NASHVILLe ENTERTAINMENT lawyer & music attorney helping Nashville area entertainers and creators of music, film, television, live entertainment, and digital media

As the managing entertainment and music lawyer of a boutique law firm, my fees are based on the value I bring and the time we spend working for you. You'll pay either a minimum flat fee or an hourly fee, or a small percentage of the money you earn as a result of the work I do for you on your music or entertainment related issues. I try to charge flat fees for as many things as possible to be transparent about pricing and provide a greater value to you. When I can't do flat fees, I charge an hourly fee of $265.00 per hour. Flat fees and hourly rates for entertainment and music legal services start at a minimum of one billable hour per month. Specific pricing and costs will be provided after your initial free consultation with me.

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In addition, I charge you for any necessary travel and hotel costs if I or my firm's staff need to travel to serve you. Other costs to consider could include court costs, filing fees, and any other outside expenses charged by others to me or my firm on your behalf. I will get prior approval from you for these costs when possible and try to inform you of them as early as possible.

We understand the financial struggles of creators and entertainers who are just starting out or having difficulties. We attempt to keep our prices and attorney's fees as affordable as possible while still being compensated fairly.

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If you can't afford the minimum flat or hourly fees, we offer payment plans when possible. In addition, a lot of our entertainment and music clients have their legal fees paid for or reimbursed by the label, publisher, etc., that the client's negotiating with as an additional part of their signing advance. Finally, we will in rare occasions take clients on a contingency fee basis, taking instead a small percentage of your earnings from any of your career or business deals or activities we help you with until you can afford to pay the larger amount owed.

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Payment modifications for music and entertainment law clients are assessed on a case by case basis and we'd be happy to discuss options with you if needed.

You might think that you can save money by doing some things yourself instead of hiring a music lawyer or entertainment attorney. Hiring Zach or his firm gives you the knowledge and confidence that you're getting the best expert advice and representation you can from an experienced music and entertainment lawyer, as well as the firm's resources and connections. In addition, the firm carries insurance for your protection.

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If you were to try to handle things yourself, you risk not recognizing costly issues or missing out on opportunities to maximize your music or entertainment earnings potential. In addition, you risk paying much more later on to hire our firm to attempt to correct any errors. It is significantly more affordable to hire us early on than to do it yourself and risk needing to hire us later.

You might think that you need to hire a large entertainment or music law firm to have the best chances for success and protection. After all, bigger is surely better right? The reality is that larger firms will not likely provide you with the best value and are rarely necessary. Not only are larger firms likely to be more expensive and rigid in how much they charge you, but you'll probably notice that they'll be less efficient. Large firms tend to have multiple music or entertainment lawyers unnecessarily doing the same work and aren't as quick to adopt the latest, most efficient technologies, increasing your costs. In addition, in our experience listening to former clients of larger firms, you'll likely be unable to get in touch with your music or entertainment attorney as often and quickly as you want and will ultimately feel like you are just another name or number on their client list.

We're a boutique law firm that is selective about who we work with and the number of music and entertainment clients we take on. While we might be smaller, we do this so that we can give you the personal attention you need, be available when needed, provide custom solutions and prices so that you can afford our services, and provide maximum value to you. In the rare event that you need the resources of a larger firm, Zach has relationships with many other firms that we can partner with to supplement his music or entertainment legal services.

While some music and entertainment attorneys might, Zach does not pitch, shop, or plug unsolicited songs or music, scripts, books, screenplays, or any other creative works to his current or former clients, or to any outside publishers, labels, studios, producers, artists, entertainers, etc. Zach helps music and entertainment clients who already have interest or past success in their industries. If you have interest, offers, or past success, he'd be happy to help you.

While this is not a typical arrangement, it is possible. To do so however requires certain conditions to protect you, Zach, and the firm, including a written conflict of interest waiver.

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Zach is very selective about who he accepts as music or entertainment clients, especially when clients want to have dual representation by him and the firm. Often, because clients don't have an immediate need for both a manager and a music or entertainment lawyer, Zach will start out as one or the other, most often starting out as a client's attorney. Zach will always discuss with you the possibility and any risks of The Fruitful Firm acting as both your legal counsel and your personal manager if you're interested.

While Zach helps entertainers, creators, and entrepreneurs with their music or entertainment careers, businesses, and select personal matters, Zach does not handle criminal legal matters for music and entertainment clients who are accused of a crime. Zach will gladly refer clients who need a criminal defense lawyer to another firm or criminal defense attorney when necessary. Zach will coordinate with his client's outside criminal defense lawyers and assist clients to the extent necessary if their potential criminal exposure also impacts their entertainment or music career or businesses.

Zach named his music and entertainment law firm The Fruitful Firm because "fruitful" is the perfect description of the kind of relationship Zach strives to have with his music and entertainment legal clients, and hopefully clients have with Zach and the firm: an abundantly productive, beneficial, or profitable relationship that produces good results.