(Promo Xtra) Last week’s departure of 10 lawyers from Hall Dickler Kent Goldstein & Wood to Manatt, Phelps & Phillips followed failed merger talks between the firms.

The 10 staffers moved to Manatt on Nov. 3, led by Linda Goldstein and Jeffrey Edelstein and brought much of Hall Dickler’s advertising, marketing and media practice with them (Nov. 6 Xtra).

“The vast majority of Fortune 100 and 500 companies are coming with us,” said Goldstein, who writes on regulatory issues for Direct magazine. “We’ll be handling all their promotions, advertising, regulatory work and hope to expand services to them, including litigation and intellectual property work.”

Goldstein wouldn’t name clients, but the staffers moving to Manatt have handled work for ESPN, Toys R Us, Yahoo, DreamWorks, Reader’s Digest, Energizer Holdings, Schick, MasterCard and hundreds of advertising and promotion agencies. Goldstein and Edelstein.

A Hall Dickler committee including Goldstein approached Manatt about a merger in October, but Manatt was interested only in the advertising division, Goldstein said.

That fit Manatt’s expansion strategy of adding advertising to complement its entertainment, intellectual property and media practice as entertainment and marketing increasingly overlap. Conversely, Manatt’s base and larger size made it a good foundation to build the marketing practice, said Goldstein, who calls the shift “a merger.”

“The wisdom of the choice is best reflected by the fact that [Hall Dickler co-founder] Felix Kent chose to come, because he feels this is the best direction for the firm,” Goldstein said. “It was a very difficult decision, but the business is so much broader than what Hall Dickler has focused on.”

Joining Goldstein, Edelstein and Kent were partners Michael Barkow, William Heberer and Charulata Pagar; lawyer Felix Kent; and associates Jennifer Deitch, Jennifer Koester, Julia Reytblat and Lindsay Schoen. All keep similar titles at Manatt.

Los Angeles-based Manatt merged with health-care specialist firm Kalkines, Arky, Zall & Bernstein (with 42 lawyers) in January, giving it a New York City office. Manatt now has 280 lawyers.

Last week's departure of 10 lawyers from Hall Dickler Kent Goldstein & Wood to Manatt, Phelps & Phillips followed failed merger talks between the firms.

The 10 staffers moved to Manatt on Nov. 3, led by Linda Goldstein and Jeffrey Edelstein and brought much of Hall Dickler's advertising, marketing and media practice with them (Nov. 6 Xtra).

"The vast majority of Fortune 100 and 500 companies are coming with us," Goldstein said. "We'll be handling all their promotions, advertising, regulatory work and hope to expand services to them, including litigation and intellectual property work."

Goldstein wouldn't name clients, but the staffers moving to Manatt have handled work for ESPN, Toys R Us, Yahoo, DreamWorks, Reader's Digest, Energizer Holdings, Schick, MasterCard and hundreds of advertising and promotion agencies.
 

Goldstein and Edelstein

A Hall Dickler committee including Goldstein approached Manatt about a merger in October, but Manatt was interested only in the advertising division, Goldstein said. That fit Manatt's expansion strategy of adding advertising to complement its entertainment, intellectual property and media practice as entertainment and marketing increasingly overlap. Conversely, Manatt's base and larger size made it a good foundation to build the marketing practice, said Goldstein, who calls the shift "a merger."

"The wisdom of the choice is best reflected by the fact that [Hall Dickler co-founder] Felix Kent chose to come, because he feels this is the best direction for the firm," Goldstein said. "It was a very difficult decision, but the business is so much broader than what Hall Dickler has focused on."

Joining Goldstein, Edelstein and Kent were partners Michael Barkow, William Heberer and Charulata Pagar; lawyer Felix Kent; and associates Jennifer Deitch, Jennifer Koester, Julia Reytblat and Lindsay Schoen. All keep similar titles at Manatt.

Los Angeles-based Manatt merged with health-care specialist firm Kalkines, Arky, Zall & Bernstein (with 42 lawyers) in January, giving it a New York City office. Manatt now has 280 lawyers.