Kerry Smith of Eisner. (Courtesy photo)

Eisner has hired two attorneys from Greenspoon Marder as it focuses on expanding its year-old New York office into what it bills as the only full-service, boutique business entertainment law firm in the city.

Kerry Smith joined Eisner as a partner in the firm's entertainment practice, the firm said Wednesday, and she will be based in both its California and New York offices. Before joining Eisner, she led Greenspoon Marder's television and film group in New York, a role she took in 2017.

Smith's entire team will join her in the move, including Darien Schwartz, another former Greenspoon Marder attorney who will join Eisner's New York office as an associate. Smith said all of her clients will follow her to her new role. When she joined Greenspoon Marder, The Hollywood Reporter cited her legal work for the Super Bowl, Kennedy Center Honors and the Primetime Emmy Awards, among other past clients.

“[Eisner] has a really renowned entertainment practice, and it was a really great fit for me and my practice,” she said.

The moves come one year after Beverly Hills-based Eisner expanded onto the East Coast with the opening of its New York office. Leslie Corwin, who launched the New York outpost with fellow Blank Rome partner Simon Miller, said Smith embodied everything the firm wanted to accomplish as it continued to grow.

“This is the first lateral deal we've done, and we've been open in New York for more than a year,” he said. “We didn't just want to fill up space here. We were looking to put together a dream team here in New York to be able to replicate what we've done in Beverly Hills.”

That means a full-service, business entertainment law office with combined entertainment, litigation, intellectual property and financial planning expertise. While he pointed out that some Am Law 100 law firms have entertainment practices, such as Greenberg Traurig, where he once practiced, he said Eisner's New York operation would be unmatched.

“I don't think you'll have the caliber of an entertainment, boutique law firm in New York City that Eisner will be able to have,” said Corwin, a partnership law expert.

For Kerry, this holistic approach to the entertainment practice, as well as the ability to work with the offices on both coasts, is what drew her to Eisner. She said she hopes to see her practice expand by working with attorneys from other specialties.

“I think the collaboration is what's going to be best at Eisner for me and my practice,” she said. “I want to continue what I'm doing but also be more collaborative.”

Florida-based Greenspoon Marder had no immediate comment on the moves.