Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Page 3
Wildman Harrold Opens Beverly Hills Location
Epstein Becker and Locke Lord Also Announce Addition of New Partners
By SHERRI M. OKAMOTO, Staff Writer
The 200-member national business law firm of Wildman Harrold has expanded its media and entertainment practice with a new office in Beverly Hills, the firm has announced.
M. Kenneth Suddleson, managing partner for the new location, said the firm “made a decision that this is a market they should really be in,” closed its old office in the Mid-Wilshire area and opened its new office on Monday with a staff of seven and “plans to grow.”
A 30-year veteran media and entertainment lawyer, Suddleson moved from Foley & Lardner’s Century City office to join Wildman Harrold in mid-July. He said he was impressed by the firm’s “substantial commitment” to the field of media and entertainment law, and welcomed the opportunity to be part of building the firm’s practice in this area.
The other members of the new office have also made recent lateral moves to the firm. Partners Carole Handler and James Nguyen, both formerly of Foley & Lardner, joined Wildman Harrold in May and Aug. 1, respectively.
Dominique R. Shelton left Kaye Scholer L.L.P. to join Wildman Harrold as a partner in June, and Alan Friel did likewise in March. Associate Jesse Brody also moved from Kaye Scholer to Wildman in February, and Nancy Derwin-Weiss, formerly in-house counsel with Paramount Pictures, joined Wildman Harrold’s Los Angeles office in 2007 as a founding partner.
In other news, Epstein Becker & Green announced yesterday that Henry Shields, former senior litigation partner with Irell & Manella L.L.P., will be joining its Los Angeles office.
Epstein Becker’s Managing Partner George Sape praised Shields’ “sterling reputation” and “powerful history of successes in large-case litigation” in a statement.
Shields said he was excited by the opportunity to join Epstein Becker’s growing litigation practice and opined that his “broad litigation experience,” and “particular focus on the entertainment business,” would allow him to be a “valuable new component to the team.”
He joins litigator George T. Caplan, who moved from Kaye Scholer to Epstein Becker earlier this year.
With 400 members, Epstein Becker has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Newark, San Francisco, Stamford and Washington D.C.
Similarly, Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell announced yesterday that Alisa M. Chevalier has joined the firm’s Los Angeles office as a partner.
Chevalier was formerly a partner at Reed Smith in the firm’s labor and employment section.
Jerry Clements, chairman of Locke Lord, explained that Los Angeles is a “focus area” for strategic growth for the firm, and Mitch Popham, managing partner of Locke Lord’s Los Angeles office, explained that California is a “prime area for employment litigation, especially class action litigation concerning overtime wages under state and federal law.”
Popham praised Chevalier’s experience in representing employers in the defense of wage and hour class actions in the release.
Locke Lord is a 700-plus member firm with offices in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
Copyright 2008, Metropolitan News Company