I was practicing entertainment law in my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee when an older (and undoubtedly wiser) man came up to me after a regular meeting I attended and said: “I don’t understand why you are here. Why don’t you go where the work is?” Memphis had had a great run of artist signings in the early to mid 80s — there was a lot of rock and R&B talent being signed to major and independent record deals. But by the ‘90s the buzz on Memphis rock/pop bands had waned and a lot of the R&B talent had or was moving to Atlanta which was fast becoming a recording mecca for that genre of music. I actually had a young R&B trio (my clients) call me from Atlanta one day and tell me they were there for a visit and were not coming back! I assume they came back to get their personal belongings but it was clear that they were going to continue their career in Atlanta – not Memphis.
I was 45 years old when the man came up to me after that meeting. When I was asked why I didn’t go where the work is it was as if a light bulb lit up! The big “DUH!” Suddenly for the first time I related entertainment law to any type of work. For example, if I wanted to build automobiles then it would probably be best if I moved where automobiles are built. So, the way I saw it I had three choices: (1) Expand my practice to areas other than Entertainment Law and stay in Memphis; (2) spend more time (a lot more time) in one or more of the entertainment business centers (then LA, NYC, Nashville and to a lesser degree Atlanta) and stay in Memphis; or (3) relocate to where the work is.
My first boss in entertainment law was Joel Katz, in Atlanta. Joel is my model for the number (2) choice above. In the two years I worked for him it seemed to me he was living in hotels in New York, Los Angeles or Nashville every week. He must have been gone as often as he was in the office if not more. He was (and still is) a great deal maker, rainmaker and relationship person. Because I didn’t feel like I had the personality or skill set to be like Joel, I ruled out number 2. I also ruled out choice 1 because I had never done anything but entertainment law and I wanted to keep doing it. I was already making regular trips to Nashville and over the next couple of years I began to make more trips there and opened a small branch office in a building owned by a client. In 1995 I moved myself, my associate and my assistant to Nashville and opened an office on Music Row. I loved it from day one. Over the next few years I became a part of the industry in Nashville. And for me it definitely turned out to be where the work was and still is.
I am not so foolish as to believe that every lawyer must take my path to be an entertainment lawyer. I didn’t move to Nashville until I had a good client base there. I grew where I was planted and expanded my client base with travel and networking. If you have had a different experience then please let me (and my readers) know about it. I would never insist that my way is the only way!