Stephen Payne was promoted to partner of Irell & Manella LLP in Newport Beach.

Payne is an experienced trial lawyer focused on intellectual property and complex commercial litigation. Payne's experience includes five recent federal jury trials that resulted in over $800 million in verdicts for clients. He also litigates matters on appeal and has challenged and defended district court and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rulings in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Charlotte Wen was promoted to partner of Irell & Manella LLP in Los Angeles.

Wen is an experienced trial lawyer focused on intellectual property and complex commercial litigation. She has been a core member of trial teams that obtained some of the firm's highest profile wins, helping secure nine- and 10-figure jury awards that total over $3.5 billion. She also has an active appellate and pro bono practice.

Gary L. LaHendro was promoted to partner of Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP in Los Angeles.

LaHendro focuses his practice on insurance coverage and bad faith litigation. Gary's clients include carriers within the United States and London Markets for whom he has provided coverage advice on various lines of coverage, including commercial general liability, excess, errors and omissions, auto, and representations and warranties. Gary also monitors the defense of insureds with respect to third-party lawsuits. In addition to coverage work, Gary has over 20 years of litigation experience as lead defense counsel on cases involving soil and groundwater contamination, professional liability, construction defect and personal injury cases. He is also a skilled appellate attorney and Certified Mediator.

Melvin F. Marcia was promoted to partner of Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP in Sacramento.

Marcia is a member of the firm's Transportation Law, General Liability, Product Liability and Fire Litigation Practice Groups. His practice focuses on litigation of high value cases, ranging from catastrophic injury, wrongful death, premises liability, business disputes, product liability, uninsured/underinsured arbitrations and subrogation matters.

Justin Romig joined Coleman & Horowitt, LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Romig represents businesses and individuals in business, complex commercial, banking, real estate, construction, probate, and employment litigation in state and federal courts, as well as arbitration and mediation. He also serves as defense counsel in high-exposure, complex commercial litigation matters.

Edwin Hong was promoted to partner of The Simon Law Group in Los Angeles.

Hong's practice focuses on personal injury.

Jason Sanchez was promoted to partner of The Simon Law Group in Orange County.

Sanchez is an active member of the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association (OCTLA), and since 2012, has been a member of the Board of Governors for Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC). He is also very involved with Consumer Attorneys of the Inland Empire (CAOIE), where he is a member of the organization's Palm Springs Seminar Education Committee and the Board of Governors and was the organization's president from 2015-2018.

Deborah H. Petito was promoted to l&e practice group leader of Offit Kurman in Los Angeles.

With more than 35 years of experience and a leader of the firm's Los Angeles office, Petito has handled all types of employment counseling and litigation matters and acts as an outside employment counsel to several companies in various industries providing advice on an ongoing basis.

Sanaz (Sunny) K. Soltani was promoted to managing partner of Aleshire & Wynder, LLP in Orange County.

Soltani specializes in constitutional law and complex real property negotiations, with an emphasis on environmental justice and housing issues. She routinely assists her clients with legislative solutions. She has successfully secured the passage of several important legislative bills, significantly improving the regulatory position of her clients and preserving rent control in California.

Ofelia M. Olmedo joined Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP as associate in San Diego.

Olmedo has defended skilled nursing facilities and administrators in a variety of elder abuse claims and claims for vicarious liability against affiliated corporate entities. She has also represented hospital medical staff in judicial review hearings and assisted in their corrective action and peer review processes.

Roxanna Palizi joined Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP as associate in San Diego.

Palizi is a family law attorney who gained experience earlier in her career as both an intern and post-bar law clerk in the firm's Family Law Practice Group prior to becoming a lawyer. Her experience also includes drafting motions for a variety of causes of action and making court appearances on behalf of clients when she served as a certified law clerk at a boutique family law firm.

Haley A. Murphy joined Nukk-Freeman & Cerra, PC as associate in San Diego.

Murphy represents employers in a diverse range of employment litigation matters and counsels clients on a variety of employment-related issues. Her experience includes representing employers in court, arbitration, and mediation.

Sahar Malek joined Arias Sanguinetti as partner in Los Angeles.

Malek is a litigation and trial attorney who founded a boutique law firm in Beverly Hills. She represents clients in personal injury and lemon law cases. She is on the board of directors of the Consumer Attorneys of California and the Iranian American Lawyers Association and is an active member of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, the American Association for Justice, and various other attorney associations.

Caleb L.H. Marker was promoted to managing partner of Zimmerman Reed in Los Angeles.

Marker has been instrumental in the opening and growing that office since 2015. He focuses his practice on consumer protection, employment, and privacy cases. In particular, he created the firm's plaintiff arbitration practice. He brought the first merits arbitration in the United States against a ridesharing company to trial, challenging its classification of a "gig economy" worker in 2016. Since then, he has represented clients in class actions and arbitrations against various technology companies involving worker misclassification, equal pay for women, and privacy rights. With his broad experience in various legal areas and focus on the technology field, He has spearheaded various technological advancements at the firm.

Zach Greenberg was promoted to partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Century City.

Greenberg counsels private and public company clients across a wide array of industries on acquisitions and dispositions, capital markets transactions, corporate governance matters, and SEC compliance and disclosure requirements.

Lauren Kaplan was promoted to partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Los Angeles.

Kaplan works with clients facing inquiries and enforcement actions by state attorneys general as well as complex civil litigation. She has represented companies and individuals at trial and appeal in both state and federal courts and in investigations by state and federal agencies. Lauren is also an active member of O’Melveny’s pro bono practice.

Adam Levine was promoted to partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Los Angeles.

Levine is a highly skilled and experienced commercial litigator and trial lawyer specializing in healthcare litigation. Levine handles complex healthcare litigation matters, including payor-provider disputes, government enforcement actions, and whistleblower lawsuits under the False Claims Act. He also holds other complex commercial litigation matters relating to product liability, false advertising, all manner of breaches of contract, express and implied warranty, fiduciary duty, violations of unfair competition and consumer protection statutes, and civil fraud.

Russell McGlothlin was promoted to partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Century City.

McGlothlin is an experienced water resources attorney who has spent decades advising clients on water use and management matters in California and the western United States. His expertise includes compliance with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), water rights permitting and compliance, water transfer agreements, groundwater banking, water quality, regulated water utilities, mutual water companies, and reclamation issues. He represents private companies, large agricultural producers and investors, municipalities, special districts, and landowners with transactional negotiations, litigation, and administrative agency proceedings.

Zoheb Noorani was promoted to partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Los Angeles.

Noorani has defended insurance companies in all stages of coverage actions—from pre-litigation counseling to appeals. Along with the day-to-day management of cases, he has been the principal drafter of several case-winning summary judgment motions.

Jason Zarrow was promoted to partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Los Angeles.

Zarrow’s practice is devoted to creating and executing legal strategies for bet-the-company litigation. He advises clients on compliance options and litigation risks, with an eye toward building legal and factual arguments if litigation ensues. Once litigation begins, he coordinates legal and appellate strategy, starting with dispositive motions before the trial court. As the case progresses, Jason oversees the development of key points in the factual record, working with trial teams to ensure that his client’s legal arguments have the best factual framing at summary judgment, class certification, trial, and on appeal. And should the case proceed to trial, Jason has extensive experience as on-the-ground appellate counsel, presenting forceful arguments for judgment, crafting jury instructions, and ensuring all appellate points are preserved.

Brittani A. Jackson was promoted to partner of Hueston Hennigan in Los Angeles.

Jackson represents clients in a broad range of matters, including commercial contract disputes, trade secret misappropriation, shareholder activism, issues of corporate governance, antitrust, and securities litigation. She has experience litigating cases throughout every process stage--from writing pre- and post-trial briefs to conducting witness interviews, taking and defending depositions, leading discovery efforts, including representing client's interests in court hearings, and leading trial teams to favorable resolutions. The promotion is effective Jan. 1.

Sourabh Mishra was promoted to partner of Hueston Hennigan in Orange County.

Mishra focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, intellectual property litigation, white-collar criminal defense, and investigations. He represents individuals and companies in complex commercial litigation matters across a wide array of industries, including medical devices, information analytics, food and beverage, telecommunications, biopharmaceuticals, and technology hardware and equipment. In addition, he regularly represents individuals and corporations in connection with complex and sensitive internal investigations and governmental inquiries. The promotion is effective Jan. 1.

Rajan Trehan was promoted to partner of Hueston Hennigan in Los Angeles.

Trehan focuses his practice on high-stakes matters oriented toward trial. He has experience litigating contract, fraud, intellectual property, and class action disputes on behalf of a diverse array of corporate and individual clients, including several in the entertainment and media space. Trehan has earned clients' trust by achieving noteworthy results in tough cases. The promotion is effective Jan. 1.

Christine Woodin was promoted to partner of Hueston Hennigan in Los Angeles.

Woodin focuses her practice on intellectual property and complex commercial litigation, including patent, antitrust, and breach of contract disputes. She has experience in all these cases, including counseling on pre-suit strategy, conducting effective offensive and defensive discovery, deposing witnesses and defending depositions, drafting dispositive and pre-trial motions, preparing for trial, presenting witnesses at trial, and handling appeals. She has managed and developed the strategy for cases of all sizes in various industries-from global licensing disputes to single patent assertions. The promotion is effective Jan. 1.

Natalie Schachner joined Miller Barondess, LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Schachner's experience spans both civil and criminal law in state and federal court. As a former deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County, she has a robust trial record, and was involved in a diverse array of criminal matters, encompassing all stages of litigation. She has experience conducting widescale internal investigations for Fortune 500 companies, as well as litigating securities class actions.

David Mainzer joined Buchalter as shareholder in Los Angeles.

Mainzer joins the corporate practice group, bringing over 25 years of experience in advising investment management firms and funds. His expertise extends to industry participants on portfolio investments, M&A transactions, securities regulations, tax implications, and employment-related matters. A recognized authority in federal and state laws governing investment management and securities transactions, Mainzer provides comprehensive counsel on an array of domestic and offshore private funds and investment vehicles.

Mainzer previously served as the general counsel and chief operating officer of Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc. He oversaw legal affairs, risk management, regulatory compliance, and fund structuring for the firm's hedge funds, mutual funds, and separately managed accounts. Before his legal career, Mainzer served in the U.S. Army.

Filemon ("Phil") Carrillo joined Mortenson Taggart Adams LLP as partner in Irvine.

Carrillo has handled various business disputes nationwide in state, federal, administrative, and arbitration forums. He has litigated cases involving fraud, trade secrets, statutory violations, trademark, competition, and contract disputes in various industries, including fitness, quick service restaurants (QSR), real estate, construction, and manufacturing equipment, to name a few. He also represents manufacturers, franchisors, licensors, and distributors in government investigations and administrative proceedings.

Jason C. Ford was promoted to partner of Gunderson Dettmer.

Ford helps venture capital and private equity firms with the formation, organization and operation of funds and their general partner and related management company entities. He advises funds in all aspects of their operations, including compliance with securities laws and ERISA requirements, and related reporting obligations. Additionally, Ford counsels firms on governance matters, including the admission and withdrawal of managers, hiring and departure of employees, and the issuance of carried interest. The promotion is effective Jan. 1.

Jon Walter Gurka joined Crowell & Moring LLP as partner in Orange County.

Gurka's intellectual property practice spans patent, trademark, trade dress, copyright, trade secret, unfair competition, and breach of contract matters. He handles cases that involve complex technologies, including blockchain, semiconductor processing and manufacturing, computer hardware and software systems, microprocessor control systems, electro-mechanical control systems, complex digital signal processing techniques, computer numerical control machines and systems, telecommunications, medical devices and surgical procedures, and thermodynamic systems and processes.

David S. Moore was promoted to partner of Gunderson Dettmer in Los Angeles.

Moore represents technology and other companies in mergers and acquisitions. He advises sellers, buyers and investors in mergers, stock purchases, asset sales and other strategic transactions. His clients have included consumer internet, software, defense technology, telecommunications and entertainment companies, as well as venture capital firms, financial institutions and industrial companies. The promotion is effective Jan. 1.

Christopher R. Partin was promoted to partner of Gunderson Dettmer in Silicon Valley.

Partin's practice focuses on the formation and structuring of venture capital and growth equity funds and their related general partner and management company entities, as well as all aspects of their day-to-day operations. He also counsels clients on corporate governance matters, securities laws and regulations and other aspects of the regulatory framework applicable to the formation and operation of investment funds. The promotion is effective Jan. 1.

Jennifer L. Spaletta joined Stoel Rives LLP as partner in Sacramento.

Spaletta is a seasoned water law attorney who offers clients more than two decades of experience. A member of the Stoel Rives' Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources team, she has extensive experience litigating commercial contract disputes and water, environmental, and constitutional law matters. Her experience also includes handling California Proposition 218 cases. She has been a lead trial counsel in court and jury trials throughout California and the Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C.

Heejoong Kim joined McGlinchey Stafford PLLC as associate in Orange County.

Kim is a multi-faceted litigator who represents clients in a wide array of commercial disputes. With experience ranging from premises liability, habitability, and motor vehicle accidents to claims involving false advertising, unfair competition, and employment disputes, he prides himself on building strong relationships with clients. He also litigates contractual, partnership, fraud, and fiduciary disputes.

Adam B Van Korlaar joined McGlinchey Stafford PLLC as associate in Orange County.

Van Korlaar represents clients ranging from small businesses and homeowners associations (HOAs) to international corporations in business disputes, landlord/tenant issues, employment disputes, trade secrets, and other litigation. He has considerable experience defending client interests in matters involving serious personal injuries, premises liability, toxic torts, and “lemon law”/warranty disputes, and he has exposure to several elements of insurance defense and litigation.

Steve Christianson joined McGlinchey Stafford PLLC as associate in Orange County.

Christianson represents clients in matters ranging from personal injury to professional liability to business disputes. He has handled every element of case management, from e-discovery, legal research, and strategy development to pleadings, motions, and trial documentation. For clients in the real estate and transportation industries, he employs a well-rounded approach to risk evaluation and litigation strategy.

Juliana Yee was promoted to partner of Munger, Tolles & Olson in San Francisco.

Yee focuses her practice on high-stakes disputes, including class actions, mass actions, and trials in state and federal court and across various industries, including technology, entertainment, higher education, and financial services. She helps companies navigate their most challenging and high-profile matters through all stages of litigation. Yee also maintains a pro bono practice on immigration matters and civil rights. She is committed to advancing diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and currently serves as the co-chair of the Development Committee of the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion. Before joining the firm, Yee clerked for Judge Vince Chhabria of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and Judge Jay Bybee of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Stephanie Herrera was promoted to partner of Munger, Tolles & Olson in San Francisco.

Herrera's practice focuses on litigating cutting-edge copyright, antitrust, and civil rights issues for major movie studios and industry-leading technology companies. Her experience spans every phase of litigation, including significant summary judgment and trial victories. Ms. Herrera also has deep counseling and investigations experience in the tech industry and has represented tech clients in litigation and investigations involving the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice, and state attorneys general. Ms. Herrera maintains an active pro bono practice, emphasizing immigration and civil rights. She is also passionate about the arts and serves on the board of directors of California Lawyers for the Arts. Before joining the firm, Herrera clerked for Judge Michelle T. Friedland of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Debbie Y. Chin joined Fox Rothschild LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Chin provides advice on estate and trust planning, implementation, and administration. This includes working with individuals and families to design sophisticated tax and estate plans using a combination of wealth preservation and transfer strategies. She also represents individuals and professional entities in all post-death trust and estate administration aspects. She also serves on the board of directors of the East Bay Trusts and Estates Lawyers and is a member of the Estate Planning Council of Diablo Valley.

Michael Adamson was promoted to partner of Susman Godfrey in Los Angeles.

Adamson represents and has secured victories for his clients in various commercial disputes, including class action, patent, trade secret, unfair competition, environmental torts, and breach of contract suits. He is counsel in several different class actions against life insurance companies, alleging hundreds of millions in damages on behalf of thousands of policyholders. His promotion to partner is effective Jan. 1.

Devin H. Black joined Goldberg Segalla as associate in Orange County.

Black focuses his practice on workers' compensation matters, counseling and defending employers, insurers, and third-party administrators. His experience includes managing workers' compensation claims from referral through closure, including in-depth claim reviews and valuation analyses, conducting depositions and cross-examinations of claimants and medical professionals, drafting pleadings, motions, and settlements, and representing clients before the WCAB.

Joseph J. Boylan was promoted to partner of Jones Day in Los Angeles.

Boylan is an experienced litigator who represents corporations and financial institutions in a variety of complex civil disputes and regulatory matters. He regularly advises corporate clients regarding both affirmative claims and civil defenses in connection with multijurisdictional litigation, securities class actions, and private arbitrations. His promotion becomes effective Jan. 1.

David J. Feder was promoted to partner of Jones Day in Los Angeles.

Feder focuses on legal issues in whatever tribunal they arise. He has particular experience in areas such as products liability (especially public nuisance law), tort law more generally, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California Unfair Competition Law (UCL), Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), federal preemption, and many others. His promotion becomes effective Jan. 1.

Benjamin Chouka was promoted to partner of Jones Day in Orange County.

Chouka has advised a variety of clients in M&A and private equity transactions as well as venture capital and growth equity financings. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, cross-border transactions, restructurings, and corporate governance matters. He represents public companies, middle-market private companies, and start-up companies alike and is most active in the technology (including software, semiconductor, and fintech), health care, life sciences, and energy industries. His promotion becomes effective Jan. 1.

Caroline O. Van Wagoner was promoted to partner of Jones Day in San Diego.

Van Wagoner represents companies in complex civil litigation and government and internal investigations. She has experience in all stages of litigation and in a variety of matters, including antitrust and unfair competition, class actions, fraud, commercial disputes, and intellectual property. She also regularly defends clients in investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Her promotion becomes effective Jan. 1.

Luma Khabbaz joined Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld as legal fellow in San Francisco.

Khabbaz received a J.D., cum laude, from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in 2023. Prior to attending law school, she worked at the United Nations Population Fund, working to advance global sexual and reproductive health and rights. She received a B.A. in International Studies and a B.A.J. in Journalism from Indiana University in 2019.