New York’s Power Lawyers 2025

All eyes are on Agnifilo and Geragos, who serve as co-defense counsel on the federal racketeering conspiracy case against Sean Combs. Agnifilo is used to high stakes. He has tried more than 200 cases during his 30-year career, and despite the grueling Diddy trial, he and his wife, Karen Friedman, are also representing Luigi Mangione. And while Geragos’ father, Mark, represents Lyle and Erik Menendez, don’t call Teny a nepo baby: Known for her tenacity and strategic acuity when defending individuals facing serious allegations, from sexual misconduct to white-collar crimes, she has also put in plenty of time, first working for famed New York attorney Ben Brafman and co-founding the Agnifilo firm. 

After negotiating the deal for Benj Pasek and Justin Paul to executive produce and compose songs for the film adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, Berlin closed with Disney for the duo to bring The Greatest Showman to the stage in 2026. Client David Cromer is helming the critically acclaimed musical Dead Outlaw, which received seven Tony nominations, while also directing George Clooney in Good Night, and Good Luck, which was recognized with five Tony noms and broke Broadway box office records.

Which television show gets lawyering right — and wrong? “Right: Law & Order. Wrong: Suits.”

Fortnite creator Epic Games turned to Bornstein to fight its own battle royale against Google in October, forcing the tech giant’s hand in distributing alternative apps in its Play Store. He also fought Apple on behalf of Epic, winning a permanent injunction against its anti-steering policies for in-app payments. Next up: a real-life Succession war, with Bornstein serving as trial counsel to three Murdoch siblings over control of the family’s global media business.

This firm sure has range: McNamara serves as lead counsel for 60 Minutes as Trump presses consumer fraud claims against the CBS show’s Kamala Harris interview. Netflix, Disney and NBCUniversal call on Strom to handle sensitive matters, including having a copyright lawsuit against Abbott Elementary thrown out. And Casselman, the go-to for premier theaters from The Public to the Roundabout, serves as counsel to financiers investing millions in 2025’s Broadway season; last year, her clients nabbed 55 Tony noms and 15 wins.

The legal show I’d do a cameo in

MCNAMARA “How could one top Better Call Saul?” 

Cendali and Simmons scored a big win for Epic Games and Take-Two Interactive when they convinced a jury that use of LeBron James tattoos in NBA 2K did not constitute copyright infringement. The pair also scored one for humans when they won the first legal decision ruling that the use of Thomson Reuters content to train Ross Intelligence’s AI was not fair use.

Which TV show gets lawyering right?

CENDALI “I love Legally Blonde — never underestimate women!” 

Serving as counsel to Oprah Winfrey keeps Chamlin neck-deep in contracts: for Harpo Productions specials stemming from her book club selections, her podcast launch and her corporate speaking engagements. Chamlin also negotiated on behalf of Glenn Close for her role in Netflix’s third Knives Out filmand the first Ryan Murphy series for Hulu, All’s Fair, premiering this fall. 

Top creatives lead the clientele here, with Davis repping Lisa Loomer (book writer for two-time Tony nominee Real Women Have Curves) and Cook representing Robert Eggers (Nosferatu) since first reading his script for The Witch in 2014; she also closes deals for director Liz Garbus (Hulu’s Good American Family, Netflix’s Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer). Levites counts Oscar-nominated auteur RaMell Ross (Nickel Boys) as a client, while Jefferson secured for Closer Media its financing of Angelina Jolie’s next feature and Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor’s The History of Sound, which premiered at Cannes.

The legal show I’d do a cameo in

LEVITES “Ally McBeal, for a few spontaneous musical moments while I work.” 

Who could forget seeing Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal re-creating their fake orgasm scene over Hellmann’s mayo in a Super Bowl ad? Grant negotiated that, as well as Robert De Niro’s actor agreement with Netflix. Lonner and Grant handle Broadway projects for Scott Rudin; separately, Lonner is working with Shania Twain on a musical while Rosen reps Elton John vis-à-vis his score for the U.K. production of The Devil Wears Prada.

Which movie gets lawyering right — and wrong?

ROSEN “Chicago, and Chicago.” 

When a company wants to win a fight over reclaimed rights to a work, Hwang is the expert. He’s representing Amazon MGM in a dispute over Road House and counts Sony Pictures and Paramount Global among his clients. “Copyright termination is always interesting … it’s increasingly become a significant part of my practice over the years,” he says.

Which movie gets lawyering wrong? “Getting a witness to admit, ‘You can’t handle the truth!’ ” (A Few Good Men)

After closing Zach Bryan’s epic two deals worth more than $350 million, Jacobs didn’t come up for air. He followed that with a new record contract for Pusha T and a YSL endorsement for Lil Nas X. Client Andrew Wyatt has been busy with many new scores following Barbie and The Last Showgirl. “The only thing I’ve ever truly cared about (other than the Knicks) has been music,” Jacobs says.

Lepera obtained a preliminary injunction for Daryl Hall preventing John Oates from selling their shared assets to a third party. Lepera also won a summary judgment for Dua Lipa and the songwriters behind her hit “Levitating” in a copyright infringement suit, showing that there was no substantial similarity between the songs being contested.

Which movie gets lawyering right? “Presumed Innocent.”

An Oscar shy of an EGOT, Cynthia Erivo has been keeping Mahan “very busy” with several seven-figure movie deals (including Paramount’s Children of Blood & Bone and Lionsgate’s Karoshi); a three-year, first-look movie deal at Universal; and the Tonys hosting gig. He also negotiated Sadie Sink’s Broadway deal for John Proctor Is the Villain (garnering her first Tony nom) as well as Nick Frost’s contract to play Hagrid in the new HBO Harry Potter series.

Which TV show gets lawyering wrong? “They all do: 99 percent of my job is on email, phone or Zoom, which would make a terribly boring show.” 

Nussbaum repped Endeavor in its acquisition by Silver Lake, Skydance in its merger with Paramount and the WWE in its merger with UFC. Spotify has Stillman, a renowned copyright litigator, to thank for securing a win over royalty payouts. And she is also representing Internet Archive in a reported $621 million battle over a copyright infringement suit brought by major record labels against making the digitization of 78 RPM records available to the public.

It doesn’t get more New York than having a client like Pete Davidson, who made that major impulse purchase of the Staten Island Ferry with SNL’s Colin Jost. Sandler negotiated Davidson’s deals to star in Dog Man, to act opposite Eddie Murphy in Amazon MGM’s The Pickup and to appear in a Super Bowl ad with Gordon Ramsay. The attorney also renegotiated Janelle James’ deal with Abbott Elementary and for Dan Amira to become head writer of The Daily Show.

Senior’s expertise in high-value transactions has made her MrBeast’s broker for Prime Video’s Beast Games, which features the largest cash prize in TV history at $10 million. She also was instrumental in closing the deal for Fox’s Extracted, with Sylvester Stallone attached as producer. Most recently, she secured the agreement for Jimmy Fallon’s new NBC series, On Brand, slated to air this fall. 

Rihanna, worth an estimated $1.4 billion, relies on Shapiro to negotiate her deals, from her Dior contract to her music being used in Smurfs (she also voice stars as Smurfette). Other clients include Anitta (he navigated her move to Republic Records), Grimes and Nicki Minaj. He has a healthy practice in electronic dance music artists, as well.

Which TV show gets lawyering wrong? “How to Get Away With Murder stretches credulity with law students solving murders.”

Stein stands at the legal intersection of technology and entertainment, advising Meta on legal issues surrounding AI and augmented reality, including the launch of AR glasses, as well as repping Nintendo against plaintiffs who allege that industry participants conspired to make video games addictive to minors and concealed their impact. She also provides AI counsel for several entertainment companies.

The legal show I’d do a cameo in “Does Veep count?”

Client Rachel Sennott had an exciting year, with the Bottoms star’s comedy pilot picked up to series at HBO, a comedy created with Dan Levy for Netflix and a brand ambassador deal with Balenciaga. Luca Guadagnino will direct — and Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri will star in — rising scribe Nora Garrett’s After the Hunt at Amazon MGM. Client Nisha Ganatra signed to direct Freakier Friday at Disney, while Verma closed Fred Armisen’s deal for Fester, the Wednesday spinoff. And Pulitzer-winning client Eboni Booth is developing a Game of Thrones spinoff for HBO. 

Wolff’s work with the Digital Media Licensing Association is defining issues around copyrights and AI’s encroachment. Her proposed federal NO FAKES Act aims to provide safe harbor for the licensing industry around generated images, which is in keeping with her representation of such major photo agencies as Getty and Alamy in ongoing copyright litigation to protect image rights.