Pryor Cashman Partner James Sammataro, co-chair of the Media + Entertainment Group, spoke with the Daily Business Review about the prospects for an uptick in intellectual property litigation in the Miami area.
In "Population Growth, Music Boom Make Florida a Hotbed for IP Litigation," James looks at the impact on litigation of economic factors and the local Latin music scene:
Litigation is also generally expected to rise when the economy goes sideways, said James Sammataro, a partner at New York-based Pryor Cashman with offices in Miami and Los Angeles who represented Chris Brown in a recent Florida case. And the greater availability of third-party litigation funding is also having an impact.
"When you have a struggling economy, which is what we look like we may be preparing for, companies look for alternative ways to generate revenue," Sammataro, who is based in Miami, said. "So if you can get nonrecourse litigation financing funding, that may be a nice way to bet on potentially getting some revenue that you wouldn't otherwise see."
That rise was seen in the 2008 financial crisis, said Sammataro. But he says the trend hasn't started to pick up just yet.
Whether it's because of population growth creating more litigation in general or Latin music making Miami more relevant, these cases are on the rise in Florida nonetheless, Sammataro said. The high payouts for settlements to some recent lawsuits also can't hurt in drawing further attention.
But Miami still has yet to reach the apex of the entertainment industry, and that's the case for IP litigation too. Sammataro thinks that South Florida still doesn't compete with the likes of California, New York or even Nashville and Atlanta.
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