On December 8, 2021, Paul Bernstein, Chris O’Brien, and Jim Nelson were recognized in Variety’s Dealmakers Impact Report. This recognition honors the top financiers, attorneys, executives, and entrepreneurs who forged the major game-changing deals that changed the showbiz landscape.
Paul Bernstein, chair of Venable’s Entertainment Transactions practice, advises clients on complex corporate matters. Paul handles joint ventures, endorsement deals, financings, mergers and acquisitions, executive employment deals, and all manner of entrepreneurial activities for actors, writers, directors, producers, musical artists, athletes, and others in the entertainment industry. He also represents several talent management companies and production companies.
Chris O’Brien helps clients create value through corporate transactions across a wide range of industries, including entertainment and media. Chris represents multinational and regional corporations, established companies, and nascent enterprises on a wide range of business transactions, including company formation, mergers and acquisitions, financings, and joint ventures. He is also a co-founder and a co-chair of Venable’s Blockchain and Digital Currencies Group. As a trusted advisor, Chris frequently serves as outside general counsel for his clients.
Jim Nelson is a corporate attorney, a co-chair of the Technology, Media, and Commercial Group, and partner-in-charge of Venable 's San Francisco office. Jim focuses on intellectual property-centered businesses that emphasize the development, production, and commercialization of IP assets. He manages a wide range of commercial contract and outsourcing engagements, in addition to his general corporate work forming and financing companies and supporting them in mergers, sales, acquisitions, and joint ventures. His clients range from startups to emerging growth and Fortune 50 companies—often located or acting globally—in financial services, technology, media, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, hospitality, and consumer products, among others.