R.I.P. Legendary Paul Marshall

I just got word that Paul Marshall died Thursday.  THE Paul Marshall.  If anyone had his hand on the pulse of the music biz, it was Paul. I was fortunate enough to meet him several times.  Once, in his apartment, he shared stories with me that we're priceless.  He represented a client list who was, and some who still are the who's who of the music world and beyond. I urged him to write a memoir, but in true professional form he refused on principal.  He believed attorney client privilege was to be respected forever.  The last thing he told me as I left his home was that he would be occupied for several days. He was working on something big.  Then again, everything he did was big.  Three weeks later, I read the Beatles released their catalogue to iTunes.  How classy of him not to even mention it. 

He was a true music fan and admired people who made music. He had an insatiable interest in and respect for creative people. I could tell pioneering law in uncharted waters was what kept his fire burning even, until the very end.  The role he played in creating "FCC" laws for South Africa, after apartheid ended, was one of the fascinating stories he shared with me.  He was very soft spoken and seemed uncomfortable discussing what he had accomplished during his career.
I have a picture of him, when he came to hear me with a few of our mutual friends.  As I posed along with he, his lovely wife, the prolific portrait photographer Bette Marshall, and Errol Flynns' widow, a long time friend and client of theirs, I thought how fortunate am I? May he rest in peace and my condolences to his wife and family.

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/legal-and-management/music-attorney-paul-marshall-who-repped-1007049752.story