John P. Cleary as Shareholder in San Diego from Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP, .

Cleary represents public and private clients in a variety of corporate and securities matters. He focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, public and private securities transactions, franchise formation and compliance, and general corporate matters. John also works with private equity and investment firms on structure, formation, SEC compliance, and transactions.

Ankush R. Israni as Shareholder in Los Angeles from Jones Day.

Israni focuses on commercial real estate and finance transactions. He represents clients in multimillion-dollar matters across the United States, including financing, joint ventures, acquisitions, dispositions, development, and leasing of commercial real estate.

Raymond O. Aghaian as Partner in Los Angeles from Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP .

Aghaian regularly litigates complex privacy and cybersecurity matters, including defending class actions relating to geolocation data, collection and use of consumer data through Meta Pixel technology, the California Wiretap Act, California's trap and trace laws, the Children's Internet Protection Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. He has litigated matters connected to hacking schemes, data breach incidents and the use of consumer data. Clients also rely on him for advice on cyberattack and data breach response, future incident prevention, and compliance with cybersecurity regulations.

Laila Paszti as Shareholder in San Francisco from Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

Paszti's practice focuses on technology and related aspects of mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, licensing and other commercial transactions. Drawing from her combined background as a software engineer and attorney, she helps clients manage risk and safeguard their commercial interests. She has acted on both sides of multinational mergers and acquisitions, patent purchases and sales and licensing and IP transactions, including in regulated industries such as health care and finance. Paszti also counsels clients on multijurisdictional privacy regimes, cybersecurity and big data platform diligence.

David G. Kim as Partner in Irvine

Kim was elevated to partner. He has extensive experience in all aspects of IP litigation, having handled cases involving pharmaceuticals, medical devices, molecular diagnostics, nucleic acid sequencers, solar cells, and antennas, as well as matters relating to less complex mechanical devices.  Kim has represented clients before federal courts, the International Trade Commission, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Dalton Sprinkle as Shareholder in Los Angeles from Breakwater Law Group, LLP .

Sprinkle has extensive experience representing companies and investors in a wide range of transactions, including M&A, venture capital financings, public and private securities offerings, licensing, joint ventures and restructurings.

Josh Armstrong as Shareholder in Los Angeles from Breakwater Law Group, LLP .

Armstrong brings more than two decades of experience building, leading and advising multidisciplinary groups responsible for the execution of critical strategic initiatives for high-growth companies through mergers and acquisitions, capital transactions and strategic partnerships.

Tracy Roman as Of Counsel in Los Angeles from Breakwater Law Group, LLP .

Roman advises clients on intellectual property and technology issues, particularly in transactional deals. For more than 25 years, Roman has advised clients on a range of issues, including copyright, trademark, trade secret, patent, privacy and licensing.

Ashley Stander as Associate in Los Angeles from Breakwater Law Group, LLP .

Stander's practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, commercial transactions, general corporate representation and venture capital financing. She works with clients in the technology, software, e-commerce, consumer products and financial services industries.

Andrew C. Whitman as Senior Associate in Los Angeles from Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP.

Whitman has represented clients in high-stakes matters across state and federal courts, offering a customized, business-first approach to litigation. His experience spans various industries, including real estate, finance, entertainment, cannabis, and local government law matters. His previous experience includes time at DLA Piper and Allen Matkins, where he handled multi-million-dollar disputes, fraud investigations, and regulatory challenges.

Jose Sanchez as Partner in Los Angeles from Deloitte Global.

Sanchez has defended U.S. and international accounting firms, audit professionals, public companies, investment firms, and other regulated entities in enforcement and regulatory investigations before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the Department of Justice, state boards of accountancy, and other U.S. and foreign regulators. He has successfully defended securities fraud class actions, shareholder derivative suits, and professional malpractice claims and led independent investigations and anticorruption risk assessments across the U.S., Latin America, and Europe.

Dominique Shelton Leipzig in Beverly Hills from Mayer Brown.

Shelton Leipzig, a leading AI and data governance authority, launched Global Data Innovation, an advisory practice focused on helping organizations excel in their data management strategies. Leipzig will advise CEOs, board members, and business leaders on implementing superior data governance practices. The launch of Global Data Innovation comes as organizations increasingly seek expert guidance on technology governance. Shelton Leipzig's new firm will provide strategic consulting to companies of all sizes working to strengthen their data management frameworks.

Aaron Buckley as National Vice Chair, Labor & Employment Practice Group

Buckley, partner in Quarles & Brady's San Diego office, has been named National Vice Chair of the firm's Labor & Employment Practice Group, effective Oct. 1. Buckley has over 25 years of experience representing clients in employment litigation matters and focuses his practice on wage and hour defense.

Sandy McDonough as Executive Committee Member

Sandy McDonough, partner in Quarles & Brady's San Diego office, has been named to the firm's Executive Committee, effective Oct. 1. McDonough focuses her practice on defending employers in the public and private sectors in labor and employment disputes.

Dominique M. Caamano as Counsel in Los Angeles from The United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.

Caamano has served as lead trial counsel in jury trials and has successfully briefed matters before appellate courts, including the California Supreme Court and 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She represents individuals and companies in their most sensitive matters, including complex commercial disputes, government investigations, criminal prosecutions, and civil enforcement proceedings. She has also worked with multinational clients, including Fortune 500 companies, on compliance efforts and internal investigations.

Rodrigo Suarez as Senior Trial Attorney in Los Angeles from Law Offices of Jacob Emrani.

Suarez has over two decades of experience and is bar-certified in California and Texas. With a strong litigation background, he will bring valuable expertise to the firm and clients. His commitment to advocacy and justice aligns perfectly with the firm's mission to provide exceptional legal representation.

Bryan J. Monson as Partner in San Diego

Monson has been elected a partner at Latham & Watkins LLP in San Diego, effective January 1. A member of the Banking Practice and Finance Department, he represents corporate borrowers, banks, and financial institutions in a range of complex financing transactions, including secured credit facilities, leveraged acquisition financings, construction financings, and sale-leasebacks, focusing on the gaming and hospitality industries.

Brian R. Umanoff as Partner in Costa Mesa

Umanoff has been elected a partner at Latham & Watkins LLP in Costa Mesa. A member of the M&A and Private Equity Practice and Corporate Department, he represents public and private companies in a range of matters, including mergers and acquisitions, private financing, and corporate governance.

Shawn P. Hansen as Counsel in Los Angeles

Hansen has been promoted to counsel at Latham & Watkins LLP in Los Angeles, effective January 1. A member of the Restructuring & Special Situations Practice and Finance Department, he represents clients in corporate restructurings, Chapter 11 reorganizations, distressed mergers and acquisitions, and general finance and corporate matters.

Devon L. MacLaughlin as Counsel in Los Angeles

MacLaughlin has been promoted to counsel at Latham & Watkins LLP in Los Angeles, effective January 1. A member of the Capital Markets Practice and Corporate Department, she advises issuers and financial institutions in public and private financing transactions, including IPOs, follow-on and public equity offerings, investment-grade and high-yield debt offerings, exchange offers, tender offers, and acquisition financings.

Katherine J. Page as Counsel in Los Angeles

Page has been promoted to counsel at Latham & Watkins LLP in Los Angeles, effective January 1. A member of the Banking Practice and Finance Department, she represents banks and private credit funds as lenders in leveraged finance and private capital transactions, including mergers and acquisitions and capital structure refinancings.

Changsheng (Eric) Song as Counsel in Los Angeles

Song has been promoted to counsel at Latham & Watkins LLP in Century City, effective January 1. A member of the Transactional Tax Practice and Tax Department, he advises financial institutions, private equity funds, and public and private companies on domestic and cross-border transactional tax matters.

Jennifer A. Howes as Counsel in San Diego

Howes has been promoted to counsel at Latham & Watkins LLP in San Diego and the Bay Area, effective January 1. A member of the Privacy & Cyber Practice and Corporate Department, she advises clients across industries on technology and data matters, including global data privacy, digital marketing, product development, artificial intelligence, consumer protection, incident response, and regulatory compliance.

Yi Sun as Counsel in San Diego

Sun has been promoted to counsel at Latham & Watkins LLP in San Diego, effective January 1. A member of the Intellectual Property Litigation Practice and Litigation & Trial Department, she represents clients in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries before district and appellate courts, including litigation under the Hatch-Waxman Act and BPCIA.

Robert A. Yeh as Counsel in San Diego

Yeh has been promoted to counsel at Latham & Watkins LLP in San Diego, effective January 1. A member of the Healthcare & Life Sciences Practice and Corporate Department, he advises companies and investors in the life sciences sector on intellectual property-intensive transactions, including complex licensing, collaboration, joint venture, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and private equity deals; research and collaboration agreements; and financing-related IP issues.

Danny Nordstrom as Counsel in Bay Area

Nordstrom has been promoted to counsel at Latham & Watkins LLP in the Bay Area, effective January 1. A member of the Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice and Corporate Department, he advises private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies, as well as public and private companies, on mergers and acquisitions, dispositions, take-privates, joint ventures, carveouts, investments, recapitalizations, and general corporate matters.

Hon. Larry Burns (Ret.) in FedArb, San Diego

FedArb is pleased to announce Hon. Larry Burns (Ret.) has joined its panel based in San Diego. He is a widely respected trial lawyer and federal judge, who served for nearly 30 years on the U.S. District Court in Southern California, including two years as chief judge. He also litigated more than 150 cases and argued 40 appeals before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Burns initially worked as a civil settlement judge resolving hundreds of matters. Then as a trial judge, he presided over more than 300 federal jury trials, including high-profile cases involving elected officials, complex business and tort litigation, MDLs and class actions.

Michael R. Guerrero as Partner in Los Angeles from Ballard Spahr LLP.

Guerrero helps companies manage regulatory and compliance issues across a wide range of consumer-focused products, including automotive finance and leasing, earned wage access products, Buy Now Pay Later products, point-of-sale and personal property financing and leasing, rent-to-own products, credit cards, and installment loans. In addition, he advises contractors and financing companies on residential solar energy sales, financing, and leasing issues. A recognized thought leader, he is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, has been quoted by several media outlets, and has authored numerous articles on emerging fintech regulatory issues.

Jonevin Sabado as Partner in Los Angeles

Sabado concentrates his practice on defending companies in complex and class action litigation, typically involving labor and employment claims. He has defended employers in litigation involving wage and hour claims brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act, California Private Attorneys General Act ("PAGA"), California Labor Code and Industrial Welfare Commission ("IWC") Wage Orders, alleged worker misclassification, claims of discrimination and harassment and alleged violations of family and medical leave laws.

Jessica Lienau as Partner in Los Angeles from California State Bar.

Lienau worked at the State Bar of California, Office of Chief Trial Counsel, as both deputy and acting senior trial counsel, representing the State Bar and the Committee of Bar Examiners. She currently serves as an arbitrator for the State Bar of Arizona Fee Arbitration Program, 1st vice president of the Association of Discipline Defense Counsel in California and as a volunteer attorney for the State Bar Defense Consultations for the Arizona Association of Defense Counsel. She previously served as a member of the State Bar of Arizona Ethics Advisory Group and as a member of the Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee for the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

Cameron Stewart as Senior Counsel in Encino from Law Offices of Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. .

Stewart brings to the position 30 years of experience defending clients in disability and pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment, wage and hour violations and wrongful termination claims. In her diverse practice, she represents insurance carriers, healthcare companies and providers, restaurants and other large corporations.

Matthew Yelovich as Partner in San Francisco, CA from U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California.

Yelovich's practice focuses on government and internal investigations, including defending companies and individuals in a wide range of high-stakes domestic and international enforcement actions and trials. Prior to joining Cleary, Yelovich served as deputy chief of the Criminal Division in the Northern District of California, helping to oversee approximately 100 federal criminal prosecutors and 15 supervisors, and managing division policies and operations. Before this, he served for approximately three years as appellate chief, overseeing all briefing and argument at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and personally briefing and arguing numerous federal appeals. In these roles, he provided legal and strategic advice on some of the Office's most significant cases--including one of the largest cryptocurrency seizures in DOJ history--and all major corporate fraud cases.

Polina Bernstein as Neutral in Los Angeles from Bernstein Mediation, Inc..

Bernstein possesses over two decades of combined litigation and mediation experience, and she has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in employment law disputes involving claims of discrimination, sexual harassment, misappropriation of trade secrets, wrongful termination, retaliatory discharge, defamation and breach of contract. Bernstein has also handled many single-plaintiff wage and hour and representative PAGA matters, including unpaid commissions claims.

Christopher L. Tinen as Partner from Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP.

Tinen is an experienced capital markets and securities attorney well-versed in all facets of securities law compliance and transactions. He regularly counsels public and private companies on a wide range of capital markets and corporate transactions, including IPOs, de-SPAC transactions, follow-on offerings, up-listings, cross-border dual listings and PIPE transactions, as well as SEC reporting, corporate governance, and private securities offerings for both emerging and established businesses. Additionally, he provides counsel on the formation, funding, and exit strategies for high-growth startups.

H. Thomas Felix III as Partner in San Diego from Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

Felix brings to the firm over a decade of experience advising public and private companies, private equity firms, and investment banks on a multitude of legal matters, including leveraged buyouts, debt and equity offerings, initial public offerings, mergers & acquisitions, liability management transactions, cross-border transactions, securities law compliance issues, and stock exchange requirements.

Matthew J. Michaels as Partner in Los Angeles from ABL Space Systems.

Michaels specializes in guiding federal government contractors through complex legal and regulatory challenges. His expertise spans bid protests, contract disputes, federal investigations, compliance matters, and transaction due diligence. He's a seasoned advocate before key government bodies, including the U.S. Government Accountability Office, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, federal agencies, and the Small Business Administration's Office of Hearings and Appeals. His experience ranges from small business contracts to multibillion-dollar acquisitions across diverse industries - from aerospace and IT to shipbuilding, data analytics, military supplies, and space technology.

David Andersen as Partner in Los Angeles from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner.

Andersen's practice is primarily concentrated in the middle market but includes transactions ranging from small acquisitions and divestitures by emerging growth companies to platform acquisitions and billion-dollar exits. Andersen has represented clients in a variety of industries, with an emphasis on media and entertainment, technology, and healthcare.

Nima Mohebbi as Partner in Century City from Latham & Watkins LLP.

Mohebbi is a recognized trial lawyer who focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, counseling clients on unsettled issues in connection with the growing intersection between entertainment content development and technology, including digital assets, artificial intelligence (AI), gaming, and intellectual property, including in film and music. He represents studios, and artists in disputes and transactions with billions of dollars at stake, including jury trials.

Emily M. Karlberg as Partner in San Francisco

Specializing in intellectual property, Karlberg guides clients through complex private equity deals and strategic transactions, with expertise in carve-outs. Her practice combines deep knowledge of technology and consumer brands with extensive transaction experience. She structures and negotiates strategic partnerships across borders, including joint ventures, licensing agreements, and collaborative ventures. Karlberg provides critical IP and technology counsel for emerging companies, from initial formation through corporate partnerships, systems integration, and product commercialization.

Brian Gustafson as Partner in San Francisco from Fish & Richardson LLP.

Gustafson's practice emphasizes strategic patent counseling and prosecution in technology areas, including computer science, cloud computing, electronics, semiconductor fabrication, optics, machine learning, and visual effects. He helps his clients align their patent portfolios with business goals to identify and protect innovations that secure technological leadership and provide the best business outcomes.