July 1, 2015

LOS ANGELES DAILY JOURNAL

By Steven Crighton

Merger could signal more changes in the west Los Angeles legal market this year.

LOS ANGELES – Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP, the 107-year-old law firm known for its work in digital media and entertainment, announced it would merge with corporate boutique Richardson & Patel LLP effective July 1.

Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, or MSK, will retain its name after the combination with Richardson & Patel, a boutique concentrated largely on corporate finance, securities, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and general corporate matters, and will combine offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Washington D.C.

Kevin Gaut, managing partner of MSK, will be chairman of the merged firm, while Nimish Patel, co-founder and co-managing partner of Richardson & Patel, will be vice chairman. Both attorneys are based in Los Angeles.

Gaut said Tuesday that MSK, whose clients over the years have ranged from the estate of Elvis Presley to the creators of the video game Grand Theft Auto, reached out to Richardson & Patel several months ago out of an interest in expanding its corporate department.

“We’re always looking to make our bench deeper. These are all outstanding lawyers, and we’re looking forward to them being a part of our partnership,” Gaut said.

Richardson & Patel’s co-managing partner, Kevin Friedmann, will be chairman of MSK’s corporate department, and Patel and Friedmann will join MSK’s governing board. The new firm will have 130 attorneys total.

Gaut said one of the things his firm was attracted to about Richardson & Patel was the opportunity to inject new blood into the storied firm. While there is no formal transition process in place, Gaut said it was “certainly possible” the leadership at Richardson & Patel could end up being part of the succession plan at MSK.

“We’re certainly welcoming of them in their new role and we think that over the long-term, they could lead the firm,” Gaut said.

Patel said his firm resisted several merger offers , but felt they’d found a perfect fit in MSK.

“As long as I was going to practice law, I wanted to stay independent. MSK offered us an opportunity, and it just felt different from any of the other opportunities that came to us,” Patel said. “MSK is well known in the industry and for the work that they do. That was a culture we wanted to have for our firm as well.”

Legal recruiter Larry Watanabe of Watanabe Nason LLC, said mergers between older, more well-established firms and younger ones are likely to become more common.

“There are many indigenous firms in west Los Angeles in the midst of transition planning, strategy and related concerns,” he said. “As senior partners and rainmakers age, firms are placed in the position of needing to plan for the next generation.”

Because of the increased competition from larger global firms moving into the area and the advent of Silicon Beach, competition for talent will get ever more fierce.

“The Los Angeles market and in particular the west Los Angeles market will undergo a transformation over the next year, and the market will continue to segregate and widen between the older indigenous and global law firms in that marketplace.”