L.A. Law: A Who’s Who of Celebrity Attorneys
The results also work out, in the lawyer’s case, with great word-of-mouth advertising and marquee value in the right circles – and that’s success you can deposit at the bank.
LOUIS “SKIP” MILLER
SPECIALTY: Litigation and Trial
FIRM: Miller Barondess, LLP
STAR CLIENT: Guns N’ Roses’ Axl Rose.
THE BRIEF: When former GNR manager and current Live Nation Entertainment chairman Irving Azoff sued Axl Rose and the band for $1.8 million in fees he said he was owed, no one expected the frontman to turn the other cheek. And on May 17, Axl slapped Irving right back with a $5 million countersuit filed by Miller. Still, despite the pointed accusations of “false promises,” and claims that Azoff, who also represents superstars like the Eagles and Van Halen as well as running the recently merged promotion and ticket giant, was consolidating his industry power and forcing a GNR reunion, it would be easy to cite this battle as at best a music biz Gallipoli. However, with Miller’s success rate, including a past bout with Azoff on behalf of former Eagles guitarist Don Felder, and tenacity, it might be more truthful to characterize the countersuit as Ali vs. Foreman in their Rumble in Jungle … and we know who won that one. So, Irving, to quote GNR’s signature tune, welcome to the jungle.
OTHER CELEB CLIENTS: Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Mötley Crüe, Rod Stewart, Elton John, Sean Connery and Bob Dylan.
STRATEGY: “Skip is the guy you use,” a music industry insider admiringly told TheWrap, “when you want the label or the other side to know you’re not f—— around.” With over 100 trial cases notched on his guitar neck over 35 years at the bar, the lawyer, who prefers to let the media come to him as opposed to the other way round, says his reputation, in and out of the rock’n’roll world, is based on attitude. “For me,” Miller told TheWrap, “it’s all about taking care of the client and that’s how I’ve grown my business over the years.” Part of that care is the bottom line, literally and figuratively. “When I start a case,” notes Miller, “I look at the end game and I try to get there as quickly and cost effectively as I can for my clients … that’s what I do and I love it.”