Jill M. Manning joined JAMS as a neutral in San Francisco. The move was Mar. 24, 2025.

Manning has almost three decades of experience in complex litigation. Before founding The Manning Law Firm in 2024, she was a partner at Pearson Warshaw LLP from 2022 to 2024 and with Steyer Lowenthal Boodrookas Alvarez & Smith LLP from 2015 to 2022. In her litigation practice, she focused on antitrust and unfair competition law and represented clients in class action and complex litigation matters. With extensive knowledge of state and federal competition laws, she successfully litigated cases involving price fixing, tying, monopolies and unfair competition.

Manning will serve as a mediator, arbitrator, court- appointed neutral and neutral evaluator. She will be handling antitrust and competition, business and commercial, class action and mass torts, cybersecurity and privacy, education, employment, entertainment and sports, health care, and securities matters. She is available to conduct sessions in person, as well as virtually, for clients across the country and internationally.

Manning has successfully resolved complex cases in various roles, including as a neutral for the Northern District of California's Early Neutral Evaluation program, mediator for the Northern and Central Districts of California, and settlement conference facilitator for the Sonoma County Superior Court.

Sheri Flame Eisner was promoted to executive vice president and general counsel of JAMS. The promotion is effective Mar. 1, 2025.

Having served the organization for over 15 years, Eisner will continue to oversee all legal matters, panel quality, risk management and ethics in her role as executive vice president and general counsel. She advises JAMS on litigation risks, providing preventive counseling with respect to the legal risks associated with business practices, developing strategy with both inside and outside counsel in response to civil litigation and regulatory inquiries, and cost-effectively managing the resources required to address those matters. Additionally, she works closely with the JAMS Institute, which provides JAMS' panel of neutrals with training on all ADR topics.

Law Office of Karen J. Sloat in Palm Desert changes name to Sloat Law Group

Comprised of lawyers who have a combined 100 years of experience, Sloat Law Group represents individuals and businesses in all types of employment litigation in the Inland Empire and throughout the state. The firm's attorneys focus on wage and hour disputes, discrimination and harassment claims, contracts and agreements, and worker misclassification. Sloat Law Group also counsels companies of all sizes on issues related to their workforce, providing "workplace solutions" by triaging personnel issues and crises, creating and revising employee handbooks and key personnel forms, developing workplace violence prevention plans, and continually helping companies respond to and comply with everchanging labor laws. The firm also provides mediation services.

Daniel Lopez joined Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP as a partner in San Francisco.

Lopez will be part of Willkie's Private Equity Practice Group. He advises funds and their portfolio companies on various strategic private equity transactions, including leveraged buyouts, dispositions, carveouts, debt financings, growth equity investments and secondary transactions. He has particular experience working with sponsors in the tech and life sciences sectors. Lopez also advises boards, special committees, investors and other key stakeholders on fiduciary duty, securities law, corporate governance and equity compensation matters.

Kathryn L. Oehlschlager joined Stoel Rives LLP as a partner in San Francisco. The move was Mar. 24, 2025.

Oehlschlager's guidance on compliance with various aspects of environmental and land use law, including CEQA, NEPA, federal and state endangered species regulations, contaminated site remediation, water quality and supply concerns, and solid and hazardous waste laws. She regularly assists clients throughout the CEQA project review process, preparing, evaluating, and analyzing negative declarations, draft environmental impact reports, and final environmental impact reports. She also has extensive experience overseeing contaminated site management, from investigation and remediation to entitlement and redevelopment.

Christian L. Marsh joined Stoel Rives LLP as a partner in San Francisco.

Marsh is a trusted advisor to public agencies and private companies on regulatory and land use entitlement matters affecting a wide variety of projects and industries. His experience spans real estate developments, wastewater and water supply-related infrastructure, renewable and traditional energy facilities, mining operations, habitat restoration, and port and waterfront developments.

Samuel D. Bacal-Graves joined Stoel Rives LLP as an associate in Sacramento.

Bacal-Graves assists public and private clients in navigating complex permitting, land use, and environmental matters. He provides legal support to developers and agencies, drawing on his deep understanding of California’s land use laws.

Dustin D. Peterson joined Stoel Rives LLP as an associate in Sacramento.

Peterson is a results-driven attorney dedicated to assisting private and public sector clients in finding innovative and efficient solutions to complex environmental and land use challenges. His practice primarily focuses on land use and planning, with extensive experience in various related matters and entitlements, including the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Housing Accountability Act (HAA), the Density Bonus Law, the Public Records Act, and both the federal and state Endangered Species Acts.

Breana M. Inoshita joined Stoel Rives LLP as an associate in San Francisco.

Inoshita is dedicated to helping public agencies and private clients navigate complex land use and environmental challenges. Her practice primarily focuses on natural resource matters, including the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), land use, energy, and public utility regulations. With a background in community and regional development, she possesses a deep understanding of environmental policy and regional planning, which she leverages to assist clients in addressing land use entitlements and regulatory compliance issues.

Alidad Vakili joined Womble Bond Dickinson as a partner in San Francisco. The move was Mar. 6, 2025.

Vakili works closely with entrepreneurs, founders, emerging growth and established companies, and investors, providing strategic guidance through every phase of the business lifecycle, including entity formation, governance, commercial transactions, and navigating the complexities of debt and equity financing, venture capital, and mergers and acquisitions. With a deep understanding of the needs and goals of startups and established companies, he is committed to helping clients scale, innovate, and succeed in today's competitive market.

Joseph J. Minioza joined the firm as Bay Area managing partner.

Minioza, who is known as "J.J.", joined the firm as managing partner of Tressler's Bay Area office. He brings over 27 years of experience and exceptional client service to the firm. Minioza's practice focuses on general liability, personal injury, habitability, employment, D&O, E&O and HOA cases. He has tried 40 trials to verdict in every county in the San Francisco Bay Area with a 98% success rate. Minioza's trials have included real estate, products liability, habitability, personal injury, employment, breach of contract and construction defect cases.

Christopher J. Hogan joined as a partner.

Hogan is a strategic and accomplished attorney with over 27 years of experience delivering solid settlement and trial results for both corporate and individual clients. Hogan is an adept researcher with a proven record of navigating highly nuanced and complex cases to achieve favorable results. He has demonstrated success in a wide variety of business disputes, insurance matters, real estate matters, employment/discrimination and general liability cases.

Greg A. Mase joined as counsel.

Mase is a member of the firm's Litigation Practice Group. He brings 31 years of experience to the firm. His practice focuses primarily on preparing, opposing and arguing dispositive motions in high-stakes cases while maintaining a winning record. Mase has also briefed and argued many appeals in the California Courts of Appeal and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Rena G. Sera joined as counsel.

Sera is a member of the firm's Litigation Practice Group. Her practice includes defending premises liability and habitability matters as well as employment discrimination, medical malpractice, construction defect and other general liability matters. Sera has extensive experience handling cases through trial preparation. She has experience with percipient and expert depositions, court appearances, pre-trial motions, propounding and responding to discovery, budgeting, client reporting and creating litigation plans. Prior to becoming an attorney, Sera worked as a certified paralegal for five years.

Jason S. Ketchum joined as an associate.

Ketchum has experience in insurance defense, personal injury, landlord-tenant disputes, employment law, products liability and professional liability. Most recently, Ketchum has been involved in the defense of several cases involving habitability defects, slip and falls, dog bites and motor vehicle accidents. He has extensive legal research and writing experience, having worked as an extern and clerk in several state and federal courts in Ohio and California, including the criminal division of the San Francisco Superior Court. Ketchum has drafted judicial orders involving petitions for writs of habeas corpus, pretrial motions to dismiss, motions for a new trial and more.

Leila Morshed Mohseni joined as an associate.

Morshed Mohseni focuses her practice on general liability litigation and providing creative, cost-effective results for her clients.

Astrid Chim Villagran joined as an associate.

Chim Villagran focuses her practice on premises liability and habitability law, as well as employment discrimination, medical malpractice, construction defects and other general liability issues. Before she became an attorney, she built a strong background in finance and technology, spending four years specializing in fraud analysis and investigations. Chim Villagran's diverse experience allows her to bring a unique combination of financial insight and legal skill to her practice.

Pan C. Lee joined Venable LLP as a counsel in San Francisco. The move was Mar. 25, 2025.

Lee has nearly 15 years of experience handling intellectual property matters for global technology companies in a variety of technology fields, including wireless communications, video streaming, semiconductor fabrication, mobile applications, and 3D rendering. He has managed litigation strategy in district court patent cases, 337 investigations at the International Trade Commission, and inter partes review (IPR) and post-grant review (PGR) proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, as well as appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Prior to his work as an IP attorney, Lee worked as an engineer in the research and development arm of a global security and aerospace company, designing missile defense and satellite systems and researching high-power GaN amplifiers, thermophotovoltaics, and nanoparticle applications.

Lee graduated from UC Berkeley School of Law and has an M.S. in electrical engineering from Stanford University, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from UC Davis.

Dov Kogen joined Massumi + Consoli as a partner in Los Angeles. The move was Mar. 25, 2025.

Kogen advises clients on a broad range of complex transactions, including platform and add-on acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, carve-outs, strategic mergers, structured growth investments, dispositions, special situations transactions and joint ventures. He also counsels clients on various general corporate and governance matters.

Laura D. Smolowe joined Akin as a partner in Los Angeles. The move was Mar. 24, 2025.

Smolowe's practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, with a special concentration in trade secret and employee mobility and other labor and employment issues. She leads trial teams on both the plaintiff and defense sides in litigation before federal and state courts and arbitration panels and represents clients across a range of industries including technology, entertainment, fashion, retail, finance and pharmaceuticals. Smolowe has been based in California for her entire career, but her practice is nationwide.

The addition of Smolowe further bolsters the firm's capabilities in California, particularly in representing corporate and funds clients in high-stakes litigation, the firm said.

Gerardo Hernandez was appointed office managing shareholder of Littler's Fresno.

A seasoned labor and employment attorney, Hernandez brings extensive experience defending business owners in both state and federal matters, including advising on union decertification proceedings with the National Labor Relations Board and the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board. His expertise extends to Occupational Safety and Health Administration citation appeals, unlawful labor practice charges, and serving as lead counsel on numerous collective actions, including class actions, Private Attorneys General Act matters, and Fair Labor Standards Act claims.

Hernandez succeeds Ryan L. Eddings, who is stepping down as office managing partner to focus on his practice and broader responsibilities within the firm.

Tro Iskedjian joined Miller Barondess, LLP as an associate in Los Angeles.

Iskedjian is a litigator who specializes in complex business and real estate disputes.

Sean Dowsing was elected managing partner of the Costa Mesa office of Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester LLP. Their tenure is effective Mar. 17, 2025.

Dowsing spearheads the firm's Construction Law and Subrogation and Recovery practice areas, leveraging over a decade of experience in both litigation and transactional matters to deliver exceptional results for clients. His leadership marks an exciting new chapter of growth and opportunity for the Orange County office. As Manning Kass celebrates this transition, the firm is excited to build on its strong foundation, continue driving innovative legal strategies, set new standards for excellence, and reach even greater heights under Dowsing's guidance.

Kate LaQuay was elected managing partner of the Los Angeles office of Munck Wilson Mandala, LLP. Their tenure is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

LaQuay will also be a member of the executive committee and represent her office and attorneys among the firm's leaders. LaQuay is a key member of MWM's employment and labor and employment litigation groups. She represents clients in defense of wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, wage/hour disputes, whistleblower claims, and various other employment law-related matters, bringing broad experience in business litigation and regulatory matters and resolving employment disputes on behalf of employers.

Douglas Carsten joined McDermott Will & Emery as a partner in San Diego.

Carsten focuses his practice on complex patent litigation disputes. He counsels clients in various technology areas, including pharmaceuticals, biologics, medical devices, diagnostic products, retail products, and computer software. Carsten has substantial first-chair trial experience that includes litigating high-profile and billion-dollar patent cases.

Jesse M Creed was promoted to partner of Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP in Los Angeles. The promotion was effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Creed focuses his practice on complex personal injury, wrongful death, sexual abuse, and product liability cases. Since joining in 2018, he has secured billions in recoveries, including a proposed $4.04 billion settlement in the Maui Fires litigation, where he also won a Hawai'i Supreme Court appeal eliminating $2.3 billion in insurance claims that would have reduced victims' recoveries. His other notable achievements include securing a $1.8 billion settlement in the Southern California Gas Leak Cases, where his persistence led to $6 million in sanctions against defendants, and playing a key role in a $380 million settlement for survivors of Lawrence Nassar's abuse. When USA Gymnastics filed for bankruptcy, Creed uniquely fought to lift the automatic stay of litigation against the Olympic Committee, allowing his clients' case to proceed to trial.

Gregory J. Newmark joined Duane Morris LLP as a partner in Los Angeles.

Newmark represents public and private entity clients in litigation and compliance matters regarding water quality, water rights, water rates, environmental contamination, inverse condemnation and brownfields. Newmark has extensive litigation experience, including complex multiparty disputes. He represents clients in a broad array of environmental and land use matters, often serving as counsel in administrative permitting and enforcement proceedings before the California State Water Resources Control Board and the California Regional Water Quality Control Board. Newmark litigates administrative appeals and civil actions on behalf of waste discharge and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permittees. He has handled numerous cases involving groundwater contamination issues. Previously, Newmark served as a deputy attorney general for the California Department of Justice. In that role, he represented natural resources agencies (e.g., the State Water Resources Control Board, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Water Resources and the Department of Fish and Wildlife) in trial court and appellate litigation regarding air and water pollution, inverse condemnation, CEQA, exotic species and endangered species and fire suppression cost recovery.

Viviana L. Heger joined Duane Morris LLP as a counsel in Los Angeles.

Heger has deep experience in a wide variety of complex environmental compliance matters, including more than two decades of involvement in environmental permitting for industrial and infrastructure projects, emissions trading programs, and counseling energy, manufacturing, recreation, food and beverage and municipal clients. This equips her to strategically and comprehensively tackle the numerous challenges clients face complying in California with federal, state and local laws regulating air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, water quality, hazardous waste and materials management and disposal, chemicals regulations, and remediation and right-to-know requirements, including California's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act (Proposition 65). Heger's experience also includes compliance counseling and complex litigation, administrative petitions and appeals, defense in enforcement, procurement of permits and abandonment and closure of hazardous material structures. She advises and defends clients in crisis or emergency situations involving accidents, spills, releases or other scenarios such as safely closing or abandoning pipelines and underground storage tanks. Heger counsels clients on health, safety and emergency management plans, as well as litigating claims of property damage, toxic torts and environmental citizen suits. She also assists in conducting compliance audits and due diligence associated with mergers, acquisitions and financing.

Jesse Salazar was promoted to California managing partner of Gilson Daub for California. The promotion is effective Mar. 5, 2025.

Salazar will oversee all legal operations for the firm across the state. Based in Los Angeles, Salazar is one of Gilson Daub's longest-tenured employees, having been with the firm for over 11 years. Starting as an associate, he has grown alongside Gilson Daub, demonstrating exceptional leadership and unwavering commitment to its success. In his new role, he will manage operations, client relationships, and personnel strategy across all California offices.

Lauren Livingston was promoted to partner of Gilson Daub in Orange County. The promotion is effective May 3, 2025.

As the firm's longest-serving attorney after Salazar, Livingston has been a dedicated member of the team since 2014. Most recently serving as assistant managing attorney for the OC office, Livingston is known for her passion around improving the workers' compensation system in California and her consistent delivery of efficient results while minimizing client exposure. As partner, she will continue to build strong client relationships and strategically lead Gilson Daub's teams to achieve the best results.

Mitchell Kim was promoted to assistant managing attorney of Gilson Daub for the Los Angeles office. The promotion is effective May 3, 2025.

Leslie Leath was promoted to assistant managing attorney of Gilson Daub for the Orange County office. The promotion is effective May 3, 2025.

R. Michael (Mike) Viayra Jr. joined Thompson Hine LLP as a partner in Los Angeles. The move was Mar. 11, 2025.

Viayra brings almost 30 years of engineering and legal experience to assist clients with litigation and transactional matters. He represents construction and energy companies in contract and real property negotiations and disputes in California state courts, federal courts and venues (including the CBCA and ASBCA), and alternative dispute resolution forums (for example, AAA and JAMS).

Viayra received his J.D. from UCLA School of Law and his B.S. from the United States Naval Academy. Before law school, he completed the U.S. Navy Nuclear Propulsion Program (Nuclear Power School and Prototype) and served in the engineering department aboard a ballistic missile submarine as part of the officer team responsible for the operation and maintenance of the nuclear reactor and all related mechanical, electrical, and chemical systems.

Margaux Poueymirou joined Boies Schiller Flexner LLP as a partner in San Francisco.

Poueymirou is an experienced litigator who has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in complex disputes involving antitrust, intellectual property and AI issues. She has worked extensively on cases regarding the use of copyrighted works to train generative AI models, including the pioneering cases Kadrey v. Meta Platforms, Tremblay v. OpenAI and Doe v. GitHub. Poueymirou also has extensive experience in antitrust litigation, primarily representing opt-out plaintiffs in complex matters involving anticompetitive and fraudulent practices in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.

Timothy M. Rusche joined McGuireWoods LLP as a partner in Los Angeles. The move was Mar. 11, 2025.

Rusche advises employers on wage-hour litigation and workplace compliance. He defends against wage-hour class and collective actions, as well as claims of harassment, wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, and contract breaches. He also provides guidance on workforce restructuring, audits, contracts, policies, noncompete agreements, employee handbooks, misconduct investigations, and other compliance matters.

Matthew D. Pearson joined Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP as a partner in Irvine. The move was Feb. 12, 2025.

Pearson litigates a wide range of class actions nationwide, representing clients across media, automotive, healthcare, financial services, retail, and technology industries. His practice has a strong focus on privacy litigation, handling complex cases under California's Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), Unfair Competition Law, Consumer Legal Remedies Act, Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA), and similar statutes across the U.S.

Pearson earned his J.D. from the University of California Davis School of Law and his B.A., magna cum laude, from Chapman University.

Jeannine Yoo Sano joined Venable LLP as a partner in San Francisco. The move was Mar. 11, 2025.

Sano has over 30 years of experience handling patent and trade secret trials and appeals in technology fields such as mobile communications, video processing, graphics, operating systems, memory, power management, medical devices, and semiconductor manufacturing. She is a member of the Women Lawyers of the Eastern District of Texas Advisory Committee and has previously served as chair of the Patent Litigation and ITC Practice Committees of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property.

Eric Krause joined Venable LLP as a partner in San Francisco. The move was Mar. 11, 2025.

Krause leads patent and trade secret cases concerning technology ranging from semiconductor fabrication and design to IoT and cloud computing. He is a former electrical and computer engineer with extensive experience in BIOS, systems management, and network architecture,

Michael Diz joined Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP as a partner in Silicon Valley. The move was Mar. 10, 2025.

Diz advises private equity firms, public and private companies, and special committees on mergers and acquisitions, equity investments, spinoffs and other transactions. He also counsels companies and boards on corporate governance and fiduciary duty matters. His experience spans industries including technology, media and telecommunications, industrials and consumer products.

Adrian M. Rich joined Gunderson Dettmer as a partner in Northern California (Redwood City). The move was Mar. 5, 2025.

Adrian Rich has joined Gunderson Dettmer as a new Life Sciences Partner based in the Northern California offices.

Rich's guidance spans from inception to exit, providing knowledgeable counsel as clients undertake financial and strategic investments, licensing, strategic partnerships, acquisitions and public offerings, and routine corporate matters. His education in biomedical engineering and economics, coupled with his lifelong passion for computers and programming, inform all aspects of his practice.

Sandy Y. Liu joined Knox Ricksen LLP as a counsel in Walnut Creek. The move was Mar. 3, 2025.

Liu has over two decades of litigation experience, and she has litigated and tried numerous matters involving construction defects, products liability, and personal injury. Since 2020, she has worked in-house for insurance carriers, evaluating, preparing for, and leading personal injury trials across Northern California.