Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Page 3
Loeb & Loeb Adds Entertainment, Patent Attorneys to Local Office
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Patent litigator Laura A. Wytsma, entertainment lawyer Timothy J. Bellamy and finance attorney Paul P. Sagan and have joined the Los Angeles office of Loeb & Loeb, the firm said yesterday.
Wytsma, a former partner at Sonneschein Nath & Rosenthal, is now a partner in Loeb & Loeb’s intellectual property litigation group. In addition to her patent litigation background—which Los Angeles practice Co-Chair John Frankenheimer called a “major asset” to the firm’s national practice—Wytsma has litigated in the areas of antitrust, false advertising, defamation and complex commercial disputes.
She was a member of the Litigation Section Executive Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association from 2001 to 2006, serving as its programs chair from 2004 to 2006.
Wytsma joined the State Bar in 1997 after earning her law degree with distinction from George Mason University in 1996. She graduated from the same school in 1993 with an undergraduate degree in public administration.
The attorney, who started her legal career in the Attorney General’s Honor Program at the U.S. Department of Justice, has been recognized for her regular pro bono work. Among her past pro bono clients are refugees seeking asylum from Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Iran, Russia and Syria, and domestic violence victims.
Bellamy, formerly a senior level executive, general counsel and in-house consultant for Fox, Disney, Sony and other entertainment companies, and Sagan, previously with Winston & Strawn, are the newest members of Loeb & Loeb’s entertainment and media group.
Mickey Mayerson, managing partner of the office, said in a statement that Sagan’s “corporate lending know-how” would make him an integral member of the firm’s entertainment finance team, while Bellamy’s transactional experience and “rich background” would enhance services to its television and new media clients.
“We have been looking for experienced lawyers to serve our entertainment and media clients, in particular in entertainment finance, which is a robust and growing area of our practice,” Mayerson noted.
Bellamy has worked in domestic and international content distribution, including multi-network cable and satellite, and all forms of Internet distribution. While working as general counsel for a basic cable network, he handled all of the network’s legal work, including the sale of the network to Comcast.
His practice encompasses a variety of entertainment transactions such as
negotiating and drafting content license and distribution agreements, mergers and acquisitions; domestic and international joint venture transactions, and corporate governance and financing.
After earning his law degree from Vanderbilt University in 1992, he clerked for the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and worked for the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C. He also served as a legislative director for Congressman Bob Clement and a legislative assistant for Congressman Bill Green.
Admitted to the State Bar in 2002, Bellamy holds an undergraduate degree from Emory University.
Sagan’s entertainment and media finance practice focuses on complex lending transactions in a broad range of industries. He has handled a variety of loan transactions including acquisition financings, leveraged cash flow and asset-based loans, cross-border transactions and special purpose loans. His experience also encompasses the area of bankruptcy, restructuring and creditor’s rights.
Sagan earned a mathematics degree from Brown University and degrees in both business and law from UCLA. He was admitted to the State Bar in 1991.
Copyright 2007, Metropolitan News Company