Renowned Hollywood Lawyer Marty Singer ’77 Returns to Brooklyn Law School for Special Event
A profile in The New York Times referred to him as “guard dog to the stars (legally speaking)”and a recent Vanity Fair article described him as “the bane of studio chiefs and tabloid editors” and a “rabid defender of stars in trouble.” Marty Singer ’77, known as the go-to lawyer for many of Hollywood’s biggest names, returned to the Law School Oct. 23 to dish out career advice and share with students, alumni, and faculty fascinating stories about his work representing the who’s who of the entertainment elite in high-profile, high-stakes litigation.
Dean Nick Allard conducted a Q&A with Singer that focused on his unusual career path.
Singer admitted that he had no desire to become a lawyer when he entered City College of New York in 1970. Excelling in math and science, he was an engineering student who considered a career in medicine, but ruled it out because he could not stand the sight of blood or the thought of consoling families dealing with loss. Singer ultimately pursued political science, which led him to an interest in studying law and to Brooklyn Law School, where he said he received a top-notch education and preparation for career success.
“They really teach you pragmatically how to deal with issues,” he said. “And they [have] great professors to deal with real life—not just looking at a case book. They literally taught me how to reason.”
Singer captivated the audience with tales of headline-grabbing cases for high-profile clients. He said his first big entertainment-related case came in 1982, when he handled a matter for comedian Richard Pryor that made national headlines. Pryor had attempted suicide after learning his longtime manager had stolen millions from him. Applying a rarely used New York law to void the manager’s contract, Singer and his partner recovered the money. From that case, Singer’s reputation for success among the entertainment community only grew.
A founding member of Lavely & Singer, a world premier entertainment litigation firm representing A-list celebrities against the tabloids and other media and internet outlets, as well as in a broad range of entertainment industry disputes, Singer has represented numerous Fortune 500 and Forbes 400 clients and is most well-known for representing actors, recording artists, writers, directors, and athletes in lawsuits as high profile as they are high stakes. He has been widely recognized for his work and has received numerous accolades and honors, including most recently being named to The Hollywood Reporter Power Lawyers 2017 list.
He advised students in the audience that they should not dwell on having the perfect job their first year out of school. “Develop good skills as a lawyer, and ultimately you can get a different job in a different field,” he said. “Don’t get down if you don’t get the job you want your first year…there’s nothing wrong with getting a job in a field that you don’t like—as long as you get a job. The reason is that you’re going to be much more marketable.”
Singer last visited the Law School in 2012, when he delivered the Media & Society Lecture, covering some of his high-profile celebrity matters at the time, including Charlie Sheen’s “Two and a Half Men” lawsuit and “Sopranos” star James Gandolfini’s lawsuit against HBO.
The Oct. 23 event was cosponsored by the Brooklyn Law School Entertainment and Sports Law Society.