A music executive has filed a legal malpractice lawsuit, opens new tab against U.S. law firm Greenberg Traurig and Joel Katz, a former shareholder at the firm and longtime recording industry adviser, accusing them of botching contract negotiations for a job with Warner Music Group.
Michael Flynn, a former music executive for Sony Music’s Epic Records and Universal Music’s Capitol Records, said Katz and current Greenberg Traurig shareholder Duane Sitar “actively used their positions of trust to benefit Warner, themselves, and others” while he was their client.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Fulton County, Georgia, Superior Court, said Katz and Sitar helped Warner “devise a pretext for breaking its promise of employment” to Flynn.
Warner was trying to avoid legal action from a competitor, which stood to lose one of its key executives who wanted to join Warner and work with Flynn, the lawsuit said.
A spokesperson for Greenberg Traurig and Sitar said Flynn’s lawsuit is “an old, previously dismissed claim which we consider meritless and will be contesting.”
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Katz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Flynn separately sued Warner and some of its leaders, opens new tab in Los Angeles County Superior Court in February 2020, accusing them of breaking an oral contract for a senior vice president role that would have paid Flynn $500,000 a year, plus bonuses.
The case settled in January 2023, according to Flynn’s lawyer Elizabeth Graddy, who did not disclose the terms.
An earlier case Flynn brought against Greenberg and Katz in Georgia state court was previously dismissed.
Graddy had no comment on Flynn’s new lawsuit against Greenberg Traurig, Katz and Sitar.
Katz founded Greenberg Traurig’s global entertainment and media practice as well as its Atlanta office. He previously served as the general counsel to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
Deborah Dugan, the Academy’s former president and CEO, accused Katz in a 2020 complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of making inappropriate comments and attempting to kiss her following a dinner. Dugan also alleged the Academy’s board was plagued by conflicts of interest.
Katz “categorically and emphatically” denied Dugan’s allegations through his lawyer at the time. He resigned from Greenberg Traurig in 2021 and joined Barnes & Thornburg as a senior counsel.
A lawyer for Dugan said her claims “were all resolved a couple of years ago, and nothing is ongoing.”
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