These lawyers got (video) game

Firms retool their entertainment practices to cater to the video game industry. A year ago, newly minted lawyer Shawn Foust approached a senior partner at his Century City firm with an idea: dedicate an entire practice to the video game industry. ¶ Today, the 26-year-old coordinates a team of 20 lawyers at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton that tackles mergers, licensing contracts and other deals that help make the burgeoning game business hum. ¶ "I'm pursuing my lifelong dream of combining the two things I love -- games and law," Foust said. ¶ Never a group to steer clear of the action, lawyers across California are retooling their entertainment practices to cater to the game industry. Video games are expected to generate nearly $50 billion in global revenue this year, despite a slowdown in consumer spending, and sales have already surpassed old-line businesses including music. ¶ As the game industry grows, so do its legal needs. ¶ "There's tax work, litigation, risk management, immigration, labor -- the list goes on and on," said Seth Steinberg, who last year left his position as general counsel of George Lucas' video game publisher, LucasArts, to start a private practice in San Francisco specializing in the game industry. ¶ Other firms have joined in. Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger, the law firm of record for the likes of Tom Cruise and Warren Beatty, has cultivated a game practice led by Stephen Smith and Suann MacIsaac.

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