Billboard recognized Manatt senior partner L. Lee Phillips and partners Charles Biederman and Gary Gilbert as top music lawyers in the country, naming all three to its 2017 list of the keenest legal minds in the industry. This year’s list recognized 61 lawyers who are on the front lines of copyright fights and superstar deals.
In its profile of Phillips, Billboard cites his negotiation of Barbara Streisand’s $47 million sold-out North American tour. Additionally, Phillips is guiding former Journey front man Steve Perry’s comeback with his first solo album since 1994. “He’s in heavy negotiations for a new album deal,” Phillips told the magazine.
Biederman, co-chair of the firm’s music practice, was highlighted for his sale of the remaining half of Norman Whitfield’s catalog to Sony/ATV and his pact with Kobalt Music for Dierks Bentley, contributing to the $60 million in publishing deals he has orchestrated over the last three years.
The publication noted that Gilbert, co-chair of the firm’s entertainment and media practice, guided the recent sale of the music catalogs of George Benson to Kobalt and Wayne Kirkpatrick to Downtown Music. “It’s an amazing time” for the volume of publishing deals, Gilbert told Billboard.
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