Each year for the past decade, The Hollywood Reporter has researched the bigger deals and lawsuits in the entertainment industry to determine the 100 most influential attorneys in Hollywood. From the talent dealmakers for everyone from Jennifer Lawrence to Steven Spielberg to the litigators going to war for Disney, Warner Bros. and even Charlie Sheen, THR's list has become the bible for who's who of legal minds in showbiz.
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Daniel Black
Greenberg Traurig
ALMA MATER George Washington University Law School
WHY HE MATTERS Black has carved out a niche helping traditional media clients make a push into digital, representing companies like the BBC, which is prepping the launch of an O.T.T. streaming service. He also is helping online poker company PokerStars transform into a developer of original content. Other clients: Pokemon, Revlon and soon-to-launch app Topstars.
I COLLECT … "Biographies of historical figures. I find bios inspirational."
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Joel Katz
Greenberg Traurig
ALMA MATER University of Tennessee College of Law
WHY HE MATTERS The music legend — who acts as general counsel for the Michael Jackson estate — recently closed the $750 million sale of Jackson’s 50 percent stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing to Sony Corp. The Atlanta-based attorney also worked on the development of the Margaritaville Beach Resort in Hollywood, Fla., and brokered a deal between the Berklee College of Music and the government of the Central West African nation of Gabon to build a pan-African music school, called the African Music Institute, in the Gabon capital Libreville.
I COLLECT … “Davidoff Cuban cigars.”
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Mathew Rosengart
Greenberg Traurig
ALMA MATER Boston College Law School
WHY HE MATTERS Representing Sean Penn never is boring. One day Rosengart is filing a bold defamation lawsuit for the actor against Empire co-creator Lee Daniels over Daniels' suggestion in a THR profile that Penn committed domestic abuse (a charge the actor vehemently denies). Another day he's counseling Penn before his big trip to Mexico to interview drug lord El Chapo. And yet another day he's dealing with the fallout from a Rolling Stone piece Penn wrote about El Chapo and prepping him to explain himself on 60 Minutes. Other clients of the former federal prosecutor include Patricia Arquette and Michael Mann.
OUTSIDE THE OFFICE, I’M MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT "Tennis!"