Prominent entertainment attorney Ken Deutsch has switched from one powerful firm to another, leaving Latham & Watkins to join Paul Hastings as a partner and global co-chair of the entertainment and media practice.
At Latham & Watkins, Deutsch was global co-chair of the firm's entertainment, sports, and media group.
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Deutsch's move boosts the already impressive Paul Hastings entertainment and media team. On the transactions side it includes Craig Emanuel (who was named Variety's Power of Law Honoree this year), David Hernand, Mickey Mayerson, Susan Williams and Sean A. Monroe. In litigation, it boasts the services of Steven Marenberg, Tamerlin Godley, James (Bo) Pearl and Josh Gordon. Like Deutsch, all have been featured in Variety's Legal Impact Report.
"Ken is one of the entertainment industry's elite transactional lawyers, known for working on blockbuster projects and alongside A-list clients," said Paul Hastings chair Frank Lopez in a statement. "His addition to our practice furthers our strategic growth across our entertainment and media practice and in California."
"My client base is primarily composed of independent content and media companies, as well as financiers and investors in the entertainment and media space, and the 'special sauce' of my practice has always been the ability to not only handle clients' biggest and most complicated corporate and finance transactions, but to also have my finger on the pulse of the industry," said Deutsch in a statement to Variety.
He added that he joined Paul Hastings because the firm "provides a unique platform in that it's both a global firm with corporate and finance expertise across the legal spectrum, but also has a leading entertainment group with multiple partners who have been practicing in the industry for decades, dealing with the studios and streamers on a daily basis for A-level clients. Combining my practice with theirs creates a really unique offering in terms of industry expertise and relationships."
Deutsch's recent matters at Latham & Watkins include advising Macro Media in its $90 million equity raise led by Blackrock Alternatives; Stampede Entertainment in forming and capitalizing Hidden Pigeon Co. with RedBird Capital Partners and children's book author Mo Willems; New Republic Pictures in a multipicture financing deal with Paramount Pictures to provide co-financing for a theatrical slate, including recent blockbuster "Top Gun: Maverick" and the upcoming "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning"; and several matters for multihyphenate Jon Favreau and his companies.
It's not clear which clients Deutsch will be bringing to his new roost. "Many of my clients have been with me for many years, and they are excited to continue our relationship and access the broad industry expertise and relationships of the Paul Hastings entertainment group, as well as the various other top-tier transactional practices at the firm," he said.
"Ken is an exceptional transactional lawyer operating at the highest levels," said CAA Co-Chairman Bryan Lourd in an endorsement. "Over the years. I have seen first-hand his practical and business-minded approach with clients, his ability to handle a broad spectrum of entertainment, corporate, and financing transactions, and, most importantly, his ability to calmly keep deals on track and close. The synergies between his entertainment and corporate practice, alongside the team at Paul Hastings, will create a dynamic force across the entertainment and media landscape."
Deutsch is the latest prominent partner to join Paul Hastings in California and the second this week in Century City, following complex and high-stakes litigator Susan Leader, who joined Tuesday from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Prominent IP litigator Rudy Kim joined the firm's Palo Alto office last month.
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Originally published June 1, 2023 at 10:59 AM
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