Top Lawyers In Usa

"No envelope mix-up here! Meet the attorneys behind the 'Moonlight' Oscar winner, Melania's lawsuit, Bill O'Reilly's downturn, the year's biggest media megamergers and pretty much anything that matters in Hollywood. Extortion. Messy divorces. Nine-figure deals with Chinese media conglomerates. It's been a busy year for Hollywood's power attorneys, who once more gather in THR's webpages for its magazine's annual Power Attorneys issue. The women and men on this list manage a range of instances, from simple talent contracts to complex corporate mergers that take weeks to iron out, but they all have things in common. They all love working in the entertainment market. They all play a very important role in keeping Hollywood's wheels turning.
They're at the very top of the area. And -- judging from THR's survey -- they drink a lot of coffee (an average of 5.5 cups a day, if calculations include the man who claimed to down 97 cups). Below, the Power Lawyers of 2017 discuss their most significant instances, reveal their personal political beliefs (just 14 percent think Donald Trump will get impeached) and reply the age-old question, "Which superhero would you want to represent? ""

Marty Katz

Sheppard Mullin Alma mater University of Michigan Law School Why he matters When you're a Hollywood litigator, all kinds of weird stuff could pop up. Just like a dancer's collapse on a Carnival cruise boat. Katz is working on this while also planning to go to trial for investors seeking to recover what they spent for the troubled movie adaptation of Martin Amis' London Fields. But his bread and butter continues to be profit-participation cases. He's representing MGM in a dispute over a pair of Clint Eastwood classics and recently finished arbitrating a case involving a music movie which became a viral sensation on the web. Comfort food "Pizza and fries. "

Mathew Rosengart

Greenberg Traurig Alma mater Boston University Why he matters Rosengart repped Sean Penn in his high-profile defamation case against Lee Daniels -- winning an official apology letter along with a generous contribution from Daniels to Penn's charity. The former federal prosecutor is representing producers of this movie London Fields in a $10 million suit against Amber Heard (she co-starred in the movie using ex-husband Johnny Depp) and another against Terrence Howard on behalf of Howard's former supervisors concerning the celebrity 's Empire deal. Tired of coffee a day "Three, unless I'm in a deposition or in court -- in which case, six. "

Bryan Wolf

Ziffren Brittenham Alma mater Columbia Law School Why he things A big season for Judd Apatow signifies a more workday to get Wolf. He repped the comedy auteur in numerous deals, including one with HBO for Crashing, yet another with Netflix for its next season of Love and the $12 million deal with Amazon to get Sundance hit The Big Sick. In addition, he negotiated the deal on behalf of Weinstein Co.. Video for David O. Russell's upcoming Amazon series. Comfort food "Anything with avocado. "

Peter Nichols

Lichter Grossman Nichols Adler & Feldman Alma mater Stanford Law School Why he things The long-anticipated sci-fi epic Valerian along with the Town of a Thousand Planets will finally become reality thanks in part to Nichols, who has repped manager Luc Besson and his EuropaCorp for at least 20 years. Nichols also recruited EuropaCorp's new CEO, former Universal chairman (and client) Marc Shmuger. Other customers include animation directors Dean DeBlois (How to Train Your Dragon 3) and Chris Sanders (The Croods two ). Comfort food "Fried chicken. "

John Gatti

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips Alma mater USC Gould School of Law He matters Gatti captured everyone's focus in January with a lawsuit that alleges Johnny Depp's former business managers robbed him of thousands of dollars through gross mismanagement and blatant fraud. For Fox Television, he dealt with a major contractual dispute over the licensing of The Simpsons, and he's also going toe to toe with Vin Diesel over xXx sequel credits and producer fees. Superhero I'd probably want to represent "Captain America since I think he would be great in front of a jury. "

Matthew Johnson

Ziffren Brittenham Alma mater Southwestern Law School Why he matters In April, Johnson filed a suit on behalf of Sylvester Stallone alleging that Warner Bros. has been "dishonest" in profit participations. The complaint continues an active period for the attorney, who lately scored a settlement for three people who claimed that ABC's Quantico derived from their work. Most dangerous thing I've done in a decade "Getting close to the gorillas in Rwanda. "