Pryor Cashman Partner James Janowitz has been named as one of the “Best of the Best” in Entertainment Law. Janowitz is featured in Best of the Best USA 2009, a respected “Expert Guide” which is published annually and distributed to in-house counsel or other attorneys who are looking for high-quality attorneys outside of their jurisdiction.

As noted in the profile that appears in Best of the Best, Janowitz is Chair of the Entertainment Group and a senior partner in the Litigation Group. His practice in the Entertainment Group focuses primarily on film financing and production.

Together with an interdisciplinary team assembled from the firm’s Entertainment, Finance and Corporate groups, he has led numerous complex multi-picture financings as well as the financing of individual pictures and other assets. He devotes significant attention to representing senior executives of major studios and major film companies in connection with their employment agreements, the structuring of benefits and disputes which may occur.

Pryor Cashman’s film practice, headed by Janowitz, covers a wide variety of film production and finance including: structured finance transactions; bridge loans and collateralization of multi-picture transactions; library acquisitions and collateralization of library assets; joint ventures; mergers and acquisitions of film companies; and negotiation of studio output deals.

Janowitz’ litigation practice focuses on complex commercial litigation. His practice is broadly based and he has experience in a wide variety of class actions and RICO litigation, as well as entertainment litigation. He has recently successfully represented Fox Broadcasting, Dick Clark Productions and 19 Entertainment in a litigation asserting a claim against the defendants in connection with the hit television show So You Think You Can Dance. He now represents the owner of an important work by Egon Schiele in a litigation concerning its provenance. Janowitz represents a number of major financial institutions against Paramount Pictures in a litigation regarding a structured finance transaction which funded a slate of Paramount films.

Janowitz is a 1971 graduate of New York University School of Law, where he was an editor for the Journal of International Law and Politics. Janowitz is AV Peer Review Rated, Martindale Hubbell’s highest peer recognition for ethical standards and legal ability. He is listed in Who’s Who in America, The Legal 500 and by the Hollywood Reporter as one of the most influential lawyers in entertainment.

To read the profile of Janowitz in Best of the Best USA 2009, please click here.