Reed Smith has hired veteran transactional lawyer Moshe Kupietzky from Sidley Austin, where he served as head of the firm's Los Angeles corporate and finance practice for more than 20 years while also leading Sidley's office in the city from 2003 to 2009.

Kupietzky, who started his legal career in Century City in the 1970s, said it was nice to return to his home base earlier this month, when he officially joined Reed Smith's office in the entertainment hub as senior counsel.

“I have known a number of the partners in the Century City office for many, many years,” Kupietzky said. “When the [chance] to join them and help them further grow came along, I thought it would be a very good opportunity for me.”

Moshe Kupietzky

Kupietzky, who has more than 40 years of experience representing clients in the music, film and entertainment industry, also noted that Century City is a geographic area well-suited for his practice. Kupietzky has represented buyers and sellers in multi-jurisdictional M&A deals, as well as strategic and financial parties in private investment and joint venture transactions.

“Because so many of today's complex transactions involve both M&A and finance, Moshe's combined acumen will provide an exceptional and much-needed resource for our clients,” said a statement from Francisca Mok, managing partner of Reed Smith's Century City office. “His decades of experience in film and entertainment financing and M&A transactions are an especially great fit with our office and our global entertainment and media industry group.”

Kupietzky, who in 2016 was part of a Sidley team that advised Entertainment One Ltd. in creating a new film, television and digital content company called Amblin Partners, said it is an exciting time to grow his practice due to the significant increase of capital flooding into the media and entertainment markets.

“There are certainly many many new entrants into the field—and [some] appreciate finding a counsel that has been around for a while,” the financial transactions guru said.

Reed Smith, which saw its gross revenue and partner profits rise in 2017, has four offices throughout California that house about 200 lawyers. Earlier this month, the firm saw real estate partner Simon Adams in San Francisco join Nossaman.

As for Sidley, which also saw gross revenue and partner profits increase last year, the firm recently watched Kelly Kriebs, its former co-hiring partner in Los Angeles, decamp for Munger, Tolles & Olson, according to her profile on professional networking website LinkedIn. Sidley opened a second Los Angeles office in Century City back in 2015.