New law firm puts focus on sports, entertainment

Dan McMillan Business Journal Managing Editor

If all goes as planned, the offices of newly formed law firm Davis Dixon Kirby will soon be filled with hip-hop impresarios, aspiring country music chanteuses and the Major League Baseball players who will be calling Portland home.

And if it takes a little longer than expected to build the new firm's reputation as a national entertainment and sports powerhouse based in Portland, there are still rising young technology and telecom companies such as Tripwire and Allegiance Telecom, both Davis Dixon Kirby clients, to help pay the bills.

The telecom and tech work is a good 50 percent of the firm's practice. But the other side of the business is growing quickly. Partner Jim Kuzmich is working with local country singer Melody Guy, whom he recently advised to walk away from a contract offer, and he also represents a Scottsdale, Ariz., baseball agency. Partner Kim Kirby is working with the nation's third-rated figure-skating pair and an Oakland, Calif.-based sportscaster. And partner Anthony Davis also has a relationship with Jus Family Records, the label formed by local hip-hop artist Cool Nutz.

The new firm was created in mid-summer when three Davis Wright Tremaine alums joined forces with Kirby, a Southern California-based sports and telecom attorney to form what the partners say is the first Northwest law firm to focus on sports and entertainment law. The firm already represents several local bands, an Arizona sports agency, a group of professional snowboarders and a nationally ranked figure skating team.


But why Portland and not the entertainment capital of America, Los Angeles?


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The answer, said Davis and Kuzmich, may simply be because Portland isn't Los Angeles.

Entertainment lawyers in Los Angeles are necessarily well-connected to the handful of entertainment conglomerates that control that industry, which can be a good and not-so-good thing, Davis said. "We don't have client ties to the labels," he explained.

An L.A. entertainment attorney may have done a lot of work with a major record label and have hopes of signing more of his or her clients with that label, Davis said. In that case, the attorney could end up working harder to preserve the label relationship than to represent the client, he said.

"We have a higher level of objectivity because we're out of the L.A. market," Davis said.

And that gives the client the advantage, Kuzmich added.

Although the three local partners were able to do some entertainment and sports work at Davis Wright Tremaine, that firm's extensive client list of media companies frequently put the attorneys in positions where conflicts of interest arose, Davis and Kuzmich said. For instance, there was no way Davis could represent an artist involved in a contract dispute with an arm of Universal Entertainment Group, a DWT client. Davis currently is working with local band Cherry Poppin' Daddies on a royalty dispute with their record label.

Then there was the issue of overhead and rates. A full-service firm offers clients lots of options and provides its attorneys with lots of support, but the clients pay premium rates to cover the overhead. That meant that many local artists and athletes couldn't afford Davis' and Kuzmich's rates when they were at the larger firm. That's not an issue anymore, they said. In fact, just as some lawyers will do practically free work for promising startup companies in the hope the company makes it big, Davis Dixon Kirby isn't averse to doing the same thing for a promising band or up-and-coming athlete.


"I probably charge out at the L.A. paralegal rate," said Davis, an eight-year attorney with extensive intellectual property experience.

Although Portland is home to only one professional sports team, the area is filled with athletes, many of whom fall under the category of extreme sports or emerging individual sports such as snowboarding. The firm currently is representing nine professional snowboarders in a dispute with a sponsor.

Kuzmich, who specialized in corporate and transactional law at DWT, said many athletes need an attorney proficient at reviewing and writing contracts as much as they need an agent. Athletes also frequently use their money to invest in retail ventures and residential properties, both areas where he has expertise, Kuzmich said.

The partners' backgrounds and experience provide a certain amount of overlap. However, Davis typically handles the music issues, licensing for athletes and also is the firm's litigator; Kuzmich is the sports expert"”he's heavily involved in the effort to bring a professional baseball team to Portland"”and also does lots of music work; Kirby, who is working out of the firm's Irvine, Calif., office, handles non-team sports; and Dale Dixon, the third local partner, is the movie and television industry expert, in addition to having sold a screenplay to a major movie studio.

All the partners also continue to work with non-sports and entertainment clients, particularly technology and telecom clients. Tripwire is a client Davis brought from DWT, and Kirby, who Davis described as one of the nation's top telecom attorneys, works closely with Allegiance Telecom.

Davis and Kuzmich acknowledged that leaving DWT, a firm they described as "great" and "phenomenal," was tough, both from an emotional and fiscal standpoint, but now they say they have a chance to help put Portland and their firm on the national sports and entertainment map.

"Portland deserves to be known. Its time will come and I want to help it happen," Davis said.


09/16/02 Portland Business Journal Article