Gov. Gavin Newsom
Richard P. Klau
joined Gov. Gavin Newsom as state chief technology innovation officer at the california department of technology in San Ramon.
Klau is the former senior operating partner of Google Ventures.
He is based in San Ramon.
Gareth S. Lacy
joined Gov. Gavin Newsom as special advisor for strategic initiatives and communication at the employment development department in Carmichael.
Lacy has been on the California Gambling Control Commission since 2018.
He is based in Carmichael.
Frolan R. Aguiling
joined Gov. Gavin Newsom as chief counsel at the california dept. of human resources in Rocklin.
Aguiling has served as chief counsel since 2016. He previously was deputy chief counsel and assistant chief counsel at the department.
He is based in Rocklin.
Kristen E. Kane
joined Gov. Gavin Newsom as chief counsel in the office of tax appeals in Sacramento.
Kane has served as chief counsel since 2017 and was previously acting director.
She is based in Sacramento.
Nixon Peabody LLP
Benjamin J. Kim
was promoted to deputy practice leader of the labor and employment group of Nixon Peabody LLP in Los Angeles.
Kim also leads the occupational safety and health team and defends clients in employment litigation.
He is based in Los Angeles.
Hicks Thomas LLP
Eric Grant
joined Hicks Thomas LLP as partner in Sacramento.
Grant specializes in energy and environmental litigation.
He is based in Sacramento.
Address
400 Capitol Mall Ste 2530
Sacramento, 95814-4421 USA
T:
(916) 447-4900
F:
(916) 447-4904
Liebert Cassidy Whitmore
Arti L. Bhimani
joined Liebert Cassidy Whitmore as senior counsel in Los Angeles.
Bhimani specializes in litigation, particularly the representation of nonprofit institutions.
She is based in Los Angeles.
Address
6033 West Century Boulevard, 5th Floor
Los Angeles, 90045 USA
T:
(310) 981-2318
F:
(310) 337-0837
JAMS
Brian C. Walsh
joined JAMS as neutral in San Jose.
Walsh previously presided over complex civil litigation, where he heard complex business, securities, employment, product liability, internet privacy and trade secret cases.
He is based in San Jose.
Address
160 W. Santa Clara St., Suite 1600
San Jose, 95113 USA
T:
(408) 346-0737
F:
(408) 295-5267
Foley & Lardner LLP
Natasha Allen
joined Foley & Lardner LLP as partner in Silicon Valley.
Allen specializes in equity financing, venture capital financing and commercial and corporate matters within the artificial intelligence, financial technology, robotics and life sciences industries.
She is based in Silicon Valley.
Nicole Hatcher
joined Foley & Lardner LLP as partner in Silicon Valley.
Hatcher specializes in venture capital investment deals, mergers and acquisitions,
capital markets and general corporate work.
She is based in Silicon Valley.
Louis Lehot
joined Foley & Lardner LLP as partner in Silicon Valley, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Lehot advises companies, financial sponsors, venture capitalists, investors and investment banks in the formation, financing, governing and buying and selling of companies.
He is based in Silicon Valley, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Catherine Zhu
joined Foley & Lardner LLP as special counsel in Silicon Valley.
Zhu is a commercial and privacy lawyer with expertise in enterprise software, data sharing, artificial intelligence, consumer goods, transportation and mobility and marketplace platforms businesses.
She is based in Silicon Valley.
Ethan L. Floyd
joined Foley & Lardner LLP as associate in Silicon Valley.
Floyd advises investors, venture capitalists and investment banks in a range of corporate transactions.
He is based in Silicon Valley.
Address
975 Page Mill Road
Palo Alto, 94304-1013 USA
T:
(650) 856-3700
Foley & Lardner LLP
Brandee L. Diamond
joined Foley & Lardner LLP as partner in San Francisco.
Diamond focuses on complex domestic and cross-border corporate transactions, particularly mergers and acquisitions, dispositions, minority investments and joint ventures.
She is based in San Francisco.
Eric Chow
joined Foley & Lardner LLP as senior counsel in San Francisco.
Chow focuses on public and private mergers and acquisitions, in addition to cross-border and domestic corporate deals such as investment, financing and joint venture transactions.
He is based in San Francisco.
Alex Ravski Jr.
joined Foley & Lardner LLP as special counsel in San Francisco.
Ravski focuses on corporate transactions such as venture financing, mergers and acquisitions and entity formation, as well as corporate governance matters in the emerging technology space.
He is based in San Francisco.
Courtney D. King
joined Foley & Lardner LLP as associate in San Francisco.
King focuses on corporate law and advises clients in a range of transactions including private equity investments and corporate restructurings.
She is based in San Francisco.
Address
555 California Street Suite 1700
San Francisco, 94104-1520 USA
T:
(415) 434-4484
F:
(415) 434-4507
Latham & Watkins
Arash Aminian Baghai was promoted to partner of Latham & Watkins in Los Angeles.
Baghai advises issuers, underwriters and investors in securities offerings.
He is based in Los Angeles.
Details
Latham & Watkins has 3700 attorneys in 29 offices including San Francisco, Menlo Park, Los Angeles, Costa Mes. Among the law firm’s key practice areas are Corporate, litigation & trial, finance, tax, regulatory. The firm’s website is lw.com
Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP
Michael R. Guerrero
joined Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP as partner in Los Angeles.
Guerrero specializes in advising clients in consumer protection and consumer financial services issues.
He is based in Los Angeles.
Address
350 S Grand Ave Ste 3600
Los Angeles, 90071-3476 USA
T:
(213) 614-7384
Judicate West
Robert J. O'Hair
joined Judicate West as neutral in Sacramento.
O'Hair is a certified family law specialist and has been a private judge for 15 years for settlements and trials in Northern California. He is also a former judge pro tem for both the Sacramento County.
He is based in Sacramento.
Address
980 9th Street Suite 2200
Sacramento, 95814 USA
T:
(916) 394-8490
F:
(916) 394-8495
Nixon Peabody LLP
Richard L. Shamos
joined Nixon Peabody LLP as counsel in Los Angeles.
Shamos specializes in private investment products and fund formation.
He is based in Los Angeles.
Address
300 South Grand Avenue Suite 4100
Los Angeles, 90071-3151 USA
T:
(213) 629-6157
F:
(833) 720-2061
Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP
Thomas N. McCormick
as managing partner
McCormick specializes in employment litigation, complex commercial disputes and class action litigation.
He is based in Newport Beach.
Cory D. Catignani
as partner
Catignani previously practiced vin Ohio and will now practice out of the Newport Beach office. He specializes in advising employers in employment matters related to the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, the Family and Medical Act Leave and various other employment laws.
He is based in Newport Beach.
Jocelyn Hoffman
Hoffman represents employers in discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful discharge and wage-and-hour litigation.
She is based in Newport Beach.
Address
4675 MacArthur Court Suite 700
Newport Beach, 92660 USA
T:
(949) 526-7900
F:
(949) 526-7901
East Bay Trust and Estate Lawyers
Ryan J. Szczepanik
was promoted to president of East Bay Trust and Estate Lawyers in Orinda.
Szczepanik is a principal at Hartog, Baer & Hand APC and is a certified specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law.
He is based in Orinda.
Fisher Phillips LLP
Andrew Saxon
joined Fisher Phillips LLP as of counsel in Irvine.
Saxon advises employers in employment, class action and commercial matters.
He is based in Irvine.
Albert Lin
joined Fisher Phillips LLP as associate in Irvine.
Lin focuses on defending employers in workplace claims.
He is based in Irvine.
Address
2050 Main Street Suite 1000
Irvine, 92614 USA
T:
(949) 798-2194
F:
(949) 851-0152
Gov. Gavin Newsom
Jeremy A. Avila
joined Gov. Gavin Newsom as chief counsel at the department of aging in San Jose.
Avila has been deputy county counsel at the Santa Clara County Counsel's office since 2019.
He is based in San Jose.
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Scott F. Gautier
joined Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP as partner in Los Angeles.
Gautier specializes in creating and structuring transactions related to distressed financial situations.
He is based in Los Angeles.
Address
1800 Century Park East, Suite 1500
Los Angeles, 90067 USA
T:
(310) 500-2165
F:
(310) 229-1285
CDF Labor Law LLP
Thomas B. Song
was promoted to chair of cdf’s workplace safety and health (osha) practice group of CDF Labor Law LLP in Irvine.
Song is an employment litigator and specializes in OSHA laws and compliance issues.
He is based in Irvine.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Aileen McGrath
joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as senior counsel in San Francisco.
Aileen McGrath, the former co-chief of appellate litigation in the San Francisco City Attorney's Office, has joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in San Francisco.
"I've been familiar with Pratik Shah's work from his very earliest days," said McGrath of her decision to move. "Pratik was an assistant to the Solicitor General when I was a law clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer and I remember watching him do some of his very first arguments many years ago at the court. So I had followed his career with interest over the years and this past fall, when I first began thinking about possible next steps, a mutual acquaintance of ours mentioned that he thought that I might be a natural fit for Pratik's Supreme Court and appellate group at Akin Gump."
McGrath added, she and Shah discussed the opportunity further in terms of what opportunities there were for her to leverage her state and federal experience litigating in the California courts as part of the practice group.
"I started thinking about next steps in the fall," she added. "During my last few years at the city attorney's office, I focused heavily on the office's lawsuits against the federal government, against the Trump administration in particular. My old office filed lawsuits on a range of topics ranging from sanctuary city issues to LGBT issues to health care and the like and with the election in the fall it became clear that kind of work would naturally start to transition and so I began thinking about next steps that would enable me to do that same kind of high stakes, high importance rapid pace litigation in the federal appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court as I had been doing."
Her move to Akin Gump is McGrath's return to private practice, she formerly was an associate at Goodwin Procter LLP before joining the city's attorney's office in 2012.
She had been with the office until her move to Akin Gump except for a year stint in 2015, where she served as a chambers attorney for Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar of the Supreme Court of California.
She also served as a law clerk to U.S. Court Appeals Judge Michael Boudin of the 1st Circuit in Boston and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer following her graduation from Harvard Law School.
Address
580 California St, Ste 1500
San Francisco, 94104-1036 USA
T:
(515) 765-9553
JAMS
Keith D. Koeller
joined JAMS as neutral in Irvine.
Koeller was a founding partner of the firm and specialized in litigation. At Jams, he will focus on business and commercial, construction, construction defect, insurance, personal injury and torts and real property disputes.
He is based in Irvine.
Address
5 Park Plaza, Suite 400
Irvine, 92614 USA
T:
(714) 937-8256
F:
(714) 939-8710
Loeb & Loeb LLP
Jorge Arciniega
joined Loeb & Loeb LLP as partner in Los Angeles.
Arciniega focuses on complex trademark and copyright matters including the registration and enforcement of global intellectual property portfolios and licensing and co-branding endorsement agreements.
He is based in Los Angeles.
Address
10100 Santa Monica Boulevard Suite 2200
Los Angeles, 90067 USA
T:
(310) 282-2262
F:
(310) 282-2200
Mayer Brown LLP
Vivek K. Mohan
joined Mayer Brown LLP as partner in Palo Alto and San Francisco.
Mohan specializes in cybersecurity and data privacy. He previously led the information security law team at Apple. He is based in Palo Alto and San Francisco.
Address
3000 El Camino Real # 2-300
Palo Alto, 94306 USA
T:
(650) 331-2054
Roberts Disability Law
Michelle L. Roberts
as founding partner
in Oakland
Roberts specializes in ERISA litigation with a focus on representing employees in benefit disputes.
She is based in Oakland.
Address
66 Franklin Street, Suite 300
Oakland, 94607 USA
T:
(510) 230-2090
Winston & Strawn LLP
Paul R. Walker
joined Winston & Strawn LLP as partner in Los Angeles.
Walker advises clients in a range of real estate transactions including real estate loan workouts and restructurings, the origination of and investment in real estate loans and syndicated real estate-secured financings of all types.
He is based in Los Angeles.
Elizabeth W. Walker
joined Winston & Strawn LLP as partner in Los Angeles.
Walker specializes in real estate litigation, bankruptcy and workout matters including the exercise of remedies, lender liability, UCC and judicial/non-judicial real estate foreclosures, receiverships, plans of reorganization, debtor-in-possession financings
and actions on guaranties.
Bruce W. Fraser
joined Winston & Strawn LLP as partner in Los Angeles.
Fraser advises hedge funds, commercial banks, life insurance companies and institutional capital in the origination of real estate loans such as construction loans, mezzanine and syndicated real estate-secured financings.
He is based in Los Angeles.
David Scheper
joined Winston & Strawn LLP as partner in Los Angeles.
Scheper focuses on complex commercial litigation, internal investigations and white collar criminal defense.
He is based in Los Angeles.
Alexander Cote
joined Winston & Strawn LLP as partner in Los Angeles.
Cote specializes in arbitration, trial and appeal. He has experience representing clients in First Amendment, intellectual property, real estate, legal malpractice and contract disputes.
He is based in Los Angeles.
Peggy Dayton
joined Winston & Strawn LLP as partner in Los Angeles.
Dayton focuses on civil litigation and white collar criminal defense.
She is based in Los Angeles.
Katherine Farkas
joined Winston & Strawn LLP as partner in Los Angeles.
Farkas focuses litigation related to labor and employment, real estate and complex commercial disputes.
She is based in Los Angeles.
William H. Forman
joined Winston & Strawn LLP as partner in Los Angeles.
Forman specializes in representing clients in a range of complex commercial disputes, consumer class actions, securities fraud matters and First Amendment cases.
He is based in Los Angeles.
Angela M. Machala
joined Winston & Strawn LLP as partner in Los Angeles.
Machala represents companies and corporate executives in regulatory and white collar criminal investigations.
She is based in Los Angeles.
Michael Swartz
joined Winston & Strawn LLP as partner in Los Angeles.
Swartz focuses on complex commercial and securities litigation.
He is based in Los Angeles.
Gregory Ellis
joined Winston & Strawn LLP as of counsel in Los Angeles.
Ellis is a civil litigator and has experience with breach of contract and real estate disputes, business torts and securities fraud and intellectual property matters.
He is based in Los Angeles.
Marc Harris
joined Winston & Strawn LLP as of counsel in Los Angeles.
Harris focuses on the representation of companies and individuals in state and federal criminal investigations and prosecutions in addition to complex business litigation.
He is based in Los Angeles.
Jana Russell
joined Winston & Strawn LLP as of counsel in Los Angeles.
Russell is a litigator and specializes in the defense of civil and criminal investigations and commercial disputes and class actions.
She is based in Los Angeles.
Address
333 South Grand Avenue 38th Floor
Los Angeles, 90071-1543 USA
T:
(213) 615-1700
F:
(213) 615-1750
Fisher Phillips LLP
Krystle D. Meyer
joined Fisher Phillips LLP as associate in Los Angeles.
Krystle Meyer specializes in representing employers in litigation brought under California's Private Attorneys General Act.
She is based in Los Angeles.
Christina M. Vier
joined Fisher Phillips LLP as associate in Los Angeles.
Vier specializes in defending clients in representative and class actions related to allegations of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblower claims, wrongful termination and wage and hour violations.
She is based in Los Angeles.
Address
444 South Flower Street Suite 1500
Los Angeles, 90071 USA
T:
(213) 330-4500
F:
(213) 330-4501
Fisher Phillips LLP
Megan Clark
joined Fisher Phillips LLP as associate in San Francsico.
Clark represents employers in claims of sexual harassment, wrongful termination, discrimination, disability accommodation and retaliation.
She is based in San Francisco.
Address
One Embarcadero Center Suite 2050
San Francisco, 94111-3712 USA
T:
(415) 490-9000
F:
(415) 490-9001
Pircher, Nichols & Meeks LLP
Justin C. Adofina
joined Pircher, Nichols & Meeks LLP as associate in Los Angeles.
Adofina is a member of the real estate department and is a former federal sector clerk in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Hearings Unit.
He is based in Los Angeles.
Address
1901 Avenue Of The Stars, Ste 1200
Los Angeles, 90067-6013 USA
T:
(310) 201-8985
CDF Labor Law LLP
Corey J. Cabral
was promoted to chair of cdf's paga litigation practice group of CDF Labor Law LLP in Sacramento.
Cabral focuses on defending employers in high stakes PAGA lawsuits.
He is based in Sacramento.
Blank Rome LLP
Anthony (Tony) R. Callobre
joined Blank Rome LLP as partner in Los Angeles.
Callobre specializes in representing lenders and borrowers in commercial loan transactions particularly asset-based lending and fund finance.
He is based in Los Angeles.
Address
1000 Wilshire Blvd Ste 1500
Los Angeles, 90017-1730 USA
T:
(213) 891-5024
F:
(213) 630-5773
Goe Forsythe & Hodges LLP
Charity J. Manee
was promoted to partner of Goe Forsythe & Hodges LLP in Irvine.
Manee specializes in debt restructuring, corporate Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganizations and bankruptcy and commercial litigation.
She is based in Irvine.
GBG LLp
Jen Cornell
joined GBG LLp as partner in San Francisco.
Cornell specializes in California class and representative actions under the California Private Attorneys General Act with a focus on startups and technology companies.
She is based in San Francisco.
Address
601 Montgomery Street, Suite 1150
San Francisco, 94111 USA
T:
(415) 603-5007