About
Julie N. Samuels, Attorney at Law, is an independent legal consultant focused on digital media, arts, and entertainment law. Before founding Peppercorn Partners, she served as Senior Counsel at Artsy, Senior Manager of International Rights Clearance at Condé Nast, and General Counsel at the New York Opera.
Member in good standing of the New York State Bar
Member of the New York State Bar Association and of the American Bar Association
Julie Samuels began her career working for Sherwin M. Goldman, a theatrical producer who toured "Porgy and Bess" globally. From insurance coverage to labor unions to royalties, it was there that Julie took her first steps toward a lifetime of negotiating across the full spectrum of the performing arts.
Julie attended New York Law School at night while continuing to work for Goldman. After graduating, she joined the New York City Opera (ultimately becoming its General Counsel), where she oversaw an annual operating budget of $3M for its touring company and negotiated contracts for everything from co-productions and rentals to licensing deals with the biggest companies in opera.
From there, Julie moved to Condé Nast, first as an analyst in its contract group and finally as Senior Manager of International Rights Clearance, where she was responsible for the annual syndication of more than 200,000 pieces of content to Condé Nast's international brands. In 2017, she joined Artsy as Counsel, eventually being promoted to Senior Counsel, where she expanded her practice to include auctions, consignments, art fairs, and marketplace compliance.
In March 2020, Julie launched Peppercorn Partners full time. On March 21 of that year, the day New Jersey's stay-at-home order took effect at 9 p.m., she married Joe Hillyer on their front porch, a friend ordained online performing the ceremony. The wedding was featured in The New York Times. Today, Julie represents creative professionals across e-commerce, photography, fine art, public art, photo agencies, fashion design, software development, PR, and digital technology. When she is not negotiating on behalf of her clients, she can usually be found with Gus, her Lagotto Romagnolo, who joined the family in December 2020 because, well, it seemed like the right thing to do.