Get to know...Ivko LLC

Updated: Aug 10

Welcome to the next feature in our Get to know... series - where we invite you to learn more about the amazing companies that make up our SHE Certified Community™. The fourth feature highlights Ivko LLC - a law firm that represents creative professionals and businesses within the arts, entertainment, NFT, tech, travel, luxury goods, and sports industries. We had the firm answer some questions that dive deep into their services and purpose. Check it out below!

"We strongly believe in the necessity of empowering our fellow ladies and those who identify as such in order to both provide them new opportunities and to enrich the entertainment, arts, sports and related industries with extraordinary female vision."

Introduce your company and what you do/make/sell.

We proudly provide top quality, full-service legal representation to clients within the arts, entertainment, luxury goods, NFT, tech, travel and sports industries. We work on transactional and litigation matters, as well as general business advising. Since our inception in 2018, our founder and award-winning attorney Polina Ivko has single handedly closed over 150 clients and grown the firm from one professional to a team of 6 attorneys and consultants. Our combined experience of more than 20 years as firm lawyers, judicial clerks, in-house counsel, legal fellows, TV/film/music producers, artists, business managers, agents, consultants, board members, tour managers, art dealers and lecturers gives us the ideal background to handle any client’s needs. We represent a multitude of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits––from emerging to major, and to us, as a team of passionate professionals, no client is ever too small or too big.

What is your mission as a company?

Our mission is to passionately advocate for creative professionals and their businesses and enable them to seamlessly reach their full artistic and entrepreneurial potential.

Which SHE marks have you been certified for?

We have been certified for SHEowns™!

Infographic explaining what the SHE Marks mean: at least 50+% of the people in management (SHEruns), creative positions (SHEmakes), and/or ownership (SHEowns) are women

Show off some work you’re excited about!

We are proud to lead the way in the NFT space before anyone was ever excited about it! We now represent various key players in the NFT community and provide legal support in the creation, sale, and distribution of NFTs, as well as establishing NFT platforms and firms from the ground up. We have always particularly loved representing clients that blend art, music and technology, so we are very excited to support everyone in the NFT field and contribute to its development.

Additionally, as of 2021, our reach has become truly international. Whether helping to develop blockchain projects in Japan and Dubai, supporting major European luxury brands and shopping centers throughout international transactions during the pandemic, or negotiating production agreements in Romania, our international arts and entertainment expertise has become well recognized and exceedingly valuable to our clients throughout the world.

Introduce us to you and your team.

Founder Polina Ivko is an award-winning arts and entertainment attorney based in New York City. She has been recognized as a 2022 Top Women Attorney in New York and a 2021 New York Rising Star in Entertainment and Sports Law by Super Lawyers, and was named a 2020 Rising Voice of Entertainment & Sports Law by the American Bar Association. Polina’s contributions to various web productions also earned her the 2021 Miami Web Fest Award.

A native of Ukraine and a New York-transplant, Polina’s unique business perspective and extensive industry experience enables her to expertly represent multinational creatives and businesses alike. In addition to being an attorney, Polina is also a mediator, entrepreneur, board member, philanthropist, speaker, and artist. These are the values that guide both her and her practice.

Polina currently serves as the National Sponsorship Chair for the ABA Forum on Entertainment and Sports Industries where she secures business sponsorships and speakers for the Forum’s bi-annual national conferences and other related activities. She is also a member of the New York City Bar Association’s International Law Committee and is currently spearheading its International Art Law Subdivision. Further, she is the chief legal research consultant for the esteemed International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR) where she advises the nonprofit on domestic and international legal disputes and legislation involving art, cultural property, and intellectual property law. A graduate of the University of Miami School of Law, Polina speaks frequently to diverse audiences, most recently for the ABA Forum on Entertainment and Sports Industries (moderator, speaker), Columbia University (guest lecturer), Cardozo School of Law (speaker, judge), myCLE (lecturer), Baltimore Webfest (keynote speaker), Miami Webfest (panelist), California Western School of Law (guest lecturer). She is slotted to speak at Deloitte, Harvard, and ABA.

Associate Megg Abner’s practice focuses on intellectual property, entertainment, and digital matters. While music is Megg’s personal and professional passion, she takes pride in advocating for creators across all mediums. Megg was awarded Runner-Up in The Recording Academy (GRAMMY) Entertainment Law Initiative’s 2018 Writing Competition for her publication “Effects of the FCC’s ‘Internet Freedom’ on the Music Industry and Potential Collaborative Solutions.” Ent. & Sports L. Vol. 34 No. 3, 44 (Spring 2018). She is a graduate of Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Class of ‘18, with a concentration in Intellectual Property and Information Law. As a Competitions Editor for Moot Court Honor Society, Megg was the Director of the Cardozo BMI Entertainment and Media Law Moot Court Competition. She received her BA from Binghamton University, where she graduated magna cum laude, earned membership with Phi Beta Kappa, and sang a cappella with No Strings Attached.

Ksenia Lebedinets is the executive assistant at the firm. Before joining our team, she was an inhouse counsel at the Federal Agency of Government Communications and Information in Moscow. She also worked as a producer at the leading TV channel called "Russia – 24" for many years, where she received the Presidential Medal for contribution to the journalistic coverage of the Olympic Games. Shortly after moving to the US she took an IP Licensing course at NYU, which inspired her to pursue entertainment business in the Americas and ultimately join our team. Ksenia is an avid admirer of Japanese culture, and she learned Japanese language and business management at the Japan Educational Center. 残念ながら最近忘れてしまいました. Last but not least, Ksenia sings jazz for friends.

Keegan Gothers is a legal intern at the firm. He is a third year law student at the University of Miami School of Law and an Associate/Junior Agent at the ESQ Sports Agency, a sports agency with locations in Miami and Nashville. He already proudly serves as an advisor to a number of college and high school baseball players, guiding them and their families through the draft process and life in professional baseball. He has experience scouting and recruiting clients at the high school and college level, negotiating and drafting equipment and endorsement contracts, exploring name, image, and likeness opportunities and excels at making sure all current clients have their needs met on and off the field. At the Miami Law, Keegan is an active member in the Entertainment and Sports Law Society and was the 2020 MLB Arbitration Competition winner and a finalist at the Tulane International MLB Arbitration Competition earlier this year. He plans on becoming a MLBPA certified agent in 2022.

Why are you and your team proud to be a woman-owned company?

It is still not uncommon for women in business to be taken advantage of financially and reputationally. That is why we value the opportunity to expand a female-powered business in a male-dominated industry. We strongly believe in the necessity of empowering our fellow ladies and those who identify as such in order to both provide them new opportunities and to enrich the entertainment, arts, sports and related industries with extraordinary female vision.