Helen Yu of Yu Leseberg, A Prof Law Corporation Wins in Court of Appeals; Played Key Role in the Multi-Platinum Career of DJ Mustard
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| Paul A. Hebert/Invision/AP |
Recently, the California Court of Appeals issued a decision backing Helen Yu of Yu Leseberg, the former attorney of Dijon McFarlane – better known as DJ Mustard – in a legal battle with his accountants over appropriate fees lawyers charge their clients. The Appellate Court’s findings support what’s still true in America: You get what you pay for. And the best lawyers are well paid and worth their weight in gold.
While the case may seem to focus on entertainment lawyer fees, the case is really about protecting the sacred trust between an attorney and their client.
“Don’t just be in it for money,” DJ Mustard said to Forbes magazine. While he doesn’t mention her by name – much of what he discusses in the article about his start in the industry can be credited back to his legal representation by Helen Yu. This includes all of his most important deals in the music industry, including her handling deals for nearly all of his Billboard hits to date including Tyga, YG, Tinashe, Trey Songz, Kid Ink, Jeremih, Wiz Khalifa, will.i.am., 2Chainz and Roc Nation.
So here’s the skinny: Helen Yu, a veteran Los Angeles entertainment attorney started representing DJ Mustard when he was just a starting out in Los Angeles trying to make it.
Yu is one of the go-to lawyers for recording artists and has handled legal transactions for a who’s who in the industry, including Verdine White of Earth Wind & Fire, T-Boz of TLC, Snoop Dogg, Ty Dolla $ign, David Guetta and members of the Black Eyed Peas. She is a staunch advocate for their intellectual property rights and has won millions for clients, including recovering very valuable copyrights for the heirs of T. Rex front man Marc Bolan.
Yu first started representing Mustard in October 2011 when he was an up-and-coming artist living in a garage in Inglewood. Her services included representing him as a songwriter, producer, recording/performing artist and DJ, as well as helping him get one of the top premier DJ agents in the world. Knowing Mustard was not a wealthy young man and had limited resources, the two agreed to the industry standard of 10% of his gross compensation instead of Yu charging an hourly rate, which Mustard couldn’t afford. With Yu’s guidance and negotiation skills, Mustard’s career began to explode, including a lucrative song deal and a multi-million-dollar music publishing agreement negotiated by Yu.
As the initial lawsuit says, as the deals kept coming, and Mustard’s wealth grew, Yu connected him with the accounting and business management firm of Nigro Karlin Segal Feldstein & Bolno. With the accounting firm’s help, Mustard’s wealth would be well-managed. But at some point, a new accounting representative at the firm was assigned to Mustard’s account, Wallace O. Fortune. Fortune informed Mustard that Yu was over billing and claimed nobody in the industry charged 10%.
According to the lawsuit, this upset Mustard. So, in an attempt to smooth things over with her client, Yu agreed to modify the fee structure, charging just 5% on future deals with an exception: for producer and publishing deals under $30,000, Yu would receive a minimum fee of 10% [see page 9, section 32 of the complaint]. Fast forward to Mustard receiving a small check in the sum of $1869.30 from SoundExchange, which Yu had set up for Mustard. She charged him $186.93 for work on this (within the exception above) but when Fortune’s office contacted Mustard, they told Mustard Yu was overcharging him. Mustard immediately contacted Yu and ended his almost-three-year relationship with her.
So that’s the background on the issue. Shortly thereafter Yu sued Fortune and Nigro Karlin for intentionally and negligently interfering with her attorney-client relationship. Fortune and Nigro Karlin shot back by claiming their actions were protected by their free speech rights under California’s anti-SLAPP law. The motion claimed that the public had an interest in the amount of money an entertainment lawyer charges their client.
But the court disagreed. And so did the California Court of Appeals, where Fortune and Nigro Karlin appealed and lost. California Court of Appeals wrote, “This lawsuit is based entirely upon Defendant’s statement about legal fees Plaintiff charged Mustard. Those fees are not a matter of any interest to the public.”
What the case boils down to is how an accountant wrongfully interfered with a client’s legal representation, when the attorney is key to a successful career; and when the client goes from making zero to earning millions of dollars. Clearly, Yu and Mustard had a good thing.
So where is the case now? With the court of appeal’s decision, the case is back in Los Angeles Superior Court. Despite what GQ Magazine described as “…. his generally disappointing solo album, 10 Summers…” DJ Mustard is still making music.
