Legal News

Tough Times for Tinseltown Lawyers

By Ashby Jones

Oh LBers, just when we know you’re ready for a healthy does of good news on the employment front, comes news of a veritable meltdown in yet another area of legal practice: Hollywood dealmaking.

Reports the National Law Journal:

The economic recession has hit the most escapist of industries as deals for actors, musicians, directors and other talent in the entertainment sector have plummeted, according to attorneys who structure transactions. Fees and other compensation have declined as studios clamp down on costs, they report.

It’s not news that’s likely to cause shockwaves through whole classes of law-school second years — Hollywood boutiques often only hire lawyers with dealmaking apprenticeships from elsewhere. But it’s not good news for New York and LA lawyers who were hoping to make a full-fledged jump into entertainment law.

“Every entertainment lawyer will tell you the same thing about new deals: They have to do twice as many to stay afloat, which means working twice as hard, because the deals have been cut in half,” said Doug Mark, a partner at Mark Music & Media Law in Los Angeles who worked for several years at the boutique firm Morris Yorn Barnes & Levine.

According to the NLJ, the downturn could lead to a rash of mergers within the industry.

“I do think that in the next 24 months you are going to see more consolidation of law firms, whether it’s in the form of boutiques getting together or individuals from boutiques joining larger firms,” said Craig Emanuel, chairman of Loeb & Loeb’s Los Angeles entertainment department and talent practice group. “Like in any business in a depressed time, finding a way to share overhead with somebody else becomes a critical factor.”

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on July 27, 2009 (boomark / email).