Joe Binder was promoted to partner of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in San Francisco.

Binder's practice focuses on advising sponsors of private investment funds across a range of strategies, including venture capital, growth equity, buyouts, and secondaries. His experience includes acting for clients such as Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, HarbourVest Partners, Crescent Capital Group, Stone Point Capital, Morgan Stanley, and One Rock Capital.

James P. Kousoulas joined Alston & Bird LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Kousoulas counsels banks, private equity firms, private lenders, debt funds, life insurance companies, and other corporate clients on commercial lending and transactional real estate matters. He has more than 25 years of experience helping clients through a variety of complicated commercial loan transactions, including commercial mortgage-backed securities, mezzanine financings, secured and unsecured real estate and asset-based borrowing facilities, letter of credit facilities, secured and unsecured revolving lines of credit, and construction and bridge loans. His advice to clients throughout the United States often focuses on multistate transactions.

James P. Litwinovich joined Alston & Bird LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Litwinovich represents institutional lenders in commercial real estate financing and a wide range of other financial services matters across the real estate and banking industries. Clients around the country seek his assistance with acquisition and development loans, construction and bridge loans, permanent financing, mezzanine and other subordinate financing, and other complex real estate financing transactions.

Alex G. Romain joined Jenner & Block LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Romain's practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, white-collar defense, and internal investigations. He has vast experience representing individuals and corporations in matters alleging campaign finance violations, obstruction of justice, consumer fraud, bank fraud, environmental pollution, theft, and fraudulent misappropriation. He also successfully represented the Baltimore Ravens and members of their senior personnel regarding the independent investigation that was conducted by former FBI Director Robert Mueller. Additionally, he has successfully defended numerous law firms, accounting firms, and actuarial firms against claims of professional negligence and malpractice, and on conflicts issues.

Daniel V. Kitzes was promoted to partner of Fox Rothschild LLP in Los Angeles.

Kitzes represents large and small businesses in a wide array of labor and employment matters. A proficient litigator, Kitzes has experience defending Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), class action, wage & hour, whistleblower, discrimination and harassment cases, as well as contract and breach of warranty matters. His practice also includes representing companies in administrative hearings, including before the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

Ketul D. Patel was promoted to partner of Fox Rothschild LLP in Los Angeles.

Patel's practice focuses on preventative counseling and defending employers in both state and federal courts through trial. Patel focuses on cases involving whistleblower complaints, restrictive covenants, wage and hour, wrongful termination, sexual harassment, discrimination, statutory leave, retaliation and breach of contract claims. He also represents employers in complex wage and hour class actions and PAGA representative actions.

Kathryn Eidmann was promoted to vice president chief of litigation and legal programs of Public Counsel in Los Angeles.

Eidmann has litigated major cases in the areas of education equity, children's rights, gender discrimination, criminalization of poverty, immigrants' rights, housing and homelessness, and the rights of low-wage workers. She has particular expertise in litigation and advocacy to reform education, child welfare, and other systems to address the needs of children impacted by trauma

Buck Endemann joined Perkins Coie LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Endemann focuses his practice on renewable energy project development. He counsels clients on renewable power and fuels offtake, development agreements, EPC and supply agreements, and environmental attribute and carbon offset transactions.

David Lee was promoted to chair, litigation department of Nossaman in San Francisco.

Lee focuses his practice on intellectual property matters, including copyright and trademark claims, trade secrets and internet domain name disputes. Lee also handles business litigation matters involving contract claims, unfair business practices and other corporate disputes. He provides risk management and general counsel to startups and growing companies in multiple areas, including intellectual property strategies, risk avoidance analysis, contract negotiations and strategies. His clients include technology companies, public entities, manufacturers and business owners.

Ben Rubin was promoted to chair, environment & land use group of Nossaman in Irvine.

Rubin focuses on helping developers, public agencies, landowners, and corporate clients on a variety of complex land use and environmental matters. He counsels clients on matters dealing with the Federal and State Endangered Species Act, the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Federal Toxic Substances Control Act, the California Hazardous Waste Control Act, the California Environmental Quality Act, the California Coastal Act, the California Permit Streamlining Act, and the Federal and State Constitutions. Rubin was a law clerk to the U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford of the Central District. He also served as an intern for U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Walsh.

Simon Adams was promoted to co-chair, real estate group of Nossaman in San Francisco.

Adams handles leasing transactions and construction contract matters for a variety of commercial, retail and industrial spaces, including professional offices, technology laboratories, data centers, telecom towers and brick and mortar stores. He also advises on acquisitions, dispositions and sale and leaseback arrangements and provides counsel on financing issues. He counts among his clients major information technology and telecommunications companies, pharmaceutical corporations, medical insurance providers, pension finance firms and banks.

Jill Jaffe was promoted to co-chair, real estate group of Nossaman in San Francisco.

Jaffe specializes in disputes involving real estate, public procurements and infrastructure projects. She has particular experience counseling clients on myriad aspects of public contracting and procurement disputes and litigation claims on behalf of project owners, including defending bid protest challenges and litigating construction claims. She is experienced in all phases of litigation in both federal and state courts, including pre-litigation government investigations, pleadings, e-Discovery, dispositive motions, mediation and trial. Jill has successfully obtained verdicts for her clients as a lead trial attorney, including for the Texas Department of Transportation.

Allison Callaghan was promoted to co-chair, employment group of Nossaman in Sacramento.

Callaghan focuses her practice on employment litigation and counseling. She has a proven track record defending employers in wage-and-hour class and PAGA representative actions and single-plaintiff harassment, discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuits. Allison has successfully represented clients in all phases of litigation, including at trial, as well as in administrative and alternative dispute resolution proceedings. She also regularly advises both public entities and private companies on a broad array of employment and management issues and conducts workplace trainings and investigations.

Melissa Borrelli was promoted to co-chair, healthcare group of Nossaman in Sacramento.

Borrelli provides legal services and solutions to payors, health systems, providers and others in the health, managed care and health insurance industry. Melissa offers legal counsel to commercial, discount, specialized (including EAP, psychological, dental, vision and chiropractic/acupuncture) and government-based health plans, including Medi-Cal, Medicare and Marketplace. In addition, she advises health plans and risk-bearing providers on licensing, contracting and other matters pertaining to the laws and standards of managed care and advises on issues pertaining to compliance and regulatory affairs, auditing/operational assessment, privacy and information security, enterprise risk management, digital health, corporate governance, contracts, process improvement and due diligence.

Richard H. Rahm joined Littler Mendelson P.C. as shareholder in San Francisco.

With over three decades of experience, he counsels and represents employers primarily in complex wage-and-hour class action litigation and jury trials, state and federal appeals, and arbitrations, Rahm has extensive experience in the transportation sector, including representing trucking companies, airlines, and aircraft manufacturers.

Emily M. Weissenberger joined Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP as counsel in San Francisco.

Weissenberger is an accomplished trial attorney focused on defending clients against product liability, mass tort, environmental and complex litigation claims in the life sciences, pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer products fields.

Mahru Madjidi was promoted to shareholder of Shegerian & Associates in Los Angeles.

Madjidi has built a reputation for her diligence, tenacity, and commitment to her clients. She has a keen understanding of the complexities of employment law, which has allowed her to secure significant settlements and verdicts on behalf of her clients. Her promotion to shareholder reflects her significant contributions to the firm and the legal community.

Douglas A. Thompson joined Snell & Wilmer LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Thompson defends class action litigation matters and represents financial institutions and businesses in related regulatory investigations. Throughout his career, he has represented clients in more than 250 putative class actions and has been admitted pro hac vice in numerous federal district courts. He assists clients in mitigating emerging regulatory and litigation risks and collaborates with clients to champion inclusion, innovation, and thought leadership initiatives.

Robert C. Briseño joined Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth as shareholder in Newport Beach.

Briseño works on a wide range of real estate transactional matters including acquisition, disposition, development and leasing of commercial, residential and resort properties. He represents developers in the acquisition, disposition and development of various types of projects - including office buildings, hotels, industrial properties, retail centers, apartments, and undeveloped land - from negotiations through drafting of contracts, due diligence and closing.

Matthew Vazin joined Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP as associate in San Diego.

Vazin represents clients in a wide range of employment matters including providing advice on compliance with federal and state laws, drafting handbooks, severance agreements, onboarding documents, offer letters, nondisclosure agreements, and termination and release letters. His employment law experience also includes taking depositions, conducting discovery, drafting demurrers and motions to strike, and handling communications with clients and opposing counsel. In addition, he has experience filing new LLCs and Corporations in California and Delaware for clients, including entity formation, drafting of bylaws, new business documents, and operating agreements.

Judge James L. Crandall joined Judicate West as neutral in Santa Ana.

Crandall is available as a mediator, arbitrator and private judge for matters statewide. Appointed to the Superior Court bench in 2012 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, Crandall served for more than a decade on the Orange County Superior Court bench. He received national attention for his 2018 ruling that the State of California's sanctuary immigration law infringed on Huntington Beach's local control as a charter city. Prior to his bench appointment, Crandall was a partner at Crandall, Wade and Lowe for 36 years, where he defended insurance companies in excess liability and bad faith claims. In addition to trying 164 cases to verdict, he also took roughly 800 cases to mediation.

Alston L. Lew was promoted to director of Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney P.C. in San Francisco.

Lew represents clients in matters related to business law, professional liability and insurance defense. He brings a wealth of knowledge in variety of matter types including construction defect; trade secret, trademark and copyright disputes; class actions; product liability; toxic tort; privacy; personal injury; insurance defense; and bad faith insurance claims. He has also helped to defend clients related to federal government (DOJ and BSEE) subpoenas for possible regulatory and criminal violations.

Claire E. Bellefleur was promoted to director of Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney P.C. in San Francisco & Seattle.

Bellefleur's primary practice consists of representing fiduciaries and beneficiaries in Washington State's Title 11 rules and California State's Probate Code, including trust and probate litigation, trust and probate administration and conservatorships. She develops personalized estate plans, including wills, trusts, powers of attorney, status of property agreements and other end of life documents, for individuals and families. She has also defended lay fiduciaries against breach of duty claims and mitigated provable damages.

Adrian P. Sacharski was promoted to director of Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney P.C. in San Francisco.

Sacharski counsels clients in a variety of matters related to business law, intellectual property, professional liability, and all forms of civil litigation. Adrian has significant trial experience in real property litigation, commercial and residential construction defects and engineering.

Dayan Rosen joined McGuireWoods LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Rosen's practice focuses on debt financing, primarily in the middle and lower-middle markets. Dayan concentrates on acquisition financings, asset-based lending, a broad variety of cash flow-based debt financings, including first and second-lien debt, unitranche financings, mezzanine debt, and others, and financings based on annualized recurring revenue.

Will S. Chuchawat joined Baker & Hostetler LLP in Los Angeles.

Chuchawat is a notable mergers and acquisitions lawyer who has closed hundreds of deals across multiple industries. He represents private equity and venture capital funds and public and private companies in numerous industries, including technology, health care, consumer products, business services, industrials, aerospace and defense, life sciences, financial services, and media.

JR Lanis joined Baker & Hostetler LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Lanis serves as outside counsel to numerous public companies, investment banks and registered investment companies and is experienced in listing and reporting for OTC, Nasdaq and NYSE-listed issuers. He represents strategic and private equity and family office-backed buyers and sellers of businesses and product lines. His clients include publicly traded and privately held companies and investors in a variety of industries, including food and beverage, technology, financial services, hospitality and life sciences.

Dale Chang joined Russ August & Kabat as partner in Los Angeles.

Chang represents clients in high-stakes patent and trade secrets litigation, with a focus on trial work. He has successfully litigated cases in every major patent venue across the US, including district courts, the International Trade Commission (ITC), and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), both as plaintiff and defense counsel.

Glenn D. Smith joined Rimon, P.C. as partner in Los Angeles.

Smith advises issuers and bankers in capital market transactions, funds on investments, and portfolio matters, as well as public and private companies in capital raising and M&A. He also counsels' clients on employment matters, board structure and composition, and new business initiatives. He has wide experience helping clients in a number of industries, including aerospace, technology, life sciences, hospitality, health care, and manufacturing.

Derek A. Ridgeway joined Rimon, P.C. as partner in San Francisco.

Ridgway is a seasoned commercial real estate and construction attorney with more than 25 years of experience. Ridgway advises in-house corporate counsel, corporate real estate executives and principals in domestic and international real estate transactions. Several of his transactions have been listed in the San Francisco Business Times Top Real Estate Deals. In conjunction with his real estate work, he negotiates and documents joint venture transactions, real estate syndicates, limited partnerships and other real estate holding vehicles for the development and operation of real estate assets and communities.

Wyatt Donen joined Custodio & Dubey LLP in Los Angeles.

Donen is an associate attorney in the Consumer Protection division.

Rudy Kim joined Paul Hastings LLP as partner in Palo Alto.

Kim has over 20 years of experience representing clients in high-stakes IP and technology-related litigation involving patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, and complex commercial claims in federal district and appellate courts, in private arbitration, and before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). He has also successfully tried criminal jury cases with the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and regularly teaches Trial Advocacy classes at Stanford Law School.

Judge Claudia J. Silbar joined Judicate West as neutral in Santa Ana.

Appointed by then-Governor Gray Davis in 2001, Judge Silbar served on the Superior Court bench for 21 years, almost exclusively in family law. She was named "Judge of the Year" by the Orange County Bar Association's Family Law Section in 2020 and in 2007.

Xiaofan (Frank) Yang, Ph.D. was promoted to partner of Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP in San Diego.

Yang provides comprehensive IP strategic counseling to public and private biotechnology, pharmaceutical, digital health and medical device companies. His patent counseling and prosecution experience creates and protects IP assets as primary value propositions for growth enterprises in all stages of business, from proof of concept to clinical development, regulatory approval and product launch. He is also experienced in conducting due diligence in complex venture financings, public offerings, partnering/licensing transactions, and mergers and acquisitions. He has a global client base, including companies and investors in U.S., Europe, and Asia. After obtaining his B.S. in polymer chemistry and PhD in organic synthesis, he worked as a medicinal chemist in the pharmaceutical industry for more than four years before becoming a patent practitioner in 2006.