Nixon Peabody is growing again in Los Angeles with the addition of a team that serves the fashion and entertainment industries. New partner Staci Jennifer Riordan, who most recently chaired Fox Rothschild’s fashion law practice, brings abundant knowledge of design, manufacturing, merchandising and protection of leading fashion brands. Julian K. Petty, also a partner, provides strategic career and business guidance to a variety of talent and corporate clients in music, TV, film, new media and book publishing. Both partners, who join Nixon Peabody’s IP Counseling and Transactions practice, work within the intersection of fashion and entertainment and help their clients position themselves as worldwide brands by leveraging existing brand equity and creating exposure through multiple channels to diversify revenue sources.

Staci will lead Nixon Peabody’s fashion law team. “The fashion business is dynamic and becoming more complex as fashion designers, manufacturers, and retailers are experiencing significant shifts in retail and customer platforms and engaging in omnichannel marketing strategies,” said Jeff Costellia, leader of Nixon Peabody’s IP Counseling and Transactions practice. “Our fashion clients need sophisticated advice to navigate these new challenges which include media licensing, privacy, celebrity endorsement global intellectual property protection, and e-commerce.”

Staci represents a wide range of clients in the fashion industry, from start-up designers to multinational, public companies, in both transactional and litigation matters, including brand licensing, copyright, trademark and patent, endorsement, sponsorship and advertising, venture capital, and M&A agreements. She brings a unique perspective to fashion law as a former apparel industry executive whose family worked in the garment industry for generations. Beyond fashion law, Staci works with entertainment clients, negotiating unscripted and scripted television, motion picture and digital deals. Staci is recognized for her ability to provide strategic advice to entertainers to leverage their celebrity into other business opportunities reaching across diverse distribution channels through a wide range of goods and services while avoiding costly pitfalls and mistakes. Notably, Staci has a proven track record in creating brand extensions and collaborations that reach the “right” target customer, thereby increasing the stability—and staying power—of celebrity clients.

Staci and Julian’s practices are national in scope with significant ties to the Los Angeles community. “Fashion and entertainment are two quintessential LA industries,” said Seth Levy, managing partner of Nixon Peabody’s Los Angeles office. “The entertainment industry is rapidly evolving with dramatic changes in how content is created, distributed and consumed. Many of our clients are participating in the entertainment industry through brand integration, use of new media and the creation of interactive user experiences to enhance their products and services.”

Julian represents clients in the entertainment industry in both transactional and pre-litigation matters. He is recognized for his talents as a proactive deal maker and industry leader in helping clients “cross over” from one area of entertainment into another. Julian has drafted and negotiated agreements for recording artists, music producers, on-screen talent, production companies, executives, songwriters, and TV and film producers. His clients include up-and-coming trailblazers such as Earl Sweatshirt, Vince Staples and Pell, seasoned superstars such as Estelle and A Tribe Called Quest, iconic brands such as the Estate of Notorious B.I.G. and Harlem Globetrotters International, Inc., as well as several reality TV stars. His passion for protecting the rights of the creative community originated during his first college internship at Def Jam Records.

Staci and Julian join Nixon Peabody from Fox Rothschild’s Century City office. Staci is a graduate of Loyola Law School and earned her B.A. from Emory University. Staci also is the executive director of Loyola Law School’s Fashion Law Project, an academic center focusing on the intersection of business and fashion. She was previously a professor at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Julian graduated from Fordham University School of Law and received his B.B.A., magna cum laude, from Howard University.

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