Vacancy – Commercial Music Lawyer New Artist Team

We are looking for a 2-4 PQE lawyer to join our commercial music team, in the new artist department.

The work will entail the drafting and negotiation of: recording agreements; publishing agreements; management agreements; producer agreements; featured artist and other contributor agreements; and general music work, predominantly acting for new and emerging or established talent and also entrepreneurs and entertainment businesses.

The new artist team provide legal and commercial advice to the best talent and entrepreneurs in the entertainment business.  The new artist team’s clients are regularly winning awards, and 4 of the 5 “New Artist” nominees at this year’s Brit Awards were Russells’ clients. We are exceptionally proud of our clients and dedicated to the work that we do for them.  We are seeking a dedicated lawyer with strong drafting skills and broad commercial and legal knowledge to work across several partners’ and associates’ clients, predominantly working with talent.  We require a demonstrable history of work in the music industry or, for an exceptional candidate, a demonstrable passion to use legal skills already honed from another industry to provide legal and commercial support to new and established talent.

If you are interested in being considered for this position, please send your CV to Simon Jordan by email to: simon.jordan@russells.co.uk.

Vacancy – Corporate Senior Associate

We are seeking an experienced Corporate Lawyer (5+ PQE) to join our growing corporate team.

In this exciting role you will join the corporate team, playing a key part in advising a broad range of clients on a variety of corporate transactions, including artist catalogue sales and purchases, company sales and purchases and private equity, investment and venture capital deals.

The work will service clients within the music, media, entertainment, technology, TV, film, theatre and book industries.

You will either lead or be closely involved in all stages of the deal process, from initial client meetings to transaction execution. You will deal directly with clients and be responsible for your own transactions in many instances.

The ideal candidate:

  • Will be a qualified lawyer with 5+ years’ PQE in corporate transactions, gained in a leading law firm.
  • A background of working with clients in the media and entertainment sectors is preferred, but not essential.

This is an exceptional opportunity to work on high profile transactions within the media and entertainment sectors, alongside Partners and Associates regarded as leaders within these areas.

If you are interested in being considered for this position, please send your CV to Joanne Cocozza by email to: joanne.cocozza@russells.co.uk.

Russells’ International Women’s Day Breakfast 2025!

BRIT Awards 2025 – Winners

Russells Responds to Government Consultation on Copyright and AI

Click HERE to read the response in full.

Corporate Solicitor Vacancy

We are seeking a Corporate Lawyer (2-5 PQE).

In this exciting role, you will join the corporate team, playing a key part in advising a broad range of clients on a variety of corporate transactions, from mergers and acquisitions to private equity, investment and venture capital deals.

The work will service clients within the music, media, entertainment, technology, TV, film, theatre and book industries.

You will gain exposure to all stages of the deal process, from initial client meetings to transaction execution and post-closing matters. You will deal directly with clients and be responsible for your own files in many instances.

The ideal candidate:

  • Will be a qualified lawyer with 2-5 years’ PQE in corporate law, gained in a leading law firm.
  • A background of working with clients in the media and entertainment sectors is preferred, but not essential.

This is an exceptional opportunity to work on high profile transactions within the media and entertainment sectors, alongside Partners and Associates regarded as leaders within these areas.

If you are interested in being considered for this position, please send your CV to Joanne Cocozza by email to: joanne.cocozza@russells.co.uk.

Vacation Scheme Placement 2025

In July 2025 Russells will welcome four participants to take part in a week-long programme to experience life as a Russells’ lawyer.

The Vacation Scheme is an idea which originated from the Diversity and Inclusion Committee.  As such, there is an emphasis on seeking out aspiring solicitors from all backgrounds.  The long-term vision is to see suitable participants of the Vacation Scheme recruited into paralegal and training contract roles and, beyond that, to become future Partners.  This has already resulted in two of our 2023 and one of our 2024 intake being offered positions within the firm!

The successful applicants will experience life in two departments across Music, Commercial, Corporate and Litigation; one “seat” will have a litigation focus and the other a commercial focus.  In addition to experiencing work inside a busy media and entertainment firm, there will be opportunities for learning and developments as part of our “masterclass” workshops and for social activities with the other participants and the wider firm.

The placement will take place at our offices during the week commencing 14 July 2025 and each participant will receive £427.35 for the week.

Application Process

Please apply by downloading and completing the application form and send that to us together with a copy of your CV for the attention of Joanne Cocozza:  joanne.cocozza@russells.co.uk.  You can find a link to the application form here.  The deadline for applications for the 2025 placement is 11 April 2025.  All applications will be reviewed once the deadline has passed.

Please note we do not accept CVs, covering letters or applications sent by post.  Only information on the application form will be considered.  If your initial application is successful, you’ll be invited to undertake an interview which will take place over a video-conferencing facility.

We do recommend that applicants are in either the penultimate or final year of a degree or currently undertaking (or have completed) the GDL or LPC/SQE, but if you don’t meet those criteria and there are circumstances as to why we should consider you, there’s an opportunity for you to include this information in your application.

Grammy Awards 2025 – Winners!

We would like to send our huge congratulations to the following individuals on their wins at this year’s Grammy Awards:

  • AoD for his work on Shakira’s album “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran”;
  • Cadenza for his work on Beyonce’s album “Cowboy Carter”;
  • Mark “Spike” Stent for his work on Peter Gabriel’s album i/o”; and
  • Víkingur Ólafsson for his recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations.

See all the winners and nominees at the 2025 GRAMMYs here:

www.grammy.com/news/2025-grammys-nominations-full-winners-nominees-list

Our Corporate Department is Hiring a PA

Personal Assistant to 2 Partners and 3 Associates

Duties include but not limited to:

  • Providing diary management for internal and external meetings, and co-ordination with external clients
  • Amending documents with track changes, creating compares and formatting
  • General secretarial and administrative tasks include: raising invoices, opening and closing files, sending DocuSigns, physical and electronic filing, archiving, photocopying and scanning paper documents
  • Using the document management system to compile and locate documents / emails
  • First point of contact for clients and maintaining client relationships

The Candidate / Requirements:

  • PA / Legal Secretary with at least 2 years’ experience (CILEX course not essential but desirable)
  • Typing speed of 65 wpm
  • Eye for detail with excellent organisation and time-management skills
  • Experience of working with Corporate team
  • Highly professional and effective communication skills both verbal and written
  • General administration skills; Microsoft Office, knowledge of document management systems and digital dictation software

Further Info:

  • Monday to Friday 9.30am–5.30pm
  • Based in Central London offices with one WFH day
  • Private healthcare, interest free season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme and pension scheme plus other benefits

If you are interested in the position, please send your CV to Tiffany Austin: tiffany.austin@russells.co.uk

Lola Young’s “Messy” Reaches No1!

We are thrilled to congratulate Lola Young who has scored her first ever No1 single with “Messy”.  Lola is one of just two British female artists to reach No.1 in the UK singles chart within the last year with Messy becoming the first No.1 solo single from the youngest British female artist since 2017.

You can watch the video for Messy here:

Video via YouTube: www.youtube.com/lolayoungmessy

BRIT Award 2025 – Nominations

We’d like to extend our huge congratulations to the following artists who have been nominated for this year’s BRIT Awards:

Song of the Year

  • Coldplay – feelslikeimfallinginlove

Best New Artist

  • English Teacher
  • Ezra Collective
  • The Last Dinner Party
  • Rachel Chinouriri

Artist of the Year

  • beabadoobee
  • Rachel Chinouriri
  • Sam Fender

Group of the Year

  • Coldplay
  • Ezra Collective
  • The Last Dinner Party

International Group of the Year

  • Confidence Man

Best Pop Act

  • Lola Young

Best R&B Act

  • Cleo Sol

Best Alternative/Rock Act

  • beabadoobee
  • Ezra Collective
  • The Last Dinner Party
  • Sam Fender

Album of the Year

  • Ezra Collective – Dance, No One’s Watching
  • The Last Dinner Party – Prelude To Ecstasy

The winners will be announced at  London’s O2 Arena on 1 March.

Image and further info: https://brits.co.uk/nominees/

Michael Ball and Alfie Boe Celebrate Fourth Number One Album!

Michael Ball and Alfie Boe Together At Home Number 1 album

We’d like to extend our congratulations to Michael Ball and Alfie Boe who have secured their fourth Official Number 1 album with “Together At Home”.

The duo’s fifth album now adds to their impressive lineup of chart-toppers, which includes 2016’s Together, 2017’s Together Again, and the festive 2020 album Together At Christmas. Their 2019 release, Back Together, reached a peak position of Number 2.

Image and further info: https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/michael-ball-alfie-boe-together-at-home-number-1-album/