![handle is hein.journals/entspl2 and id is 1 raw text is: TEE ENTERTAINMENT
AND SPURTS LAWYER
Publication of the A]3A Forum Committee on the Entertainment and Sports Industries
Volume 2, Number 1, Summer 1983
T hree P rofiles Godwyn-Mayer, Inc. (which, after its 1980 spin-off of
hotel operations and its 1981 acquisition of United Ar-
tists, is now known as MGM/UA Entertainment Co.)
and its principal shareholder, Kirk Kerkorian. Con-
sequently, when Rothman was asked early last year by
Kerkorian to consider serving as chairman of the
kboard and chief executive officer of MGM /UA Enter-
tainment Co., Rothman had already been intimately
involved in the affairs of the company for a
number of years. During the preceding two
Entertain m ent 4years, Rothman was a member of the ex-
ecutive committee of the company. When
Kerkorian approached Rothman and asked him to
Yr to help straighten out the financial affairs of the com-
pany, Rothman took this request as a mandate, When
L a w y e r ta major client and a dear friend makes such an impor-
tant request, you consider it very seriously.
Rothman reports that by the time this opportunity
arose, he had done basically all that one could imagine
in private practice. I have practiced nearly thirty
F i years and tried virtually every type of case I could
think of. It was time to accept a new challenge and see
what else I could accomplish.
Rothman found that he has had no major surprises
in assuming what he sees as his role as the financial
leader of the company. His involvement in the com-
pany's affairs as counsel and as a member of the ex-
ecutive committee prepared him well to deal with the
types of problems that he has confronted in his present
position. In this regard, Rothman feels that his own ex-
perience is probably the exception, and not the rule,
I. FRANK ROTHMAN for lawyers who have assumed key executive positions
by Larry S. Greenfield in entertainment companies.
For many years Frank Rothman has been considered a Although Rothman may not have experienced sur-
lion of the Los Angeles bar. A 1951 graduate of the prise about what his responsibilities would be, there is
law school at the University of Southern California, certainly a difference in the quality of his work day.
Rothman served as a public prosecutor before joining In private practice, my day was fundamentally
in 1953 the Beverly Hills (now Century City) law firm designed to please clients. I would never want to keep a
that presently bears his name, Wyman, Bautzer, Roth- client waiting and my responsibility was to get the
man, Kuchel & Silbert. By 1958, he was a name partner results that they wanted in the best and quickest possi-
in the firm. Throughout his career as a trial lawyer, ble fashion. At the studio, Rothman finds the situa-
Rothman has been active in all types of litigation, with tion to be much different-those who work there are
an emphasis on the types of matters arising in the trying at every opportunity to satisfy Rothman, not
entertainment industry. the other way around. Although he devotes nearly as
Since the late 1960s, Rothman's law firm has been many hours to work now as he did in private practice
counsel to the lion of motion picture studios, Metro- (Continued on page 4)](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/entspl2&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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