The Hollywood Reporter selected four Manatt attorneys—senior partner L. Lee Phillips and partners Lindsay Conner, John Gatti and Gary Gilbert—for its 2016 "Power Lawyers" feature, which spotlights the 100 most influential attorneys in Hollywood. Each year, the publication researches the industry's biggest deals and most prolific trials to determine its annual list of Power Lawyers, which has become the go-to guide for who's who of legal talent in showbiz.
For Conner, The Hollywood Reporter recognized him as a "conduit" between China and Hollywood, having recently represented Beijing's Perfect World Pictures in its five-year, 50-film deal with Universal. Valued at $500 million, the deal is the first direct Chinese investment in a film slate of one of the six major studios. He also repped China's largest publicly held film company, Huayi Bros., in its three-year, 18-film co-finance deal with STX Entertainment.
The Hollywood Reporter described Gatti as a "copyright gunslinger" who was recently enlisted by the estate of Roy Rogers in a case against a jeans company calling itself Roy Roger's. He's also representing Columbia Pictures and MGM in a collective bargaining dispute with the American Federation of Musicians, as well as repping Fox in a licensing dispute with a San Diego TV station and advising Stan Lee's company POW! Entertainment.
Phillips and Gilbert were among the eleven music attorneys selected for the feature. Phillips is revered for representing "oldies but goodies," including Burt Bacharach, Paul Anka, Kenny Loggins, Barbra Streisand and more. Gilbert is also recognized for his client roster, which includes everyone from Pat Benatar to Sheryl Crow—and for the past seven years, the finalists on American Idol.
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