Variety Spotlights John Burke, Marissa Román Griffith in Legal Impact Report

(Los Angeles) – In its 2014 Legal Impact Report, Variety has named Akin Gump entertainment and media practice head John Burke and partner Marissa Román Griffith among “the top agencies, counsel, lawyers and litigators working in Hollywood” in the category of Transactional Lawyers.  This is their second consecutive recognition in this report.

Among Burke’s deals featured in this report are his work with Bank of America and JP Morgan in a credit facility for an affiliate of Content Partners for the acquisition of a 50 percent interest in CSI and his representation of Trinity Opportunities and Shikumen Capital Management in a $275 million mezzanine debt and equity arrangement with Village Roadshow Entertainment Group.  The latter engagement, characterized by Burke as “the most challenging deal last year,” won Private Equity Deal of the Year at the International Financial Law Review Asia Awards (read more here).  He is also quoted as noting he represented Ratpac-Dune Entertainment in its slate co-financing arrangement for up to 75 films with Warner Bros. Pictures.

Román Griffith is noted as “one of the few female partners and senior Latina attorneys in entertainment finance, having raised over $1 billion in the past year.”  Her featured deals include representing Bank of America on a credit facility that will provide up to $150 million in financing for various television series, and Comerica Bank on a $150 million credit facility.  She is quoted as saying she spent much of 2014 serving as lead counsel on various credit facilities (including Ratpac-Dune Entertainment's facility) and addressing the day-to-day business issues they present. 

Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 850 attorneys in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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