Meghan Cocci—the global co-chair of the hospitality, gaming and leisure practice at Latham & Watkins—has moved over to Kirkland & Ellis, the firm announced Tuesday. Cocci will be resident in the firm’s Los Angeles office and will be part of the firm’s real estate group. “Meghan is widely known as one of the top hospitality lawyers in the market,” Jon Ballis, chairman of Kirkland’s executive committee, said in a statement. “Her arrival strengthens our leading real assets platform and bolsters our rapidly growing entertainment, sports and media experience.” Cocci, who had been at Latham for over six years after a 13-year stint at Dentons, focuses her practice on “private equity funds, real estate investment trusts, hotel brands, real estate developers and family offices,” Kirkland said in a release. “Meghan is at the top of her game and is a highly respected and trusted advisor within the industry,” Kirkland real estate partner Michelle Kelban said in a statement. “Her hire further strengthens our offerings across the industry and is synergistic with our growth and commitment to our sports practice given market activity in sports-adjacent entertainment districts and development generally.” Cocci, in addition to working on the above real estate aspects, also has experience in university and sports-adjacent branded mixed-use projects and entertainment districts, hotels, resorts and golf courses. “Kirkland is an incredibly exciting place right now with its deep platform for sophisticated private equity and real estate transactions and a demonstrated and clear commitment to the real assets sector,” Cocci said via a release. “Kirkland is well poised to take advantage of any and all opportunities within the hospitality industry, and I can’t wait to start working with the team to help further grow and strengthen our relationships with clients in their most complex and exciting hospitality-related transactions.” Big Law has been seeing opportunity in live events, sports and entertainment as that programming has become the last element of entertainment that isn't “on demand." Additionally, all professional sports leagues as well as big-time college sports are seeing an influx of outside investment. Davis, Polk & Wardwell recently hired a prominent partner from Proskauer Rose to lead its new sports practice, while Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison formalized its long-running sports practice earlier this year. Traditional sports firms, like Perkins Coie and Proskauer, are also investing in their practices as the size of the pie, and the competition for said pie, grows. Cocci was not made available for an interview. In a statement, Latham global real estate chair Doug Heitner wished Cocci the best and thanked her for "her contributions to the firm." "We look forward to continuing to drive momentum and growth for our clients across our global multidisciplinary platform, including our market leading practices advising on every type of transaction in the real estate, hospitality, gaming, leisure, media and entertainment sectors. We anticipate an even busier 2026 for our team," he added.