Given the furore surrounding redundancies and partner culls in recent weeks, SJ Berwin's announcement that it is closing its media team was easy to miss. Lawyers in the media, though, are shocked by the news of the departure of the highly-rated team, led by partner Tim Johnson. It is a move that many see as sad both for the individuals concerned but, more crucially, because of what it says about the state of the media market. In reality perhaps the most surprising aspect was that SJ Berwin was still offering film and television finance advice at all. Alongside Olswang, and to a lesser extent Reed Smith and DLA Piper, the firm has been one of an ever-shrinking handful of City players to offer such advice.

Despite high rankings and regard, and even though the team sat within the broader communications, media and technology group, media asset finance work does not fit neatly with the firm's traditional real estate, funds and competition strongholds. Nor does it generate the type of fee a City firm like SJ Berwin would typically seek, particularly at a time when the film finance market is far from buoyant.

SJ Berwin is the latest in a growing list of City players to move resources away from the area, with Howard Kennedy parting company with five of its six-partner media team last summer while DLA Piper London film finance partner Ken Dearsley relocated to Abu Dhabi last year. Even market leader Olswang - where partners say media is "ingrained within the DNA" - has been bulking up other practices recently. The firm also tries to ensure that much of its media production work is carried out by lower-level lawyers so rates are not too high for budget-conscious media clients.

All of this makes it an interesting time for Field Fisher Waterhouse to move into this sector by hiring Johnson to head its cross-practice media group. The City firm, which has been on a general hiring spree in recent years, already has top-tier clients in the sector including MTV, BBC, Warner, YouTube and Fox, which it has advised on in areas such as litigation and IP. It is stressing that Johnson will not purely advise on finance, and that the hire is part of a broader plan to boost its media practice. This is illustrated by the firm's recent appointment of Herbert Smith tax partner Derek Hill, who also specialises in media work. Despite the challenges that other City players have faced with the sector and the fact that, until now, it has had no film finance experience at all, the firm seems in no way daunted by the prospect of building the team from scratch. In fact, Field Fisher IP partner Mark Abell is so upbeat he insists he wants the firm to become "one of the few 'go to' media firms in Europe".

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Given the furore surrounding redundancies and partner culls in recent weeks, SJ Berwin's announcement that it is closing its media team was easy to miss. Lawyers in the media, though, are shocked by the news of the departure of the highly-rated team, led by partner Tim Johnson. It is a move that many see as sad both for the individuals concerned but, more crucially, because of what it says about the state of the media market. In reality perhaps the most surprising aspect was that SJ Berwin was still offering film and television finance advice at all. Alongside Olswang, and to a lesser extent Reed Smith and DLA Piper, the firm has been one of an ever-shrinking handful of City players to offer such advice.

Despite high rankings and regard, and even though the team sat within the broader communications, media and technology group, media asset finance work does not fit neatly with the firm's traditional real estate, funds and competition strongholds. Nor does it generate the type of fee a City firm like SJ Berwin would typically seek, particularly at a time when the film finance market is far from buoyant.

SJ Berwin is the latest in a growing list of City players to move resources away from the area, with Howard Kennedy parting company with five of its six-partner media team last summer while DLA Piper London film finance partner Ken Dearsley relocated to Abu Dhabi last year. Even market leader Olswang - where partners say media is "ingrained within the DNA" - has been bulking up other practices recently. The firm also tries to ensure that much of its media production work is carried out by lower-level lawyers so rates are not too high for budget-conscious media clients.

All of this makes it an interesting time for Field Fisher Waterhouse to move into this sector by hiring Johnson to head its cross-practice media group. The City firm, which has been on a general hiring spree in recent years, already has top-tier clients in the sector including MTV, BBC, Warner, YouTube and Fox, which it has advised on in areas such as litigation and IP. It is stressing that Johnson will not purely advise on finance, and that the hire is part of a broader plan to boost its media practice. This is illustrated by the firm's recent appointment of Herbert Smith tax partner Derek Hill, who also specialises in media work. Despite the challenges that other City players have faced with the sector and the fact that, until now, it has had no film finance experience at all, the firm seems in no way daunted by the prospect of building the team from scratch. In fact, Field Fisher IP partner Mark Abell is so upbeat he insists he wants the firm to become "one of the few 'go to' media firms in Europe".

More news, deals and comment on Field Fisher Waterhouse

Field Fisher Waterhouse on the Legal Week Wiki