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P U B L I C LIVES S GOSPEL MUSIC BLARES, MEMBERS of the Word of Faith Fam- ily Worship Cathedral instinc- CAN’T A tively rock in their seats. The Praise Team dancers emerge from every direction and move toward the makeshift stage in front of the pulpit. Their costumes TOUCH sway with every twirl and kick. The per- formance elicits thunderous applause and arbitrary amens from the churchgoers, decked out in their Sunday best—ornate THIS hats and shiny suits. A quick scan of the sanctuary reveals a congregant who trig- ENTERTAINMENT ATTORNEY JOEL Katz’s gers an instant Sesame Street–esque “one CLIENTELE RANGES FROM WILLIE of these things is not like the others” NELSON TO BIG Oomp—not TO response. You’d blurt “what the hell?”— MENTION DALLAS AUSTIN AND ORRIN if you weren’t in church. He’s sitting off to the side ferociously HATCH. By Chandra R. Thomas clapping, his eyes fixed on one of the performers. That he’s the only white man—not to mention Jewish—in this pre- dominantly black Austell church isn’t the main reason he’s a standout. Nor is it the reason churchgoers and clergy alike flock around him and his wife after the service. He’s Joel Katz, Atlanta’s top entertain- ment attorney, arguably one of the top in the field nationally. The dancer—the blonde who captured his attention—is his wife, and this is their church. However incongruous it may seem to others, Katz feels completely at home here. Katz has made a career out of being at ease around a diverse mix of people. He’s weathered the heterogeneity of the music industry, from R&B to country to hip-hop to pop, building a client base and moving comfortably between genres and artists. This industry insider is not flashy. With a resume like his, he doesn’t have to be. After all, not many attorneys can claim an iconic music legend like God- father of Soul James Brown as their first client ever. To many outside the entertainment industry, though, Katz didn’t become a 54 ATLANTA JUNE 2 O O 7 PHOTOGRA P H BY CHRISTO P H E R T. M A R T I N P U B L I C LIVES household name until last year, when tourist-campaign theme song, “The that produces the Grammy Awards) he brokered the deal—with the help of ATL”—was perched next to Katz at since 2002. He is also the first—and Republican Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, Word of Faith’s morning services. How’s only—attorney to be inducted into the a Katz client and (who knew?) prolific that for a photo op? Georgia Music Hall of Fame. In 1998, songwriter—to get Atlanta überproducer Springing Austin from a Muslim after many years at the helm of Katz, Dallas Austin out of a possible Dubai prison thousands of miles away seems Smith & Cohen, the Atlanta-based firm drug sentence. an unlikely feat for any entertainment he built up to become one of the largest Austin, en route to supermodel Naomi attorney—even a good one. However, entertainment law firms in the country, Campbell’s elaborate three-day birthday anyone familiar with Katz’s creden- he began working his magic for global bash at the posh Burj Al Arab hotel, tials wouldn’t be surprised; in the eyes entertainment practice Greenberg Trau- was detained last May at the Dubai of industry insiders, he catapulted to rig, serving as managing shareholder for airport when a luggage search turned legendary status long before Austin’s the firm’s Atlanta office and chairing its up a baggie containing cocaine. Austin dubious indiscretions snagged tabloid national entertainment division. said he was guilty “by mistake” of drug headlines and revealed a softer side of “He just has a passion for making peo- possession and was put behind bars. the notoriously conservative Hatch, who ple successful,” says Country Music Asso- Two months later, Katz and Senator has penned such love ballads as “The ciation COO Tammy Genovese. “He has Hatch flew to Dubai on his behalf, and Locket” and religious reveries as “Give such vision and thinks outside the box a in two days the producer was freed. Me Hope, Give Me Faith.” lot. He’s always helped me see the big- “He went well beyond the call of duty Hatch and Austin demonstrate the ger picture. And he does everything with for me,” Austin says of the “humbling” range of Katz’s client roster, which has such integrity.” Katz, Genovese says, was ordeal that he will share in a book titled included B.B. King, Collective Soul, the brains and brawn behind some of the Trapport, due for release early next George Strait, Jimmy Buffett, Jermaine CMA’s biggest deals, including the reloca- year. “This wasn’t about ‘Dallas Austin, Jackson, Josh Groban, Christina Agu- tion of its annual awards show to New client’ to him, this was about him car- ilera, Bow Wow, Bone Thugs-N-Har- York City in 2005 and the push to attract ing about me, my family, my mom. He mony, Sheryl Crow, Alan Jackson, L.A. a younger audience by broadcasting the was defending my character through Reid, and Brooks & Dunn. Among his show on ABC after years on CBS. his character. He came and got me on corporate clientele are some of the most There’s nothing rock-star about Katz, the plane himself. It was just a big relief recognized brands in the world: The who comes across as a hybrid of your just to see his face. When we got on Coca-Cola Company, AOL-Time War- favorite uncle and Clive Davis, but he the plane he had red, white, and blue ner, Sony, and MTV. lives a jet-setter’s life, traveling about napkins everywhere. He told me ‘This Katz has served as special counsel to 35 weeks a year via private plane. He’s is your Independence Day.’” Four days the Country Music Association since hobnobbed with Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, later, Austin—a Grammy Award winner 1995 and as the chairman emeritus of and the Crown Prince of Bahrain, not to who has worked with everyone from the National Academy of Recording mention King of Pop Michael Jackson. Madonna to Pink and wrote our city’s Arts and Sciences (the organization Katz talks about visiting the world’s best- M O C AGE. Im /WIRE D With Ryan Cameron and Ludacris Katz, Rico Wade, and Diana DeGarmo ON M at the party for Georgia Grammy nominees at the Grammy party K D I A C I R 56 ATLANTA JUNE 2 O O 7 P U B L I C LIVES known entertainer in the same way one than-pepper hair, manages to upstage would chat about running into a neigh- some of the celebs milling around—even bor at Kroger. “Michael is very quiet, the ones draped in gaudy bling. dignified, and friendly,” Katz says. Rapper Chris “Ludacris” Bridges Whether he’s soaking up a spirited ser- glimpses Katz and abbreviates his con- mon at his church or recounting his meet- versation midsentence, abandoning his ing with musical great Prince, Katz comes macho rapper bravado to smile and greet off humble. But after spending time with Katz. They small-talk a bit, then, as Katz him in a variety of settings, one learns turns to leave, Ludacris discreetly beckons that the attorney’s presence humbles the to a nearby photographer to snap their most outlandish stars. “When you’re sit- picture. They lean in like old friends, Katz ting down with Joel Katz, you’ve got to smiling and Luda reverting to his stoic have your stuff together,” insists Corey rapper expression for the shot. “Thanks Roberson, aka Big Oomp, CEO of the Mr. Katz,” he gushes. Atlanta-based record company respon- By this point the attorney can barely sible for the outrageously popular rap hit squeeze his way through the throng with- “Walk It Out.” out shaking a hand or being pulled in for Case in point: During a recent photo an overzealous hug. shoot in his Buckhead office, Katz play- “You look gorgeous,” he coos as fully summoned Big Oomp by phone to his colleague, Michele Rhea Caplinger, “get your ass over here!” Oomp sped steps up in a fitted black cocktail dress from his westside studio to the office. accented by luminous Tiffany pearls. Once there, Oomp, an ebony-hued, Caplinger, senior executive director of husky man with cornrows and a mas- the National Academy of Recording sive diamond stud in his left ear, shed his Arts & Sciences (NARAS), takes to the street persona, sitting ramrod on the edge stage and introduces the industry bigs of a chair and responding with a modest who have turned out for the ritzy affair. “yes, sir” to anything Katz asked. From the sidelines Katz confides that he can’t wait to get home (a gigantic THE VIBE IS OSCARS GLAM MEETS ATL GLITZ. mansion on six acres in Buckhead, not The celebrities approaching Tiffany & far from Governor Perdue’s residence). Co. at Phipps Plaza swagger across the He’s especially anxious to get home provisional red carpet, pause under the to his wife, Kane. “She is wonder- glaring spotlights, and strike poses for the ful,” he beams. “I knew by our second sprightly mob of photographers, report- date I would marry her. She’s so sweet ers, and television cameramen. and caring. In fact, her daddy told Inside, the soothing sound of a jazz me he named her Kane when she was trio emanates across the showroom.

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