<b>Practice Notes: </b>Reality TV Shows Give Lawyers New Client Base

After the first season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta ended in 2008, four of the Bravo show's stars said they wanted to be paid more for the second season. To handle the negotiations, the women tapped Los Angeles-based Darrell Miller, a partner in Fox Rothschild. Miller, now a co-chair of the firm's sports and entertainment group, says he was able to hammer out new contracts for the second season that increased his clients' salaries and gave them greater flexibility to capitalize on personal appearances, as well as licensing and product promotion opportunities.

The rise of reality TV may have hurt the market for writers and actors, but it has provided an additional income stream for a select group of entertainment attorneys. One reason: union rules governing wages, breaks and time worked don't apply to reality shows. As a result, media companies can hire people who are happy, at least initially, to be on TV for little pay.

“With reality programming, you don't have the protection and norms that the guilds have created,” says Darin Frank, an Eisner Frank & Kahan partner, chair of the Beverly Hills firm's entertainment department, and attorney who has represented the producers of MTV's Jersey Shore and the stars of The History Channel's Pawn Stars.

“I have seen deals where talent was being paid as little as $2,000 for an entire season,” Miller says. “I have to start out behind the eight ball when people have negotiated a bad deal because they signed whatever was put in front of them, or they were inadequately represented. But if a show is a big ratings hit, it is hard for [the network and producers] to argue that the people responsible for those ratings shouldn't get more money.”

Miller built his entertainment practice representing traditional celebrities like actress Angela Bassett and rapper/actor Chris “Ludacris” Bridges. Now, negotiating reality TV deals for, among others, contestants on NBC's The Apprentice and The Biggest Loser as well as ABC's The Bachelor, accounts for 15% of his practice. (Five years ago, he says, it represented about 5%.) While Miller won't say how much these deals are worth, the Atlanta housewives reportedly made between $10,000 and $30,000 per episode on last fall's third season. More money for his clients means more money for Miller, whose fee is a percentage of a deal's total value.

Though demands for more money or greater creative control have become a rite of passage for reality TV stars and their lawyers, networks do push back with attorneys of their own. In October, Williams & Connolly represented Discovery Communications Inc. in a $3 million suit against two stars of Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch who had allegedly balked at taking part in a spin-off. (The parties eventually settled.) The firm previously brought suit on Discovery's behalf against reality star Jon Gosselin, formerly of TLC's Jon & Kate Plus 8, for allegedly breaching his contractual obligations by appearing on other shows and revealing information about the show. Gosselin countersued and the case settled. With Jon and Kate splitting up, the show returned to TLC last year as Kate Plus 8 ' proving that even in reality TV, the show must go on.

After the first season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta ended in 2008, four of the Bravo show's stars said they wanted to be paid more for the second season. To handle the negotiations, the women tapped Los Angeles-based Darrell Miller, a partner in Fox Rothschild. Miller, now a co-chair of the firm's sports and entertainment group, says he was able to hammer out new contracts for the second season that increased his clients' salaries and gave them greater flexibility to capitalize on personal appearances, as well as licensing and product promotion opportunities.

The rise of reality TV may have hurt the market for writers and actors, but it has provided an additional income stream for a select group of entertainment attorneys. One reason: union rules governing wages, breaks and time worked don't apply to reality shows. As a result, media companies can hire people who are happy, at least initially, to be on TV for little pay.

“With reality programming, you don't have the protection and norms that the guilds have created,” says Darin Frank, an Eisner Frank & Kahan partner, chair of the Beverly Hills firm's entertainment department, and attorney who has represented the producers of MTV's Jersey Shore and the stars of The History Channel's Pawn Stars.

“I have seen deals where talent was being paid as little as $2,000 for an entire season,” Miller says. “I have to start out behind the eight ball when people have negotiated a bad deal because they signed whatever was put in front of them, or they were inadequately represented. But if a show is a big ratings hit, it is hard for [the network and producers] to argue that the people responsible for those ratings shouldn't get more money.”

Miller built his entertainment practice representing traditional celebrities like actress Angela Bassett and rapper/actor Chris “Ludacris” Bridges. Now, negotiating reality TV deals for, among others, contestants on NBC's The Apprentice and The Biggest Loser as well as ABC's The Bachelor, accounts for 15% of his practice. (Five years ago, he says, it represented about 5%.) While Miller won't say how much these deals are worth, the Atlanta housewives reportedly made between $10,000 and $30,000 per episode on last fall's third season. More money for his clients means more money for Miller, whose fee is a percentage of a deal's total value.

Though demands for more money or greater creative control have become a rite of passage for reality TV stars and their lawyers, networks do push back with attorneys of their own. In October, Williams & Connolly represented Discovery Communications Inc. in a $3 million suit against two stars of Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch who had allegedly balked at taking part in a spin-off. (The parties eventually settled.) The firm previously brought suit on Discovery's behalf against reality star Jon Gosselin, formerly of TLC's Jon & Kate Plus 8, for allegedly breaching his contractual obligations by appearing on other shows and revealing information about the show. Gosselin countersued and the case settled. With Jon and Kate splitting up, the show returned to TLC last year as Kate Plus 8 ' proving that even in reality TV, the show must go on.