USD Law Board of Visitors Member Ed McPherson ’82 (JD) Recognized Among Billboard’s 2026 Top Music Lawyers
University of San Diego (USD) School of Law celebrates Board of Visitors member Ed McPherson ’82 (JD) being named to Billboard’s 2026 Top Music Lawyers. This marks his seventh consecutive year on the list.
Expressing his appreciation for the recognition, McPherson said, “I am honored to have been selected again as one of Billboard’s Top Music Attorneys and humbled by the list of my colleagues that share the honor.”
McPherson has practiced law for more than four decades, and founded his own firm in 1991, which ultimately became McPherson LLP. As managing partner, he represents recording/touring artists, actors, athletes, and businesses in complex entertainment litigation, IP litigation, and crisis management. His practice focuses on copyright and trademark infringement, artist-management disputes, rights of privacy and publicity, defamation, and other entertainment-related matters.
Recently, McPherson and his firm have protected prominent talent from the unauthorized use of their likenesses in AI-generated deepfakes created to falsely promote commercial products, prevailed in multiple California Labor Commission proceedings on behalf of renowned entertainment professionals against former managers, and defended several A-List clients in copyright lawsuits.
Beyond his Billboard honors, McPherson earned an AV® Preeminent™ rating from Martindale-Hubbell® and has been named a Southern California Super Lawyer every year since 2008. He has made numerous television appearances on CNN, NBC, ABC, and Fox News, and has been quoted by several publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Newsweek.
At USD Law, McPherson won the Nathan Burkan Memorial Copyright Law Competition, sponsored by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. Reflecting on his connection to the law school, McPherson stated, “The University of San Diego School of Law gave me the foundation to build a career as a trial lawyer and crisis manager, protecting the IP, privacy, and other interests of some of the music industry's most accomplished talent, including Grammy Award winners, Hall of Fame inductees, multi-platinum recording artists, and iconic songwriters. It has been a privilege to remain connected to USD Law through its Board of Visitors, and I look forward to continuing to support the next generation of lawyers.”
About the School of Law
Each year, USD Law educates approximately 800 Juris Doctor and graduate law students from throughout the United States and around the world. The law school is best known for its offerings in the areas of business and corporate law, constitutional law, intellectual property, international and comparative law, public interest law and taxation.
USD School of Law is one of the 88 law schools elected to the Order of the Coif, a national honor society for law school graduates. The law school’s faculty is a strong group of outstanding scholars and teachers with national and international reputations. The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Founded in 1954, the law school is part of the University of San Diego, a private, independent, Roman Catholic university chartered in 1949.