Akin Gump’s Burke, Griffith and Spicer Named to The Hollywood Reporter’s Power Lawyers List

(Los Angeles) – Three partners in the entertainment practice at Akin Gump have been named to The Hollywood Reporter’s Power Lawyers 2018 list, a list of the top 100 attorneys in Hollywood. For the 12th straight year, practice head P. John Burke is on the list. He is joined for the second consecutive time by Marissa Román Griffith. Christopher Spicer made his first appearance on the list.

THR cited Burke’s involvement with “one of the most talked-about deals of the moment”—he’s representing Lantern Capital in its bid to buy the bankrupt distributor The Weinstein Co. In its profile of him, the publication also noted that Burke advised China Media Capital in a $100 million television financing joint venture with Imagine Entertainment. In addition, he manages the team that represents Allegory Films and JPMorgan Chase.

Griffith was highlighted for her work on behalf of RatPac-Dune Entertainment on its $300 million Bank of America credit facility to co-finance 75 Warner Bros. movies. Those films include Ready Player One and Paddington 2. Griffith also worked with TV/film producer MRC as it made the television series Counterpart and The One Percent.

THR says Spicer’s role as “a conduit between independent movie production companies and financial institutions, including cross-Pacific deals,” was a key factor for his making the list. He worked recently with Bank of America on a loan facility for I, Tonya and American Animals from AI Film and with East West Bank on its deal to co-lead the financing of China’s Perfect World Pictures’ slate with Universal Pictures.

Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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