Faculty Profile: M. Ryder Lee

Ryder's practice focuses on providing a broad range of legal services to clients in the arts, entertainment, and media industries.  His extensive background in that field lends itself to a practice centered on helping clients navigate the unique and difficult legal challenges that often arise in the entertainment business.

Before attending law school, Ryder spent ten years in the music business primarily as an artist and songwriter, but also as a publisher and independent record company owner.  His successful career as a major-label recording artist and performer included multiple Billboard-charting radio singles and nominations from The Academy of Country Music.  That background translates into a law practice custom-fit to address the special needs of entertainment industry clients and emerging companies in the areas of copyright law, media law, trademark and branding matters, contract formation and disputes, entity formation, publishing and licensing issues, privacy-related rights, and other general business and tort matters. 

Ryder is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Russian and Political Science.  He obtained his J.D. with an accompanying Entertainment and Music Business Law Certificate from Belmont University College of Law, where he was named to the Dean's List.  At Belmont, Ryder was a founding member of both the Entertainment Law Society and the Legal Aid Society, and was selected as a college of law Ambassador.  In his final year, he was recognized by the Supreme Court of Tennessee as a Law Student for Justice.

Ryder is a member of both the Tennessee Bar Association and the Nashville Bar Association, and is a member volunteer for Volunteer Lawyers and Professionals for the Arts of The Arts and Business Council of Greater Tennessee.  He is also a dedicated mentor and advisor at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center where he counsels startups and other emerging businesses, namely in the entertainment and media fields.