an
practicening Entertaining
Ken Abdo rides with the band
BY DAN HEILMAN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY MARCUS
In late March, Ken Abdo arrived home from Austin, Texas, tired but
happy. Abdo, who chairs the entertainment law department at
Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King & Stageberg, in Minneapolis, had spent
an intense 10 days at the South by Southwest Music and Media
Conference, checking out bands, schmoozing with colleagues, and
helping coordinate a dizzying array of CLE programs about recording
contracts, music licensing, interactive film and other music topics.
Although the experience was exhausting, the setting found Abdo
completely in his element, finding ways to meld his lifelong passion
for music with his profession. “I try to integrate my work with
entertainment events,” he says. “It’s a mental sorbet hanging out
with musicians. It’s business, but it’s fun.” He adds that the event
featured a panel of 30 of his favorite nationwide entertainment law
competitors who spoke along with members of his firm.
By combining vocation with avocation, Abdo has slowly helped build
Lommen Abdo (the result of a 2006 merger with the Lommen Nelson
firm) into the biggest entertainment firm in the Midwest. The firm’s 4 4
attorneys, including 11 who work on intellectual property and related
litigation matters regarding the entertainment industry, also focus on
litigation, business, medical malpractice, and a variety of other areas.
As a result, the firm has grown, with an additional entertainment office
in New York and a general practice firm in Hudson, Wis.
