New position: Partner, Older & Lundy, Tampa. Previous position: Associate, Alston & Bird, New York City
By FRED W. WRIGHT JR.
Published August 4, 2003
Many people find the Tampa Bay area an entertaining place to live and work. And that's the lure for Michael Lundy, who helped establish at the beginning of the year Older & Lundy, a two-person law practice specializing in entertainment and corporate law.
Lundy, who relocated to Tampa from New York City, said his practice represents musicians, record labels, production companies, actors, modeling agencies and the like. "Basically, anything in the field of entertainment, if it involves a contract or a negotiation or a collection aspect, we work on it," he said. "We think this is a strong entertainment market; we think it will get stronger. We see a tremendous amount of talent, especially in the field of music."
Lundy said the musical talent ranges from rhythm and blues to rock to hip hop. Tampa's focus on the arts is another encouraging factor, he said. "Tampa is a booming town," he said.
Lundy moved to Tampa after 21/2 years as an associate lawyer with Alston & Bird in New York City. Before that, he was with Lord, Bissell & Brook in Atlanta and helped establish that law firm's New York City office where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions, securities law and general corporate legal matters.
Lundy, 28, earned a bachelor's degree in political science at Yale University in 1996. He earned a law degree from the University of Miami School of Law in 1999, graduating magna cum laude.
A native of Fort Lauderdale, Lundy said he long planned to attend law school in Florida and live somewhere in the state. "I wanted to get out of the Northeast," he said. "I love New York City. I just don't miss living there."
He's already been back to New York City several times this year. "It's hard to practice in the area of entertainment and avoid New York altogether," he saied.
Lundy said he enjoys the negotiating aspects of practicing law. "I like doing deals," he said. "I like negotiating. I like reading the contracts a lot more than I like fighting, which is not to say I'm not good at fighting.
"What drew me to law is that I like language more than I like numbers," he said.
Lundy is giving back to his newly adopted community. On the first Thursday of each month, he participates in WTVT-Ch. 13's "Ask a Lawyer" community legal outreach program. He fields phone calls from 7 to 9 a.m., "certainly not New York lawyer hours," he said.
"I'm one of those people who doesn't think there's one right answer, which makes me great for law," he said. "I love that. I like negotiating more than I like debating. That's the beauty of the practice of law. Even if you're litigating, there's a huge element of negotiation."
Lundy recently was recognized by the Gulf Coast Business Review as one of the top 40 businesspeople under age 40 on Florida's west coast.
Lundy is single and lives in Tampa's Hyde Park with his dog, Bailey.
