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Meet Our Professionals

Traci V. Bransford

Partner
Sports & Entertainment Industry Team Leader
Atlanta | 678.690.5735
Fax | 404.869.6972

Entertainment, media, and sports clients turn to Traci Bransford for strategic counsel on the full range of their legal needs. She is the leader of Parker Poe's Sports & Entertainment Industry Team and has over 30 years of experience.

Traci focuses her practice on transactional law with an emphasis on clients in music, television, film, literary publishing, and sports. She serves as outside general counsel in those industries and others, including retail, education, and health care. She guides her clients through many aspects of their businesses, including intellectual property management, contract negotiation, and brand strategy. Her clients benefit from her multi-jurisdictional experience from California to New York, and most recently Georgia and Minnesota, as well as her commitment to the tenets of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This background allows her to offer comprehensive solutions to key legal challenges.

Traci regularly speaks before national audiences about entertainment, media, sports, and celebrity philanthropy. She is a member of leading sports and entertainment law associations and serves on several nonprofit boards.

Earlier in her career, Traci served as general counsel to the world-renowned performing artist Prince and served as the chief executive for the legal affairs of his corporate entities, including Paisley Park Enterprises. That experience shaped much of her work ethic in serving high-profile entertainment clients and meeting their specific legal needs. It continues to inform her work today as she negotiates agreements for entertainers, athletes, and leading media companies.

Traci earned her Bachelor of Arts from Spelman College in Atlanta and her Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law. 

Representative Experience

  • Served as counsel to entertainment and media clients in music, television, motion pictures, literary book publishing, new media, and related industries.
  • Negotiated agreements with stadiums, arenas, and other entertainment venues related to artist performances, tours, and special events.  
  • Aided and assisted noted media companies with acquisition, distribution, and podcast agreements.
  • Negotiated recording, music publishing, merchandising, and performance rights organization (PRO) agreements.
  • Served as general counsel to legendary recording artists and bands, advising on the full scope of their legal needs, including involving tours, royalty disputes, and copyright and trademark infringement.
  • Served as outside general counsel to national retailers, including advising on intellectual property licensing, commercial vendor agreements, and other agreements.
  • Negotiated various types of commercial agreements, including advertising, sponsorship, merchandise, and special event, for national retailers.
  • Protected businesses, authors, broadcast journalists, and other clients' intellectual property content, including through social media influencer, option and literary rights, life story rights, and nondisclosure agreements.
  • Counseled professional and retired athletes and high-net worth entertainers in their individual business and philanthropic pursuits, including coordinating the implementation of estate planning with tax counsel.
  • Advised colleges, universities, and student-athletes on navigating evolving name, image, and likeness (NIL) contract opportunities and compliance issues.
  • Negotiated with galleries, museums, and higher educational institutions on agreements involving protection of visual artist rights, valuation, authenticity, practicalities of art handling, and insurance considerations.

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Honors & Awards

  • The Best Lawyers in America in Intellectual Property Litigation, 2023-2025
  • Savoy magazine's Most Influential Black Lawyers, 2024
  • National Black Lawyers Top 100, 2017-present
  • National Bar Association Women Lawyers Division, Annual Achievement Awards, Outstanding Minority Partner in a Majority Firm Award, 2023
  • VocalEssence Reatha Clark King Award, 2022
  • Chambers "Diversity & Inclusion Lawyer of the Year," Shortlist, 2020
  • Twin Cities Business magazine's "Notable Women in Law," 2020

Memberships

  • National Bar Association, Commercial Law Section, Executive Committee, 2019-present
  • American Bar Association
  • Georgia State Bar Association
  • Georgia Association for Women Lawyers (GAWL)
  • Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association (BESLA)
  • Sports Lawyers Association (SLA)
  • Alliance Theatre, Board of Directors, 2024-present
  • Children's Minnesota Health Care Foundation, Board of Directors, 2022-present
  • Thomson Reuters Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (TREDI) Advisory Board, 2021-present
  • Planned Parenthood North Central States, Board of Directors, 2020-present
  • OMBI Group Foundation, Board of Directors, 2022-present
  • The Links, Incorporated
  • VocalEssence, Former Board Member and Vice Chair