Variety 2020 Legal Impact Report

Variety

July 14, 2020

By Jem Aswad, Nick Clement, Todd Longwell, Robert Marich, Geoff Mayfield

Neville L. Johnson

LITIGATORS

Founder partner, Johnson & Johnson

Johnson reps Sylvester Stallone in net-profit disputes over three movies, settling last year for “Demolition Man” with Warner Bros. The Beverly Hills-based attorney also handles a pending class action on artist streaming royalties versus Sony Music. Though his practice tilts to litigation, Johnson also handles transactions for singer Michelle Phillips, William Shatner, teenage personality JoJo Siwa and rights-holders for the Buck Rogers property. Whenever new distribution media arrives, Hollywood talent invariably gets short-changed, says Johnson, an adjunct professor at Southwestern Law School since 2012. “Underpayment is a given in the industry, which is why my law firm will never suffer for lack of work.”