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Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp

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Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp is a law firm founded in Los Angeles, California, with additional offices in New York City, New York, and Washington, D.C. It has historically been recognized as one of Los Angeles's most prominent entertainment law firms, though it also provides legal services to clients outside the entertainment industry.

Founded in 1908 by Shepard Mitchell and Mendel Silberberg, the firm became prominent in Hollywood when it began representing Columbia Pictures. By the 1950s, Mendel Silberberg had become "the 'consigliere' to all the studio heads."[1] The firm would go on to represent United Artists, MGM, RKO Pictures, Ingrid Bergman, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, D.W. Griffith, Howard Hughes, Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Jean Harlow, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers,[2] Rosalind Russell, Robert Taylor, Robert Wise, Goldie Hawn, Robert Wagner,[3] Jack Kent Cooke, Norton Simon, Judy Garland, Edward G. Robinson, Roman Polanski, Dr. Gene Scott, Mick Jagger,[4][5] Ed Asner, Michael Crichton, Jessica Lange, Dick Clark Productions, Tom Cruise, Anne Rice, the cable TV network Nickelodeon,[6] Barbra Streisand, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Kings, the National Hockey League,[7] and the estate of Marilyn Monroe.[8] By the 1960s, Mitchell Silberberg "was the most prominent entertainment law firm in the world."[9]

Beginning in the 1960s, the firm also developed a robust music practice, sitting "at the red hot center of the record and music business" while representing major record and music publishing companies as well as recording artists such as The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & The Papas, Neil Diamond, The Doors, Earth Wind & Fire, The Beatles, and Carole King.[10][11] By the early 1970s, the music practice "was a far bigger source of revenue for the firm than movies, which were dying."[12] By 1975, Billboard magazine reported that the firm "handles a star-studded client list and is a compelling factor in the music industry."[13] The firm was also 'an early force in filing record-company lawsuits against unauthorized duplicators."[14] In 2000, the firm represented the recording industry in the seminal Napster copyright infringement case.[15] The firm had represented the Recording Industry Association of America since the 1960s.[16]

By the 1980s, after adding several lawyers from defunct rival firm Kaplan Livingston Goodwin Berkowitz & Selvin, the firm boasted a "who's who of legal talent" in the entertainment industry and was at its "apex of power"; but when smaller firms that prioritized percentage deals with actors and musicians began to dominate the entertainment legal landscape, Mitchell Silberberg decreased its focus on talent-side clients.[17]

Beyond the entertainment industry, the firm was longtime counsel to Occidental Petroleum and Armand Hammer,[18] and successfully represented the Fred Goldman family in the O. J. Simpson civil wrongful death case.[19]

References

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  1. ^ Gruber, Frank. "Hollywood, Power, and the Law: The Case of Greg Bautzer". lareviewofbooks.org. Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  2. ^ Gardner, Eriq. "Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp at 100". www.hollywoodreporter.com. Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  3. ^ Oliver, Myrna. "Edward Rubin; Entertainment Law Expert". www.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  4. ^ Oliver, Myrna. "Arthur Groman; Lawyer for Rich, Famous". www.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times.
  5. ^ Galloway, Doug. "Showbiz lawyer Groman dies". www.variety.com. Variety. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Lawyers to Dissolve Practice, Join Rival". www/latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  7. ^ Mosk, Matthew. "Oral History of Justice Richard M. Mosk" (PDF). www.courts.ca.gov. State of California. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  8. ^ Ho, Catherine. "Meet the D.C. lawyers in Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp's new fashion industry group". www.washingtonpost.com. Washington Post. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  9. ^ Mosk, Matthew. "Oral History of Justice Richard M. Mosk" (PDF). www.courts.ca.gov. State of California. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  10. ^ Friedman, Roger. "RIP Abe Somer, 85, Lawyer At the Center of Every Important Record Deal of the 60s and 70s, Got the Rolling Stones Their Biggest Contract". showbiz411.com. Showbiz 411. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  11. ^ Mosk, Matthew. "Oral History of Justice Richard M. Mosk" (PDF). www.courts.ca.gov. State of California. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  12. ^ Stadiem, William (15 January 2013). Moneywood: Hollywood in its Last Age of Excess. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN 9781250014078.
  13. ^ Freedland, Nat (18 January 1975). "The Artist: Million $ Asset". Billboard.
  14. ^ Menn, Joseph (8 April 2003). All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning's Napster. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 9781400050062.
  15. ^ Gardner, Eriq. "Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp at 100". www.hollywoodreporter.com. Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  16. ^ Ryan, John. "Lawyer Limelight: Russell Frackman". www.lawdragon.com. Lawdragon. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  17. ^ Gardner, Eriq. "Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp at 100". www.hollywoodreporter.com. Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  18. ^ Mosk, Matthew. "Oral History of Justice Richard M. Mosk" (PDF). www.courts.ca.gov. State of California. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  19. ^ "Simpson Again Granted a Delay In Testifying in a Civil Lawsuit". www.nytimes.com. New York Times. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
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