Gaming, music, film and TV clients turn to Latham & Watkins for assistance with content financing, development, acquisition and licensing deals. Patrick Mitchell and Rachael Astin jointly oversee the practice; Mitchell acts for sports governing bodies, corporates, financiers and investors in commercial transactions, while Astin centres her practice on advising US studios, international TV channels, and streaming platforms on transactional and regulatory issues. Private and public companies and financial investors regularly seek Mike Turner‘s assistance with video games rights. Former practice head Lisbeth Savill retired in January 2024.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘The Latham team has a deep bench of expert lawyers able to advise on various complex media matters. We utilise the firm's support across London, New York, and Los Angeles, and are impressed by the level of access and guidance we are provided on our media deals. The Latham lawyers we work with are also great business advisers, helping us pragmatically navigate deals based on industry standards and practices.’

  • ‘We enjoy working with all the Latham lawyers assigned to our matters and, in particular, Rachael Astin is responsive, provides solid advice, and demonstrates a level of connection to our organisation's mission and values.’

  • ‘This team felt like the best available - they were super engaged, incredibly competent and understood both the legal and the commercial imperative.’

  • ‘I worked with Farah O’Brien in the mergers team - she was totally brilliant, incredibly sharp, very responsive and absolutely on top of the legal and commercial points. She was all over the deal and tried to steer it to make it happen. Rachael Astin in the media team was extremely supportive. Her client communication was really good and I felt that she understood our priorities.’

  • ‘The team is business-oriented, a problem-solver, with great legal capabilities.’

  • ‘So responsive, take the extra mile, very knowledgeable and experienced.’

Key clients

  • Centricus
  • Saudi Research and Media Group (SMRG)
  • Crossroads Live, Inc.
  • DAZN
  • Eon Productions
  • Moonbug Entertainment Limited
  • Pinewood Studios
  • Studiocanal
  • Univision
  • Kobalt Music Group

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Rachael Astin, Patrick Mitchell

Other key lawyers

Farah O’Brien, Mike Turner