Ropes & Gray LLP
Brandon G Howald
as partner
in San Francisco
from Paul Hastings LLP.
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
Gov. Gavin Newsom
Katherine L Lucero
as director of the Office of Youth and Community Restoration at the California Health and Human Services Agency
in San Jose
from Santa Clara County Superior Court.
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
as chief of the Bureau of Household Goods and Services at the Department of Consumer Affairs
in Sacramento
from Contractors State License Board.
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
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
Gov. Gavin Newsom
Amarik K Singh
as inspector general
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.
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Ronald L Cheng
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
Carlton Fields PA
Ellyn S Garofalo
as shareholder
in Los Angeles
from Venable LLP.
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
Constangy Brooks Smith & Prophete LLP
William J Emanuel
as senior strategist
from National Labor Relations Board.
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
O'Melveny & Myers LLP
Ike C Chidi
as partner
in Los Angeles
from McDermott Will & Emery.
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
O'Melveny & Myers LLP
Wenting Yu
as partner
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.
Megan K Smith
as partner
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.
J. Jorge deNeve
as partner
in Los Angeles
Specializing in SEC enforcement, deNeve has represented issuers, executives and investment advisers in investigations involving accounting, disclosure and internal control issues.
Brian M Cook
as partner
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.
Elizabeth M Bock
as partner
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.
Blank Rome LLP
Natalie R Alameddine
as partner
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.
Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP
Cody R Peterson
as partner
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
as partner
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
as partner
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.
Lily H Kim
as partner
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
as partner
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.
Susman Godfrey LLP
Glenn C Bridgman
as partner
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.
Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP
Jack Shaw
as partner
in Silicon Valley
from Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP.
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
Jacko Law Group PC
R. Shea Lee
as senior attorney
in San Diego
from government of the District of Columbia.
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
Judicate West
Geoffrey Gray
as neutral
in Santa Ana
from Gray Mediation.
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
Jackson Lewis PC
Jack P Schaedel
as principal
in Los Angeles
from FordHarrison.
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
Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel
Christopher P Chang
as attorney
in Silicon Valley
from Ford Walker Haggerty & Behar LLP.
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
Wilson Turner Kosmo LLP
Carolina Bravo-Karimi
as partner
in San Diego
Bravo-Karimi advises employers in wrongful termination, discrimination, wage and hour, retaliation and harassment cases.
Larson LLP
Emilie J Zuccolotto
as partner
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
as counsel
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.
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
April E Isaacson
as managing partner
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."
Baker & Hostetler LLP
Jennifer L Mitchell
as partner
in Los Angeles
from Sony Pictures.
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
Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP
Michael P Maher
as partner
in San Francisco
from Pacific Union Co..
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
Greenspoon Marder LLP
Richard C Giller
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
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Yana S Johnson
as partner
in San Francisco
from Jackson Lewis PC.
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
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Lucas J Tomsich
as counsel
in Silicon Valley
Tomsich litigates complex patent cases and has experience in claim construction, discovery, merit and pre-lawsuit investigations, pleadings and dispositive motions.
Munger Tolles & Olson LLP
Jennifer L Bryant
as partner
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
as partner
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
as partner
in San Francisco
Fram specializes in mass tort, internal investigation and commercial litigation.
Tyler G Hilton
as partner
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
as partner
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
as partner
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.
Dechert LLP
Sonia R Gioseffi
as partner
in San Francisco
from K & L Gates LLP.
Focusing on structuring, formation and regulation of private investment funds, Gioseffi also advises clients in matters involving state and federal securities laws in investment management.
Address
One Bush Street, Suite 1600 , San Francisco 94104-4446
Eisner LLP
Kristine M Blumensaadt
as partner
in Beverly Hills
from Klevan Longarzo Vance Blumensaadt LLP.
Blumensaadt has worked as a business affairs executive at Fox Television Studios and A&E Networks, and has also consulted in the field of independent film distribution.
Address
9601 Wilshire, 7th Floor , Beverly Hills 90210
Winston & Strawn LLP
Josh N Birenbaum
as partner
in Los Angeles
Focusing on mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, leveraged buyouts and joint ventures, Birenbaum works with public and private companies, private equity funds and financial institutions.
Jason S Campbell
as partner
in Los Angeles
Campbell deals in employment litigation, advising employers on matters of wage and hours compliance, leaves of absence, termination, investigations and trade secrets and representing them in class action and single-plaintiff litigation.
Laura M Franco
as partner
in San Francisco and Silicon Valley
A member of Winston & Strawn’s video game, gaming and esports group, Franco specializes in intellectual property litigation involving brand protection and enforcement.
Hao Huang
as partner
in Los Angeles
Huang practices in the areas of renewable energy and infrastructure throughout the U.S., and has advised in the development, acquisition and financing of wind and solar.
Shawn R Obi
as partner
in Los Angeles
Practicing in consumer protection, class action, securities, financial services and advertising, Obi represents clients in the food, beverage and consumer product industries.
Aaron C O’Dell
as partner
in Los Angeles
Experienced in securities and complex, commercial and business litigation, O’Dell has seen cases through to verdict across the U.S.
Jeffrey L Steinfeld
as partner
in Los Angeles
Steinfeld has defended criminal, civil insider and securities fraud actions, and specializes in white collar defense, SEC enforcement actions and class action defense.
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