Stradling moves into Santa Monica, Newmeyer moves out.

NEWPORT Beach-based Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth has opened a Santa Monica office and staffed it with three attorneys poached from rival Newmeyer & Dillion, another Newport Beach-based firm.

Joining Stradling are partner Timothy F. Silvestre and associates Marisa B. Iasenza and Michael L. Pigott. The firm, which specializes in corporate law, primarily serves emerging and mid-size companies, as well as private equity and venture capital funds investing in those companies.

Stradling Chairman Michael E. Flynn said that the firm has had a relationship with Silvestre for years. "When he decided he wanted to make a change, we really jumped on it. We were very happy to attract him. He had a number of other opportunities, as you can imagine."

In addition to its Newport Beach headquarters, Stradling has offices in Santa Barbara and San Francisco.

"We had thought for a long time it would be terrific to have a presence in Santa Monica where there's a lot of emerging growth work," said Flynn. "There are a lot of opportunities where we can compete well."

Newmeyer & Dillion's Santa Monica office will be closed. Five lawyers will move to the Orange County headquarters, said Thomas Newmeyer.

Stradling is planning another beachhead, with a Del Mar Heights office to open later this year.

Entertaining Equity

The latest example of private equity's fascination with entertainment assets is the $900 million sale of DreamWorks SKG's 59-movie library to Soros Fund Management.

Irell & Manella LLP and Shearman Sterling LLP represented Paramount Pictures Co. and Viacom Inc. in the deal. They also handled Paramount's acquisition of DreamWorks in December.

"There's a lot of private equity interest in the community right now," said Juliette Youngblood, who heads Irell's entertainment practice. "The reason is that there are so many new platforms to distribute on. From that perspective, an investor would say 'I saw what happened on DVD. That was successful. What happens now with these wonderful new rights?' You can see the interest in being speculative."

Among the films in the library acquired by Soros are two Academy Award winners for best picture, 2000's "Gladiator" and 1999's "American Beauty." Paramount will continue to distribute the films with Soros receiving the proceeds. Paramount also retains the option to buy the library back at the end of the five-year period.

Youngblood and other Los Angeles partners Elliot N. Brown, Richard B. Kendall, Harry A. Mittleman, Clark B. Siegel, Jane Shay Wald and Eric A. Webber worked on the deal, along with associates Gregory A. Fayer, Uri Emerson-Fleming, Jeremiah Kelman, Lee M. Liedecke, Emiliano Martinez, Annette Meyerson, Ronnie Roy and David A. Ryan.

Youngblood said that at one point during the months the deal was taking shape, there were 11 suitors for the library--all private equity funds. O'Melveny & Myers LLP represented Soros Management Fund. The deal was finalized March 10.

Clearing the Air

A 15.5 million-square-foot industrial complex on the Grapevine has received the go-ahead from Kern County after a protracted legal battle with the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity.

Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP won an order in Kern County Superior Court on behalf of its client, Tejon Ranch Co., which was the last legal challenge preventing the start of construction.

"It's a great relief to be able to get on with the project," said Robert I. McMurry of Paul Hastings, who worked on the case. He said the project would add 6,000 and help the county diversify its economic base from oil, gas and agriculture.

"It's unfortunate that it had to be delayed by an outside environmental group that didn't have a stake in Kern County," McMurry said.

The project was initially approved in 2003. It was revised following a second environmental impact survey, brought about by the environmental group's objections.

"Our concern about air quality was related to human health," said John Buse, staff attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity. The organization was not satisfied with the revised plans.

"These emissions are really tremendous," he said. "This is a massive industrial facility in an area that's a rural agricultural area right now. The gross emission before offsets and mitigation contain large quantities of pollutants associated with asthma, increased cancer rates and other human health effects."

Staff reporter Emily Bryson York can be reached at [phone], ext. 235, or at [e-mail]