LEGAL MATTERS: COOPER, SCHINDLER & STIFFELMAN

Three renowned attorneys who made their bones during the golden age of the record biz have something relatively new in common decades into their respective legal careers.

Paul Schindler (aka “Hand of the King”) was a named partner at Grubman, Indursky & Schindler back in the day, when artist deals were commanding mind-blowing numbers. Jay Cooper founded Cooper, Epstein & Hurewitz, which was one of hottest law firms in L.A. during the 1970s and ’80s before joining Manatt, Phelps in 1993. He’s also the co-founder of the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers, is a former President of the Recording Academy and is on the board of SoundExchange. And Gary Stiffelman was John Branca’s right-hand man at Ziffren Brittenham for more than two decades, coinciding with one of Branca’s hottest periods.

It’s no coincidence that all three are now part of Joel Katz’s Entertainment & Media Practice at Greenberg Traurig. Cooper is founder of GT’s Los Angeles Entertainment Practice; Schindler is the senior chair of the New York Entertainment and Media Practice; and L.A.-based Stiffelman joined the firm as a shareholder directly from Ziffren Brittenham in 2016. Apart from his legal activities, Stiffelman—who has always had a flair for the real estate business—has co-developed a new Indigo resort not far from the Empire Polo Field, where the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals take place; the sprawling, Highgate-managed desert paradise will open for business in Q4.