Legal eagles mingle
Int'l firm Akin Gump to join forces with Troop
The addition of the Troop attorneys brings the Akin Gump ranks to 1,050 worldwide. With 136 in the Los Angeles office, the firm will be counted among the 10 largest in the city. Of Troop's approximately 125 lawyers, 61 will join Akin Gump. Attorneys in Troop's insurance practice group and other areas that did not fit into Akin Gump's strategic plans will go elsewhere.
Akin Gump chairman R. Bruce McLean said, "Through this merger we have accomplished in one step a number of our critical business objectives: an enhanced ability to represent clients in the business and entertainment communities, and the extremely important extension of our technology practice on the West Coast."
Troop managing partner Frank Reddick added, "We decided to join Akin Gump because of its demonstrated commitment to the entertainment and technology industries, its extensive global resources and its multidisciplinary approach to solving clients' problems."
Net increase
With the merger, Akin Gump expects to increase both its traditional entertainment work and Internet-related entertainment representation.
Troop has been a fixture in the entertainment community for the past 20 years, with particularly strong ties to Sony Pictures Entertainment and the Walt Disney Co. Former partner Bob Wynne departed for a high-level exec post at Sony, which he has since left, and former partner Lou Meisinger is now general counsel for Disney.
The firm does a large amount of transactional work in both film and television. It represented Sony in its acquisition of Telemundo Group and Fox Kids Worldwide in its merger with Intl. Family Entertainment. It has represented numerous studios in co-financing deals, including 20th Century Fox, SPE and Paramount Pictures. The firm also represented Showtime in its co-financing of several television series and has acted as production counsel on independent films.
In recent years, Troop has seen some slippage in its dominance of studio litigation and the departure of several entertainment litigators. Reddick said, "There has been less litigation (for the firm) as big cases wound down. The complexion of our entertainment work has changed, but the amount has stayed the same."
The merger will add to Akin Gump's already strong presence. Last year, the firm added media finance lawyers P. John Burke and Steve Fayne, whose clients include Bank of America, Banque Internationale a Luxembourg, Chase Manhattan Bank and City National Bank, as well as producers and distributors. With the addition of Stephen Saltzman earlier this year, the firm now reps most of the German funds looking to invest capital in the film business.
"Our goal for next year is to expand internationally, particularly in our London office," Burke said.
Labor leader
Under the direction of prominent attorney Howard Fabrick, the firm also boasts a strong labor practice. Fabrick has advised studios and an increasing number of independents for over 30 years and has worked extensively with the guilds.
The firm also does transactional work for 20th Century Fox and Paramount Studios and legislative work for the Motion Picture Assn. of America. It's also one of several firms that represent the Recording Industry Assn. of America. It reps the American Film Institute pro bono.
