LOS ANGELES— The Recorder has named Covington partner Neema Sahni a finalist for its Entertainment Lawyer of the Year award as part of the 2026 California Legal Awards. The California Legal Awards, presented by The Recorder, a premier California legal publication and part of ALM Media, celebrate the lawyers and law firms driving the state's dynamic legal landscape. Winners will be announced at the California Legal Awards ceremony in June 2026.
A co-chair of Covington's Commercial Litigation and Entertainment & Media practices, Neema litigates complex disputes across the sports, media, technology, and entertainment industries and serves as go-to counsel for some of the industry's biggest names. She also serves as a co-chair of the firm's Music Industry Initiative and a vice-chair of the Sports Industry Group. Through her work at the firm and her prior experience in-house at The Walt Disney Company, Neema has developed a sophisticated understanding of the legal and business issues impacting content creators and platforms.
Neema has handled an array of complex commercial matters, ranging from royalty disputes to copyright and trademark infringement, defamation, consumer class actions, and licensing and distribution-related litigation. Her representative clients include Netflix, TikTok, the National Football League, and Sony Music. Alongside an active litigation docket, she maintains a robust counseling and advisory practice, assisting sports teams and leagues, television networks, music and tech companies, and film studios to assess and mitigate their litigation risk in the context of high-stakes business transactions.
Neema has been recognized in Variety's Legal Impact Report, as one of The Hollywood Reporter's Power Lawyers, and as one of Billboard's Top Music Lawyers. She has also been recognized as one of California's Top Women Lawyers by the Daily Journal, a Lawyer on the Fast Track by The Recorder, a Media & Entertainment Rising Star by Law360, and as one of the Sports Business Journal's 40 Under 40. She is ranked by Chambers in the Media & Entertainment: Litigation (CA) category.
This is the third consecutive year Neema has been named a finalist for Entertainment Lawyer of the Year at the California Legal Awards.
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