Fox Rothschild congratulates Entertainment & Sports Law Partners Kenneth J. Abdo, Cynthia L. Katz, Tim Mandelbaum and Heidy Vaquerano, who were selected to Variety’s 2025 Music Legal Elite list. The coveted report recognizes the “top stars, big deals and complex cases rocking the biz.”

In the past year, the group was instrumental in several high-profile transactions, overseeing more than $2 billion worth of deals. The Fox team represented HarbourView Equity Partners in its $500 million asset-backed debt financing as well as the purchase of 25 music catalogs, including those of T-Pain and George Benson.

Variety also spotlighted the team’s work brokering $uicideboy$’s deal to sell their master and publishing catalogs, assisting Litmus Music in acquiring the full Equal Vision Records catalog and renegotiating “Flowers” co-writer Gregory “Aldae” Hein’s agreement with the Pulse Music Group to include a joint venture that allowed him to sign other writers.

Revenue from music assets often continues after the deal is signed. “In many deals, we have ‘earn-outs,’” Mandelbaum told Variety. “For example, if earnings over three years exceed a certain amount, whether it’s an annual average or something else, the seller gets some additional payment.”