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  • L. Lee Phillips
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L. Lee Phillips

Phillips_Lee_New-2020-Bio-Template-730-x-730

Senior Partner

Manatt Entertainment
Contact
  • lphillips@manatt.com
  • Phone: 310.312.4111
  • Download vCard
  • Los Angeles
Bar Admissions
  • California

    Washington, D.C.

Education
  • Cornell Law School, J.D.,1959, with distinction
    Order of the Coif; Phi Kappa Phi
    Editor, Cornell Law Quarterly

    Cornell University, A.B., 1957

Industries
  • Manatt Digital and Technology
  • Manatt Entertainment
  • Music

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  • Profile
  • Honors & Awards
  • Memberships
Profile

Profile

A leader in the music industry for over 40 years, Lee Phillips has earned a reputation for intelligence, creativity and integrity in representing major musicians, recording artists, composers, record companies and publishing companies. Lee focuses primarily on contract negotiations within the music industry and acts as the general legal advisor to a multitude of artists and companies in this field.

His clients have included and include a variety of internationally renowned performers and celebrities including Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach, The Eagles, Kenny Loggins, Randy Jackson, Steve Perry, Tracy Chapman, Barbra Streisand, Prince, Michael Jackson and many others. Lee’s broad base of knowledge enables him to provide his clients with strategic and tactical guidance, as well as the gamut of legal advice ranging from litigation, licensing and corporate issues to copyright, privacy, tax issues and the sale of publishing catalogs, among other matters.

Lee began his career as a tax trial attorney with the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. He started in private practice in California in 1963 and steadily developed his entertainment clientele. In 1977, he joined the firm that was eventually named Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP.

Honors & Awards

Honors & Awards

Named one of the “Top Music Lawyers” by Billboard, 2016–2023​

Named by Variety to the “Legal Impact Report,” 2020–2021

Named one of "Music's Most Powerful Attorneys" by Billboard, 2015

Named by The Hollywood Reporter to the “Power Lawyers: Top 100 Attorneys in Entertainment,” 2007 through 2018

Named 2014 Entertainment Lawyer of the Year by the Beverly Hills Bar Association

Southern California Super Lawyers, 2004–2013

Spirit of Life Award, City of Hope Music Division

The Helen King Award for Philanthropy, National Academy of Songwriters, in appreciation of his contribution of pro bono legal services to the Academy since 1995

Recommended in Who's Who Legal: Sports & Entertainment, 2019

Listed in “Who’s Who in Law,” Los Angeles Business Journal, 2007

Named as one of the Top-Ranked Attorneys, Chambers USA, 2006-2007 and 2010-2023

Named as one of the “Lawdragon 3000 Leading Lawyers in America,” 2006

Named as one of the “Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America,” 2005

Included in The Best Lawyers in America for more than thirty years

Memberships

Memberships

Admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and California

Member, Board of Directors, Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies (AARC)

Member, Board of Directors, Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF)

Former President and Chairman, City of Hope Music Division

Lecturer on the subject of legal practice in the music industry for The Practicing Law Institute in New York and California, various bar associations, and Harvard and UCLA law schools

Lee in the News

  • 08.17.23

    82 Manatt Attorneys Named to 2024 Best Lawyers Guide

    Eighty-two Manatt attorneys have been named to the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers in America, which recognizes the nation’s leading lawyers eac...

  • 06.01.23

    Manatt Receives Top Rankings in Chambers USA 2023

    Manatt has once again been ranked among the nation’s leading law firms in Chambers’ 2023 USA Guide.

  • 04.03.23

    Eight Manatt Entertainment Professionals Named to Billboard’s 2023 ...

    Manatt Entertainment Leader Jordan Bromley, Senior Partner Lee Phillips and Partners Joseph Anderson, Eric Custer, Gary Gilbert, Robert ...

  • 08.18.22

    86 Manatt Attorneys Named to 2023 Best Lawyers Guide

    Eighty-six Manatt attorneys have been named to the 2023 edition of Best Lawyers in America, which recognizes the nation’s leading lawyers each ...

Show More


Lee's Newsletters

  • 04.24.14

    FTC Checks-In a Victory in Dispute with Wyndham Over Power to ...

    In a closely watched dispute over the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) power to regulate data security, a New Jersey federal court ...

  • 07.22.11

    Manatt Senior Partner Honored as a Hollywood Power Lawyer

    Manatt’s L. Lee Phillips, a senior partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office, has been named to The Hollywood Reporter ’s ...

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