Nashville, Tennessee
- Dallas (Principal Office)
- (214) 780-1400
Christian Barker
Christian Barker
Partner
-
1 Music Circle South
Suite 300
Nashville, Tennessee 37203 -
615-329-4440
Extension - 4001
- Tennessee (2012)
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee (2016)
- U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee (2016)
Stetson University College of Law
Juris Doctor, William F. Blews Pro Bono Service Award (2012)
University of New Hampshire School of Law
Intellectual Property Exchange (2011)
Vermont Law School
Master of Environmental Law and Policy, Cum Laude (2011)
Stetson University
Master of Business Administration, Gordon and Jean Wells Scholar (2009)
The University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee
Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, University Trustees Scholar (2005)
- Super Lawyers – Mid-South Rising Stars – Entertainment & Sports (2018, 2019)
- Nashville Lifestyles Magazine – Entertainment Attorney “On The Rise” (Spring 2018)
- Super Lawyers – Mid-South Rising Stars – Intellectual Property (2014, 2015, 2017)
- Nashville Lifestyles Magazine – Intellectual Property Attorney “On The Rise” (Fall 2017)
- New Leaders Council – Nashville Fellow (Spring 2017)
Publications
- CNBC [feature] – “Prince didn’t like streaming, but it could be a big boost to his estate anyway”
- The Nashville Ledger [feature] – “Modern divorce” Re: Intellectual Property in Divorce
- TortSource (an ABA publication) [author] – “Direct and Indirect Impacts of Artificial Intelligence”
Speeches
- Association of Independent Music Publishers Podcast – “Structure of a Publishing Deal”
- Belmont University College of Law – “Copyright Mythbusters” & “The Value of Bar Membership” Nashville Arts & Business Council – “Copyright Mythbusters”
- Nashville School of Law – “The Life of an Entertainment Attorney” & “Mastering the Networking Game” Entrepreneurs Center of Nashville – “Copyright & Trademark Law for Fine Artists”
- Tennessee Department of Education – “Personal Branding and Networking for Student Leaders” Workationing Podcast – “Legal for Creatives”
- Georgia Bar Association Young Lawyers Division – “The Life of an Entertainment Attorney”
- Tennessee Bar Association Sports & Entertainment Law Forum – “Ethics & Alternative Fee Arrangements” Equal Justice University – “Servant Leadership in the Practice of Law”
- Career & Technical Student Organization – “Personal Branding and Networking for Students”
- Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division – “The Importance of Service”
- Tennessee Young Lawyers Conference – “Intellectual Property in Divorce”
- LawPracticeCLE – “Creativity in Conflict”
- Nashville Bar Association – “A Larger Piece of the Pie: The Legal Landscape Surrounding the Growth of
- Independent Record Labels and Music Publishers”
Christian Barker
Christian Barker, Partner, joined the Nashville office of Shackelford, Bowen, McKinley & Norton, LLP in August 2020 after nearly eight years as a solo practice entertainment attorney and most recently Special Counsel and leader of the Lewis, Thomason, King, Krieg & Waldrop, PLC Entertainment Law Practice Group. Primarily music industry-focused, Christian provides transactional and litigation representation for artists, songwriters, producers, independent record labels, independent music publishing companies, and boutique artist management companies nationwide.
In addition, Christian represents clients in the TV/film, fine arts, and PR/digital media realms and manages the intellectual property portfolios of several small businesses—both in and outside of the entertainment space. He also frequently handles family law matters involving disputed intellectual property assets. Christian began his career in the music industry as an artist manager, where he managed the careers of country songwriter and recording artist Walker Hayes and former American Idol finalist and pop/RB/jazz recording artist Matt Giraud. Outside of his practice, he remains active in the creative space as a consultant providing talent scouting, song-plugging, and career advising services to numerous songwriters, artists, labels, and publishers via his company FVLLGLΛSS, along with brand partnership and investment/business development activities. Christian is the Immediate Past President of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division, has been listed as a “Rising Star” in Super Lawyers’ Entertainment & Sports category for the last five years, was a 2017 Fellow in the Nashville Chapter of the New Leaders Council, and serves on the Board of Advisors for DIME Collective, a Nashville-based digital media company specializing in podcast production and marketing.
