Lommen Abdo heads into
2007 with three new shareholders and three new attorneys
Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King
& Stageberg, P.A. has elected three new shareholders and hired three
additional attorneys, as it expands to serve its clients growing needs. The three new shareholders are Tim
Matson, entertainment and intellectual property law; Valerie Sims, litigation;
and Deb Swenson, bankruptcy litigation. The new hires include Paul Bezilla, entertainment and
intellectual property law; Brett Clark, litigation; and Bryan Feldhaus,
entertainment and business-related
law and litigation.
The three new shareholders
have varied practices:
Tim
Matson
Tim
Matson practices in the areas of entertainment law, commercial litigation,
intellectual property and corporate law.
His clients include individuals, small and mid-sized businesses,
musicians and entertainers. Tim served
as Chair of the Minnesota State Bar Association Arts & Entertainment Law
Section in 2003-04. He has authored articles on entertainment issues for the
Minnesota State Bar Association Arts & Entertainment Law Section and the
Minnesota Music Academy. Tim has
been selected as a “Rising Star” by Minnesota Law & Politics. He is AV-rated by Martindale
Hubbell. Contact Tim at tim@lommen.com or 612-336-9331.
Valerie
Sims
Valerie
Sims practices in the area of litigation, with an emphasis on class actions,
construction litigation and insurance defense matters. Valerie litigates cases involving
personal injury, employment disputes, manufactured housing communities,
antitrust, property damage, and other claims involving homeowners, businesses,
and professional liability. She
has been selected as a “Rising Star” in the area of litigation by Minnesota
Law & Politics. Valerie also maintains a strong commitment to pro bono
work by assisting low income housing residents and litigating landlord tenant
disputes. Contact Valerie at valerie@lommen.com or 612-336-9318.
Deb Swenson
Deb
Swenson’s practice is focused in the areas of commercial litigation and
representation of creditors and Trustees in bankruptcy. Her clients include
Fortune 500 companies involved in the transportation and staffing industries.
She works with her clients in the nationwide recovery of accounts receivables,
bankruptcy motion practice and defense of adversary proceedings, including
preference actions, and other business litigation. Deb works as primary counsel with a network of local counsel
throughout the United States in virtually all state and federal courts. Contact Deb at debs@lommen.com or 612-336-9351.
The newest members to join
the firm include:
Paul Bezilla
Paul
Bezilla’s illustrious 25-plus years in the entertainment industry includes legal services for an array of high profile
individuals and companies, including Frank Sinatra, Cher, Quincy Jones, Warner
Bros. Records, The Walt Disney Company, PolyGram Music Publishing and K-tel
Records. Bezilla joins Lommen Abdo
to work in its music, film, television and other entertainment areas, focusing
on intellectual property (IP) issues, from contracts to copyright, technology
and software, to publishing, licensing and other areas. A native of the region, he was born in
Chicago, raised in northeastern Iowa and attended the University of Iowa law
school. Paul moved to the Twin
Cities four years ago as legal counsel for American Express in its technology
and intellectual property group.
Contact Paul at: paul@lommen.com;
612-336-9344.
Brett Clark
Brett Clark, a 2006 St.
Thomas graduate and Montana native, was a member of St. Thomas’s National Moot
Court team and won two Dean’s Awards, one in Appellate Advocacy and one in
International Law. He’ll apply his
skills at Lommen Abdo as a litigation associate.
Contact Brett at brett@lommen.com; 612-336-9308.
Bryan Feldhaus
Bryan Feldhaus, a 2006 St.
Thomas graduate and Nebraska native, combined public service and academic
success, participating in student government, community service and moot
court. He received the Dean’s
Award for Advanced Trial Advocacy.
He will work in the areas of litigation, entertainment law and business
at Lommen Abdo. Contact Bryan at bryan@lommen.com; 612-336-4389.
2006 Super Lawyers
Lommen Nelson has eight Super
Lawyers this year! Phil Cole was
selected as one of the Top 100 Super Lawyers and one of the Top 40 Business
Litigation. Our other Super
Lawyers were Bob Abdo, Bob King, Roger Stageberg, Kay Nord Hunt, Keith Broady,
Ken Abdo, Dan Satorius and Reid Lindquist. All eight of our Super Lawyers were highlighted in the
August editions of Minnesota Law & Politics, Twin Cities Business
Monthly and MPLS.ST.PAUL magazines. Only the top 5% of Minnesota lawyers receive this
distinction. 2006 is the 15th
year Law & Politics has been publishing Super Lawyers in Minnesota.
Lommen Abdo Is ABA Forum
Sponsor
Lommen Abdo was one of the
sponsors of the ABA's October Annual Meeting of the Forum On Entertainment
& Sports Industries in Los Angeles.
The Forum on the Entertainment & Sports Industries Governing Committee
had 19 panels covering a vast scope of absorbing topics in music, film,
television, sports, interactive media and new technologies, litigation,
merchandising and licensing, theater and performing arts, visual arts and
ethics. Ken Abdo moderated a panel:
Entertainment Law Ethics: Codes,
Cases, and Conscience. Topics
included multi-jurisdictional practice, conflicts of interest or
non-traditional activities (shopping creative material, lawyer as manager or
agent).
Dan Satorius Article
Selected for Publication
Dan Satorius’s article, “From
Book to Screen: Mining Literary
Works in the Movie Business,” has been selected for publication in the March
2007 issue of Best of ABA Sections, a special issue of the General
Practice, Solo and Small Firm Division's magazine, GPSolo. The magazine has a circulation of
30,000. This is the first time an
article has been selected from the Entertainment and Sports Lawyer, the
publication of the Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries. Dan is on the editorial board for the Entertainment
and Sports Lawyer.
Ken Abdo, Contributing
Author
Ken Abdo is one of six
contributing authors of the casebook “Law and Business of the Entertainment
Industries, Fifth Edition” (published by Praeger). The book provides contract templates covering book
publishing, recording contracts, actor agreements, video game agreements, and
internet agreements, among others.
Grammys on the Hill
Ken Abdo attended Grammys on
the Hill on the Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on September 6, 2006. The event was presented by The Advocacy
& Government Relations section of the National Academy of Recording Arts
& Sciences/The Recording Academy®, (presenter of the Grammy® Awards). Ken is Chairman of the Entertainment
Law Initiative, which is the music/lawyer wing of the Recording Academy®. The event plays a key role in educating
Congress about the importance of recorded music in our society and will discuss
music copyright laws.
Four Lommen Abdo Lawyers
Listed Among Best Lawyers
Four Lommen Abdo Attorneys
are listed among the Minnesota Best Lawyers in their areas by The Best Lawyers
in America: Phil Cole, both legal
malpractice law and personal injury litigation; Kay Nord Hunt, appellate law;
Bob King, personal injury; and Roger Stageberg, corporate. Best Lawyers in America is the oldest
lawyer-rating publication in the U.S., and is widely recognized as the gold
standard for accuracy and integrity.
Sweet Land nominated for
Two Spirit Awards
The movie Sweet Land,
produced by Lommen Abdo client, Ali Selim, has been nominated for two 2007
Independent Spirit Awards:
• Best
First Feature – Ali Selim, Jim Bigham & Alan Cumming, Producers
• Best
Female Lead – Elizabeth Reaser
The ceremony will be held on
February 24, 2007. To read more
about the nominations, go to: http://filmindependent.org/spiritawards/nominees/nominees.php
or http://ifc.com/news/article?aId=18328.
