Billboard recognized Manatt senior partner L. Lee Phillips and partner Gary Gilbert as top music lawyers in the country, naming both to its 2015 "Music's Most Powerful Attorneys" list. The 26 lawyers chosen for the list played a crucial role in the music industry over the past year, from negotiating the hottest opportunities for music's biggest stars to successfully handling disputes over music rights.
In its profile of Phillips, Billboard features his work negotiating the sale of lyricist Hal David's share of the Burt Bacharach/David catalog to BMG Rights Management. Phillips, whose superstar client roster includes The Eagles and Barbra Streisand, also recently helped broker the deal granting the rights to Brian Wilson's life story for the film Love and Mercy.
Billboard's profile of Gilbert, who co-chairs Manatt's Entertainment and Media practice, notes that he helped the firm expand its reach into the EDM world and that he will head to London later this year to seek additional opportunities for the practice. Gilbert's clients include Death Cab for Cutie, the Dixie Chicks and Foreigner, among others.