England - London • TMT (technology, media and telecoms)
Russells Solicitors
Russells Solicitors has a notable offering in both the theatre and publishing sectors, with a client roster that includes individual writers, celebrities looking to negotiate book deals, household name theatre companies and producers, traditional publishers and talent management agencies. Senior associate and IP expert Sebastian Davey is an essential contact in the team, handling brand partnerships, merchandising and sponsorship matters, and the marketing and exploitation of digital content. Litigation head Steven Tregear comes recommended for defending copyright infringement, contractual and audit claims.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Russells have a lot of strength in depth. I've worked with four of their partners and a similar number of associates and always feel confident that their knowledge, understanding and effort will be first class.'
- 'Russells contains an extremely specialised and skilful senior team that is aware of everything from daily boiler-plate contract issues right the way up to complex corporate affairs and rights management. We've been working with Russells for over 20 years and would rate them highly for anyone seeking exquisite counsel in the music and entertainment space.'
- 'Russells are the best lawyers we have worked with, they are easily contactable and quick to react. The team are very up to date with new laws/issues etc and the associates support the partners incredibly well.
- 'They have a very diverse and strong client base and attract a considerable amount of new talent as their reputation and client roster is compelling. In recent years they have been very early on new deals, they have researchers that scour the internet for potential talent, I am not aware of other firms that do this.'
- 'They keep very much abreast and ahead of innovations and challenges that the music industry faces, and give up to date and constructive advice.'
Key clients
- The Estate of Wilbur Smith
- Trevor Horn
- Petronella Ravenshear
Work highlights
- Advising the estate of novelist Wilbur Smith on all literary publishing matters, including ongoing arrangements with his publisher Zaffre.
- Representing Trevor Horn on his book deal with Nine Eight Books for the publication of his memoire "Adventures in Modern Recording: From ABC to ZTT".
- Acting for Petronella Ravenshear on her book deal with HarperCollins for "The HBD Cookbook", which was released in January 2023.
Lawyers
Rising stars
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Simon Esplen, Gavin Maude, Steven Tregear