Women get break at Hollywood law firm.

If Hollywood remains very much a man's world, that's especially true in the macho, swashbuckling arena of entertainment law.

Most women attorneys in show business say they still have to straggle in a world with few female colleagues, and even fewer mentors and role models.

"We operate in a cigar-smoking, macho, testosterone world," said Belynda Reck, an entertainment attorney and a board member of California Women Lawyers, a trade group.

"The pool is smaller," added Karen Randall, general counsel for Universal Studios Inc. "Fewer women get to the top."

One firm attempting to increase that pool is Century City-based Katten Muchin & Zavis, where Randall formerly served as managing partner.

KMZ has 32 partners - eight of whom are women. The firm's L.A. managing partner, Gail Title, represents such companies as Universal Studios, MGM Studios Inc. and Spelling Entertainment Group Inc. Joyce S. Jun handles film and television distribution as well as financing. Ivy Kagan Bierman negotiates with Hollywood labor unions. Susan A. Grode specializes in new media and intellectual property.

In addition, Adina L. Savin is an entertainment-industry business affairs specialist who worked at NBC, Lorimar-Telepictures and Rysher Entertainment. Michele M. Desoer, who worked for CBS as an in-house counsel, is a member of KMZ's litigation department.

Randall said the firm's practice of promoting women to high-level positions helps KMZ attract some of L.A.'s most talented attorneys.

"It's a more receptive environment," she said. "Women and minorities suddenly say this is a very attractive factor. They have created a better environment, and that is increasing the numbers."

The policy is motivated more by bottom-line considerations than by any altruistic motives, said Vince Sergi, KMZ's managing partner in Chicago, where the 400-lawyer firm is headquartered.

"Firms that don't promote women are shortsighted," Sergi said. "Women are not only strong practitioners but actually generate good business, equal to any man I have encountered. It is suicide not to have more women in your firm."

Still, just like the rest of Hollywood, high-ranking women lawyers remain an anomaly.

While the production ranks at studios and TV networks are filled with women, very few are at the highest levels with the authority to green-light projects. Those that are often get partnered with a man, who generally is their boss. The same often is the case at entertainment law firms.

"Men have a whole cadre of colleagues to identify with," Title said.

Adds Grode: "There's a feeling they are powerless to make any changes."

Ageism is another issue that women entertainment lawyers face, especially in youth-oriented Hollywood.

"When you are a young girl they treat you like a child," said a female entertainment attorney who asked not to be identified. "When you get older there are different issues. Ultimately, you have to be able to maneuver through the waters with wit and personality."

But even the most charming say there is little reason to expect that male entertainment executives will turn away from their pals and start recommending clients to a woman lawyer.

"The referral of business is self-selection," Randall said. "People refer business to their buddies. If men are in a position to refer business, they will probably refer it to their friends."

One young women entertainment lawyer said that a macho image persists among young male entertainment lawyers. "They have to be at every party, every hip event," she said. "You do it for business. There's a live-fast, die-young attitude."

What if a female entertainment attorney adopted a similar attitude?

"It's much easier for them to do a scotch and steak dinner at the Palm than it is for me," the attorney said. "You can't get drunk with your clients if you are a woman. It would be taken wrong. You can't be flirty or flighty."

Another issue is family. Women who opt to have children often find themselves relegated to the "mommy track" with little chance of being promoted to a firm's upper ranks.

"It's accepted they will not become partner," KMZ's Grode said. "They become permanent associates."

But not at KMZ. Wendy Killian, a third-year student at Harvard Law School, decided to join Katten Muchin & Zavis when she graduates because she sees a bright future at the firm. A former summer intern, she found Title and Grode, both mothers, worthy role models.

"As a young woman lawyer, it is important to find mentors," said Killian. "This is a firm that has a commitment to advancing women."