Ropes & Gray LLP
Brandon G Howald
joined Ropes & Gray LLP as partner in San Francisco.
Howald practices in private equity and has overseen middle-market and large cap transactions in the technology, software, data, health care, fitness, food, beverage, and consumer products industries.
Address
Three Embarcadero Center
San Francisco, 94111-4006
Jones Day
Kendra L Marvel
was promoted to partner of Jones Day in Los Angeles.
Marvel works in federal court litigation, white collar criminal proceedings and Department of Justice investigations. She also represents clients facing civil and criminal charges abroad, and has helped obtain asylum for unaccompanied minors fleeing abuse in Central America.
Robert TS Latta
was promoted to partner of Jones Day in San Diego.
Practicing in the life sciences, software and technology industries, Latta advises clients on intellectual property and data transactions, and has technical experience in electrical engineering, bioinformatics, gaming, data management systems and robotics.
Paul A Gilbert
was promoted to partner of Jones Day in San Francisco.
Gilbert focuses on commercial real estate finance transactions, including construction, permanent and mezzanine financing as well as unsecured financings
and loan syndications. He has closed transactions totaling millions of dollars, including a $500 million syndicated unsecured facility for a California developer and the restatement of a $225 million syndicated term loan for a Los Angeles retail center.
Peter A Julian
was promoted to partner of Jones Day in San Francisco.
Julian specializes in complex antitrust matters involving mergers, acquisitions and government investigations. He has also defended clients in class actions and has practiced in the digital economy, semiconductor, social media, life sciences, health care and chemical industries.
Bing Liang
was promoted to partner of Jones Day in Silicon Valley.
Focusing on intellectual property procurement and protection for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, Liang has a doctorate in biomedical sciences from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
Evan M McLean
was promoted to partner of Jones Day in Silicon Valley.
Litigating in district courts across the U.S. and at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, McLean focuses his practice on intellectual property matters related to telecommunications infrastructure, distributed software architecture, web-based services, payment systems, smartphone apps and web conferencing.
Gov. Gavin Newsom
Amarik K Singh
was promoted to inspector general of Gov. Gavin Newsom in Placerville.
Formerly the senior assistant inspector general since 2019, Singh has also served as commissioner on the Board of Parole Hearings and as a deputy district attorney in Kern County.
Gov. Gavin Newsom
Katherine L Lucero
joined Gov. Gavin Newsom as director of the office of youth and community restoration at the california health and human services agency in San Jose.
Lucero was a judge at the Santa Clara County Superior Court for 20 years, and most recently served as the presiding judge of the court's juvenile division. She is a member of the California Judges Association, California Latino Judges Association and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.
Justin R Paddock
joined Gov. Gavin Newsom as chief of the bureau of household goods and services at the department of consumer affairs in Sacramento.
Before serving as chief of licensing and examinations at the Contractors State License Board, Paddock worked as an attorney with Shaw Law Group and as a lobbyist at the California Association of Realtors.
Patricia A Wynne
joined Gov. Gavin Newsom as member of the california board of registered nursing in Aptos.
Wynne is a former deputy state treasurer in the Office of the State Treasurer, and has also served as a special assistant attorney general as well as policy director for former State Senate President Pro Tempore Bill Lockyer, D-Oakland.
Address
1021 O Street, Suite 9000
Sacramento, 95814
Constangy Brooks Smith & Prophete LLP
William J Emanuel
joined Constangy Brooks Smith & Prophete LLP as senior strategist.
A respected labor relations attorney, Emanuel worked at Jones Day, Musick, Peeler, & Garrett LLP, Littler Mendelson PC and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP before his four years at the National Labor Relations Board.
Address
2029 Century Park East Suite 1100
Los Angeles, 90067
Klinedinst PC
Address
777 S. Figueroa St Suite 4000
Los Angeles, 90017
Susman Godfrey LLP
Glenn C Bridgman
was promoted to partner of Susman Godfrey LLP in Los Angeles.
Practicing in insurance, intellectual property, antitrust, breach of contract and securities, Bridgman has represented clients in solar energy, telecommunications and lease financing.
Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP
Lily H Kim
was promoted to partner of Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP in Silicon Valley.
Focusing her practice on general corporate and partnership income taxation, Kim has represented venture capital and equity funds as well as high-growth companies in mergers, acquisitions, joining ventures, dispositions, initial public offerings and growth equity financings.
Bradley D Krack
was promoted to partner of Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP in San Francisco.
Krack represents high-growth companies and venture capital firms in mergers and acquisitions, cross-border equity and debt financing and corporate governance as a member of Gunderson’s Latin America practice group.
Cody R Peterson
was promoted to partner of Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP in Los Angeles.
Peterson has represented startups and venture capital funds in the e-commerce, social media, financial and educational technology, and virtual reality industries, focusing on supporting early-stage founders.
Shawna M Reeder
was promoted to partner of Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP in Silicon Valley.
Having represented companies that were sold to Procter & Gamble, Synopsys and LinkedIn, Reeder practices in transactional technology, intellectual property, corporate partnering and technology assets.
Anna C Westfelt
was promoted to partner of Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP in Silicon Valley.
Westfelt advises clients on U.S. and European data privacy and security issues as well as venture capital financings, mergers, acquisitions and initial public offerings.
O'Melveny & Myers LLP
Elizabeth M Bock
was promoted to partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Los Angeles.
Representing prominent health care companies, Bock is also on the board of governors and the Foundation Board of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles.
Brian M Cook
was promoted to partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Los Angeles.
A nuclear physicist and former Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer in addition to his litigation work, Cook represents clients in patent, trade secret and licensing matters throughout the consumer electronics, broadcasting, software and wireless communication industries, among others.
J. Jorge deNeve
was promoted to partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Los Angeles.
Specializing in SEC enforcement, deNeve has represented issuers, executives and investment advisers in investigations involving accounting, disclosure and internal control issues.
Megan K Smith
was promoted to partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Century City.
Smith has represented fashion houses, hoteliers, automobile manufacturers, real estate companies and financial institutions, and once helped a prominent homebuilder defeat a nine-figure suit in a case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
Wenting Yu
was promoted to partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Silicon Valley.
Yu specializes in venture financing, mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt offerings and joint ventures. She also has experience working with Cayman Islands based entities operating in the U.S. and China.
Blank Rome LLP
Natalie R Alameddine
was promoted to partner of Blank Rome LLP in Los Angeles.
Defending employers in single- plaintiff cases, class actions and PAGA actions, Alameddine has represented clients in federal and state courts as well as arbitration forums in a variety of employment disputes.
Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP
Jack Shaw
joined Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP as partner in Silicon Valley.
Shaw litigates intellectual property disputes, advising clients on matters of fact and expert discovery, claim construction, motion practice and trial.
Address
1117 S California Ave, Suite 200
Palo Alto, 94304
Jackson Lewis PC
Jack P Schaedel
joined Jackson Lewis PC as principal in Los Angeles.
Representing employers throughout California and the U.S., Schaedel advises clients in the manufacturing, professional services and hospitality industries.
Address
725 South Figueroa Street Suite 2500
Los Angeles, 90017
Judicate West
Geoffrey Gray
joined Judicate West as neutral in Santa Ana.
Gray has worked in product defect, premises liability, personal injury, public entity liability and medical negligence, and was on the board of directors for the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association for 10 years.
Address
1851 East First Street Ste 1600
Santa Ana, 92705
Jacko Law Group PC
R. Shea Lee
joined Jacko Law Group PC as senior attorney in San Diego.
An experienced mergers and acquisitions attorney, Lee practices in general securities compliance, labor and employment law, intellectual property and antitrust.
Address
1350 Columbia St Unit 300
San Diego, 92101
O'Melveny & Myers LLP
Ike C Chidi
joined O'Melveny & Myers LLP as partner in Los Angeles.
Advising private equity firms, lending institutions and other private and public companies, Chidi deals with financing transactions including syndicated credit facilities, asset-based loans, recapitalizations and mezzanine financings.
Address
400 South Hope Street 18th Floor
Los Angeles, 90071
Carlton Fields PA
Ellyn S Garofalo
joined Carlton Fields PA as shareholder in Los Angeles.
Garofalo focuses on breach of conduct, securities and investor claims, as well as partnership disputes and real estate litigation. Recently she secured a defense verdict in a $100 million partnership dispute, and a $32 million judgment in a cyber theft case.
Address
2029 Century Park East Suite 1200
Los Angeles, 90067-2913
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Ronald L Cheng
joined Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP as litigation partner in Los Angeles.
Following a distinguished career that has taken him across the Pacific and back, former government attorney Ronald L. Cheng has joined Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP as a litigation partner in Los Angeles, where he will handle cases for Chinese clients in the U.S.
"I've already been able to start working on client matters and I see a lot of potential to develop this area, which has been an interest of mine ever since I did my time in China at the U.S. Embassy on behalf of the Department of Justice in the mid- 2000s," Cheng said in an interview.
Cheng worked as the DOJ's resident adviser at the embassy in Beijing from 2005 to 2007, trying to promote rule-of-law development in criminal matters.
"My assignment was to develop relationships within and outside the Chinese government with all parties involved in the criminal process," Cheng said. "That involved the public security bureaus and ministry as well as the prosecutors, courts, defense lawyers and academics doing research and proposing reforms
in this area."
Traveling through about 25 of China's provinces and self-governing cities, Cheng's work included a high profile embezzlement case that reached all the way to federal court in Las Vegas.
"That involved corrupt officials from a Chinese bank who had embezzled $482 million from the bank and then absconded to the United States to avoid prosecution," he said.
Continuing his work in the U.S. attorney's office in Nevada as chief of the criminal division, Cheng guided 40 up-and-coming federal prosecutors during the uncertain early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
"We had to deal with keeping the criminal system running during this period when trials were not taking place, when it was even difficult to have initial appearances, charge cases and make sure the defendants were guaranteed their right to indictment by grand jury," Cheng said. "Some of these basic things we took for granted were very difficult to implement, but we got it up and running and I think we kept the dislocation to a minimum."
Cheng also oversaw cases involving civil unrest, including an alleged plot to commit violence in Las Vegas by the Boogaloo movement, as well as narcotic and firearms trafficking by the MS13 gang.
"There was quite a bit that we were able to accomplish during that time," he said. "Of course, that's against the backdrop of bringing in a large number of new AUSAs, getting them trained and making sure that they got responsibility and were in a position to handle it in the office and in court."
"I'm ecstatic to have Ron join our team," Geoffrey Sant, co-chair of Pillsbury's China practice, said in a news release. "Just in the last year, we won judgments totaling nine figures for our clients in U.S.-China litigation matters, and we are busier than ever. Adding one of the most experienced and accomplished trial litigators in the United States is a tremendous coup. Ron has a skill set and track record of success in China-related trials and litigations that is unrivaled."
Address
725 South Figueroa Street 36th Floor
Los Angeles, 90017
Wilson Turner Kosmo LLP
Carolina Bravo-Karimi
was promoted to partner of Wilson Turner Kosmo LLP in San Diego.
Bravo-Karimi advises employers in wrongful termination, discrimination, wage and hour, retaliation and harassment cases.
Larson LLP
Emilie J Zuccolotto
was promoted to partner of Larson LLP in Los Angeles.
Emilie Zuccolotto represents corporations in high-stakes business disputes and defends employers against state and federal employment law violation claims in single-plaintiff suits and class actions. She also advises companies on regulatory and compliance matters and conducts sensitive internal investigations. Emilie earned her J.D. from USC Gould School of Law and her B.A. from UC Berkeley.
John Lee
was promoted to counsel of Larson LLP in Los Angeles.
John Lee's practice focuses on complex commercial disputes--including class actions, trade secret lawsuits, and securities cases--and white collar defense matters. Before joining Larson LLP, he served as a judicial law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. John earned his J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, cum laude, and his B.A. from Princeton University.
Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel
Christopher P Chang
joined Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel as attorney in Silicon Valley.
A member of Hoge Fenton's business litigation practice group, Chang has argued more than 800 motions in his career.
Address
55 South Market St., Suite 900
San Jose, 95113-2324
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Lucas J Tomsich
was promoted to counsel of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP in Silicon Valley.
Tomsich litigates complex patent cases and has experience in claim construction, discovery, merit and pre-lawsuit investigations, pleadings and dispositive motions.
Greenspoon Marder LLP
Richard C Giller
joined Greenspoon Marder LLP as head of insurance recovery and counseling in Los Angeles.
Giller's 35-year legal career has focused on insurance recovery for institutional and individual clients, including collegiate and professional athletes.
Address
1875 Century Park East Suite 1900
Los Angeles, 90067
Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP
Michael P Maher
joined Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP as partner in San Francisco.
Maher is a business and real estate specialist with experience litigating in the wine, agriculture, hospitality and commercial sectors.
Address
1 Montgomery St, Suite 3000
San Francisco, 94104
Baker & Hostetler LLP
Jennifer L Mitchell
joined Baker & Hostetler LLP as partner in Los Angeles.
Mitchell has litigated privacy matters in the health care and entertainment industries, having served as vice president of privacy and legal compliance at Sony Pictures and as a global privacy officer at Abbott Laboratories.
"I think in some ways, even though the industries are very different, the challenges relating to privacy compliance and grappling with new laws as they're enacted have really been similar in more ways than I expected," Mitchell said in an interview.
Address
11601 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 1400
Los Angeles, 90025
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Yana S Johnson
joined Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP as partner in San Francisco.
Johnson practices in biotech, health care, manufacturing, entertainment, temporary staffing and government contracting. She advises clients on public disclosures, stock exchange listing standards and corporate governance.
Address
Four Embarcadero Center, 27th Floor
San Francisco, 94111
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
April E Isaacson
was promoted to managing partner of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP in San Francisco.
With a legal career beginning in the U.S. military before crossing over into civilian law, April A. Isaacson has been a mainstay at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP since the firm's earliest days and will now serve as managing partner in San Francisco.
Isaacson was an associate at the firm's predecessor, Townsend Townsend & Crew, starting in 2002 before making partner in 2004. Before that she had worked as a Navy JAG officer from 1995 to 1999 litigating complex criminal jury trial proceedings.
In this position, Isaacson said in an interview, she received leadership training that was "really outstanding,
as well as world class training in terms of the legal training." When she decided to go into private practice, she was able to put that training to use in a civilian setting.
"It's definitely a transition from doing the criminal trial work to doing the civil litigation," Isaacson said. "But it was great for me to have the trial experience that I'd gotten when I was in the Navy and be able to translate that into the courtroom in a civil proceedings context."
After departing from Kilpatrick's predecessor in 2007, Isaacson rejoined the firm in its revamped form last year. She ... has since been an integral part of our San Francisco office," Roger D. Wylie, managing partner in Seattle, said in a news release. "April will do an outstanding job leading our second largest office."
Munger Tolles & Olson LLP
Jennifer L Bryant
was promoted to partner of Munger Tolles & Olson LLP in Los Angeles.
With experience handling cases at all stages of litigation, Bryant deals with trade secrets, copyright and privacy in the entertainment and technology industries.
Wesley TL Burrell
was promoted to partner of Munger Tolles & Olson LLP in Los Angeles.
In addition to litigating complex and novel financial, intellectual property and corporate governance cases, Burrell maintains a pro bono practice representing domestic trafficking victims and asylum-seekers.
Nicholas D Fram
was promoted to partner of Munger Tolles & Olson LLP in San Francisco.
Fram specializes in mass tort, internal investigation and commercial litigation.
Tyler G Hilton
was promoted to partner of Munger Tolles & Olson LLP in Los Angeles.
Advising buyers and sellers in mergers and acquisitions, Hilton also represents companies and investors in corporate governance, commercial transactions and equity financing.
Craig Jennings Lavoie
was promoted to partner of Munger Tolles & Olson LLP in Los Angeles.
Lavoie has been involved in high stakes litigation, including representing Vanessa Bryant in action against the Los Angeles County sheriff’s and fire departments over photos of the crash that killed her husband, Kobe Bryant. Lavoie has also done work related to the L.A. Clippers’ new arena in Inglewood.
Vincent Y Ling
was promoted to partner of Munger Tolles & Olson LLP in Los Angeles.
Working in the biopharmaceutical, wireless communications and computer technology industries, Ling specializes in intellectual property litigation and counseling dealing with patent infringement and trade secrets.
Sheppard Mullin
Lauren M Strickroth
joined Sheppard Mullin as partner in Costa Mesa.
Strickroth represents privately owned businesses, trust beneficiaries, health care agencies and trustees, with a focus on fiduciary litigation, business disputes, private wealth disputes, litigation trusts, estates and conservatorships.
Address
650 Town Center Drive Tenth Floor
Costa Mesa, 92626
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP
Alexander T Marx
joined Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP as senior counsel in Ontario.
Marx litigates employment disputes, PAGA matters, provisional remedies and attachment, class action defense and breach of contract cases.
Address
3200 Guasti Road Suite 100
Ontario, 91761
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP
Kevin W Alexander
as managing partner
Alexander has been managing partner of the firm's 110-plus attorney San Diego office and co-chair of its drug and medical device and commercial
litigation practice groups. He represents corporations, officers and directors in complex commercial, securities and product liability litigation in federal and state courts, and before arbitration panels.
Address
3200 Guasti Road, Suite 100
Ontario, 91761