Latham Honored in Variety’s 2025 Music Legal Elite

Latham & Watkins has been recognized by Variety in its annual Music Legal Elite list, highlighting the attorneys who negotiate major deals and litigate complex cases shaping the music business. In the 2025 Legal Music Elite, five Copyright Practice partners — Sy Damle, Gabe Fleet, Andy Gass, Alli Stillman, and Joe Wetzel — are acknowledged for their exceptional contributions to the music industry.

Gabe, a partner in the New York office, is noted for co-leading a team that secured a significant victory for the National Association of Broadcasters by negotiating a favorable pre-trial settlement to the Webcasting VI music royalty rate-setting proceeding before the Copyright Royalty Board. Litigation partners Sy Damle, Andy Gass, Alli Stillman, and Joe Wetzel are recognized for defending high-profile clients across a range of headline-making disputes, including generative AI clients Suno and Udio in copyright infringement cases and Spotify in a first-of-its-kind federal lawsuit against the Mechanical Licensing Collective over royalty payouts for bundled music service offerings.

Their work underscores Latham’s leading role in high-stakes matters within the music industry, demonstrating the firm’s strength in delivering results on complex transactions and precedent-setting litigation.