Partner. Specialises in digital media, branded entertainment, audio and audio/visual content exploitation via multimedia. Cliff specialises in the development, ownership, protection and exploitation of content, particularly branded content, product placement, sponsorship and music based entertainment; distribution by audio and audio visual platforms including mobile, online radio, online streaming and traditional analogue media, including radio; talent rights, live events, music copyright, regulatory issues arising from broadcast, mobile and online exploitation; broadcast infrastructure contracts and all issues relating to exploitation of content via multi-platform media.Cliff is a Lewis Silkin Strategy Board member and leads Lewis Silkin’s Strategic Advisory firm, Eleven.
Media: Music
Hall of Fame
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Rising stars
Rising stars with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Rachel is a Partner in the Litigation group. She advises media clients in a number of sectors on a wide range of contentious media and commercial matters. Having been seconded to the BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) for six months, she gained invaluable experience of rights protection in a music industry context. Rachel was heavily involved in the Newzbin litigation in 2010 which established key precedents in relation to online copyright infringement. More recently Rachel has acted for the major Hollywood studios in cases that have developed precedents and procedures for obtaining injunctions requiring ISPs to impede access to online locations.
Tim is a Partner in the firm’s Music Group. Tim is highly regarded by clients for whom he assists in relation to a broad range of music industry issues. He regularly advises on, negotiates and drafts core music industry contracts including recording, publishing, management, production and live performance agreements, as well as contracts pertaining to his clients’ ancillary rights, including merchandise, branding and sponsorship deals. He represents businesses and individuals with longstanding involvement with the music industry as well as new and emerging talent at the outset of their careers. After training in the city at Baker & McKenzie, Tim commenced his music practice at Russells in 2007 before moving to Harbottle & Lewis in 2010. He joined Lee & Thompson in 2013. Tim is a regular speaker at Music Managers Forum events.
Tom specialises in dispute resolution in the media and entertainment industries. His practice is split between two main areas: entertainment-related disputes; and reputation protection and media law. Tom also frequently applies his skills to general commercial litigation. On the entertainment side, Tom has spent over 11 years advising on copyright, performers’ rights, false endorsement, passing off, royalty, management, shareholder and other contractual and tortious claims for both claimants and defendants. His experience covers music, film, television, theatre, computer games, publishing, art, design and sport. Tom has advised many world-famous entertainers and rights-holders, and acted in some of the most significant and high-profile cases of the last two decades. Tom’s media-related practice focuses on reputation protection for high-profile individuals and companies. His experience includes acting for claimants and defendants in defamation proceedings, obtaining privacy injunctions and injunctions for breach of confidence, advising on harassment issues, and defending Advertising Standards Authority complaints.
Lizzie is a Partner in Lee & Thompson’s Music Group. Lizzie joined Lee & Thompson in 2015 and represents a diverse range of clients, not always confined to the music industry, from record-breaking artists to boutique agencies and rights-holders. Lizzie read Chinese Studies at the University of Cambridge and lived in Beijing as part of her course. After completing her LLB, she trained at the international law firm Hogan Lovells and was seconded to the firm’s Hong Kong office before completing her training in the firm’s Intellectual Property department. Upon qualification, she decided to combine her vocation of law with her passion for music, and she still enjoys moments of using her Chinese when needed by her clients.
Halina is a highly-regarded music and entertainment lawyer who has built up a sterling reputation during 10 years of in-house and private practice. She studied law at Oxford and trained at a top tier international law firm before diversifying into music in 2010. Halina is renowned for her highly commercial style; a skill she learned while operating at the epicentre of the business, label, publishing, sponsorship, events and legal divisions of some of the music industry’s most successful music start-ups (Boiler Room, AEI Group). She returned to private practice in 2014 to build her own practice at a leading entertainment firm, before joining Level to launch their music division in 2020. Consistently inspired and motivated by the talent spotting element of her role Halina takes great pride in utilising her extensive network of industry connections to assist artists and entrepreneurs in every aspect of their prospective careers. This means delivering a personal service every step of the way, working closely with her client to assemble a fantastic team to support and nurture them, while successfully negotiating the kind of deals that will give them the best possible chance of success, whatever that means to them. Her diverse and dynamic client base continues to grow, and includes an array of gifted individuals and businesses that are entering the industry at every level, reflecting Halina’s own unwavering passion for new music.
Leading Individuals
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Ed is a partner in the commercial group and advises on all aspects of commercial contracts and intellectual property. His focus is on providing the firm’s corporate and entrepreneur clients with advice on their key business and operational contracts and, in particular, high-value services agreements, outsourcing arrangements, and brand protection and rights-exploitation arrangements. Ed has particular experience in acting for clients in the entertainment and media sector, including a number of leading global rights-owners, sports bodies and entertainers, and advising on a broad range of contracts within the media and sports industries, including live events. He also works closely with the firm’s corporate team on acquisitions, joint ventures and commercial franchising across a range of sectors. Before qualifying as a solicitor in the City, Ed worked in the music industry and founded his own production company, winning a MOBO award for best producer and producing several platinum records, including with Seal and Shola Ama. Ed is the co-author of the ‘Intellectual Property and Media Law Companion’ published by Bloomsbury Professional and is on the editorial board of ‘Entertainment Law Review’.
Lawrence is a partner at Lee & Thompson and heads the firm’s highly regarded Music Group. He started his career in 1994 and joined Lee & Thompson in 2009 having previously co-founded and run his own niche music law firm. Lawrence has experience across all aspects of the music industry and represents an extensive list of recording artists, songwriters, producers, DJs, managers and music industry executives. Clients commend his straight forward, practical approach commenting that he “knows the business well, is very pragmatic and is good at cutting through the issues and getting the job done.” The Music Group’s client base currently includes some of the industry’s most successful and well known international acts. In 2020 Lawrence was included in Billboard's prestigious international Top Music Lawyers list.
Paddy is head of the firm’s disputes group. He handles disputes across a range of sectors, particularly in the media and entertainment industries, including: breach of contract, professional negligence and shareholder claims; complex copyright and trade mark infringement claims; injunction proceedings; and proceedings in the Copyright, Tax and Competition Appeals Tribunals. Paddy has litigated many disputes through to trial, although where possible he seeks to settle them through ADR. He always seeks to deploy a sensible, pragmatic and cost-effective approach for clients. He has represented both corporates and HNW individuals, including PRS for Music, Sir Elton John, U2, PPL and the Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley estates.
Kieran represents leading artists, song-writers, producers and mixers as well as independent management, record and publishing companies, and has some of the UK’s most successful artists – both new and established – as clients.He advises on all types of music related agreements from label joint ventures, distribution, artist/label services, recording, publishing, management, merchandise, tour sponsorship, live performance and brand/endorsement agreements.Kieran also represents a growing number of leading UK music industry executives in respect of their employment arrangements and entrepreneurial activities as founder/owners of new label and publishing businesses.He also has significant experience in sports law, in particular in football and player/athlete endorsement arrangements.
Martin is a Partner in the Entertainment, Media and IP team. Martin has wide experience of contentious IP and commercial litigation, particularly in the media and entertainment fields where he focuses on contentious music and copyright litigation.
John is a very experienced litigator who handles a wide range of media and entertainment disputes, including reputation management and privacy, as well as more general litigation. John is best known for handling employment work on behalf of senior executives in the music and entertainment industries. He also works on a range of reputation management and sports industry matters. John is a Band 1 ranked lawyer in the 2023 edition of Chambers & Partners UK edition, who have referred to John as “a consummate media lawyer, best known for his representation of artists, estates and celebrities in all manner of commercial and privacy disputes”.
Jeremy is a consultant within Lewis Silkin’s Media & Entertainment team. He has wide-ranging IP expertise on both contentious and non-contentious matters across a number of sectors, with a particular focus on sports, music, sponsorship, theatre, major events and computer games. His experience includes working in-house on the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, acting for a sponsor of a leading Formula 1 team, and advising on all legal matters relating to a globally-renowned hit Australian musical. Over the course of his more than twenty-year career, he has advised on more than US$1bn in sponsorship deals for some of the world’s most renowned brands and organisations. Jeremy sits on the steering committee of the Henley Business School MBA for Music and the Creative Industries. Jeremy is dual qualified in New South Wales, Australia and England and Wales.