Rankings: MVPs of the Year

Law360’s MVPs of the Year recognizes the five attorneys who had extraordinary wins and contributed most to their practice area in the past year. The series showcases standout attorneys across the practice areas and industries covered by Law360.
  • November 20, 2024

    MVP: Cravath's Wes Earnhardt

    Wes Earnhardt of Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP's litigation department has represented high-powered media companies such as Walt Disney and Starz Entertainment and successfully argued before the Supreme Court for extended copyright damages, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • November 19, 2024

    MVP: Dentons' Natalie Spears

    Dentons partner Natalie Spears recently led legal teams that defeated a defamation suit brought by a securities lawyer against Dow Jones & Co. and one of its longtime reporters, successfully defended Netflix and one of its directors in a defamation suit involving the acclaimed series "When They See Us," and helped NBCUniversal and its MSNBC anchors beat a defamation case over a Jan. 6-related news story, earning her a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • November 18, 2024

    MVP: Davis Wright's Rachel Strom

    Rachel Strom of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP has been busy this past year making sure a documentary about Wendy Williams would air and successfully representing ABC in a copyright challenge against its popular show "Abbott Elementary," earning her a spot among Law360's 2024 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • October 18, 2024

    Law360 MVP Awards Go To Top Attys From 74 Firms

    The attorneys chosen as Law360's 2024 MVPs have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.

  • October 20, 2023

    MVPs: Susman's Davida Brook and Stephen Shackelford Jr.

    Davida Brook and Stephen Shackelford Jr. of Susman Godfrey LLP represented Dominion Voting Systems in its pursuit of defamation claims against Fox News and helped secure a $787.5 million settlement of those claims, cementing themselves a spot among Law360's 2023 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • October 19, 2023

    MVP: Kirkland's Seth Traxler

    Seth Traxler of Kirkland & Ellis' media and entertainment transactions practice counseled asset managers to acquire pop stars' music catalogs and facilitated a partnership between a technology company and the NBA in efforts to help everyone feel like they're sitting courtside, earning him a spot among Law360's 2023 media and entertainment MVPs.

  • October 18, 2023

    MVP: Greenberg Traurig's Michael J. Grygiel

    Michael Grygiel of Greenberg Traurig's national media and entertainment litigation practice has helped shape First Amendment case law concerning opinions expressed over social media and defended newspapers' rights to access crucial information, earning him a spot among Law360's 2023 Media and Entertainment MVPs.

  • October 17, 2023

    MVP: Davis Wright's Nathan Siegel

    Nathan Siegel of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP has wielded his nonfiction storytelling chops in defense of media outlets and docudrama series, including in a defamation case at the Sixth Circuit over coverage of a viral 2019 video showing a high school student and a Native American activist standing face-to-face, earning him a spot among Law360's 2023 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • October 16, 2023

    MVP: Covington's Michael Hill

    Michael Hill of Covington & Burling LLP's commercial and corporate transactional practice coached the National Football League through its multibillion-dollar streaming deal with YouTube, earning him a spot as one of Law360's Media & Entertainment MVPs. 

  • October 01, 2023

    Law360 MVP Awards Go To 171 Attys At 76 Firms

    The attorneys chosen as Law360's 2023 MVPs have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.

  • September 22, 2022

    MVP: Williams & Connolly's Thomas Hentoff

    Thomas Hentoff is Williams & Connolly LLP's co-chairman of its First Amendment and media and copyright practice groups, and his work representing Lynn Goldsmith in a copyright infringement case over a 1980s photo she took of Prince, which will hear argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in October, is only one representative case he's worked on that makes him one of Law360's 2022 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • September 21, 2022

    MVP: Greenberg Traurig's Mathew S. Rosengart

    Greenberg Traurig's Mathew Rosengart helped free Britney Spears from a conservatorship led by her father — deemed an "abusive" arrangement by the pop icon — that controlled her life for 13 years, earning him a spot among Law360's 2022 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • September 20, 2022

    MVP: Gibson Dunn's Orin Snyder

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP partner Orin Snyder has guided entertainment giants like AMC Networks Inc. through multimillion-dollar litigation, including helping AMC come out on top of a profit participation suit lodged by producers of the hit show "The Walking Dead," earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2022 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • September 19, 2022

    MVP: Davis Wright's Rachel Strom

    Rachel Strom of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP has spent the past year representing media organizations like Vice, which faced defamation claims from a company that detects gunshots, and Netflix, which was sued by Alan Dershowitz over its Jeffrey Epstein biography, earning her a spot among Law360's 2022 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • September 16, 2022

    MVP: Ballard Spahr's David L. Axelrod

    David Axelrod of Ballard Spahr LLP helped The New York Times beat Sarah Palin's libel suit, and he's since taken on another high-profile defamation case involving Amber Heard, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • September 02, 2022

    Law360 MVP Awards Go To 188 Attys From 78 Firms

    The attorneys chosen as Law360's 2022 MVPs have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.

  • September 30, 2021

    MVP: Williams & Connolly's Thomas G. Hentoff

    Over the past year, Williams & Connolly LLP partner Thomas G. Hentoff secured dismissals of two high-profile federal lawsuits against The Washington Post and an appellate victory in famed photographer Lynn Goldsmith's copyright claims against the Andy Warhol Foundation, landing him among Law360's 2021 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • September 29, 2021

    MVP: Winston & Strawn's Michael Elkin

    Michael Elkin of Winston & Strawn LLP notched a big win for PepsiCo Inc. in a suit alleging it stole the idea for a 2016 Super Bowl commercial and defended online archive Wolfgang's Vault against some of the largest music publishers in the world, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • September 28, 2021

    MVP: Weil's Benjamin E. Marks

    Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP partner Benjamin E. Marks was on the team representing Getty Images that beat back infringement claims from prolific copyright litigator Richard Liebowitz, and he also notched notable wins for Pandora Media and Sirius XM, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • September 27, 2021

    MVP: Davis Wright's Ambika Kumar

    Ambika Kumar of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP helped TikTok creators win their bid to block the Trump administration's ban on the app, helping earn her a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • September 24, 2021

    MVP: Mayer Brown's A. John P. Mancini

    A. John P. Mancini of Mayer Brown LLP secured the reversal of hiked streaming royalty rates on behalf of Spotify and won a quick dismissal of a sprawling antitrust suit against the music streaming industry, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • August 30, 2021

    Law360 MVP Awards Go To 182 Attys From 77 Firms

    The elite slate of attorneys chosen as Law360's 2021 MVPs have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.

  • October 16, 2020

    MVP: O'Melveny's Daniel Petrocelli

    Dan Petrocelli of O'Melveny & Myers LLP led the team representing Twentieth Century Fox in litigation against Netflix over the streaming giant's "brazen campaign" to recruit Fox executives, and won the dismissal of all claims in half-billion-dollar multidistrict litigation against renowned boxer Manny Pacquiao, earning him a spot among Law360's 2020 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • October 15, 2020

    MVP: Munger Tolles' Rose Leda Ehler

    Rose Leda Ehler of Munger Tolles & Olson LLP secured a $62.4 million damages award on behalf of major movie studios against VidAngel Inc. for infringing hundreds of copyrights, earning her a spot as one of Law360's 2020 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • October 14, 2020

    MVP: Gibson Dunn's Scott Edelman

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP's Scott Edelman has spent the year notching major court victories for entertainment industry giants, including a sweeping win for AMC in litigation involving producers for the network's hit show "The Walking Dead," landing him a spot among Law360's 2020 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

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