Helen Yu: Yu Leseberg, A Professional Law Corporation
Helen Yu of Yu Leseberg is an accomplished entertainment lawyer with more than twenty-five years of experience in the music business.
Helen advocates tirelessly for talent and other creative professionals throughout the entertainment industry. Her clients include artists, songwriters, and producers with a stake in proper intellectual property protection. Helen Yu is proud to counsel artists and other talented and creative professionals on strategies for protecting their intellectual property and pursuing effective business strategies in a rapidly changing industry. Her acumen is demonstrated by her prolific record: in 2014, for instance, Yu Leseberg was responsible for negotiating more charting singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R & B 100 than any other entertainment law firm. In 2018, Yu Leseberg negotiated and handled agreements for songs contained on a third of the Billboard Top 10 most streamed albums of the year as noted by The New York Times; Drake – Scorpion, Post Malone – Beerbongs & Bentleys and Migos – Culture II
Helen Yu: North Hudson Music
In 2000, Helen founded North Hudson Music, LLC, a music publishing administration firm. North Hudson Music helps artists collect and protect royalty streams for works distributed on a global basis. Its vast, well-curated catalog includes works written and performed by household names such as The Black Eyed Peas (and solo works from will.i.am and Fergie), Mary J. Blige, Busta Rhymes, Justin Timberlake, Christina Milian, P. Diddy, The Pussycat Dolls, Robin Thicke, Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, Estelle, Junior Mafia, Armand Van Helden, Tupac, and many others.
A lifelong Angeleno, Ms. Yu has deep, longstanding ties to the entertainment industry. Before graduating from kindergarten, she took up the keyboard, and continued to hone her musical skills through elementary and middle schools. As a high schooler, she recorded her first album at L.A.’s famed Westlake Studios.
Helen Yu: Education & Work Experience
Ms. Yu also cultivated an early interest in music production and intellectual property protection. As a teenager, she spent multiple seasons as an intern at the legendary (now defunct) Enigma Records, a storied indie and alternative rock label that did more than arguably any other to advance the southern California alternative scene. During its 1980s heyday, Enigma’s alumni included Sonic Youth, Poison, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Its music soundtrack collection includes one of the biggest blockbusters of the decade — Night of the Living Dead (1982) and The Terminator (1984), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Helen graduated from high school in Los Angeles and immediately enrolled at California State University – Northridge, where she majored in speech communication. Her college career was marked by a long, successful stint as a promoter of live shows in conjunction with KCSN, Cal State – Northridge’s flagship radio station. With virtually unrivaled influence over the southern California indie rock scene at the time, KCSN became a platform for her to position herself as an emerging tastemaker.
Following her graduation from college, Helen Yu enrolled at Whittier College where she earned her J.D. three years later, graduating with honors.
Helen’s first post-graduation position as an attorney was at a well-known Los Angeles entertainment law firm being trained by legendary music attorney, Martin Cohen, an experience she credits with laying the groundwork for what would come next. After successive in-house stints at Virgin Records America and Sony Pictures Entertainment Group — two of the giants at that time in the music business — she founded Yu Leseberg, A Professional Law Corporation in 2000 and North Hudson Music, LLC. The rest, as they say, is history.