about york®
executive leadership
Sandy York is the firm’s chief executive, principal and founder and she represents some of the industry’s most celebrated and distinguished live entertainment brands, entrepreneurs, innovators, content creators and contemporary artists. As a business lawyer, Sandy has represented clients in private equity, start-ups, mergers and acquisitions, trademark licensing, joint venture transactions and corporate financing deals.
For over 10 years Sandy served as general counsel and legal chief for Ultra Music Festival, Ultra Worldwide and for their collection of related products and brands. Today, she provides high-level corporate, legal and risk management support and is a senior advisor and strategist to the brand and to many other prominent entertainment and nightlife operators on issues relating to new innovations, business structures, government relations, community affairs, public relations and crisis management.
crisis-ready consultancy
Sandy was also Associate Counsel in the Corporate Practice Group at Assurant, Inc., a Fortune 500 financial services company where Sandy handled general corporate, insurance and risk management matters, general contracting and commercial real estate leasing transactions. Sandy was also Associate Counsel for Estefan Enterprises Inc., a multi-media firm owned and operated by Grammy-award winners, Gloria and Emilio Estefan where she handled transactions relating to hotel, restaurant and nightclub operations and commercial real estate leases, artist performance agreements and television production agreements for broadcast on Spanish-language television networks.
As an industry specialist on insurance and risk management issues, Sandy is regularly sought out by music festival producers and by sporting, recreational and by endurance event organizers to develop and implement customized risk strategies, programs and policies. In 2020-2021, Sandy was among the industry’s foremost legal architects in providing ticketing and consumer product strategies aimed at eliminating or minimizing risks associated with the surge of refund liability cases facing event organizers during the COVID-19 pandemic periods.
As part of her entertainment law practice, Sandy routinely handles issues relating to artist performance rights, publicity rights, live streaming, public performance rights, sponsorships, vendor agreements, venue leasing, ticketing arrangements, crowd control, trademark licensing, consumer protection, privacy rights, public relations and crisis management. As a government relations consultant, Sandy also regularly advocates for the interests of event organizers before governmental bodies and officials in the Miami Metropolitan Area.
empowering future lawyers
Sandy is an adjunct professor at the University of Miami, School of Law where she teaches a short course on Music Festivals, Live Concerts and other live productions at the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law LLM Program. She is a member of the Florida Bar and she also sits on the Bar’s Leadership Academy Committee. Sandy earned her Juris Doctor from St. Thomas University, School of Law, an MBA from the University of Miami Herbert School of Business and a Bachelor’s Degree in Legal Studies from Barry University.
During her law school career, she was an editor of the St. Thomas Law Review and also interned for The Honorable Donald J. Graham of the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida. Sandy currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Carrie Meek Foundation.
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