New York City firm before hitting the entertainment industry head on with a little help from her neighbor, filmmaker Spike Lee.
Power Play: Davis, a member of BE’s Top 50 Black Power Brokers in Entertainment, is a frequent lecturer on topics such as the ethics of entertainment law and copyright infringement and protection issues on the Internet.
Peter L. Haviland
Partner
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Los Angeles, CA
Contact: 310-229-1000
Career Highlights: The Stanford Law alumnus cut his teeth in the labor movement before becoming a media and entertainment lawyer. Haviland represents clients on contractual disputes involving music, film, and television. He also represents manufacturing and defense industry clients on product liability matters.
Power Play: Haviland won a $132 million infringement case on behalf of TVT Records against Island Def Jam.
L. Londell McMillan
President & CEO
L. Londell McMillan, PC & NorthStar Business Enterprises
New York, NY
Contact: 212-399-8900
Career Highlights: McMillan worked his way through NYU Law School as a sports agent. He was a leading entertainment lawyer with Gold, Farrell & Mark, but by 1997, he was hanging up his own shingle with marquis clients, including Prince, DMX, Wesley Snipes, and Roy Jones Jr.
Power Play: McMillan has negotiated over $500 million worth of deals in the hip-hop marketplace.
C. Lamont Smith
President & Founder
All Pro Sports & Entertainment
Denver, CO
Contact: 303-320-4004
Career Highlights: Smith is a high roller in the game of NFL player contract negotiations, representing more than 50 clients. He recently launched ELETE, an athletic apparel and shoe company. Lamont graduated from Clark Atlanta University, magna cum laude, and received his law degree from Howard University.
Power Play: Smith negotiated record-breaking contracts for NFL players Eddie George, the highest paid running back with a $42 million contract, and Trevor Pryce, the highest paid defensive player with a $60 million contract.
William Strickland
President & CEO
Strickland & Ashe Management
Washington, DC
Contact: 202-789-1411
Career Highlights: The sports agent and attorney, along with partner Mason Ashe, has locked in more than 40 baseball, football, and basketball clients. In 1985, Strickland became the first African American to represent No. 1 NBA Draft pick Patrick Ewing. The Georgetown University Law School alumnus also was the first African American lawyer hired by ProServ Inc.’s team sports division in Washington, D.C., where he negotiated Nike’s Air Jordan contract.
Power Play: Strickland negotiated a $100-million-plus deal for the New York Knicks’ Allan Houston.
GOVERNMENT
Thurbert E. Baker
Georgia Attorney General
Atlanta, GA
Contact: 404-656-3300
Career Highlights: Since his appointment in 1997, the Emory University School of Law graduate has taken great strides to build tougher anti-crime measures and accelerated the state’s death penalty appeals process while toughening penalties for domestic abusers. Baker won elections to retain the post in 1998 and again in 2002.
Power Play: In Perdue v. Baker, Thurbert Baker’s office successfully prevented Georgia’s Governor Sonny Perdue from forcing the attorney general’s office to drop litigation over redistricting.
Michael A. Battle
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York
Buffalo, NY
Contact: 716-843-5700
Career Highlights: Battle began his legal career with the Legal Aid Society after graduating from SUNY Buffalo Law School. He is currently working to prosecute James Kopp, already convicted of