Practice Notes

Mason Miller, a boutique transactional entertainment firm with ties to disgraced New York attorney Marc Dreier, dissolved as its name partners, John Mason and Darrell Miller, have announced joining separate law firms.

Dreier, founder and managing partner of Dreier LLP, was a partner at Mason Miller. As such, he supplied its four lawyers with administrative costs, equipment and files, but the firm operated independently by having its own budget, cash flows and staff. In December, Dreier was charged with securities and wire fraud stemming from an investment fraud that led to $400 million in losses and the collapse of his New York firm, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Mason said Dreier's collapse contributed to his firm's dissolution. “The Mason Miller model had been built around working with that firm, and that firm no longer existed,” Mason said. Mason, who specializes in branding high profile actors, producers, recording artists, athletes and other talent in entertainment and sports, joined Los Angeles-based Glaser, Weil, Fink, Jacobs, Howard & Shapiro as a partner. Also joining the firm is Deborah Wagnon, who represents authors and producers. Wagnon, of counsel, will be based in Nashville. But Mason said that Glaser Weil, which has offices in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, is not planning to open an office in Tennessee. An associate, Jonathan Altschul, also joined Glaser Weil from Mason Miller.

The three attorneys join transaction attorney Jonathan Blinderman, who was responsible for transactions in the entertainment group of Playboy Enterprises Inc. before joining Glaser Weil of counsel.

' Amanda Bronstad

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A prominent group of litigators left Irell & Manella's Los Angeles office to launch their own boutique, in a law-firm trend that appears to be prompted by client rate pressure. Richard Kendall, Laura Brill and Robert Klieger launched Kendall Brill & Klieger, taking with them huge clients Viacom Inc., CBS and Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc., among others.

Kendall said increasing sensitivity to billing rates was a factor. “If you can move to a lower and more efficient cost structure, which many small firms can achieve, I think it does give you a competitive advantage, and it does give your clients some tangible benefits,” Kendall said.

His new firm will offer incentive-based billing arrangements that attempt to serve the interests of both the clients and the firm. For instance, he said, the client could pay a significant fee if a case ends in summary judgment that would be less than it would have paid if the case had continued.

Recruiter Larry Watanabe said the firm-spin-off trend pops up during tough economic cycles when clients start pushing back on rates. “You are going to see a number of prominent practitioners [in general] at major firms morphing out into their own firms,' Watanabe said. Eventually these spinoffs become big enough that they again want the resources of a larger firm and may eventually become absorbed again, he said.

Kendall said his new firm is hiring about half a dozen attorneys and aims to employ more than a dozen within a few years. The firm plans to institute a profit-sharing program for all its lawyers after the first year, according to a press release.

The Irell departing partners have focused primarily on media and entertainment-related litigation, although Kendall has represented financial services firms such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. and foreign governments in international disputes. Kendall has tried more than 30 cases in federal and state courts. A former federal prosecutor, Kendall joined Irell & Manella in 1997. Brill handles complex litigation, intellectual property, First Amendment and appellate issues. She joined Irell in 1997. Klieger focuses on commercial litigation, particularly intellectual property and entertainment issues. He has represented several motion picture studios and television networks in copyright and idea submission disputes, licensing and trademark matters and executive compensation issues. He joined Irell in 1999.

The new firm will focus on litigation disputes involving copyright, trademark, contracts, internal investigations, torts, employment, insurance coverage and class actions.

' Amanda Royal

###

Frederic Bernstein, the former president of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Cos., joined Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon in Beverly Hills. Bernstein joins the Chicago-based firm as a partner, bringing with him associate Gregg Ramer. Both came from the Los Angeles office of New York's Proskauer Rose.

Bernstein said that he joined Wildman Harrold because of the high-profile names the firm has added to its Beverly Hills office in recent months. Among them are David Ginsburg, executive director of the entertainment and media law and policy program at UCLA School of Law, who joined in March; and Ken Suddleson, former executive vice president at Paramount Pictures Corp., who heads the Beverly Hills office.

Bernstein, who spent three years at Proskauer Rose, specializes in the financing of motion pictures, television and online productions. He handles content deals for financiers and production and distribution companies. He previously spent 15 years at motion picture studios.

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Meister Seelig & Fein has established an entertainment, sports and new media practice with the addition of two partners who will co-chair the group: Barry M. Perlman in New York and Elaine M. Rogers in Boston, both formerly with Fish & Richardson. The firm also added two corporate partners in New York: Mitchell Lampert and Sidney D. Bluming. Mr. Lampert had his own firm, The Law Offices of Mitchell Lampert; Mr. Bluming was the principal and president of Bluming Freiman Franco.

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Michael Elkin has been named managing partner of Winston & Strawn's New York office and elected to the firm's executive committee. Elkin focuses his practice on media, entertainment and intellectual property matters. Elkin succeeds Jonathan Goldstein.

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The recently announced merger of the William Morris Agency and Endeavor Talent Agency, two of Hollywood's largest talent agencies, is estimated to result in combined company annual revenue of $250 million to $300 million. William Morris, with clients such as Steve Martin, Russell Crowe and Kanye West, was founded in 1898 and employs about 800 people in New York, California, Tennessee, Florida, London and China. The agency announced combined agent and staff layoffs of 120 soon after the merger was made public. Calif.-based Endeavor, which represents actors like Hugh Jackman and Aaron Sorkin, was established in 1995. The company has about 275 employees.

A New York-based Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison team of partners Robert B. Schumer, corporate; Paul D. Ginsberg, corporate; Jeffrey B. Samuels, tax; and associate Justin Hamill, corporate, advised Endeavor.

Hansen Jacobson and Munger, Tolles & Olson represented William Morris. Hansen Jacobson name entertainment partners Tom Hansen and Craig Jacobson advised in California. Munger attorneys were partners J. Martin Willhite and Brett Rodda, corporate, and Stephen Rose, tax. Associates were Katharine Hall, Daniel Elizondo and William Cano, corporate; and Patrick Anderson and Paul Levy, tax, all in California.

'Scott Pegram.

Mason Miller, a boutique transactional entertainment firm with ties to disgraced New York attorney Marc Dreier, dissolved as its name partners, John Mason and Darrell Miller, have announced joining separate law firms.

Dreier, founder and managing partner of Dreier LLP, was a partner at Mason Miller. As such, he supplied its four lawyers with administrative costs, equipment and files, but the firm operated independently by having its own budget, cash flows and staff. In December, Dreier was charged with securities and wire fraud stemming from an investment fraud that led to $400 million in losses and the collapse of his New York firm, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Mason said Dreier's collapse contributed to his firm's dissolution. “The Mason Miller model had been built around working with that firm, and that firm no longer existed,” Mason said. Mason, who specializes in branding high profile actors, producers, recording artists, athletes and other talent in entertainment and sports, joined Los Angeles-based Glaser, Weil, Fink, Jacobs, Howard & Shapiro as a partner. Also joining the firm is Deborah Wagnon, who represents authors and producers. Wagnon, of counsel, will be based in Nashville. But Mason said that Glaser Weil, which has offices in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, is not planning to open an office in Tennessee. An associate, Jonathan Altschul, also joined Glaser Weil from Mason Miller.

The three attorneys join transaction attorney Jonathan Blinderman, who was responsible for transactions in the entertainment group of Playboy Enterprises Inc. before joining Glaser Weil of counsel.

' Amanda Bronstad

###

A prominent group of litigators left Irell & Manella's Los Angeles office to launch their own boutique, in a law-firm trend that appears to be prompted by client rate pressure. Richard Kendall, Laura Brill and Robert Klieger launched Kendall Brill & Klieger, taking with them huge clients Viacom Inc., CBS and Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc., among others.

Kendall said increasing sensitivity to billing rates was a factor. “If you can move to a lower and more efficient cost structure, which many small firms can achieve, I think it does give you a competitive advantage, and it does give your clients some tangible benefits,” Kendall said.

His new firm will offer incentive-based billing arrangements that attempt to serve the interests of both the clients and the firm. For instance, he said, the client could pay a significant fee if a case ends in summary judgment that would be less than it would have paid if the case had continued.

Recruiter Larry Watanabe said the firm-spin-off trend pops up during tough economic cycles when clients start pushing back on rates. “You are going to see a number of prominent practitioners [in general] at major firms morphing out into their own firms,' Watanabe said. Eventually these spinoffs become big enough that they again want the resources of a larger firm and may eventually become absorbed again, he said.

Kendall said his new firm is hiring about half a dozen attorneys and aims to employ more than a dozen within a few years. The firm plans to institute a profit-sharing program for all its lawyers after the first year, according to a press release.

The Irell departing partners have focused primarily on media and entertainment-related litigation, although Kendall has represented financial services firms such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. and foreign governments in international disputes. Kendall has tried more than 30 cases in federal and state courts. A former federal prosecutor, Kendall joined Irell & Manella in 1997. Brill handles complex litigation, intellectual property, First Amendment and appellate issues. She joined Irell in 1997. Klieger focuses on commercial litigation, particularly intellectual property and entertainment issues. He has represented several motion picture studios and television networks in copyright and idea submission disputes, licensing and trademark matters and executive compensation issues. He joined Irell in 1999.

The new firm will focus on litigation disputes involving copyright, trademark, contracts, internal investigations, torts, employment, insurance coverage and class actions.

' Amanda Royal

###

Frederic Bernstein, the former president of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Cos., joined Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon in Beverly Hills. Bernstein joins the Chicago-based firm as a partner, bringing with him associate Gregg Ramer. Both came from the Los Angeles office of New York's Proskauer Rose.

Bernstein said that he joined Wildman Harrold because of the high-profile names the firm has added to its Beverly Hills office in recent months. Among them are David Ginsburg, executive director of the entertainment and media law and policy program at UCLA School of Law, who joined in March; and Ken Suddleson, former executive vice president at Paramount Pictures Corp., who heads the Beverly Hills office.

Bernstein, who spent three years at Proskauer Rose, specializes in the financing of motion pictures, television and online productions. He handles content deals for financiers and production and distribution companies. He previously spent 15 years at motion picture studios.

###

Meister Seelig & Fein has established an entertainment, sports and new media practice with the addition of two partners who will co-chair the group: Barry M. Perlman in New York and Elaine M. Rogers in Boston, both formerly with Fish & Richardson. The firm also added two corporate partners in New York: Mitchell Lampert and Sidney D. Bluming. Mr. Lampert had his own firm, The Law Offices of Mitchell Lampert; Mr. Bluming was the principal and president of Bluming Freiman Franco.

###

Michael Elkin has been named managing partner of Winston & Strawn's New York office and elected to the firm's executive committee. Elkin focuses his practice on media, entertainment and intellectual property matters. Elkin succeeds Jonathan Goldstein.

###

The recently announced merger of the William Morris Agency and Endeavor Talent Agency, two of Hollywood's largest talent agencies, is estimated to result in combined company annual revenue of $250 million to $300 million. William Morris, with clients such as Steve Martin, Russell Crowe and Kanye West, was founded in 1898 and employs about 800 people in New York, California, Tennessee, Florida, London and China. The agency announced combined agent and staff layoffs of 120 soon after the merger was made public. Calif.-based Endeavor, which represents actors like Hugh Jackman and Aaron Sorkin, was established in 1995. The company has about 275 employees.

A New York-based Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison team of partners Robert B. Schumer, corporate; Paul D. Ginsberg, corporate; Jeffrey B. Samuels, tax; and associate Justin Hamill, corporate, advised Endeavor.

Hansen Jacobson and Munger, Tolles & Olson represented William Morris. Hansen Jacobson name entertainment partners Tom Hansen and Craig Jacobson advised in California. Munger attorneys were partners J. Martin Willhite and Brett Rodda, corporate, and Stephen Rose, tax. Associates were Katharine Hall, Daniel Elizondo and William Cano, corporate; and Patrick Anderson and Paul Levy, tax, all in California.

'Scott Pegram.