O’Melveny Welcomes Leading Media & Entertainment Dealmaker
By Lawdragon News | February 24, 2025 | Press Releases
CENTURY CITY—February 24, 2025—O’Melveny announced today that leading media and entertainment dealmaker Leif Cervantes de Reinstein has joined the Century City office as a partner in the firm’s Entertainment, Sports & Media Industry Group. His arrival further expands the firm’s renowned entertainment transactional capabilities and bolsters O’Melveny’s formidable roster of award-winning entertainment and media-focused lawyers.
For nearly 30 years, Cervantes de Reinstein has represented a vast array of major US, UK, EU, and Asian entertainment studios, production companies, and media networks on media-related corporate transactions, from M&A and IP-based investments to film and television finance, co-production, and licensing agreements. He also advises media and entertainment industry clients on business strategy and market risks.
Cervantes de Reinstein has been honored as an “Entertainment Business Visionary” by the Los Angeles Times and a “Power Lawyer” by The Hollywood Reporter. He has also been named to Variety’s prestigious “Legal Impact Report” and “Dealmakers List.” In addition, The Legal 500 US has recommended Cervantes de Reinstein in its “Media & Entertainment: Transactional” category for five consecutive years. He comes to O’Melveny from the Century City office of Sheppard Mullin, where he was a partner in that firm’s Entertainment, Technology and Advertising Practice Group. Earlier in his career, he served in-house at global entertainment company Fremantle as Head of Scripted Television Business and Legal Affairs.
“It is a pleasure to welcome Leif to O’Melveny and our all-star team of entertainment dealmakers,” said O’Melveny chair Bradley J. Butwin. “Leif is highly regarded—in Hollywood and beyond—for his deep industry knowledge, wide-ranging experience, and record of success on behalf of his clients across the media and entertainment ecosystem. He is a perfect addition to our firm, and we are delighted to welcome him aboard.”
“I’m excited by this incredible opportunity to join one of the most legendary firms in the world of entertainment,” said Cervantes de Reinstein. “O’Melveny helped put Hollywood on the map, and all these years later, the firm’s Entertainment, Sports & Media team continues to provide the industry’s biggest names with best-in-class legal counsel. I’m confident that O’Melveny’s impressive global platform will be a fantastic fit for my practice and for my clients.”
The addition of Cervantes de Reinstein further propels O’Melveny’s continued strategic growth. He is the second lateral partner to join O’Melveny’s acclaimed Entertainment, Sports & Media Industry Group in just the past month—after partner Benjamin Aronson joined the firm in January. And Cervantes de Reinstein is the 29th lateral partner to join the firm since 2023, including 19 corporate partners based in the firm’s Century City, Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Houston, Singapore, and London offices.
Cervantes de Reinstein earned his J.D. from Duke University School of Law and his B.A. from Duke University.
O’Melveny has been synonymous with entertainment law since Hollywood’s Golden Age of the 1930s. The firm has repeatedly helped major players in film, television, digital media, production and distribution, technology, gaming, music, and finance forge groundbreaking deals and resolve high-profile disputes. As shifting financial models and technological advances transform today’s entertainment and media business, O’Melveny remains a firm of choice for industry leaders.
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