Joel Katz: ‘I got a phone call that changed my life’

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If you think you need a strategic plan to build your career, think again.

When Joel Katz started a law practice here 43 years ago, the last thing on his mind was representing great musicians.

But after catching a lucky break with the late James Brown, Katz went on to become one of the most well-known entertainment lawyers in the world. He has represented many superstars, including Jimmy Buffett, Julio Iglesias, Ludacris, Willie Nelson and Justin Timberlake, as well as the late Tammy Wynette, Michael Jackson’s estate and the Grammy and Country Music awards.

Katz, 70, has run Greenberg Traurig’s global entertainment and media practice, which is based in Atlanta, since 1998. How he went from sole practitioner to heading up an entertainment practice with 70 lawyers in nine offices had nothing to do with a master plan — and everything to do with hard work and word-of-mouth recommendations.

Q: What was your childhood like?

A: I grew up in Queens as the oldest of four kids. My father was a lawyer who had his own practice. My mother was a trained pharmacist who didn't practice. She was a homemaker.

I started working at 14 years old to save for college. At 16, I started working for a high-end clothing store in Queens. I saw how the salesmen talked to the various customers and learned the value of a customer. I watched how the store built and nurtured its reputation.

I continued to work there on weekends while I went to Hunter College in Manhattan. I had a very undistinguished college career.

Q: Then what did you do?

A: I decided to go to law school. I was a social kid, but not a fabulous student. But I needed a scholarship.

I applied to about 45 law schools. I went crazy.

I did well on the interviews and got a scholarship to the University of North Dakota and the University of Tennessee. It was 1966 and I’d never been farther south than Washington, D.C. I was what you call a very provincial, know-it-all New Yorker.

I decided it was warmer in Tennessee so I went there.

Q: You met a professor who was instrumental in your life. What happened?

A: I needed a job. I got one from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., six days a week, as a clerk at the Holiday Inn. Very few people would check in after 11 p.m., so I could study.

I was a young, stupid freshman taking an introductory contracts course from a former colonel in the army. He had a reputation for being the toughest teacher in the school. He had a rule — 10 minutes after the class began at 9 a.m., he would lock the door. If you were late three times, you would get an automatic “F” for the course.

Naturally, working at the Holiday Inn and staying up all night, I was tardy twice. He berated me in front of the class before letting me take my seat. The third time I was late, he said I could leave because I was going to fail.

I told him that he can give me the F, but I was going to stay. I paid for this course and I was going to learn.

Q: Then what happened?

A: After class, he asked me why I was late three times. I told him it was not relevant and that I accepted his penalty.

But he kept asking why I was late the third time. I eventually told him I was working until 6 a.m. and when I went home I fell asleep. I woke up late, ran to class without showering, but it was too late.

He got real emotional. He said I was not going to get an F. “You want to be a lawyer more than anyone in the class. Why would I give you an F?”

Then he started helping me over the next three years. He made me understand about caring.

I realized that people who you think are tough may not be that tough. They may just be principled. Once you understand their principles, you can deal with them.

Q: After graduating, you worked as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Atlanta for two years before opening your own practice. What happened after you did?

A: I opened my office with no clients.

The first week, there were no calls. The second week, no calls except from my wife. The third week, no calls.

The fourth week, I got a phone call that changed my life.

While I was at HUD, I also became an adjunct professor at Georgia State, teaching an urban law course. I continued to do that when I opened my practice.

One day, the business manager of a local bank who took my course called and said he had a client that would be good for me. He asked, “Do you know anything about entertainment law?”

What do I say? I have no clients, but I don’t want to lie.

So I said, “I’m going to tell you the truth. I don’t know a thing about entertainment law.”

“Good,” he said. “That’s exactly what we want — a lawyer from the south who knows nothing about entertainment law.”

Bonus questions

Q: What happened?

A: I went to the penthouse of the Omni Hotel and met James Brown, who was a superstar in 1971. He was getting his hair done.

A new record company had been created and James told me, “I’m going to be the first artist they sign and we’re going to get an amazing contract.”

We fly to New York to meet them and on the plane James told me what he wanted — $5 million, a jet plane and owning the publishing and records.

I did not know these were loony demands at the time. That’s why he selected me to do this. He was very crafty and very street smart. He knew a New York or L.A. entertainment attorney would never ask for these crazy things.

Q: What happened when you did?

A: They told me I was crazy. But then they reconsidered and we negotiated.

We got use of a plane and less than $5 million, but it was in the millions. That was a lot of money back then. James was amazed.

At the end of the press conference announcing that the record company had just signed James, he said, “I want to thank my lawyer from Atlanta, Joel Katz, who is the best lawyer in the entertainment business and just did one of the best contracts that has ever been done in the business.”

Afterward, he gave me an envelope with $50,000. It was three times more than I had ever made in a year. I’m thinking this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

Q: How did you capitalize on this?

A: I went back to Atlanta. Newspapers around the country started publishing stories about the contract and I started getting calls.

Three days after the press conference, I got a call from Austin, Texas, from a guy wanting to know if I was the “Godfather of Soul’s” lawyer. It was Willie Nelson and he wanted me to represent him. I’m thinking wow!

I went to meet with him and he introduced me in one night to Tammy Wynette, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson. Willie said to them, “This guy is going to be your lawyer.”

Q: What’s the lesson here?

A: I learned that you don't have to be that smart.

But you’ve got to take advantage of your good luck by putting in the time and working harder than anybody else.

Also, you never know what’s going to happen with your life. I didn’t plan anything. One contact led to another and I just kept going. Human beings need help, just like I need help.

Q: You’ve negotiated many contracts. What is one of your key tactics?

A: With any contract, I want to think — what does the other side want?

I list all the things we want on the left-hand side of a sheet of paper and all the things I think they want on the right-hand side.

Then I chart the progress of the negotiations — here is what we asked for and here’s their reply.

At all times, a client can look at that chart and know what’s going on. It’s a great help.

Q: What was the toughest negotiation you ever had?

A: The most important negotiation I ever did in my life was getting (Atlanta music producer) Dallas Austin out of Dubai when he was arrested there in 2006. They said he was carrying a bunch of cocaine, but he wasn't.

I stopped practicing law and spent four months putting together a plan to get him out of there. We had to have a legal strategy and a political strategy.

Our legal strategy was to hire lawyers over there and get the charges down to as few as possible with the lightest possible sentence. We got it down to one charge — possession of a dangerous substance — which had a three-year sentence. He did not bring drugs into the country. There was a trace of a drug on him that set off an airport scanner.

I got political help from a guy named Orrin Hatch, the very conservative U.S. senator from Utah. He’s a songwriter and I represent him. We went to over 25 meetings together. We reached out to a lot of powerful and famous people. I called in a lot of favors.

When we got Dallas out of Dubai on a pardon, it was one of the most emotional experiences in my life.

Q: How did you build your practice over time?

A: I can't say to you that we had a great plan to grow. We didn't.

We wanted to get the best lawyers. After a while, it grew so much in Atlanta that I could get the best people because this was the best place to be if you wanted to practice entertainment law. We had the stars, the big companies, the Grammy and Country Music awards.

Also, every person you meet knows a whole lot of people you don’t know. If you do great work for one person, they’re going to turn you on to others.

Q: What’s your best career advice?

A: James Brown was very patient.

I really believe the rabbit never wins a race. The tortoise wins every single race because he keeps coming.

If you do that, you’re going to get it right eventually.