Jon Marks
In contrast to the words of Richard Nixon, it looks like we will have 85-year-old sports and entertainment lawyer Lloyd Remick to kick around a little longer.
Having seen what retirement can do to people, he’s in no hurry to join them.
“I have witnessed many of my contemporaries retire, including a number of celebrities,” said the man instrumental in legendary late saxophonist Grover Washington’s career and a representative for many athletes and radio and TV personalities. “What I’ve found is when people retire, they love the first couple of weeks.
“They get to sleep late, but then get into a depression. I have found most people who are totally depressed are not still working. I find having social settings, reading contracts every day and solving people’s problems keep you alert. There are those who think for 85 I’m pretty sharp. I still know how to read a contract pretty well.”
Remick just can’t hobnob with the elite anymore like he did for years. Back then, it was nothing for him to jump on a plane at a moment’s notice and fly to Hollywood, Las Vegas or even Europe. Then, on his way back, he’d stop in New York for a show or concert and party at Studio 54 afterward before heading home.
Not a bad life for the kid who grew up in Logan, became a bar mitzvah at Temple
Emmanuel in East Oak Lane, graduated as a still-proud member of Central High School class 204, then went to the University of Pennsylvania on a senatorial and ROTC Army scholarship.
“Believe it or not, my college roommate and I davened during college,” admitted Remick, a longtime member of Congregation Adath Israel in Merion Station who was born of Russian ancestry. “To this day, I still say the Shema. I believe saying prayers is almost a form of meditation. It helps in stressful situations. And the key to longevity is maintaining an even keel.”
No, Remick didn’t start out quite so philosophical. But a series of memorable events — including being part of the strategy teams during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and Vietnam War — not only helped shape him but eventually steered him to a new career path.
“I found myself a young Army lawyer in the right place at right time,” said Remick, who later founded Zane Management, Inc. in 1978, with Zane being his middle name. “When the Cuban Missile Crisis exploded, I was picked to be on a team headed by Secretary of Defense (Robert) McNamara.
“During that time, I was working on contracts worth millions of dollars for guns, planes, grappling hooks for battleships, for the purchase of all this armament for Vietnam. So, when I went into the practice of law after having all this government experience, I found the transactional practice a little boring, even though I was a young associate. But a series of events occurred that took me to a field I’d never heard of — entertainment and sports law.”
That was nearly half a century ago — back when the idea of streaming music rather than listening to it over a record player or taping TV shows or a ballgame were mere fantasies. As you can imagine, the legal realm of the sports and entertainment fields has gone through drastic changes since then, not necessarily for the better.
But Remick has managed to keep in step with it all. That’s in part because, for 32 years, he’s taught a course on the subject at Temple University, where he received his law degree in 1972. And it’s also because his manner with clients has never changed.
Just ask one longtime client, who happens to be the voice of the Philadelphia Eagles.
“Lloyd’s very comfortable to be around,” said Merrill Reese, who revealed that Remick not only handles his contract negotiations but arranges his personal appearances. “He has a wonderful, upbeat disposition and sees the best in people, not the worst. He conducts himself with class and figures out how to make both parties happy without any animosity. A lot of people are nervous about their contracts. I turn it over to Lloyd and don’t think about it.
“I have totally no stress since Lloyd’s been my representative.”
While being an entertainment and sports lawyer is hardly stress-free, Remick’s managed to endure and thrive thanks to a reputation for being fair and honest. That goes back to when he was hired on the spot after confessing to Grover Washington’s wife, Christine, that he’d never handled a recording artist who’d had a hit in Billboard magazine. From there he shifted to sports law, beginning when he locked in legendary Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon.
Over the years, his clients have included former Eagles Ray Ellis and Greg Brown, former 76er Hersey Hawkins and Olympic boxers Pernell Whitaker, Tyrell Biggs and Meldrick Taylor. He won’t name a load of others.
It’s quite a legacy for a man who helped raise six children, three of whom are also lawyers — just not following their father’s chosen field.
Besides that, he’s been a longtime advocate for veterans and remains an active member of American Legion Post 405, the city’s oldest, where he’s a first vice commander. He’s also been involved with several charities, including serving as a former director of Golden Slipper Charities and as the lawyer for the Welcome America 4th of July celebration and the Marian Anderson Awards.
So, what’s the key to his longevity?
“I have learned life takes you. You don’t take life,” said Remick, who found time to write a book on poetry along with a murder mystery, “Two Times Platinum,” a fictional account of greed and corruption in the sports and entertainment law field. “When you’re in this field 60 years and you last … when you last in any field … it’s an achievement.
“Certainly to last in entertainment, sports and media, yeah, I feel I’ve had a successful career. Why I enjoy and love doing what I do after all these years is because I have a natural desire to help people. I believe everyone has the right to pursue their dreams.”
Jon Marks is a freelance writer.
