Taylor Swift Sued by First Manager

 photo courtesy of CMT.com

It takes a village to raise a child, and when that child becomes a Grammy award winning artist worth millions of dollars, those who helped develop the child often come seeking a monetary contribution for their efforts.  To protect minors from being taken advantage of by managers in the entertainment industry, several states have instituted safe-harbor laws.  Dan Dymtrow has brought the most recent high profile litigation alleging breach of contract by an under age celebrity and seeking to recover millions of dollars from  country-pop crossover sensation Taylor Swift.
Back in 2004, Dymtrow entered into a management contract with then 14 year old Taylor Swift.  During much of the following year, Dymtrow worked to develop Taylor's career as he played a pivotal role in her record contract with Big Machine Records.  Prior to signing on the dotted line of her recording contract, Swift backed out of the management deal.  Now Dymtrow has returned to seek the 5-10% commission on all of Swift's earnings that he would have earned had the contract not been breached.
Herein lies the problem.  Under New York law, which governs the contract, a minor can void any management contract at will unless it has been reviewed and approved by a judicial court.  Dymtrow and Swift never had the contract subject to judicial review, so there exists great limitations to Dymtrow's ability to recover.  There may however be a loophole as he asserts a theory of unjust enrichment.
The unjust enrichment argument allows Dymtrow to argue that he is owed money for the work he performed on behalf of Swift before she voided the contract.  If Dymtrow can prove as he claims, that he performed substantial work in bringing about Swift's initial negotiations with her record company, and that he introduced her to agents at CAA who later represented her in booking concerts, he may be able to recover substantial damages for the benefit Swift gained before dumping Dymtrow.  If the allegations are true on the surface, that Dymtrow was paid only $10,000 by the Swift family, despite having negotiated the outline of Swifts final recording contract, he may in fact be able to prove that although Swift had a right to void the contract as a minor, Dymtrow is still owed funds for the work he performed under the contract.