Dallas sports and entertainment lawyer Brent Turman has joined Munsch Hardt, the firm announced on Thursday.
Turman said he is thankful for his near-decade at Bell Nunnally, but he has been impressed with what former Houston Texans associate general counsel Sunil Jamal and Munsch Hardt are building with its Sports and Entertainment practice group, which launched last year.
“I’m excited by everything they’re doing,” Turman said in an interview from Nashville, where he presented on music litigation today at the spring meeting for the American Bar Association’s Forum on Entertainment & Sports Industries. “We believe [it] will become the pre-eminent practice group for the sports and entertainment industries in Texas.”
Jamal said Turman, a former chair of the State Bar’s Sports & Entertainment section, brings a “rare combination” of first-chair trial experience and knowledge of the industry.
“His ability to complement our transactional work with strong litigation insight is incredibly valuable, particularly given his experience working with music artists, record labels, professional sports teams, and other industry participants,” said Jamal. “Brent understands both how deals are structured and where they can break down.”
Prior to practicing law, Turman was an associate operations producer for ESPN/ABC College Football. He has also produced a number of short films.
Turman secured a major copyright infringement win last year for the estate of rapper Melvin Noble, Jr. or Mo3. Turman said the result “secured the legacy” of the multi-platinum recording artist.
In another recent high-profile matter, Turman was on the Bell Nunnally team that helped clear Dundon Capital Partners, Tom Dundon, and John Zutter in the $180 million Alliance of American Football bankruptcy case.
Turman said one of his more memorable cases involved representing the Fort Worth elementary school teacher who won a $11.5 million verdict in a Tarrant County jury trial against the publisher of Fifty Shades of Grey for defrauding her share of royalties. The schoolteacher, Jennifer Pedroza, had previously worked for the e-publishing company that first published the erotic novels.
“Jury selection was crazy,” said Turman, noting the content of the series.
Munsch Hardt checked in as the 20th largest firm in Texas by headcount, according to Texas Lawbook 50 reporting this week.