RENAISSANCE LAWYER

Entertainment attorney supremo Peter Paterno, who’ll receive the 2023 Service Award at the Recording Academy’s "Entertainment Law Initiative" Friday (2/3) at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, enjoys a fulfilling life outside of the law; he’s an avid Dodgers and UCLA fan and a season-ticket holder for both. We hear he’s equally adept on the basketball court and the golf course, and we know for a fact that he’s funny as hell.

The well-liked Paterno is a partner at the respected firm of King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano, where he works alongside longtime colleagues Howard King and Laurie Soriano. His clients include Dr. Dre, Metallica, Linda Ronstadt, Alice in Chains, Van Morrison, blink-182, Tori Amos, Rage Against the Machine and the Tupac Shakur estate, and he’s provided legal services to artists, songwriters, producers, indie labels, music publishers, managers and merch companies for decades.

Paterno’s long and successful career includes a stint as the first head of Disney’s Hollywood Records, during which time he brought Queen to the label, a gift that keeps on giving.

He set his career in motion in the 1970s when he left his job writing software for NASA to attend UCLA Law School. He also enjoys the distinction of having played a lawyer on TV shows, including the Dre-Iovine biopic The Defiant Ones. “I’m typecast,” he acknowledges.