Blank Rome has hired six attorneys in its Los Angeles office. Denis Codon joins from Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi as a partner. Name Partner Howard Knee from Knee, Ross & Silverman, also joins the firm as a partner, bringing with him attorneys: Michael Ludwig, Colleen Carolan, Jim Newman and Mary Pierce.

Source:  www.jdjournal.com

John Schulman is set to join Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp to help grow the firm’s new entertainment practice. Schulman spent 25 years with Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. where he served as the general counsel. He joins the Los Angeles office.

Source:  www.nylj.com

Drinkle Biddle has just launched its 13^th office. The latest addition resides in Century City, California. The four partners who joined the firm to open the office are: George Caplan and Henry Shields Jr., from Epstein Becker Green; Kate S. Gold, previously with Kaye Scholer, and Kristopher S. Davis. The office primarily focuses on commercial litigation.

Source:  www.philadelphia.bizjournals.com

Los Angeles partner Gary J Cohen is taking a leave of absence from Sidley Austin for his appointment as Special Business Counsel to the newly created Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. The commission came about in response to the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act.

Source:  www.ad-hoc-news.de

A group of five Land Use Lawyers have left the Los Angeles office of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis for Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton. Land Use Chairman Jarold Neuman led the group and brought along partner Michael Kiely. The three associates who made the jump are: Alfred Fraijo Jr., Claudia Gutierrez and Phillip Tate.

Source:   www.nylj.com

Cozen O’Connor has boosted its Los Angeles office with the hire of Nathan Dooley.  Dooley joins the firm’s commercial litigation group as an associate.  He was previously with Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart, Oliver & Hedges, LLP. 

Source:  www.losangeles.dbusinessnews.com

Proskauer Rose has lost a partner from its Los Angeles office to Bingham McCutchen.  Arthur Silbergeld moves to Bingham’s Santa Monica office in Southern California.  Silbergeld is actually the first labor and employment partner to join the office.  

Source:  www.nylj.com

Greenberg Traurig has added a shareholder to its Los Angeles office.  Jan Handzlik joins the Litigation group.  She was previously with Howery LLP.  

Source:  www.earthtimes.org

Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker has hired U.S. Attorney, Thomas O’Brien.  He joins the firm’s Los Angeles office as partner.  O’Brien will practice white-collar law. 

Source:  www.amlawdaily.typepad.com

Stroock & Stroock & Lavan has brought on John M. Gatti to serve as the firm’s chair of the entertainment and media litigation practice in Los Angeles.  Gatti has more than 21 years of business litigation under his belt, mostly focusing on entertainment and media industries.   He joins from Greenberg Traurig. 

Source:  www.variety.com