Are You Ready for Some Football?

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It was a chilly and drizzly evening last week at an event for the opening of the Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles at L.A. Live. So much so that a reception on the 26th-floor rooftop pool deck was cut short and those attending moved to Wolfgang Puck’s new restaurant on the 24th floor (called WP24).

But it didn’t take Tim Leiweke long to warm up the crowd.

“Wouldn’t it look great to have a football stadium right here next to Staples Center?” he shouted as about 150 people cheered.

The microphone was turned over to others. Javier Cano, general manager of the Ritz, for example, spoke a few words about the elegant hotel. But whenever Leiweke, the chief of AEG, the developer of L.A. Live, got the microphone back, he returned to his new favorite topic.

For example, when he congratulated the architectural firm Gensler for its work on the hotel, he shouted: “And we need to get Gensler going on designing that football stadium!”

In his comments, the sometimes puckish Puck noted that Leiweke seems to be promising a football stadium. “But he also promised us good weather for this event.”

Media Happening

Ted Boutrous is best known for representing major media outlets and journalists such as Martin Bashir in litigation. So, it didn’t come as a big surprise when the attorney hosted an event two weeks ago featuring Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson.

Boutrous, 49, who held the affair at the downtown L.A. office of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP where he is a partner, humorously introduced Robinson by saying that the journalist’s first claim to fame is winning the Pulitzer Prize last year. “His second claim to fame is that I’m a huge fan,” Boutrous joked.

Boutrous said after the event, which was held to support the International Women’s Media Foundation: “He’s so thoughtful, knowledgeable and at the same time, he can talk about things in a way that are entertaining, interesting, funny and serious all at the same time.”

About 35 guests came out for the event, including Associated Press correspondent Linda Deutsch, entertainment journalist Allison Hope Weiner, Universal Studios in-house counsel Amanda Schreiber and several Gibson Dunn attorneys.

Family Togetherness

When attorney Barry Freeman speaks at conferences, forums and other business engagements, it’s often a family affair. That’s because Freeman, 72, often finds himself speaking at the same events as his wife, Robbin Itkin, and son, Bill Freeman, who are also lawyers.

But not just any lawyers. All three are bankruptcy attorneys, and because they occupy the same niche, they travel in the same circles. They were all on hand at the annual Special Assets Management Association conference in Carlsbad on May 12-14, an experience the elder Freeman enjoyed.

“It’s an exceptionally warm feeling,” he said, adding that the three attorneys have been booked together about six times. “It’s great – not too many people get to do this.”

The family members never have been together on panels or forums, however. Freeman prefers it that way. He has more fun in the audience when his wife or son is up on the stage.

“I get to needle them and ask questions that aren’t on the script,” he said.

Staff reporters Alexa Hyland and Daniel Miller contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].

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