Players on the Move

The bicoastal entertainment law firm Gray Krauss Sandler Des Rochers was completing a breakup, with its partners spinning off several new firms in the process. Jonathan Gray and David Schwartz, who were respectively partner and of counsel, have started Gray Schwartz, currently a two-man firm, and created a consulting business to provide non-legal services. Gray and Schwartz say there was no animosity in the breakup of the 21-lawyer Gray Krauss. Gray is known for his work in the indie film sphere, while Schwartz focuses on theater, and both attorneys also produce shows and projects. As lawyers, they advise producers, writers, investors and other entertainment industry players. Projects the two of them have worked on recently include the award-winning documentaries American Factory and One Child Nation, picked up by Netflix and Amazon, and the shows The Lightning Thief and A Bronx Tale. It continues to be the case that most revenue for the two lawyers isn't from hourly fees; nearly all of their work as counsel for production companies, for example, is flat fee, and other work, like Gray's deal with his longtime advertising client SpotCo, is built around a monthly fee. Some fees are based on percentages of a client's earnings, which is common in the TV industry, they said, and some work is hourly. Gray and Schwartz continue to share a Chelsea office with their former partner Andre Des Rochers, whose new firm, started with Los Angeles music lawyer Damien Granderson, is called Granderson Des Rochers. Granderson is formerly of another bicoastal firm, Davis Shapiro Lewit Grabel Leven Granderson & Blake, which is now called Davis Shapiro Lewit Grabel & Leven, according to a person who answered the phone there. Former Gray Krauss New York-based partner Joshua Sandler, who represents film, TV, publishing and new media talent, among other clients, has also joined Granderson Des Rochers. Evan Krauss, a former partner representing artists, songwriters and others in negotiations with record companies, joined Eisner in New York, that firm announced in July. … Loeb & Loeb is expanding its Nashville office with the addition of a six-attorney group from Dickinson Wright, led by the latter firm's entertainment law practice chair, Derek Crownover. Crownover, who has been practicing in the music capital since the early 1990s, has officially joined Loeb & Loeb as a partner. Joining with him from Dickinson Wright are senior counsel Cam Caldwell, Robert Kouchoukos, and Noah McPike, and associates Nate Drake and Colleen Kelley. Crownover and his team have served as "outsourced, yet in-house" counsel for publishing companies, producers, independent record labels, media and entertainment entrepreneurs and executives, as well as singers and songwriters. The group's client roster includes Craig Wiseman and his Big Loud entities, Sam Hunt, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, the Estate of Otis Redding Jr., Jason Aldean, and the T.J. Martell Foundation, among others. Dickinson Wright did not respond to a request for comment regarding the legal team's departure. Loeb & Loeb, which opened its Nashville office 25 years ago, has its own roster of famous clients, including Carrie Underwood, Vince Gill, Midland, the Estate of Johnny Cash and the Academy of Country Music. "We've been committed to Nashville for a very long time. It's very integral to our overall picture of what we want to practice," said John Frankenheimer, Los Angeles-based partner and chair of Loeb & Loeb's music industry practice. … The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) in Washington, DC, has named Gina Vetere from Covington & Burling vice president and general counsel of the trade association that puts on the popular Electronic Entertainment Expo, also known as the E3 Expo. "ESA has a remarkable track-record of promoting the innovation and creativity that fuel this dynamic industry and protecting the rights of consumers, developers, artists, and storytellers," Vetere said. Until her new appointment, she was of counsel at Covington from 2013 in Washington, where she helped companies address international trade and regulatory policy priorities, according to her LinkedIn profile. She has also been executive director of international intellectual property at the global intellectual property center at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In addition, Vetere has served as the director of intellectual property and innovation and as a senior policy adviser at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. In May 2019, Stanley Pierre-Louis, who formerly served as ESA general counsel, was named permanent CEO of the association. Pierre-Louis had been serving as the interim CEO since October 2018. … NASCAR Holdings Inc., the U.S. stock car racing promoter based in Daytona Beach, FL, has name Tracey Lesetar-Smith its new general counsel and senior vice president over the organization's legal and public affairs operations. Lesetar-Smith, who joined NASCAR Holdings in October, will replace longtime general counsel Karen Leetzow, who leaves at the end of the year. NASCAR Holdings' legal department has about 20-plus lawyers. Lesetar-Smith spent the past eight years as the first general counsel and vice president of business and legal affairs at Bellator MMA, the mixed martial arts promoter that is a subsidiary of Viacom. While based in Hollywood, CA, Lesetar-Smith also worked with Viacom's Bellator Kickboxing as well as other sports programming for Paramount Network. She worked as an associate with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe from 2007 to 2011. Besides handling the usual sports business and promotional issues, Lesetar-Smith joins NASCAR during several major changes that will bring accompanying legal issues. In May, the organization announced a merger with International Speedway Corp. and its 12 major racetracks. That deal is pending and expected to close this year. Also in May the organization announced a sports betting content partnership with The Action Network to provide editorial content and analysis to NASCAR.com, including recommended picks and value bets, to help NASCAR Holdings prepare for the spread of legal sports betting. The organization also recently agreed to an exclusive deal with Genius Sports, a sports data solutions provider, to develop a NASCAR gaming offering for legal sports books. Leetzow had announced her intention to leave NASCAR's general counsel job last year, but agreed to stay to help with the negotiations and merger, according to the company. … Glen G. Mastroberte has joined Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in the law firm's entertainment group. He focuses his practice on transactional entertainment concerns, primarily handling industry mergers and acquisitions, complex financings and strategic joint-venture arrangements. Mastroberte is based in Los Angeles and previously worked at Latham & Watkins.