Entertainment lawyer Allen Grubman has big stars on his roster
Entertainment lawyer Allen Grubman poses in the press room during the 37th annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Microsoft Theater on Nov. 5, 2022, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
While BigLaw certainly has appeal for lawyers, it lacks the lure of big stars, at least the kind attorey Allen Grubman represents. Mariah Carey, Elton John, Lady Gaga, Robert De Niro and Bob Iger have all retained the entertainment lawyer from Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in New York City.
Grubman is also the only lawyer to have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022 for masterminding agreements that allow artists to maintain creative control over their work.
He attended Brooklyn Law School and was drawn to the glamour and lights of the entertainment industry at age 11, according to the Wall Street Journal, which calls him “the last of a breed of entertainment dealmakers who have represented both the talent and old-school industry tycoons.”
In 1974, he founded his own law firm specializing in entertainment law and now has 50 lawyers working for him—graduates of Harvard Law School, Yale Law School and the New York University School of Law.
On how he became a mega-lawyer, Grubman had this to say: “Common sense, street smarts, the ability to communicate with people and have people respect you and like you and want to work with you. You can’t be taught that in school.”
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