Phillips, Gilbert Among Billboard’s 2016 Top Music Lawyers July 15, 2016 “The Music Industry's Top Lawyers 2016: Who Made the List?” – Billboard Billboard recognized Manatt senior partner L. Lee Phillips and partner Gary Gilbert as top music lawyers in the country, naming both to its 2016 list of the top legal minds in the music business. The list recognizes 41 lawyers who played crucial roles in the music industry over the past year, from negotiating the biggest deals to successfully handling the hottest disputes. Billboard’s profile of Phillips notes that the summer of 2016 brings the return of Barbra Streisand, a client of Phillips’ for 45 years, after he negotiated her deal with Live Nation. For Don Henley and Steve Perry, Phillips worked on publishing pacts with Irving Azoff's Global Music Rights, and he renewed publishing or performing rights agreements for Burt Bacharach, Paul Anka and Jerry Lieber's estate. In its profile of Gilbert, who co-chairs Manatt's entertainment and media practice, Billboard notes that his client roster is deep and varied. Gilbert recently worked with the Dixie Chicks on their current world tour, expanded Manatt's EDM practice, gained new business with British partners and tapped Manatt's new digital professionals for clients like a nascent video channel. "I didn't know if I had the expertise before," he says of the digital sector. "Now we have the team." Read the article here.
