Matthew Thompson
Class of 1991
Partner, Sidley Austin LLP
Century City, Los Angeles, CA
Matthew Thompson is the co-founder of and partner in Sidley’s Century City office and leader of the Media and Entertainment group firmwide. He represents entertainment companies and sources of capital in complex M&A and financing transactions, as well as general corporate matters. He also represents entertainment companies and other related firms in a wide variety of industry focused transactions.
Matt currently serves as the co-chair of the UCLA Entertainment Symposium Advisory Committee, is a member of the Ziffren Center for Media, Entertainment, Technology and Sports Law Advisory Board and is a member of the USC-BHBA Entertainment Institute Advisory Board. He holds a number of leadership positions at the firm including co-chairing the local office Practice Development Committee; serving as a member of the Committee on the Retention and Promotion of Women; serving as a member of the firmwide New Business Committee; as a member of the firmwide Counsel Committee; and serving as a member of the Greater Los Angeles Recruiting Committee.
Awards and Recognitions
Named an honoree in Variety’s “Legal Impact Report” (2012-2013, 2016-2018)
Named a “Top 100 Power Lawyer” by The Hollywood Reporter (2012-2018)
Named among The Hollywood Reporter’s “Top 20 Dealmakers” in an inaugural list recognizing the top dealmakers behind Hollywood’s biggest deals of the year (2017)
Featured in Variety’s “Dealmakers Impact Report” (2011, 2013-2017)
Ranked in Band Two for California Media & Entertainment: Transactional by Chambers USA (2016-2018)
Named a “Best Lawyer” for Entertainment Law – Motion Pictures and Television by Best Lawyers in America (2016-2019)
Named a “Best Lawyer” for Media Law by Best Lawyers in America (2016-2019)
Recommended for M&A by International Financial Law Review (IFLR) 1000 (2017)
Named a “Leading Lawyer” by The Legal 500 US for Media, Technology and Telecoms: Media and Entertainment (2017)
Named one of the “Top Dealmakers” by Broadcasting & Cable (2015)
Named one of California’s Top 50 Entertainment Lawyers by the Daily Journal (2014)