James McMillan is an Entertianment Lawyer, Entrpreneur, and Business Executive based in New York City. He has represented a number of high profile clients such as Kodak Black, Floyd Mayweather, etc. and is a highly respected member in the entertainment industry,

McMillan grew up in Ohio. Both of his grandparents were musicians known as "Mr. and Mrs. 88 Keys" in the 1940's and would hear their stories about touring with Nat King Cole and other prominent jazz musicians. He notices in his youth that although his grandparents were talented artists, that did not necessarily translate to financial success. “If they did all these great things, why were they dealing with day-to-day struggles" he asked himself. ^[1]

At the age of 11, McMillan decided to become an entertainment lawyer to protect artists from having similar fates as his grandparents.

He looked up to other black lawyers and business icons including Thurgood Marshall, Charles Ogletree, Willie E. Gary, Johnny Cochran, Berry Gordy, Earl Graves, and Bob Johnson. ^[1]

McMillan attended Hampton University and graduated with a degree in Marketing in 1991. Several years later, he earned his J.D. from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University. In 2012, he attained a Master of Laws in Trial Advocacy from the Temple University Beasley School of Law.

McMillan started his own law firm in 1999 in New York City. Over the course of his career, McMillan built a strong reputation as an attorney and artist manager and has been called a "brand builder" a "artist protector" by his peers. ^[1] He prides himself on looking out for his clients and helping them avoid business pitfalls and traps. ^[1]

A career defining moment for him was when he structured a settlement between Suave House Records, JCOR records and 8 Ball & MJG which resulted in the latter garnering a seven-figure, 5-album deal with S Sean Combs/Diddy’s Bad Boy label. He This led him to orchestrate ther multi-million dollar deals with every major record and publishing company including Atlantic Records, Roc-A-Fella Records, and Universal Records as well as Grey Goose vodka and Vokai. ^[1] McMillan list of clients includes Machine Gun Kelly, New Edition, Cool & Dre, 8 Ball & MJG, Alan Houston, Floyd Mayweather, Israel Boyd, Afroman Kodak Black, Justine Skye, and TAY-K. He is licensed to practice law in New York, California, Ohio, and Florida.

In the mid-2010s, Mcmillan launched "Gothan City Esq," a legal news website that focuses on the entertainment industry.

In addition, he serves as the Co-CEO of the branding company EST19XX and in 2016 was presented with the “Legends Award” for my contributions to the hip hop industry.

McMillan is a member of the Board of Cleveland film festival, the National Academy of Media Arts & Sciences, the GRAMMY Urban Committee and the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers association. He also accepted a role with ShortsHD's #WatchInColor campaign whose aim is to “celebrate the diversity of American filmmaking talent and create new opportunities for filmmakers from all minority groups.” ^[1]