Senior partner, Manatt Phelps & Phillips
CORNELL LAW SCHOOL
Monika Tashman
Partner, Manatt Phelps & Phillips
BENJAMIN N. CARDOZO SCHOOL OF LAW
At the firm with the deepest roster on
Billboard’s top music lawyers list, early this year
“We changed the name of our firm this year,” notes
Carroll, 63. “It had been Carroll Guido & Groffman
for 20 years, and for us, in our little world, that’s
a big deal. In terms of our name partners, we
have an equal number of women and men. That’s
something I’m very excited about.” Carroll is a
board member of She Is the Music, which works
toward greater inclusivity and gender equality in
the music business. As the trustee of Lou Reed’s
estate, she has renegotiated a publishing deal with
Sony/ATV. For new client Mustard, Karalian, 43,
worked with Sony/ATV on an administration deal
and with Kobalt on the sale of the DJ-producer’s
catalog. She guided Kid Cudi on a partnership
with Adidas and a collaboration with Netflix for
an animated series. Bar, 46, has represented
The National for eight albums but is equally excited
by the music of such new clients as Omar Apollo,
MorMor and Cavetown. “One of my favorite parts of
the job is sitting down with artists and having them
talk about their vision and how they want to work
with people — then serving as a matchmaker,” she
says. Cohen, 58, who has represented the Jonas
Brothers since their initial record deal, says, “It has
been rewarding to see them back together and
really enjoying the success this time around.” His
other clients include Demi Lovato, Olivia Culpo, the
Primavera Sound festival and Paradigm. Groffman,
65, attended the Songwriters Hall of Fame
induction ceremony in June with longtime client
Dave Matthews, who inducted Cat Stevens. But the
undeniable highlight of Groffman’s year, he says,
was watching Brandi Carlile, “whom I’ve worked
with through all the ups and downs, getting the
acknowledgement of her peers [in February] with
three Grammys and six nominations.”
Andrew Bart
Partner/co-chair, content, media and
entertainment practice; Jenner & Block
COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL
Bart, 64, has counted among his clients the three
major music groups, the RIAA, BMG and Roc
Nation, but also works pro bono for the Brooklyn
venues Roulette and National Sawdust. Bart
represented the record companies that settled a
copyright infringement case against MP3tunes
for $39 million in early 2018. “That was one of the
biggest cases I’ve ever worked on in my career,”
he says.
RECENT MEMORABLE CONCERT
“The Big Ears music festival in Knoxville [Tenn.].
It samples everything from world music to
Americana, jazz, classical and avant-garde. An
amazing experience.”
Jeffrey Becker
Chair, entertainment and media law
practice; Swanson Martin & Bell
DEPAUL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW
Queenie & The Percolators, so to see these
guys there, 43 years after our first Jazz Fest, was
really emotional.”
Lisa Alter
Founding partner, Alter Kendrick & Baron
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW
Jacqueline Charlesworth
Partner, Alter Kendrick & Baron
YALE LAW SCHOOL
Working on deals involving copyright and licensing
advice, Alter says “the volume, complexity and
diversity of the transactions we’ve been involved
with in the past year has been extraordinary. In the
past 18 months, we’ve been involved in a variety
of transactions connected to music — some
investments and some acquisitions — that exceed
three-quarters of a billion dollars” in value. She
has worked on the partnership between Primary
Wave and the estates of Whitney Houston and
Bob Marley, as well as the publishers’ stake in Paul
Anka’s catalog and likeness. Charlesworth worked
behind the scenes to draft the Music Modernization
Act, an experience she describes as a “huge honor.”
The former general counsel at the U.S. Copyright
Office, Charlesworth this year left her previous firm,
Covington & Burling, to join Alter Kendrick & Baron
and focus on her true love: copyright law. Says
Charlesworth: “It’s a very exciting development to
have joined Lisa Alter and her colleagues to practice
law at a music- and copyright-oriented law firm,
which is a great development for me in my career.”
Peter Anderson
Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES,
SCHOOL OF LAW
Anderson, 65, has litigated some of the biggest
copyright infringement claims of the past few
years, including the Led Zeppelin-Randy Wolfe
case, which he won. (An appeals court agreed to a
second trial, but that ruling itself is under review.)
For Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams, who
faced a $25 million copyright infringement claim
involving their song “Spark the Fire,” Anderson
won a summary judgment in their favor.
PRESSING ISSUE
“Copyright infringement cases are one of the
most important, challenging and disappointing
legal issues facing the industry right now.”
Gillian Bar
Partner, Carroll Guido Groffman Cohen
Bar & Karalian
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL
OF LAW
Rosemary Carroll
Founding partner, Carroll Guido Groffman
Cohen Bar & Karalian
STANFORD LAW SCHOOL
Rob Cohen
Partner, Carroll Guido Groffman Cohen
Bar & Karalian
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LAW SCHOOL
Elliot Groffman
Founding partner, Carroll Guido Groffman
Cohen Bar & Karalian
SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW
Renee Karalian
Partner, Carroll Guido Groffman Cohen
Bar & Karalian
LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL
Bart
Becker
Berliner
Biederman
Bromley
Custer
Gilbert
Jacobs
Phillips
Tashman
Phillips (center) with Tracy Chapman
(left) and Steve Perry in 2014.
Anderson
Carroll
Cohen
Groffman
Karalian
Bar
Alter
Charlesworth