Mitchell Silberberg to Merge with Corporate Firm

Law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp will merge with the smaller corporate boutique Richardson Patel, the firms are set to announce on Monday.

The deal, effective July 1, will form a 130 attorney law firm with $80 million in projected revenue and offices in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. It will retain the name, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp.

“This is a legal merger, so we are bringing all of our clients to MSK,” said Nimish Patel, co-founder and co-managing partner of Richardson Patel. “We did our conflict check and we are proud that there aren’t many material conflicts.”

Patel, a corporate lawyer and former auditor for Deloitte & Touche LLP, has been appointed Vice Chairman of the new firm, while Kevin Gaut, MSK’s managing partner, will become chairman of the merged firm.

The firm will be based in Los Angeles. Mitchell Silberberg, founded in 1908, specializes in entertainment and new media, intellectual property and technology, litigation, immigration, real estate and corporate transactions, among other areas.

Gaut, a Los Angeles litigator, said a combination with Richardson Patel was attractive because it advanced three of the firm’s objectives: to expand in New York, to increase its roster of corporate lawyers, and to hone its specialty in the law around the intersection of entertainment, content and technology.

Citing Fox, Activision and Universal Music Group as clients, Gaut called the practice area a “burgeoning business.” Earlier this year, MSK hired entertainment lawyer and former general counsel of the National Music Publishers’ Association, Jay Rosenthal, in Washington, D.C.

Richardson Patel, founded in 1999, advises early stage and public companies, including some in the technology industry, on finance, mergers and acquisitions, securities and private equity.

Patel explained that the deal would provide the firm’s clients broader services, which will establish longer relationships with startup clients.

“Once they are able to secure that financing, they are in execution mode,” said Patel. “They need IP work… and regulatory work. Unfortunately at our firm we never were able to (provide) those.”

“Now we have a great opportunity to keep it in-house,” he added. Patel said that a handful of lawyers are opting not to join the new firm.