84 BILLBOARD | AUGUST 24 , 2 019
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APHY.BACKSTAGE PASS / Top Music Lawyers 2019
Spotify; streaming is critically important in the new
age and [the] publishing business,” says Grubman,
- “In terms of talent, we’re in the process of
restructuring Barbra Streisand’s recording
arrangements and also doing some very, very
creative stuff with U2. We’ve been involved with
Bruce Springsteen and his [Broadway] show, and
now Elton John and his movie.” Meiselas brokered
Lady Gaga’s deal for her Las Vegas residency,
after her breakout turn in A Star Is Born. Beyond
his superstar clients like The Weeknd and Sean
Combs, Meiselas is proud of his rising talent. “Bebe
Rexha and Ella Mai were Grammy-nominated, and
Ella won. Nav had a No. 1 record — a year ago, not
too many people even knew who he was. Swae
Lee has this big hit record now with Post Malone.”
Jacobs, 37, is the firm’s younger gun. “Right now, I’m
writing a very fun story with my client Lil Nas X,” he
says. “It’s quite a wild ride. We were at No. 1 [on the
Billboard Hot 100] the week my son was born.”
FREE LEGAL ADVICE
JACOBS “There are people doing amazing things
on their own. And then there are some holding
themselves back because of it. A record label can
add value to someone’s life. Just because you can
do it on your own doesn’t always mean you should.”
Pierre Hachar
Founder/owner, The Hachar Law Firm
ST. THOMAS SCHOOL OF LAW
The attorney for Latin artists including Alex
Sensation, Elvis Crespo and Gente de Zona,
Hachar, 39, successfully got 16-year-old client Malu
Trevejo released from her contract with Universal
Music Latin. The case “sparked conversations
and hopefully reform on the policies record labels
have adopted in connection to considering minors’
services in our industry,” he says.
DEAL POINT HE WOULD LIKE TO SEE
“Fair and transparent definitions of payment terms
so that changes in technology, trends and royalty
laws are adequately compensated for with [the]
changing times — and can be adjusted without
having to renegotiate.”
John Ingram
Attorney, Stone Genow Smelkinson
Binder & Christopher
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GOULD
SCHOOL OF LAW
Ingram renewed publishing deals with Sony/
ATV for R&B artists Bryson Tiller and Daniel
Caesar, guided a sponsorship agreement between
Tommy Genesis and Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty line
and negotiated all aspects of the 2018 Dune Tour
staged by Chinese-American EDM artist Zhu.
FREE LEGAL ADVICE
“In today’s landscape, you don’t have to do a deal
right away. Whether a record deal, publishing deal
[or] management deal, let it build and don’t be in
a rush to sign anything until it’s the right time and
the right company.”
Lawrence Iser
Managing partner, Kinsella Weitzman Iser
Kump & Aldisert
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, HASTINGS
COLLEGE OF THE LAW
Howard Weitzman
Partner, Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump
& Aldisert
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES,
SCHOOL OF LAW
Weitzman represented the estate of Michael
Jackson in its suit against HBO over the
documentary Finding Neverland and against
Disney for copyright infringement in the ABC
documentary The Last Days of Michael Jackson.
He seeks to protect Jackson’s legacy against what
he calls “unwarranted attacks and unauthorized
use of intellectual property.” Iser, 63, who has
clients ranging from Jackson Browne to the Latin
indie label DEL Records, represented Apple Music
last summer in the settlement of a copyright
infringement claim against the streaming
service, Ariana Grande and other songwriters
over Grande’s “One Last Time,” a No. 13 hit on the
Hot 100 in 2015. Iser says his biggest victories are
the ones he can’t speak about. “I quietly fended
off a false and extortionate claim against a music
executive,” he says. The claim was resolved
without payment to the accuser, “and you never
heard about it.”
FREE LEGAL ADVICE
ISER “Don’t confuse social media popularity
with sales.”
Rusty Jones
Attorney, Law Offices of Russell A. Jones Jr.
UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS CECIL C. HUMPHREYS
SCHOOL OF LAW
“My job is to do the work and stay quiet,” says
Jones, who prefers to thrust his superstar client
roster (Trisha Yearwood, Garth Brooks, Tim
McGraw, Toby Keith) into the limelight. “I maintain
a low profile.” After 40 years in the business, the
veteran Nashville attorney continues to break
ground. Jones, 68, negotiated the deal that made
Brooks the first artist to perform at Notre Dame
Stadium in Indiana in the facility’s 88-year history.
Garth: Live at Notre Dame! was a ratings winner for
CBS and reached 14 million viewers.
FREE LEGAL ADVICE
“Having no deal is better than a bad deal.”
Jason Karlov
Partner/chairman, entertainment,
media and sports practice group; Barnes &
Thornburg
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GOULD
SCHOOL OF LAW
Karlov, 50, handles all of Bob Dylan’s legal
matters, including his tours and his Heaven’s
Door whiskey. He also represents Michael
Bolton, John Fogerty and Rufus Wainwright,
among others. Longtime client T Bone Burnett
inked a three-album deal with Verve, scored
HBO’s True Detective and produced Sara
Bareilles’ Amidst the Chaos, which hit No. 6 on
the Billboard 200. “In artist deals, which tend
to be very personal, you have to listen and hear
your client about what they want, then translate
that into the most lucrative deal — but maintain
your integrity so that the other side does not
hold grudges.”
RECENT MEMORABLE CONCERT
“Tedeschi Trucks Band. Superb artists. Wish that
I represented them. Lawyers are fans, too.”
Dina LaPolt
Founder/president, LaPolt Law
JOHN F. KENNEDY UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW
LaPolt, 53, who runs the only female-owned
entertainment law firm of its stature, is a legal
scholar, copyright expert and crisis strategist.
When U.S. Immigration and Customs and
Enforcement officials took U.K.-born, Atlanta-
based 21 Savage into custody in February,
LaPolt moved to “assemble a team very quickly,”
she says. “I was scared, he was scared. There
is no justice for a man with gold teeth in rural
Georgia.” Through her efforts, the artist was
released in nine days. While representing
clients like Mick Fleetwood, deadmau5 and
Steven Tyler, LaPolt continues her mission as
the advocate for “underdogs,” lobbying tirelessly
in Washington, D.C., where her pro bono work
last year, as the legal counsel to Songwriters of
North America (SONA), helped pass the Music
Modernization Act.
FREE LEGAL ADVICE
LaPolt “Join SONA.”
LaPolt (center) with client
Tyler (left) and former
Recording Academy
president/CEO Neil
Portnow in February.
Weitzman
Iser
Jones
Karlov
Hachar
Ingram