A final confirmation of an arbitration award of $1,036,773 to lead singer Amy Lee and her band Evanescence ends a three-year dispute initiated by the bands former manager Andrew Lurie of 110 Management for alleged unpaid commissions.
110 Management president Andrew Lurie claimed that Lee owed unpaid management fees and commissions totaling more than $1.5 million. However, 110 Management was unsuccessful in its attempt to recover those fees and vacate Lee’s final arbitration award, leaving 110 Management on the hook for one million dollars to cover Lee’s attorneys’ fees and expert costs.
Attorneys Edwin F. McPherson and Tracy B. Rane proved that 110 Management was not entitled to any further commissions from any of Evanescence’s tours or albums, other than $4,833.66.
“This has been a long time coming, and we are very pleased to finally put an end to this frivolous dispute for Amy and Evanescence,” said McPherson. “It was very clear from the beginning that Lurie was not entitled to the commissions he was claiming, especially from Evanescence’s albums that were recorded before Lurie began managing the band.”
Background Information provided by law firm McPherson Rane LLP
Between 2006 and 2015, 110 Management managed Amy Lee/Evanescence. During this time, Evanescence released three albums, The Open Door, Evanescence, and Aftermath. Although not as successful as their debut album, which sold more than 7 million copies, these albums, and Evanescence’s tours, earned 110 Management commissions in excess of $5 million.
After Lee terminated 110 Management in 2015, it filed a dispute against Lee for unpaid management fees, claiming that Lee/Evanescence owed more than $1.5 million in commissions from numerous revenue sources for the band. Among other things, Lurie claimed that 110 Management was entitled to commissions from Evanescence’s debut album, Fallen, and their DVD entitled Anywhere But Home, both of which were released before he became Evanescence’s manager. Lurie also claimed to be owed commissions from several Evanescence tours, despite overwhelming evidence that Lurie had agreed to a discounted commission for those tours, but later reneged, claiming that his agreement to “reduce” his commissions was really to “defer” his commissions.
The dispute was arbitrated between May and November of 2016. McPherson Rane successfully argued that 110 Management was not entitled to further commissions from any of Evanescence’s tours or albums.
On April 7, 2017, Judge Eli Chernow issued an Interlocutory Award, naming Lee as the prevailing party, entitling her to recover attorneys’ fees. On April 21, 2017, 110 Management filed for Bankruptcy, but the Bankruptcy stay was lifted, and McPherson Rane was allowed to file a motion on behalf of the band for attorneys’ fees.
On October 18, 2017, Judge Chernow issued the Final Arbitration Award, entitling Lee/Evanescence to recover $1,036,773 in attorneys’ fees and expert fees. McPherson Rane filed a Motion to Confirm Final Arbitration Award, and 110 Management opposed the motion, as well as filed a Motion to Vacate, claiming, among other things, that Judge Chernow was biased because he has three daughters who are Rabbis, and one of the lawyers that represented Lee’s business manager is also a Rabbi, and taught for half of a semester at a school that Chernow’s daughters attended (30 years later).
On January 19, 2018, Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis confirmed the Final Arbitration Award to Lee and denied Lurie’s Motion to Vacate in its entirety.
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