Paul I Barker joined Kirkland & Ellis LLP as partner in San Francisco.

With a litigation career spanning continents, attorney Paul Barker is at the forefront of the especially timely and relevant field of environmental, social and governance law (ESG). Now, the former British barrister is bringing his expertise to the San Francisco office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP as a partner in the firm's ESG and impact practice group.
"I have several long standing connections with Kirkland and have always been impressed by how dynamic and pioneering the firm is," Barker said in an interview. "Alexandra Farmer has created an exceptional ESG and impact team in such a short space of time, so when I heard she was looking to grow the practice in the Bay Area I leapt at the opportunity."
Barker is a trained corporate attorney who practiced from Doughty Street Chambers in London. In this capacity he initially focused on public international law, finance and investment.
"My pathway to ESG practice was through my work at the London bar and at Stanford on a range of issues including international renewable energy disputes, international climate change law, and sustainable finance regulation," Barker said.
He prides himself on having litigated several cases where he feels his work has led to a positive social impact, in matters ranging from sovereign debt restructuring to business and human rights.
"I also think pro bono is very important, and have been grateful for the opportunity to work recently with Columbia Law School's Sabin Center on Climate Change, helping them draft model laws on deep decarbonization," he said.
Alexandra Farmer, the head of Kirkland's ESG and impact practice, praised Barker's skill in international arbitration, cross-border ESG and sustainable investment law.
"His multi-jurisdictional knowledge will be an asset," Farmer said in a company statement.
In joining up with Kirkland & Ellis, Barker hopes to harness his formidable ESG knowledge to aid the firm in navigating the uncertain terrain of climate-related
litigation.
"There is tremendous need from the private sector for thoughtful legal counsel in the context of climate strategies and disclosures, and sustainability linked incentives and financing, which is where I expect to spend a significant portion of my time, at least initially," Barker said. "In addition, I expect to leverage my international experience to support private funds clients in jurisdictions such as Asia, which are rapidly evolving on ESG and impact."

Mona Hanna was promoted to national litigation chair of Michelman & Robinson LLP in Irvine.

After 21 years and several precedent challenging cases at Michelman & Robinson LLP, Mona Hanna
has been named to head the firm's national litigation team.
Hanna was impressed by the newly formed Los Angeles firm when she faced one of its attorneys in
a high profile case. When she heard they were opening an office in Orange County she jumped at the chance to sign on as manager.
"I met the founding partners of the firm and I loved their entrepreneurial spirit and the fact that they felt
they could do anything that they put their mind to," Hanna said in a recent interview. "I felt like it was an
opportunity I had to take a chance with, and I'm obviously super glad I did."
As a specialist in class action and complex litigation, Hanna has made her name heading up precedent
challenging, multiparty, multijurisdictional cases. In one of her proudest moments, a case she successfully defended against appeal became a published, precedent-setting decision within the insurance industry. Adhav v. Midway Rent A Car Inc., 37 Cal. App. 5th 954 (Cal. App. 2019).
Sanford Michelman, co-founder and chairman of Michelman & Robinson LLP, said the firm is fortunate
to have "one of the premier litigators in the country" as its new national litigation chair.
"This year alone, Mona's been recognized as 'Orange County Lawyer of the Year (Litigation and Insurance)'
and included on a list of the 'Top 50 Women Lawyers in Southern California,'" Michelman said in a
statement. "This recognition was based upon her work defending newsworthy class action cases and 'bet the company' litigation matters, her uncanny ability to secure early-stage dismissals and defeat high-exposure class certified cases, and a remarkable string of courtroom victories. Truth be told, when it comes to big name litigators handling the most consequential of matters, there's no one finer than Mona Hanna."
Hanna's goal is to shepherd the litigation team through the uncertain times presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"For the first time we're all practicing law remotely, taking remote hearings, appearing remotely in federal court, state court, arbitrations, mediations, and now even trials are being conducted remotely," Hanna said. "It provides us with a real challenge: How do we continue to be the powerhouse litigators that we're known to be in a new medium?"
The newly minted chair says she plans to meet these challenges with training sessions on how to effectively use exhibits and presentations in a remote setting.
"That's definitely one of the goals I've set for myself, is to take advantage of the challenges that our industry has been faced with and use it to our advantage to better serve our clients," Hanna said.

Alvaro J. Peralta joined Miller Barondess, LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Peralta is a business litigator with experience representing clients in state and federal courts in diverse matters including contract, fraud, and copyright disputes.

Neva Cirkveni joined Miller Barondess, LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Cirkveni is a business litigator with experience representing clients in diverse matters, including contract, fraud, entertainment, and investment disputes.

Sanjay Bhandari joined Buchalter as shareholder in San Diego.

A former federal prosecutor and Securities & Exchange Commission attorney, Bhandari specializes in government investigations, white collar defense
and intellectual property law.

Bryn C Spradling joined Buchalter as shareholder in San Diego.

Spradling practices general business, corporate and health care law. He has overseen business transactions including mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, frequently representing physicians and medical groups.

Gary J Spradling joined Buchalter as counsel in San Diego.

Spradling works with startup businesses in the health care field, advising on financial needs, compensation, and ownership succession. He also negotiates mergers and acquisitions and helps resolve governance and management disputes.

Taisuke (Tai) Kimoto joined Covington & Burling LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Taisuke (Tai) Kimoto co-leads the firm's Japan Practice, which advises a number of Japan's largest corporations as well as individuals, trade associations and governmental agencies on their most sensitive and complex legal challenges in the United States, Europe, China, and elsewhere. Drawing upon his long-standing relationships and robust business and legal networks in Japan, Tai serves as an ambassador of the firm to the Japanese business community and to global companies with interests in the Japanese market.

Tai is a corporate lawyer whose practice focuses on M&A transactions, general corporate matters, and real estate transactions for companies based in Japan. He also serves as an outside U.S. general counsel for a number of Japanese companies and in that capacity provides advice in many areas, including dispute resolution and employment. In 2021, Chambers Global has recognized him among the leading lawyers for Japan Corporate/M&A (expert based abroad in USA).

Tai completed his legal education at top Japanese and U.S. universities and has practiced at leading Japanese and U.S. law firms. Through this experience, he is fully bilingual/bicultural and is a trusted legal advisor, frequently advising on the difference between the U.S. and Japanese legal systems, and any cultural differences often embedded in cross border deals.

Janie L Thompson joined Tucker Ellis LLP as intellectual property counsel in Los Angeles.

Specializing in intellectual property and trademark law, Thompson has handled cases related to clearance, domestic and foreign prosecution, and portfolio management. She also counsels clients on regulatory compliance for online and print marketing.

Kimberly Rowe was promoted to partner of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in Los Angeles.

Ms. Rowe represents private equity funds and public and private companies across a wide variety of industries on a broad range of strategic transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, carve-out transactions, cross-border transactions, minority investments and other complex corporate matters. Ms. Rowe received her J.D. from New York University School of Law, and her B.S.M. from Tulane University, magna cum laude.

Jeff Cohen was promoted to partner of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

Mr. Cohen represents lenders, developers and investors in the development, financing, acquisition and disposition of large-scale infrastructure and energy projects. He maintains a focus on the renewable energy sector, including advising on all stages of wind, solar and hydrogen projects, which is of particular interest to firm clients focused on energy transition. Mr. Cohen is a certified public accountant, and he received his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and his B.B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Margret L. Flodeen joined Miller Barondess, LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Flodeen is a litigator who represents clients in diverse matters including contract, fraud, environmental and class action disputes.

Arthur F Silbergeld joined Stradling as shareholder in Los Angeles.

Silbergeld represents large and midsized corporations in employment litigation and labor relations. He is one of the few California attorneys to have defended several wage class actions through trial. As a former trial attorney with the National Labor Relations Board, Silbergeld also represents employers in matters such as organizing campaigns, bargaining negotiations, strikes, picketing, boycotts, arbitrations, unfair labor practice proceedings, and multi-employer trust fund matters.

Kate Bowles joined Hanson Bridgett LLP as counsel in Los Angeles.

Bowles began her professional career as a registered nurse, providing strategic insights for her health provider clients in negotiating contracts, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions.
She has represented hospitals, surgery centers, group practices, telehealth companies and psychiatric health entities in transactional and regulatory matters. She routinely performs compliance reviews for anti-kickback, corporate practice of medicine, billing and pricing.

Chieh Tung joined Tyz Law Group as attorney in San Francisco.

Tung represents technology clients across a wide spectrum of litigation matters including commercial, false advertising, privacy, trademark, copyright and patent. In recent years,
Chieh has successfully defended against mass consumer privacy claims regarding smart home technologies and secured two favorable rulings from the U.S. Court of Appeal for the
Federal Circuit against multiple patent claims. Chieh spent five years before law school as a legal analyst at Google, reviewing legal removal requests from around the world concerning intellectual property, privacy, defamation, and national security. She is based in San Francisco.