Legal and Practical Issues in Outdoor Musical Entertainment

Steve Adelman has developed a unique international practice focusing on litigation, risk management, and expert testimony regarding sports and entertainment venues. After beginning entertainment-related litigation with a catastrophic concert injury case involving a famous rap artist, Mr. Adelman has represented arenas, sports franchises, and vendors such as security companies and providers of rigging, sound and light equipment. Although the legal issues that arise from live entertainment events sound in basic tort or contract principles, they often involve complex factual circumstances that occur only in this narrow context. Representing entertainment providers requires industry-specific knowledge, experience, and personal contacts that few lawyers possess.

Mr. Adelman is the author of the monthly "Adelman on Venues" newsletter, he is on the faculty of the International Association of Venue Managers' Academy for Venue Safety & Security, and he is the instructor for Facility Management Law School. He is a frequent author and speaker in this field, and he occasionally serves as an expert regarding the standard of care for life safety at entertainment events.

Molly Madonia is currently Associate Counsel at Milwaukee World Festival, Inc., the producers of Summerfest™, the World’s Largest Music Festival™. Her primary areas of responsibility include managing MWF’s trademark portfolio, including the well-known Summerfest Smile™; liaising between the Marketing teams on issues related to sponsorship, exhibitorship, and marketplace; advising the Human Resources department on compliance-related matters, including navigating the ADA and employee training; COVID-19 response and workplace best practices, and, of course, “other duties as assigned.”

Molly currently acts as the Co-Chair of the Milwaukee Bar Association's IP Section and as a Board Member of the Wisconsin State Bar Sports and Entertainment Section. She is also honored to serve on the Executive Board of the Association of Corporate Counsel–Wisconsin, the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Entertainment Lawyers Association, and the Marquette University Law School Alumni Board. Non-legally, she is honored to be a member of the Bay View Community Center Board of Directors.

In her free time, Molly enjoys speaking on both legal and non-legal topics, mentoring, growing her YouTube channel and engaging in competitive fundraising: she is currently running for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Man and Woman of the Year.

Mr. Bast is a Principal at LPI, Inc. with over 37 years of structural engineering experience. His areas of expertise include structural engineering of buildings and other structures, forensic engineering, building envelope evaluation and repair, peer reviews, and expert witness testimony.

Prior to joining LPI, Bill was a Principal in the Chicago office of Thornton Tomasetti. His other work experience includes Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, his own firm William D. Bast & Associates, Rubinos & Mesia Engineers, Schal Bovis (now Lendlease), and Central Building & Preservation.

He is a Past President of the National Council of Structural Engineer Associations (NCSEA), a Past President of the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois (SEAOI), a former member of the AISC Committee on Specifications, a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and is a Certified Peer Reviewer for the City of Chicago.

Mr. Bast holds Masters and Bachelors degrees in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University.

He is a Licensed Structural Engineer in Illinois, a Licensed Professional Engineer in 12 states, and holds certification through the Structural Engineers Certification Board (SECB).

Ania Dankow is the head of Operations & Logistics at Clearwing Productions, Inc.

Like the other members of the Hurtado Zimmerman SC legal team, Bryan pairs legal expertise with practical construction experience. Before beginning his practice as a lawyer, Bryan owned and operated a residential general contracting and remodeling company in southeastern Wisconsin, self-performing a wide range of construction activities.

Bryan’s law practice includes construction contract negotiation, including intellectual property law issues, and commercial and residential real property acquisition. He also has experience in public bond finance, including revenue anticipation, commercial line of credit and general obligation fundings. He represents trades contractors, designers, and owners in dispute resolution related to perfection of lien rights, defect claims, property purchases, sales and leasing, and intellectual property protection.

As an entertainment attorney, Bryan represents musicians, artists, theater owners, publishers, and other creative types in matters related to entertainment contract negotiation and preparation, copyright issues, dispute resolution, and general business. A lifelong musician himself with an extensive history of touring and production work, Bryan brings a seasoned, unique and personal approach to the business side of entertainment. Bryan is a founding member, and currently serves as Treasurer, for the Wisconsin Entertainment Lawyers Association, whose mission is to: 1) foster the growth and development of the arts and entertainment communities in Wisconsin through comprehensive legal services, 2) advance the practice of entertainment law in the State of Wisconsin, and 3) provide a platform for networking, education, and collaboration.

Bryan has authored several works regarding construction law issues, including being the author and editor of the “Wisconsin Chapter of Fifty State Construction Lien and Bond Law”, the “Wisconsin Chapter of Construction Law Update: Case Law & Legislation Affecting the Construction Industry”, “50 State Lien Law Survey”, “50-State Survey of Firm Licensure Requirements for Architectural and Engineering Firms”, “50-State Survey of Licensed Design Professional’s Stamping and Sealing Obligations”, and the “50 State Lien Law Pamphlet”, published by the American Bar Association.

He has served on the AGC of America’s Contract Documents Committee, helping to develop intellectual property rights provisions for recent revisions to ConsensusDOCS’ BIM Addendum. He has also been guest lecturer at Marquette University Law School addressing Wisconsin real estate transactions.

Bryan holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and a JD from Marquette University Law School.

He is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin Construction and Public Contract Law, and Sports and Entertainment Law Sections. He is also a member of the American Bar Association’s Forum on Construction Law, its Construction Law Section, Music, Sound Recordings and Performing Artists, and Visual Arts, Dramatic Works and Motion Pictures Committees.