For Immediate Release Miramax General Counsel Joins Katten
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575 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10022-2585... 212.940.8800 tel 212.940.8776 fax For Immediate Release October 3, 2005 Contact: Jason Milch 312.846.9647 [email protected] Miramax General Counsel Joins Katten Muchin Rosenman Alan R. Friedman Joins the Firm’s Entertainment and Media Litigation Practice NEW YORK – Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP is pleased to announce that Alan R. Friedman has joined the Firm as a partner in its Entertainment and Media Litigation Practice. He will practice in Katten Muchin Rosenman’s New York office and will also regularly work out of the Firm’s Los Angeles office. Immediately prior to joining Katten Muchin Rosenman, Mr. Friedman, 49, spent six years as general counsel, executive vice president of Miramax Film Corp. As general counsel, he maintained a very hands-on approach to all of the company’s litigation. Mr. Friedman presided over the successful resolution of a flurry of lawsuits that followed “Shakespeare in Love’s” Academy Awards Best Picture win, which included three unrelated claims for copyright infringement. He was also integral in successfully heading off challenges to Miramax’s rights to many of its other celebrated films, including Best Picture winner “Chicago” and Best Picture Nominee “The Cider House Rules.” Mr. Friedman actively participated in the company’s major in-court hearings and arbitrations, directed all pre-trial phases of Miramax’s litigations and was responsible for planning and executing the company’s litigation and settlement strategies. During his tenure, he advised Miramax on numerous, wide-ranging trademark, copyright, privacy and contractual matters with respect to its films, books and development projects. In addition, Mr. Friedman also led the Company in successfully overcoming a wide variety of challenges to such other well known and successful films as the “Scream” and “Scary Movie” releases, “Chocolat,” “Mimic,” “Bad Santa,” and many others. He also oversaw the company’s legal disputes with the main industry guilds, including the DGA, WGA and SAG, and was responsible for all legal matters concerning Miramax’s operations and personnel. Apart from his litigation role, Mr. Friedman also was involved in many of Miramax’s corporate transactions, worked with many of the company’s important distribution and vendor relationships, and was one of the active negotiators of the agreements relating to the separation of co-chairs, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, from The Walt Disney Company. He also led the Company’s efforts in policing and preventing piracy of the Company’s many popular releases, working closely with both law enforcement personnel and the MPAA. “Alan has been an important executive and advisor to me as general counsel and has accomplished great results for the company,” said Harvey Weinstein, co-founder and co-chairman of Miramax Film Corp and of the newly launched Weinstein Company. “His extraordinary legal and business skills made him a tremendous resource for me and Bob before and during his tenure at Miramax and I look forward to continuing our relationship with him at his new firm." CHICAGO NEW YORK LOS ANGELES WASHINGTON, DC CHARLOTTE PALO ALTO IRVING WWW.KATTENLAW.COM A law partnership including professional corporations October 3, 2005 Page 2 "Over the years that Miramax has been a valued client of the Firm, it has been a real pleasure to work closely with someone of Alan’s exceptional legal skill, intellect, and personality,” said Gail Migdal Title, chair of Katten Muchin Rosenman’s Entertainment and Media Litigation Practice and managing partner of the Firm’s Los Angeles office. “Alan will lead our New York entertainment litigation practice’s continued strategic growth and further enhance its national footprint." Joshua Rubenstein, managing partner of the Firm’s New York office, added: “We are excited to have Alan join us in New York. His hiring reflects our continued commitment to making Katten Muchin Rosenman an important force in the entertainment industry on both coasts.” Mr. Friedman joined Miramax following nearly 20 years of commercial, securities and entertainment litigation experience at White & Case LLP and Gold, Farrell & Marks LLP. As a partner for nearly ten years at Gold, Farrell & Marks, a New York-based litigation boutique law firm, Mr. Friedman handled numerous contract, copyright, trademark and royalty disputes for companies in the music and motion picture industries, including successful litigations for The Beatles-owned company Apple Corps Ltd., Billy Joel, Miramax and Polygram. In addition, he regularly represented clients in a wide range of other commercial industries and in the securities industry, including Credit Suisse First Boston and CIBC Oppenheimer. Mr. Friedman graduated cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1981, where he was an editor of The Georgetown Law Journal. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978, where he graduated cum laude with Distinction in Economics. Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP (www.kattenlaw.com) is a national, full-service law firm with offices in the nation's largest centers of business, government, finance and technology. The Firm’s 600 attorneys in more than 50 practice areas provide timely and cost-effective counsel to clients in numerous industries. They serve as advisors and advocates for a wide range of public and private companies - from entrepreneurial, emerging-growth, and middle market firms to global Fortune 100 corporations - as well as government entities, non-profits, and charitable and cultural organizations. ### .