Five DLA Piper lawyers named to Variety's 2023 Legal Impact Report

DLA Piper is pleased to announce that five of its partners have been named to Variety’s 2023 Legal Impact Report highlighting the top attorneys in the entertainment business.

Tom Ara, global co-chair of the firm’s Media, Sport and Entertainment sector and co-chair of the Entertainment Finance and Entertainment Transactions practices; David Markman, co-chair of the Entertainment Transactions practice; Robert Sherman, co-chair of the Entertainment Finance practice; and partner Katherine Imp were recognized as a team in this year’s report. In its profile of the team, Variety noted Ara and Markman’s representation of TikTok and ByteDance in a multiyear virtual reality content production deal, as well as Sherman’s representation of music company Concord in a US$1.8 billion music rights securitization backed by Apollo Global Management. The publication also noted that Ara, Markman and Imp recently advised Pfizer on its use of Marvel characters for the “Pfizer Everyday Heroes” campaign.

Variety also recognized partner Richard Petretti, highlighting his representation of JPMorgan in financings for multiple theatrical and streaming projects, as well as his work advising City National Bank on a number of music transactions, among other matters.

DLA Piper's market-leading international team of media, sport and entertainment lawyers, located throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, advises on finance, borrowing, investment, M&A and corporate matters as well as development, production and distribution matters across media sectors, including film, TV, music, interactive and new media, staging and exploiting live sports and other events, intellectual property protection and enforcement, regulatory and administrative issues, antitrust and competition law, stadium and arena development and on the resolution of disputes.