England - London • TMT (technology, media and telecoms)
Russells Solicitors
Russells Solicitors has developed considerable expertise in the film and television space, acting for production companies, individual actors, presenters and other artists. Typical work involves negotiating presenter agreements, option agreements, production and production services agreements, and other commercial contracts, as well as high-profile corporate transactions. Managing partner Simon Esplen and music head Gavin Maude lead the team alongside Steven Tregear, who handles copyright infringement, contractual, and audit claims on the contentious side. The contentious-focused Henry Priestley joined from RPC in December 2022.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Gavin Maude is the best, most holistic and savvy lawyer I have met, but also has strong ethics in the way he goes about his business.'
- 'We've worked with Chris Gossage for two decades. He and his team provide a professional, friendly service which is honest, considerate and strategic. They're tough when they need to be, and the\'re extremely sharp with what's going on in the market.'
- 'The way you can work with any of the partners - Gavin Maude, Chris Gossage, or Simon Esplen - and then they segue to working on the paperwork with the associates such as Roger Edwards is great. Russells work as a team on so many problems, you feel like you have the entire office and their knowledge helping you with any problem.'
Key clients
- Curve Media Limited
- Mika
- Up the Game
- Stock Aitken Waterman
- Portobello Productions
- Tyburn Film Productions Ltd
- The Estate of George Michael
- SB.TV
- DJ Target / Rinse FM / DJ Geeneus
Work highlights
- Acting for Curve Media and its shareholders (including the BBC) on its high-profile sale to Night Train Media.
- Advising Andrew Ridgeley and the Estate of George Michael on the forthcoming documentary about Wham! This included negotiating contracts and advising on IP licensing issues.
- Representing Portobello Production in a dispute over its agreement with SunnyMarch Ltd to create a film of the Roald Dahl book Danny the Champion of the World.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Simon Esplen, Gavin Maude, Steven Tregear