April 7, 2008

THE DAILY JOURNAL

By Rebecca U. Cho and Molly R. Okeon

LOS ANGELES – In a boost to its growing entertainment and media practice, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton has added two veteran litigators to its Century City office: James E. Curry and Robb Klein.

Curry’s move comes more than a decade after a bitter break from what is now Christensen, Glaser, Fink, Jacobs, Weil & Shapiro that led to the formation of White O’Connor Curry, of which Curry was a name partner. His former firm has since changed its name to White O’Connor Fink & Brenner.

Curry said he joined the partnership, after leaving the boutique firm, for what he saw as a flourishing entertainment practice at Sheppard Mullin.

“There are only a handful of firms that do a substantial amount of entertainment litigation,” Curry said. “This one appears to be growing by leaps and bounds and has a strong transactional base in entertainment, as well. I don’t know of another firm that is very strong in both as this one is.”

Klein signed on as special counsel after leaving the London office of leading European law firm SJ Berwin, where he was a partner in its media and communications group.

He said one of the main reasons he joined Sheppard Mullin was because it was “time for a move,” and, with two young children, it was “now or never.”

“Instead of going to a firm down the street, I decided to do something more radical,” he said.

Although the physical move may have been drastic, Klein said Sheppard Mullin isn’t that different from his former firm.

“The size of the practice is the same as the one I came from, and the type of practice is very much along the lines of my kind of work,” he added.

Sheppard Mullin’s Century City office, which houses 36 attorneys, opened in 2004, in large part to support a newly founded entertainment and media practice led by partner Martin Katz.

“Sheppard has always been a great law firm, but in this area it’s really become a presence in the last five or six years,” Curry said.

Curry said the parting with White O’Connor was amicable.

Andrew White, of Curry’s previous firm, said he and Curry had “differences of vision and direction,” including those concerning the firm’s growth and client mix.

White said he intends to continue to keep the firm small and focused on litigation. Much of the firm’s work is in entertainment litigation for studios, networks and production companies.

Curry declined to name his clients, but he has represented a long list of entertainment giants, including CBS, Disney, Paramount Viacom, Universal Studios and Infinity Broadcasting. He has upcoming trials in the summer representing CBS and SK Entertainment Inc.

He brings his entire book of business, which is worth millions.
Legal recruiting firm Watanabe Nason Schwartz & Lippman brokered the deal.