NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) – Smith Entertainment Law Group, LLC (SELG) and its founder Kerry Smith announce the addition of music dealmaker Henry W. Root and three other attorneys from Root’s former law firm (Lapidus, Root & Sacharow, LLP), Lynn Quarterman, Leigh Zeichick and Michael Olsen. With the addition of Root and his team, Smith will now have offices on each coast (Los Angeles and New York).
Root has over 40 years of legal and business affair experience within the music, entertainment and television industries. He serves as counsel to major and independent entertainment, media companies, recording artists, songwriters, composers, producers, consumer product companies, and large purchasers of music catalogs and name imagine and likeness (NIL) rights. Root was placed on the “Top Music Lawyers” list by Billboard. In addition, he is an adjunt professor of law at the University of Miami School of Law where he teaches music law and in 2017 was the recipient of the Forum’s Ed Rubin Award.
“Kerry’s practice is extraordinarily synergistic with mine and the whole of the combined practices will be far greater than the sum of its parts,” said Root via press release.
SELG has experience steady growth in the entertainment business since Smith vacated her post at Eisner, LLP, representing a plethora of production comanies, variety shows, specials, scripted and unscripted services, indie films/documentaries, and live events, among others.
Smith is the former team chair of Greenspoon Marder’s entertainment law practice group and a former Eisner, LLP partner. Throughout her 20-year carerr, Smith has focused her practice on television and film production, representing Emmy winning companies in a wide variety of programming. In addition, SELG also represents content creators, writers, directors, above-the-line and on-air talent throughout the entertainment world.
“Henry and I have been friends for 17 years,” Smith said, “and we’ve been trying to figure out a way to work together for a long time. Henry brings a team that is incredible and, with the team I’ve already built, we’re looking to build the firm into a national presence.”
Quarterman brings Anderson .Paak, Charlie Wilson, En Vogue and Wyclef Jean to SELG and serves as OWN Network’s production counsel. Zeichick represents many media companies and TV/film/digital creatives with extensive experience in the buying and selling of copyright assets. Olsen is former executive vice president of business and legal affairs for Entertainment One. He will have an “of counsel” relationship to SELG and is based in Nashville.
With the addition of Root and his team, SELG begins its expansion into the areas of music publishing and recording catalog sales and acquisitions, commercial lending secured by music assets, NIL transactions and representation of recording artists, producers, songwriters, music publishers, and independent record companies.
