Of Attorneys
and Agents
FROM PUBLISHING
TRENDS (FEBRUARY 2003)
When
should an author sign up an attorney to clinch a book
deal, rather than an agent? It’s a delicate question
in the book world, but here’s one straight-up answer:
when you’ve got a six-figure-plus deal, and you’re one
of the most famous faces on the planet. “Mrs. Clinton’s
deal was publicly known to be $8 million,” says Robert
Barnett, the Washington attorney who played a prominent
role in negotiating it. “She would have paid an agent
a million two. My bill was about $35,000.” Simple arithmetic:
He charges by the hour; agents don’t.
Barnett, a Senior Partner at Williams & Connolly
whose 170 author clients include, besides two Clintons,
Lynne Cheney, Dan Quayle, and Tim Russert,
says he spends about 25% of his time on authors, the
balance being litigation and corporate work. “I feel
immodestly that I do this as well as anybody,” he adds,
“and I know I do it more inexpensively.” It all started
with a book deal for Geraldine Ferraro, and then
came David Stockman, who was Reagan’s budget
director. “At that point I had done one Republican and
one Democrat, and I just started getting a lot of books,”
Barnett explains.
Beyond the cold cash, other attorneys say, they can
offer one-stop-shops for authors’ agenting and legal
needs. “Lawyers provide all the same skills that agents
do, but provide a whole range of skills that agents
don’t,” argues Ronald Goldfarb, citing fair use
questions, freedom of information act requests, first
amendment issues, and libel readings — all of which
mean retaining a lawyer. Plus, he says, he knows publishers
and editors as well as anyone. “My little black book
has been going for 30 years now, and I know their beach
numbers and office numbers and which ones to go to.”
Goldfarb charges a contingency fee, as an agent would,
and bills separately for spinoff legal work.
Attorney
Ike Williams, whose Kneerim & Williams
agency now resides within the Boston office of intellectual
property firm Fish & Richardson, notes that
established law firms also offer logistical support
unavailable to agents who fly solo. “A lot of money
flows through an agency, and that takes a fairly developed
back office,” he says, pointing to nuances of cash flow
easily handled by large legal firms, such as filing
under reciprocal tax treaties with foreign countries.
Williams’ agency has about 400 clients, managed with
Co-director Jill Kneerim. (They are joined by
Elaine Rodgers and Alexis Rizzuto, plus
New York–based agents Rob McQuilkin and Brettne
Bloom.) Fees are based on a standard agent commission,
but, says Williams, “The difference is you have legal
advice included in that 15%.”
Moreover, says Mary Luria, Partner at New York–based
law firm Davis & Gilbert, any book with serious
legal problems will benefit from having a lawyer brought
in at the contract stage. Lawyers also make sense for
authors with multiple deals at a single house, where
contracts may just need a lawyerly once-over. “One author
told me it didn’t make sense that he was parting with
a percentage every time,” Luria notes. Ideally, wise
authors will figure out the most cost-effective strategy:
“If I can add value to ICM’s comments for a client
whose business interests I understand, the net result
is the best contract for this author.” (Luria’s firm
was recently joined by Martin Garbus, who tells
PT that while he represents about 5 authors as
an agent, he has no plans to take on further agenting
work.)
By contrast, J. Stephen Sheppard, Partner at
Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard (and
formerly an agent with the Paul Reynolds agency)
specifically does not do what agents do — and that goes
for Ellis Levine, newly Of Counsel at the firm
— arguing that it does a disservice to the authors.
Agents know the marketplace, the editors, and the judgments
that go with placing an author, he says, although he
works closely with large agencies to handle contract
negotiations and other legal matters.
In the end, for most authors, agents may still be the
front-line literary gatekeepers. But Barnett says he
turns down 20 authors each week — indicating no shortage
of interest in his services — and he’s got a few plans
of his own. “My hope is to get into the world of big
fiction,” he says. “Most of those are cookie-cutter
deals. And those people could literally save hundreds
of thousands of dollars using someone other than an
agent.”
©2003
Publishing Trends
