After some prompting from first-year associate Shawn Foust, Los Angeles-based Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP launched a video game practice group.
“He is a gamer,” said Brian Pass, a partner in the firm’s Century City office and a member of the new group. “We had the good fortune of having Shawn take a lot of initiative. He has sunk his teeth into it.”
Foust, who graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2007, said he saw the opportunity for the firm to capitalize on the growth industry of video games.
“The industry has grown too big and complex to not have high-quality legal services,” Foust said.
The new team is made up of 20 attorneys, including members from the firm’s intellectual property, entertainment and media and labor and employment practice groups.
Sheppard Mullin attorneys will be serving clients from all facets of the video game industry, including publishers, buyers of third-party accessories and online gaming providers.
Pass, whose practice focuses on technology and media, said that games are being incorporated more and more into everyday life.
“Console games are becoming home entertainment systems,” Pass said.
Foust said he and the other partners enjoy playing to unwind.
Pass, who says he’s a casual gamer, enjoys playing Nintendo Wii’s Tiger Woods golf game.
But Foust can often be found dusting off his Super Nintendo to play his favorite game: Ogre Battle.
Non-Profit Leader
Kent Seton launched boutique law firm Seton & Associates LLP 10 years ago to serve the non-profit community.
A Beverly Hills native and former tennis professional, Seton said he decided to return to law school after briefly playing on the professional circuit.
“I realized that was not what I wanted to do,” Seton said. “I wanted to focus on giving back to others.”
During law school, Seton started volunteering and doing legal work for a local charity. The experience stayed with him, and when Seton started his firm, he began marketing it as a legal resource for non-profits and charities.
In 1998, Seton started working with startup non-profits, advising the groups on the complexities of setting up their structure and abiding by Internal Revenue Service rules.
“Clients are looking to me to help them guide the organization and make it work better,” Seton said.
Since most non-profits and charities don’t have a large budget for legal expenses, Seton said he recently devised a flat fee-based program, under which his clients can receive unlimited legal services for up to one year.
“The flat fee allows people to engage us at a reasonable price,” Seton said. “We are helping them hire volunteers and build boards.”
Among his clients are larger charities with gross revenue of $20 million, and smaller organizations with revenue in the six figures.
Seton said the biggest change in the world of non-profits is that donors are requiring transparency.
“There is a renewed vigor for transparency of charities,” he said. “Donors want to see how much is going to programs versus overhead.”
Asian Opening
Los Angeles-based O’Melveny & Myers LLP is continuing its expansion into Asia with the opening of a Singapore office.
The firm announced the new outpost earlier this month. The office is being opened by David Makarechian, a partner, and William Miller, of counsel. The pair will be joined by Bertie Mehigan and Huey Yann Thong, partners who are joining from the Singapore office of New York-based law firm White & Case LLP.
“Opening an office in Singapore is the natural next step in the development of our leading practice in Asia,” Makarechian said. “As our practice has grown in China and Japan, we have become involved with more work and seen more opportunities in Southeast Asia and India.”
The firm already houses lawyers in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. In another sign of its emphasis on Pacific Rim business, the firm is also forming an Asian strategic capital and finance group.
The new group was created at the same time as the Singapore office, and will advise clients on complex debt, equity and hybrid financial transactions.
O’Melveny follows the L.A. firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, which opened its Singapore office with 10 lawyers in May.
Staff reporter Alexa Hyland can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 235.
