Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp Elects New Leadership Team

Lucia Coyoca, David Steinberg and Greg Hessinger named co-chairs

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The partnership of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP has elected three partners as co-chairs of the firm. Lucia Coyoca, David Steinberg and Greg Hessinger will succeed current co-chairs Kevin Gaut and Nimish Patel.

“The firm’s growth over the last few years has placed increasing demands on our leadership. With that, combined with how busy many of our partners are with their practices, we decided the firm would be best served by dividing the responsibilities between three lawyers who represent multiple areas of the firm,” said Gaut.

“Beyond being outstanding lawyers, Lucia, David and Greg are trusted and admired for their character, sincerity and integrity. We could not be more pleased to have this truly outstanding team lead the firm,” added Gaut.

Lucia Coyoca is a litigation partner based in the Los Angeles office. With extensive trial experience, her practice involves entertainment industry disputes and insurance coverage work. She also represents employers in wrongful termination, discrimination and sexual harassment cases. Coyoca has held various leadership positions in the profession’s efforts to diversify, including serving as co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Woman Advocate Committee. Since joining the firm in 1988, she has served multiple terms on the firm’s governing board.

David Steinberg is a partner in the entertainment & IP litigation practice based in the Los Angeles office. Steinberg is known for his work on intellectual property issues focusing on copyright, trademark, anti-circumvention/Digital Millennium Copyright Act, unfair competition and trade secrets. He also has extensive experience in entertainment and general business litigation. He joined the firm in 1987 and served two terms on its governing board.

Greg Hessinger is a partner in the labor and employment practice based in the New York office. He represents a variety of regional and national employers in all aspects of labor and employment law. Prior to returning to private practice 15 years ago, Hessinger was the executive director of each of the two largest performers’ unions, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which have since merged. He joined the firm in 2016.

“These three lawyers bring to their roles different perspectives and experience: diverse practices and tenures at the firm and bicoastal offices,” Patel said. “Lucia and David have dedicated decades of their careers to our firm, and both have served in our highest leadership positions. Greg brings incredible business experience and insight, and based in New York, he also provides the firm’s East Coast perspective.”

Gaut, who has been with MSK for 37 years, served as co-chair of the firm for nearly a decade and Patel has been co-chair since joining the firm six years ago. Both will remain at the firm and return to their full-time practices.

About Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP

Since 1908, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP has proven its ability to understand the complex, demystify the mysterious, and define the unknown. With more than 130 lawyers and offices in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., MSK is often distinguished as a “go-to” firm by industry and legal insiders and has extensive experience in a variety of practice areas, including Entertainment & IP Litigation, Labor & Employment, Motion Picture, Television & Music Transactions, Immigration, Corporate Securities, Regulatory, Tax, Trusts & Estates, Real Estate and International Trade. Relentlessly innovative, our lawyers have developed groundbreaking legislation, established influential precedents and shaped the legal landscape. For more information, visit www.msk.com.