Mid-Size Firm absorbs Chassman & Seelig, adds Santa Monica office to bolster growing Hollywood-centric Crisis Management practice

Another law firm has opened an L.A. office to serve the growing legal needs of entertainment and sports.

Manhattan-based Meister Seelig & Fein, a mid-size firm, has taken the plunge as part of an ongoing nationwide growth program and further strengthening of its bi-coastal Crisis Management practice. 

The firm, which has acquired and absorbed L.A.-based boutique firm Chassman & Seelig, will operate as Meister Seelig & Fein in California. Commercial litigator Mark Chassman (above, right) will lead the new office in Santa Monica as managing partner.

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Chassman recently joined the firm as a partner in its Commercial Litigation Group after running Chassman & Seelig alongside MSF Managing Partner Mark Seelig for the last 30 years. MSF and Chassman & Seelig previously operated as sister firms and are now unifying into a singular bi-coastal firm.

“Mark Chassman and I have been in the trenches together for more than 30 years on complex matters,” said Seelig. “Given each of our experiences across a wide range of clients, including entertainment companies, top professional and college athletes, technology startups and entrepreneurs, leading Hollywood talent, real estate concerns, and high-net-worth individuals, we both felt the time was right to fully integrate our operations to further enhance the legal services that MSF provides to West Coast clients. I am thrilled to have my friend and trusted partner now anchor our growing presence in Los Angeles.” 

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Multiple practice areas will be served out of the Santa Monica office, which will also be the center of operations for the firm’s rapidly growing Crisis Management practice, headed up by administrative partner Mitch Schuster (above, left), who chairs the firm’s Commercial Litigation Group. Schuster, who has consistently been named to Variety’s Dealmakers and Legal Impact lists, has worked with high-profile athletes, entertainers, and public figures to navigate complex and often highly publicized personal and professional legal matters for more than two decades. 

Clients the firm’s partners have worked with include rappers Travis Scott and Kid Cudi, singer/actor Trey Songz, NFL player Justin Pugh, boxer and media personality Jake Paul, Excel Sports Management agent Casey Close and NFL Agent David Canter.

In recent years, MSF has embarked on an expansion strategy with the goal of adding additional office locations and growing its staff. To date this year, the firm has increased its attorney base more than 20 percent.

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