Entertainment lawyers are also a very important part of the artist's team.
Entertainment law is a very small field--
sometimes even encompasses sports law.
You have many organizations that deal with both
entertainment and sports law.
However, entertainment lawyers, you will usually find, specialize in one
or more areas--
usually music law or TV and film law.
Some entertainment lawyers, of course, work in both of those areas.
But it's very important to find experienced entertainment lawyers that
work in the specific field that you're involved in if you're a talent.
This is really starting to cross over into different areas right now, as you
have sports personalities that are getting more involved in music and
film, and vice versa.
You have people in the music area that are getting involved in sports.
You have Jay-Z that just started his own sports talent agency.
So it's important to find people that have experience in the specific areas
that you need the help in.
Entertainment is also a pretty small field.
There's only a very few people that practice this type of law on a
full-time basis.
I consider myself to be very lucky to have had the career
I've had in this field.
And it really requires the entertainment lawyer to
do much like I did.
I was fortunate enough to find a great client at the beginning of my career--
the O'Jays.
And my career then grew as a result of that.
There are two primary types of entertainment lawyers that are really
going to work on behalf of artists and their companies.
One is the litigation attorney.
A litigator is someone that tries cases, usually in front of
a judge or a jury.
In other words, they are court lawyers.
I call them suit and tie lawyers.
In other words, they're the lawyers that file lawsuits and try lawsuits.
They go to court, they appear in front of judges, try cases in front of
juries and judges.
Entertainment litigators might be involved in such actions as copyright
infringement, breach of contract suits.
Litigators sometimes are paid on an hourly basis, and most experienced
litigators, and entertainment lawyers, in general, can earn between $300 to
$1000 an hour.
And an hourly rate will usually apply to situations where clients are being
sued, and the attorney has to defend them in court.
So they'll keep track of their hours, and bill them on an hourly basis.
However, in certain instances, litigators might take a case on where
a client has a claim against someone else-- where there's the potential of
winning a money settlement or money judgment against another client.
Someone might have infringed on their rights.
And in that instance, sometimes the litigators will take the case on what
is called a contingency-fee basis.
In a contingency-fee agreement, the attorney doesn't bill on an hourly
basis, but they receive their money contingent upon them winning the case
on behalf of their client.
And they get paid instead on a certain percentage of whatever they might
recover on their client's behalf.
In most situations, litigators will charge a third of whatever they
receive if the matter is settled prior to them filing a lawsuit in court.
If they have to file a lawsuit, sometimes the litigators will be paid
a fee of 40%, because once the lawsuit is filed, they have to put
in a lot more time.
They have to make court appearances.
They have to pursue discovery, filing interrogatories, and taking
depositions.
So it can be a very lucrative field.
The entertainment litigation field is even smaller.
Once again, there's just a very few hundred people that practice that type
of law on a full-time basis.
I happen to be the second type of entertainment lawyer--
that is, the transactions attorney.
What does a transaction attorney do?
Well, we usually are involved in the negotiation of contracts, establishing
business organizations on behalf of clients, monitoring the contracts in
their business dealings to make sure that everything is handled according
to the contracts and the business deals that we work so hard to get our
clients involved in.
Transactions attorneys may also be paid on an hourly basis, and at times
they can be paid on a contingency-fee basis.
Many times, transactions attorneys will have relationships with record
companies and with publishing companies, and will provide a service
which is called shopping--
or in other words, trying to shop a deal, or try to get a deal on behalf
of their client--
either a recording contract or a publishing contract.
And if that happens, many times the attorneys will charge
a percentage fee.
Usually that fee is 5% of whatever monies are derived from that
particular contract.
It's important for you to know that attorneys also have a fiduciary
obligation to their clients, just as personal managers do.
Attorneys are put in a position of trust.
Their clients place their trust in them to look out for their clients'
interest over their own.
And sometimes this can create conflict of interest problems.
Most state bar associations that regulate attorneys prohibit attorneys
from going into business with their clients, because at some point there's
the potential that the attorney's interest could be adverse to that of
their client.
Conflict of interest issues can also be raised when an attorney
represents a group.
Suppose a band of four people come into my office and say, Mr. Kellogg,
we want you to represent us.
At that point, I have to find out what each band member does.
What are the talents of each band member?
And it can really create problems.
You could have a lead singer that is also a songwriter.
You can have a guitar player that only plays guitar, a drummer that only
plays drums.
Another bass player that might sing, and might contribute with the lead
singer, as far as writing songs.
In other words, they all have unique talents that need to be represented
possibly individually.
And so in that situation, usually you have to advise clients that when you
represent the group, at some point, if there appears to be a conflict of
interest between any of the four of them, they need to go out and hire
their own individual attorney.
It's important to recognize that lawyers, just like personal managers,
are regulated by the states in which they do business.
The supreme court of each state registers and regulates attorneys, and
give them licenses to practice law.
And that's the reason why personal managers shouldn't necessarily be
entertainment lawyers.
I was told this years ago--
don't try to be a personal manager while you're still
licensed as a lawyer.
Many times, I have artists that come to me, and say, Mr. Kellogg,
will you manage me?
And I say, no, I am not a manager.
I'm strictly an entertainment lawyer.
Here's the problem--
if you're acting in the capacity as a personal manager, and you're also an
entertainment lawyer, should your artist have a problem and feel that
you have a conflict of interest issue, or that you've breached your fiduciary
duty as a personal manager, they can file a complaint with the supreme
court of the state in which you're licensed as a lawyer.
And that body--
the Supreme Court--
could disbar you from practicing law, if they found that you've actually
violated a fiduciary duty, or you've created some kind of conflict of
interest with your artist.
So you have to really make a decision whether or not you want to be a
personal manager or an attorney.
I have chosen just to be an attorney.