August 4, 2026

18 Southwestern Alumni Named to Billboard’s 2026 Top Music Lawyers List

Southwestern also appears among the law schools most frequently represented by this year’s honorees

Billboard, the music-industry publication known for its influential charts and its reporting on the business of music, has named 18 Southwestern Law School alumni to its 2026 Top Music Lawyers list. The annual feature recognizes leading private-practice and in-house attorneys working on consequential transactions, disputes and legal issues across the music business.

Southwestern was also included in Billboard’s “Leading Law Schools of the Top Music Lawyers,” which identifies the alma maters most frequently represented among the year’s honorees. Southwestern’s inclusion reflects the substantial presence of its graduates throughout the music industry.

The Southwestern alumni recognized on the 2026 list are:

• John R. Baldivia ’16, Rossi Baldivia Klein Fine & Spector, P.C.
• Kevin L. Eskowitz ’12, Rothenberg, Mohr & Binder, LLP
• Chris Head ’10, Warner Chappell Music
• Kerrigan Hennings ’11, Universal Music Publishing Group
• Shawn Holley ’88, Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir LLP
• Robert A. Jacobs ’92, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
• Erin M. Jacobson ’09, Erin M. Jacobson, Esq., A.P.C.
• Neville L. Johnson ’75, Johnson & Johnson LLP
• Tim Meade ’11, Warner Chappell Music
• Angelica Merida ’13, Universal Music Publishing Group
• Tamara Milagros-Butler ’01, Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobasser Younger & Light LLP
• Robert Minzner ’06, Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobasser Younger & Light LLP
• Harold Papineau ’20, King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano, LLP
• Daniel M. Petrocelli ’80, O’Melveny & Myers LLP
• Jonathan Pink ’95, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP
• Brian Schall ’91, Barnes & Thornburg LLP
• Heidy Vaquerano ’08, Fox Rothschild LLP
• Camille Vasquez ’10, Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP

The honorees span 45 years of Southwestern graduates and represent the breadth of legal work supporting the contemporary music industry. They advise artists and songwriters, negotiate recording and publishing agreements, oversee business and legal affairs for major music publishers, manage catalog transactions and litigate complex entertainment, intellectual-property and commercial disputes.

Southwestern’s longstanding connection to the entertainment industries is advanced through the Donald E. Biederman Entertainment, Media, and Sports Law Institute. Established in 2000, the Institute offers specialized courses, experiential learning and opportunities for students to engage with lawyers, executives, companies and professional organizations throughout the entertainment, media and sports industries.

Southwestern congratulates its 2026 Billboard Top Music Lawyers on this recognition.