Wednesday 7 October 2009

MS&K Attorneys Russell Frackman and William Cole Named to Elite Lists of Leading California Attorneys

The Los Angeles-based law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp (MS&K) today announced that two of its partners have recently been recognized by a pair of prestigious lists of elite California attorneys.

Russell Frackman, an experienced litigator specializing in intellectual property, entertainment and technology matters, and William Cole, Chair of MS&K's labor and employment law practice, were both selected for the Los Angeles Business Journal's "Who's Who in Law" issue.

Published today, the special report from the weekly newspaper spotlighted the most prominent attorneys in Los Angeles County in a variety of practice areas. Frackman was recognized for Media & Entertainment and Cole was recognized for Labor & Employment. Both lawyers were also feted in "Who's Who in Law" by the Los Angeles Business Journal in 2007 as well.

In addition, Frackman was named to the Daily Journal's annual "Top 100 Attorneys" list in a special issue published on September 23, 2009. The elite list of the 100 most influential attorneys in the state of California recognized attorneys in private practice, corporate law departments, non-profit organizations and academic institutions. This was the fifth consecutive year that Frackman has been named to the Daily Journal Top 100 list.

"These recognitions of Russ and Bill are very rewarding because they illustrate the serious respect they have earned among their peers and other members of the California legal profession," said MS&K Managing Partner Thomas Lambert. "We're proud of their accomplishments, but more importantly we are proud that they are part of a team of dedicated lawyers at MS&K who serve a wide range of business legal needs for our clients."

Frackman has been a "go-to" lawyer for the entertainment industry through his stewardship of many of the most important copyright and trademark cases to have been litigated in recent years. He is recognized as one of the nation's leading entertainment and intellectual property litigators, having successfully represented clients in a number of landmark cases in state and federal trial and appellate courts, and was lead counsel for the record company plaintiffs in the seminal Internet file sharing litigation, A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster. Recently, Frackman was lead counsel in two precedent-setting decisions involving the scope of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a landmark case of first impression which applied the First Amendment to the use of trademarks in video games, and more than 100 related copyright infringement cases arising from the alleged unauthorized "sampling" of musical works in musical compositions and sound recordings, the largest series of such cases ever brought. He currently serves as Chair of the USC Gould School of Law 2009-2010 Intellectual Property Institute.

Cole has served as lead counsel in numerous employment discrimination, whistle blower, ERISA, LMRA Section 301 and wrongful termination cases, labor arbitrations, National Labor Relations Board hearings, and other administrative proceedings. He has also defended a number of employers in wage and hour and employment discrimination actions, served as the chief negotiator in numerous private and public sector collective bargaining negotiations, represented multi-employer Taft-Hartley Benefit Plans, and advised employers regarding ERISA issues. Cole regularly represents the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and its member companies in connection with advice regarding labor negotiations with all of the entertainment guilds and unions throughout the United States, as well as in industry-wide arbitrations, in litigation before state and federal courts, and before the National Labor Relations Board.

For more than 100 years, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP has maintained a reputation for excellence in providing sophisticated legal and business solutions for its clients in areas that include: Litigation, Intellectual Property & Technology, Labor & Employment, Entertainment & New Media, Immigration, Corporate Transactions, Homeland Security, Tax, Trust & Estates, Real Estate, and International Trade. Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP has offices in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit http://www.msk.com.

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