LOS ANGELES, Sept. 13, 2004 LAWFUEL – Best for attorney news, law firms, legal news, entertainment law, M&A law Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is
pleased to announce that corporate lawyer Ruth Fisher has joined the firm’s
Los Angeles office as a partner. Formerly with Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP,
Fisher focuses her practice on mergers and acquisitions with a particular
focus on the entertainment industry.
“Ruth is very well-regarded in the legal community and is a tremendous
addition to the firm,” said Ken Doran, Managing Partner of Gibson Dunn. “We
have one of the strongest M&A groups and will be well-positioned to serve the
entertainment industry and to build on our strong film finance and
entertainment litigation practices. Ruth will strengthen our ability to
handle a full panoply of transactional matters for our entertainment clients.”
Fisher’s practice encompasses mergers and acquisitions; financing
transactions, including public and private offerings of debt and equity; and
debt restructurings. She has significant experience in the entertainment and
media industries through representing clients such as Universal Studios and
Universal Music Group. Recent transactions include the representation of
Vivendi Universal S.A. in connection with the sale of Universal Studios to
NBC.
Fisher joined Munger, Tolles & Olson in 1982 and became a partner in 1987.
From 1980 to 1982, she was a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Malcom M.
Lucas. Fisher received her law degree in 1980 from University of California
at Los Angeles, where she served as a Comment Editor of the UCLA Law Review.
“I am delighted to join Gibson Dunn,” said Fisher. “The firm combines a
strong entertainment practice and a sophisticated corporate practice with an
international platform – a combination that is hard to match in the market.”
About Gibson Dunn’s Entertainment Practice
Gibson Dunn provides a full range of services for entertainment industry
disputes and transactions. The firm represents institutional clients in
virtually all aspects of business, including mergers and acquisitions,
financing, acquisition, licensing, development and the distribution of film,
television and home video. The firm’s entertainment lawyers also litigate in
state and federal courts and arbitrate before guilds and other institutional
forums.
Recent selected matters include representing Intertainment Licensing in
litigation against Franchise Pictures challenging the accuracy of film budgets
under a multi-picture distribution agreement; Ticketmaster in antitrust
claims; New Line Cinema, Universal Studios, Twentieth Century Fox and Miramax
in structuring co-productions, subsidy and tax incentivized financing; and
representing Landmark in the acquisition of Silver Holdco, operator of the
Landmark Theater and Silver Cinemas movie theater chains.
About the Firm
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is a leading international law firm.
Consistently ranking among the world’s top law firms in industry surveys and
major publications, Gibson Dunn is distinctively positioned in today’s global
marketplace with more than 800 lawyers and 13 offices, including Los Angeles,
New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Palo Alto, London, Paris, Munich,
Brussels, Orange County, Century City, Dallas and Denver.
The Strategic Fit:
Ruth Fisher joins Gibson Dunn’s Los Angeles office, where she will
strengthen both the corporate transactions practice and the entertainment
practice. Fisher rounds out the firm’s entertainment finance and
entertainment litigation practices by adding corporate entertainment
capability, which will allow the firm to market full services to entertainment
companies.
Background:
Fisher’s practice is primarily focused on merger, acquisition and
financing transactions (including public and private offerings of debt and
equity) and debt restructurings.
Her core clients are corporations and other entities in the entertainment,
software, broadcasting and print media industries.
Recent entertainment transactions include the representation of :
* Vivendi Universal S.A. in connection with the sale of Universal Studios,
Inc. to NBC
* Universal Studios or its affiliates in an investment in and long-term
distribution agreements with DreamWorks LLC
* Universal Studios or its affiliates in the formation of production and
distribution joint ventures
* Universal Studios or its affiliates in transactions related to the
acquisition of USA Networks, Inc.
* Universal Studios or its affiliates in the sale of the national and
international specialty retailer Spencer Gifts
* Universal Music Group or its affiliates in multiple music and technology
joint ventures
* Universal Music Group or its affiliates in investments in and sales of
equity interests in various companies
In addition, Fisher is a regular consultant on the negotiation and
settlement of complex commercial disputes. A lecturer on issues related to
joint ventures, restructurings/reorganizations and securities law issues,
Fisher also chaired a subcommittee of the Business Law Section of the American
Bar Association which redrafted the Model Simplified Indenture.
