Beverly Hills Bar Assoc. Names Entertainment Lawyer of the Year April 27, 2011

KEN KLEINBERG TO BE NAMED ENTERTAINMENT LAWYER OF THE YEAR
BY BEVERLY HILLS BAR ASSOCIATION AT ANNUAL DINNER

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2011, 5:30 P.M., AT BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL

Proceeds to Support Beverly Hills Bar Association’s
Education and Community Outreach Programs

Ken Kleinberg, founding partner of Lopez Lange Cuddy & Klein LLP and one of the most effective and highly regarded attorneys in the entertainment industry, will be named the 2011 Entertainment Lawyer of the Year by the Entertainment Law Section of the Beverly Hills Bar Association (BHBA) at its prestigious annual Awards Dinner on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, at 5:30 p.m., at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Proceeds from the event support the bar association’s education and community outreach programs.
BHBA Entertainment Law Section Co-Chair Neville Johnson, who is chairing the event, noted that, throughout his illustrious career, Kleinberg has made “a tremendous contribution to the both the profession and the community. He is widely regarded for his broad experience in international entertainment law transactions involving complex arrangements for development, financing, production, and distribution of motion picture and television product; co-financing and so called ‘soft money’ transactions; the purchase and sale of film and music companies and libraries; television licensing agreements; and participation and royalty audits. He understands transactions from the point of view of owner-entrepreneurs, as well as talent.”

Honorary Dinner Chairs are Stefania & Vito Campese, M.D.; Peter Cetera; Christine Cuddy; Natalie and E.K. Gaylord II; Marlene and Marshall Grossman; Linda and Glen Keane; Jacquie and Robert Lange; Jack Nicholson; Keith Richards; and Julia and Douglas Trumbull.

The Dinner Committee includes Johnson & Johnson LLP; Kleinberg Lopez Lange Cuddy & Klein LLP; Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP; NBC Universal; Valensi Rose PLC, and Venable LLP. The Hollywood Reporter is the media sponsor.

Kleinberg specializes in business negotiations and legal matters for a wide variety of prominent individuals and companies, including some of the industry’s most iconic and successful actors, writers, authors, directors, producers, entrepreneurs, financiers, distributors, musical artists, animators, visual effects designers, international broadcasters, corporate executives, specialists in digital and other emerging technologies, literary and talent agents and managers. Before KLLCK, Kleinberg was a longtime partner and head of the motion picture/TV division of Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp, then served as a senior executive of a major studio, United Artists Corporation, and then as President and Chief Operating Officer of Weintraub Entertainment Group, an independent motion picture, television and music production/distribution company. He has been recognized numerous times by industry trade publications as one of the leading attorneys in the transactional entertainment law field. In 2007, 2008, and again in 2009, The Hollywood Reporter named Kleinberg one of the “Power Lawyers” in the entertainment industry, and in 2008 Daily Variety named him among its top dealmakers in its “Dealmakers Impact Report ’08″, and Kleinberg was named a 2008 and 2009 “Southern California Super Lawyer” in the field of entertainment and sports law. Kleinberg also gives back to the community in myriad ways.

Since 2002, Kleinberg, a graduate of UCLA and UCLA School of Law, has served as president of the University Kidney Research Organization, a non-profit group he founded that raises funds for kidney disease research. In the field of entertainment, Kleinberg served as the first chairman of and remains active on the board of the American Cinematheque; was a longtime member of the planning committee for the USC Entertainment Law Institute and presently serves on a similar committee for UCLA; taught two years at the American Film Institute; and participates regularly in legal continuing education programs.

The Beverly Hills Bar Association, founded in 1931, is the sixth largest bar association in California with more than 4,000 members. Its mission is to serve its members, to lead the legal profession and to advocate for justice in the community. Its wide range of community outreach programs includes Wills for Heroes, Citizens Law School, an annual, free, one-day seminar to help laypeople understand their legal rights; Committee for the Arts, which provides legal and business programs for artists, musicians, and the arts community; “And Justice For All,” a series of programs covering a variety of topical legal issues; Tax Court Pro Se Assistance, in which BHBA members volunteer to assist tax payers – at no cost – who are representing themselves before the Tax Court; the Lawyer Referral and Information Service, which matches individuals with specific legal matters with qualified attorneys with appropriate specialties; and the Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program, which resolves fee disputes between clients and attorneys.

The Entertainment Lawyer of the Year Award honors leaders of the entertainment law field for their contributions to the profession and has been presented annually since 1989 by the BHBA, which has the largest entertainment law section of any bar association in the world.

Previous Entertainment Lawyer of the Year recipients include Eric Weissmann, Maren Christensen, Patti Felker, Barry Hirsch, Ken Ziffren, Tom Hansen, Stanton “Larry” Stein, Jay Cooper, Don Passman, Russell Frackman, Don Biederman, Louis Meisinger, John Schulman, Melanie Cook, Bruce Ramer, Peter Dekom, Frank Rothman, Bertram Fields, Martin Gang, Norman Tyre, Marvin Meyer, Allen Susman, Leon Kaplan and Edward Rubin. Past BHBA honorees for Outstanding Entertainment Law Scholarship are Jay Dougherty and Lionel Sobel.

Tickets for the BHBA Entertainment Lawyer of the Year Dinner are $195 per person. Sponsorship packages are also available. The Beverly Hills Hotel is located at 9641 Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA. For tickets and information, please call (310) 601-2422 or visit www.bhba.org.

Official Website: http://www.bhba.org