James Neudecker joined Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Neudecker joined Jeffer Mangels' litigation practice after 18 years at Reed Smith. His first day was
March 25.

A litigator, Neudecker said he considers himself a generalist.

"I've touched just about every area of litigation," he said. "Right now, or for the past few years, I would say probably about 80% of my litigation is commercial litigation or consumer facing litigation."

In the past, his clients have included companies such as Renovate America and FirstGroup as well as businesses that own and operate bars and restaurants along with other events in San Francisco.

Neudecker said he gave his move a great deal of thought and found Jeffer Mangels "by far and away the most appealing" option that presented itself.

"[Jeffer Mangels] really presented a truly unique opportunity. It's a large enough firm that, it's full service, and they can handle the most complex litigation yet it's a small enough, it's about 120 lawyers, where you know every person not just every lawyer, but every person on a first name basis and they have a real California focus. Their litigation capabilities are nationwide, but their offices are in San Francisco, LA and Orange County. So, it was a truly unique place in my view and a truly unique opportunity."

He anticipates his practice's focus to stay primarily the same with the move.

At Jeffer Mangels, Neudecker hopes to build his practice and do quality legal work with top notch colleagues.

"Being a generalist, you're going to work on a lot of different types of cases and a lot of different business sectors and you're constantly learning new things about new companies in different industries," he said. "There's not a lot of cutting and pasting in the business litigation work that I do. There's a lot of variety, every case is different, and it's an opportunity to learn about a lot of different things and a lot of different areas."

Sunghak "Andy" Baik joined Mayer Brown as partner in San Francisco.

Baik has joined Mayer Brown's tax transactions and consulting practice as partner from Ernst & Young LLP. He is based in the firm's San Francisco office.
His first day was March 17.

Baik's practice is focused on advising foreign companies, primarily from Asia who are investing in the U.S., regarding U.S. tax and cross border tax matters. Additionally, he also works with U.S. and European multi-national companies, who have operations in Asia and are looking for expertise regarding cross border tax issues.

Baik said he was attracted to Mayer Brown's attributes, such as its "robust global platform" and "deep bench," which fit with his practice.

"I was driven to Mayer Brown because of the opportunity to advise, for example my Asian clients, not just on tax, but you know, related services, legal services that Mayer Brown has a lot of capabilities in."

Baik said he does not expect his focus to change with the move, but he does anticipate he'll "target a broader range of clients."

"I'm very much looking forward to continuing to serve clients with their best interest in mind, but I think the additional attraction, as I said earlier, is I'll be able to bring Mayer Brown's strength and capabilities in many legal areas to my clients."

Prior to joining Mayer Brown, Baik spent 25 years at very large accounting and audit firms. He spent nearly a dozen of those years working in Singapore and Korea, where he advised on tax matters.

For Baik, what makes his practice unique is his focus on Asia-U.S. cross border matters.

"I think a lot of U.S. companies when they're investing in Asia have the additional challenge of navigating through differences in culture, norms and legal system. The environment may be very different from the U.S. so that makes it often challenging for a lot of U.S. companies. So the ability to provide tailored guidance based on experience and expertise in this area, many clients find it valuable."

Arielle O Harris as shareholder in Walnut Creek

Harris focuses on land use, environmental and natural resources law and
litigation. She is based in Walnut Creek.

Angela Christine Agrusa was promoted to managing partner of DLA Piper in Los Angeles.

As a business litigator, Agrusa represents individuals, companies and brands in complex commercial, class action and civil cases. She is based in Los Angeles.

Dean Fealk was promoted to managing partner of DLA Piper in San Francisco.

Fealk focuses on corporate, securities, regulatory, tax, labor, foreign exchange and data privacy matters. He is based in San Francisco.

Victoria Wing-Yan Lee was promoted to managing partner of DLA Piper in Northern California & Silicon Valley.

Lee represents emerging growth and public companies in complex technology and commercial transactions. She is based in East Palo Alto.

Carrie Lynne Williamson was promoted to deputy managing partner of DLA Piper in Silicon Valley.

Williamson focuses on patent litigation including discovery, pretrial and trial matters.She is based in Silicon Valley.

Robb C. Adkins joined Baker & Hostetler LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Adkins joined Baker & Hostetler LLP as partner, and he's also leading the firm's new San Francisco office.

"I've been brought on board for what I think is, at least in my view, a very rare experience to be able to open a new office in a major legal market for a national law firm," Adkins said. "In my experience, those opportunities don't come around very often, certainly with a firm of the caliber of BakerHostetler. And so, I'm just really excited to take on this role."

Adkins joined BakerHostetler's white collar and investigations group as well as its complex commercial litigation group. His first official day with the firm was Mar. 9.

"I'll be leading, the San Francisco office, both in terms of my day job being a lawyer and doing white collar work and litigation but also exercising different muscles to help recruit and grow and continue to grow the West coast presence," said Adkins.

Adkins' spent a decade as a federal prosecutor in positions such as chief of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Orange County and as a member of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. He moved into private practice in 2011 and since then he has handled white collar matters, complex civil litigation and trial work.

He was managing partner of Winston & Strawn's San Francisco office, head of its west coast litigation group and co-chair of the white collar practice before joining BakerHostetler.

In his new role as lead of the San Francisco office, Adkins hopes to help grow the office strategically with a focus on the core strengths BakerHostetler already has, but may not specifically have in the Bay area.

Adkins describes his move to BakerHostetler as an easy one because he worked with several people from the firm in the past. The move will not change the focus of his practice, Adkins said.

"The joy and the satisfaction I get from doing white collar work are those instances where you're really able to help people, where you're able to take what appears to be a very scary situation, usually one that a company or an individual has never seen before. To be able to help them through that process, which is new to them, but not new to me. And then get them into a position where they can move on with their lives."

Steven K. Berenson joined Klinedinst PC as senior counsel in San Diego.

Berenson has represented individuals and government entities in state and federal courts regarding matters such as legal ethics, civil litigation and family law. He is based in San Diego.

Aaron M. Cargain was promoted to of counsel of Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck LLP in San Francisco.

Cargain represents clients in insurance coverage and bad faith, professional liability, real estate, HOA disputes under California's Davis-Stirling Act, personal injury, property damage disputes and labor and employment law. He is based in San Francisco.

Amy C. Quartarolo was promoted to partner of Latham & Watkins LLP in Los Angeles.

Quartarolo is a member of the firm's complex commercial litigation practice and the creditors rights & bankruptcy litigation practice. She is based in Los Angeles.

Josh Benjamin Gordon joined Paul Hastings LLP as of counsel in Century City.

Paul Hastings LLP welcomes Josh B. Gordon as counsel

Gordon represents both individuals and corporations in intellectual property and other commercial disputes. His practice focuses on media & entertainment, technology and life sciences. He is based in Century City.

Steven Arthur Marenberg joined Paul Hastings LLP as partner in Century City.

Paul Hastings LLP
welcomes Steven A. Marenberg as partner
from Irell and Manella LLP

Marenberg, a litigator known for his work with Hollywood heavyweights such as United Talent Agency, Warner Bros., HBO and The Walt Disney Co. has joined Paul Hastings as chair of its Century City litigation group and as chair of the firm's new media and entertainment litigation group.

"Essentially I am moving my practice over from Irell. The goal long term is to build an even bigger litigation practice by adding other top-notch entertainment litigators and having synergy with the first class entertainment transactional and finance group that is already at Paul Hastings."

Although he admired Irell & Manella, Marenberg said the firm was narrowing its focus and concentrating on areas that did not "have a lot of synergy" with his practice. As that was happening, Paul Hastings offered him a unique opportunity, Marenberg said.

"[Paul Hastings] had opened up a Century City office a couple years ago, starting with a first rate entertainment and media transaction group that had moved over from Loeb & Loeb," he said. "But the firm still lacked any capability on the litigation side. So there was a unique opportunity for me to move over to build the litigation practice and create synergy with the transactional practice."

Marenberg describes his practice as a "general complex litigation practice."

"But, I would say that most of the work I do and the industry that I am best known in is in the entertainment and media industry, which I suppose is not surprising if you are an LA-based litigator."

Profit participation cases, copyright cases and contract disputes are some of the other matters he's handling. Marenberg is also working on the dispute between the Writer's Guild and the major talent agencies. Marenberg is representing UTA in an anti-trust and labor case.

In his new role, Marenberg aims to "help build an entertainment and media group that encompasses both litigation and transaction, that can be a powerhouse in Los Angeles even more than it is" and "also grow the litigation practice, generally, in the Century City office," he said.

David A. Diepenbrock joined Weintraub Tobin as shareholder in Sacramento.

Weintraub Tobin welcomes David A. Diepenbrock as shareholder
from Diepenbrock Elkin Dauer Stephens McCandless LLP

Diepenbrock has represented clients in litigation cases in various sectors including agribusiness, energy, transportation, healthcare, finance and manufacturing. He is based in Sacramento.

Drew T. Gardiner was promoted to partner of Latham & Watkins LLP in San Diego.

Latham & Watkins LLP promotes Drew T. Gardiner as partner

Gardiner advises policyholders in complex insurance coverage disputes and represents clients in the strategic management of insurance portfolios. He is based in San Diego.