Top Usa Lawyers

"No envelope mix-up here! Meet the lawyers behind the 'Moonlight' Oscar winner, Melania's litigation, Bill O'Reilly's downfall, the year's most significant media megamergers and pretty much anything that matters in Hollywood. Extortion. Messy divorces. Nine-figure deals with Chinese media conglomerates. It's been a hectic year for Hollywood's power lawyers, who once again gather in THR's pages for its magazine's annual Power Lawyers issue. The men and women on this listing handle a variety of cases, from simple talent contracts to complex corporate mergers which 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 maintaining Hollywood's wheels spinning. They're all at the very top of their area. And judging from THR's poll -- they all drink a lot of coffee (a mean of 5.5 cups a day, if calculations include the guy who claimed to down 97 cups). Below, the Power Lawyers of 2017 talk about their biggest instances, reveal their private political beliefs (only 14 percent think Donald Trump will get impeached) and answer the age-old question, "Which superhero would you most want to reflect? ""

Marty Katz

Sheppard Mullin Alma mater University of Michigan Law School Why he matters Once you're a Hollywood litigator, all sorts of weird stuff can pop up. Just like a princess 's fall on a Carnival cruise boat. Katz is working with this while also planning to proceed to trial for investors looking to recover what they spent for the troubled movie adaptation of Martin Amis' London Fields. However, his bread and butter is still profit-participation cases. He's representing MGM in a dispute over a set of Clint Eastwood classics and lately completed arbitrating a case involving a music video that became a viral feeling online. Comfort food "Pizza and fries. "

Fred Toczek

Felker Toczek Suddleston Abramson Alma mater USC Gould School of Law He matters He proceeds to bring emerging talent, recently signing Ashton Sanders (Moonlight) and Storm Reid (A Wrinkle in Time), while juggling the active feature and TV slates of longtime clients like Bill Hader (making his directorial debut with HBO's Barry) and Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Last TV show binged "Netflix's Fauda (with subtitles). "

Daniel Black

Alma mater George Washington University Law School He matters Black, whose customers include Conde Nast Entertainment, iHeartRadio and BBC America, specializes in helping conventional media split in to digital. The Guardian enlisted him to negotiate with Vice to deliver its publish stories to new platforms. He also helped longtime client Pokemon return in the match with final summer's Pokemon Move phenomenon. Comfort Food "I've transitioned from pretzels to crudites. "

Matthew Johnson

Ziffren Brittenham Alma mater Southwestern Law School Why he matters In April, Johnson filed a lawsuit on behalf of Sylvester Stallone alleging that Warner Bros. was "dishonest" in profit participations. The criticism continues a busy period for the lawyer, who recently 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. "