Michael Todisco was promoted to partner of Hueston Hennigan LLP in Los Angeles. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

With a practice focused on trial work, Todisco has been recognized for wins in state and federal courts across the nation. While at Hueston Hennigan, Todisco has gone to trial multiple times, spending over 40 weeks in trial. His successes include complete defense verdicts for PwC, Caltech, and the country's largest integrated health care system. Todisco has also helped clients achieve historic trial results. He was a key member on trial teams that won record-setting Lanham Act awards for Monster Energy and that secured the pharmaceutical industry's first major legal victory against nuisance claims on behalf of Endo Pharmaceuticals.

Yegor Fursevich was promoted to partner of Hueston Hennigan LLP in Los Angeles. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Fursevich’s practice focuses on high-stakes business disputes, as well as trade secrets and intellectual property litigation. He has represented multinational pharmaceutical companies, global accounting firms, renowned restaurant brands, and commercial industry leaders in a wide array of matters involving insider trading, trade secret misappropriation, business torts, whistleblowing, and violations of fiduciary duties. Most recently, Fursevich was an integral part of the team that secured a complete defense victory after trial for Boeing in a trade secrets, breach of contract, and tortious interference case.

Josephine K. Petrick was promoted to partner of The Norton Law Firm in Oakland. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Petrick's experiences as a federal appellate law clerk and as a trial and appellate litigator position her to counsel clients on strategy and key legal issues arising at all phases of a dispute.

Rodney Lasher was promoted to counsel of Venable LLP in Los Angeles. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Lasher represents companies and individuals in a wide range of commercial matters, including intellectual property, entertainment, trusts and estates, land use, real property, complex business, and various other commercial disputes. He has extensive experience dealing with cannabis, cryptocurrency, and entertainment matters. In addition to his experience litigating cases in both state and federal courts, he has represented clients in private arbitration and administrative proceedings, as well as various appellate matters before California state courts of appeal and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Natasha S. Fedder joined Foundation Law Group LLP as a partner in Los Angeles.

Fedder complements her advocacy practice by serving as a contract mediator for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission RESOLVE Program and a panel member for the American Arbitration Association. As an arbitrator, she focuses on employment (pension/ERISA), consumer, and general healthcare disputes. Before joining Foundation Law Group, Natasha was a partner at Scale LLP and practiced law at O'Melveny & Myers.

Bina Patel was promoted to partner of Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP in San Francisco. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Patel's practice focuses on complex commercial litigation with an emphasis on intellectual property and appeals. She has extensive experience in all stages of litigation and has practiced before federal and appellate courts across the country. She has successfully represented both plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes technology disputes related to patents, copyrights, trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, fraud, unfair competition, and false advertising.

Felicia Gilbert joined Katz Banks Kumin LLP as a partner in San Francisco. The move was Jan. 6, 2025.

Gilbert has been nationally recognized for her work and has spoken on various civil rights and employment law topics. Gilbert has been recognized as a Benchmark Litigation Labor & Employment star. The Profiles in Diversity Journal also recognized her among its Women Worth Watching in Leadership.

Hoyt Y. Sze joined Sheppard Mullin as a partner in San Francisco.

Sze is a seasoned attorney with over 25 years of experience. He has represented health systems and academic medical centers as outside and in-house counsel, as well as serving as Chief Compliance and Privacy Officer. He specializes in healthcare fraud investigations and litigation, including related to the federal and California False Claims Act, anti-kickback laws and the Stark Law, and has dealt with federal and state agencies including the U.S. Department of Justice on subpoenas, civil investigative demands, self-disclosures and other enforcement matters. He also has advised higher education institutions and health providers in connection with complex privacy matters including issues concerning clinical artificial intelligence and "big data," research security investigations including issues concerning federal grant proposal "other support" non-disclosure and emerging technologies, and major cybersecurity incidents.

Margia Corner joined Sheppard Mullin as a partner in San Francisco. The move was Jun. 1, 2025.

Corner is a trusted advisor and proactive problem-solver who brings together executive-level stakeholders to support clients' innovative approaches to transforming healthcare delivery towards value-based models of care. She has over 10 years' experience in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement and other federal and state health care laws and regulations. She has advised academic and non-profit health systems, federally qualified health centers, clinical laboratories, pharmacies, and health care professionals as well as pharmaceutical manufacturers, medical device companies and health plans.

Michael Godino was promoted to partner of Venable LLP in Los Angeles. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Godino focuses his practice on entertainment and media litigation, as well as general commercial litigation. He has substantial experience in all aspects of state and federal litigation, including drafting and arguing dispositive motions, taking and defending key depositions, managing complex large-scale discovery, and preparing cases for trial or negotiating favorable settlements to avoid trial.

Jon Welner joined Crowell & Moring LLP as a partner in San Francisco.

Welner's practice focuses on all areas of environmental law, including the regulation of air, water, hazardous materials and waste, consumer products, traditional and renewable energy, and natural resources. Welner has significant experience helping clients navigate the California Environmental Quality Act, Proposition 65, and brownfield redevelopment. He helps clients obtain land use entitlements, and he has significant experience with coastal development and the permitting of industrial and energy facilities.

Allison Musante was promoted to partner of Swerdlow Florence Sanchez Swerdlow & Wimmer, ALC in Los Angeles. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Musante advises employers on a wide range of labor and employment issues, and she helps companies formulate policies and practices to be in compliance with California's complex, ever-changing employment laws. Musante also represents employers in all types of employment litigation, including the defense of discrimination and harassment claims, PAGA lawsuits and wage-and-hour class actions. Additionally, Musante conducts independent, neutral workplace investigations.

Alicia Macklin was promoted to partner of Hooper, Lundy & Bookman in Los Angeles. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Macklin is a member of the Regulatory Department and co-chair of both the Behavioral Health Practice Group and the Health Equity Task Force. She is a trusted advisor to a range of inpatient and outpatient behavioral health care providers, along with hospital and health systems. Her work with providers includes advising on licensing and accreditation, Medicare and Medi-Cal reimbursement, federal and state privacy and confidentiality requirements, and operational issues. She also helps California providers navigate voluntary and involuntary treatment under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPS Act).

Emily L. Brinkman was promoted to partner of Hooper, Lundy & Bookman in San Francisco. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Brinkman is a member of the Medical Staff Practice Group and has over 20 years of experience as a litigator and 12 years specifically advising healthcare providers and helping them comply with regulatory issues in the state of California. She has represented medical staff in complex, multi-day hearings involving issues ranging from inappropriate behavior towards patients, to quality-of-care issues that result in disciplinary actions, from suspension to termination of privileges/credentials. She also represents individual licensed providers before their respective licensing boards, from advising and assisting with the investigation to the disciplinary hearing itself. She assists in the application process of individuals seeking licensure, including post graduate training licenses and petitions for reinstatement. Prior to joining HLB, she worked as a deputy attorney general in the Health Quality Enforcement Section and the Correctional Law Section of the California Attorney General's Office.

Sophia M. Rios was promoted to shareholder of Berger Montague in San Diego. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Rios manages the firm's San Diego office and practices in the Consumer Protection, Credit Reporting and Background Checks groups. She has nearly 10 years of experience litigating class actions and has helped recover over $100 million on behalf of consumers nationwide in 2024. Rios advocates on behalf of a broad range of clients, focusing her practice on protecting the privacy rights of consumers, including their medical privacy, online privacy, and in data breaches. She had an instrumental role in reaching the $58.5 million settlement in Fernandez v. CoreLogic Credco, LLC (S.D. Cal.), which vindicated the rights of consumers nationwide who had wrongly reported as potential terrorists or drug traffickers on their credit reports.

As a first-generation college student and woman of color, Rios is committed to furthering diversity and inclusion in law firms. She serves on the firm's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Task Force and has participated in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity's Pathfinder Program. In her pro bono practice, Sophia assisted refugees seeking asylum in the United States.

Thomas P. Bruder was promoted to partner of Kutak Rock LLP in Los Angeles. The promotion is effective Jan. 3, 2025.

Bruder focuses his practice on public finance, representing issuers, underwriters, direct placement banks and borrowers on tax-exempt and taxable financings, including complex real estate financing transactions, for the benefit of state and local government, colleges and universities, private schools, charter schools, and other nonprofit organizations. He also has extensive experience working on financings for the benefit of water, wastewater and renewable energy facilities.

John F. O'Connor was promoted to partner of Clark Hill in San Francisco. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

O'Connor works in the firm's Real Estate practice group, where he predominantly practices as a litigator.

Laura Cable was promoted to partner of Cox, Castle & Nicholson in Los Angeles. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Cable is a tax attorney whose practice focuses on income tax planning for real estate transactions.  Her practice includes federal and California income tax planning for real estate investments by partnerships, limited liability companies, corporations, individuals, and tax-exempt entities, as well as planning for California property and documentary transfer taxes. She has advised a wide range of real estate clients on various tax issues, which allows her to holistically look at transactions and the implications and provide strategic guidance as to what can be done to make it as tax efficient as possible. She advises her clients on tax implications of proposed acquisitions, dispositions, and exchanges of real property, and has extensive experience drafting and negotiating tax provisions in purchase and sale agreements, joint venture, and partnership agreements.

Robbie Hull was promoted to partner of Cox, Castle & Nicholson in San Francisco. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Hull is a land use, natural resources, and environmental attorney who represents developers across various industries in obtaining permits needed to develop complex land use projects, including some of the nation's largest renewable energy projects, as well as mixed-use and affordable housing projects. He plays a crucial role in counseling clients through the local, state, and federal entitlement process and has significant experience with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), planning and zoning laws, and laws related to wetlands and endangered species, water supply, and the Williamson Act. As part of Cox Castle's Renewable Energy Industry Team, Hull has helped clients develop thousands of megawatts of renewable energy and battery storage in California and other western states.

Ira Klein was promoted to partner of Cox, Castle & Nicholson in San Francisco. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Klein is an environmental attorney who represents developers in the remediation and redevelopment of complex contaminated properties, including at large sites such as former power plants and former landfills. He also advises clients across various industries on a range of environmental and occupational safety and health issues, including on complicated environmental compliance issues, enforcement defense and environmental litigation, regulatory and legislative advocacy, and project development work. His clientele hails from a range of sectors, including real estate, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, construction, manufacturing, waste-to-energy, solar, oilfield services, and biomass.

Matthew T. Brand was promoted to partner of Clark Hill in San Francisco. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Brand defends clients in civil litigation, in both the public and private sectors.

Christopher C. Surh was promoted to special counsel of Goldberg Segalla in Orange County. The promotion is effective Jan. 2, 2025.

Surh counsels and defends clients in complex civil litigation matters, with a particular focus in transportation and premise liability. His experience ranges from matters involving personal injury, workers' compensation, and employment law to insurance defense, subrogation, contract disputes, construction defects, and public/private property.

Joseph R. Coriaty was promoted to special counsel of Goldberg Segalla in Los Angeles. The promotion is effective Jan. 2, 2025.

Coriaty focuses his practice on civil litigation and product liability matters. He counsels and defends businesses and insurance companies in a wide variety of claims from pre-lawsuit negotiation and evaluation through trial or alternative dispute resolution.

Gina Binder was promoted to Partner of Goldberg Segalla in Los Angeles. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Binder is a workers' compensation litigator and advisor, providing counsel to insurers, employers, and third-party administrators across California. With more than 12 years of dedicated focus on workers' compensation defense, Binder possesses a wealth of experience managing cases from inception to settlement or trial. Gina excels in developing discovery, settlement and litigation strategies tailored to the unique needs of each case and client.

William Cooper was promoted to partner of Conrad|Metlitzky|Kane in San Francisco. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Cooper's practice focuses on complex civil litigation and internal investigations, with an emphasis on emerging technology sectors such as the blockchain and platform economies. He guides clients through every stage of litigation. He has taken and defended depositions, drafted and argued critical motions, examined key trial witnesses, and defended judgments on appeal. He also conducts corporate investigations and represents witnesses in government investigations.

Daniel R. Lahana was promoted to Partner of Larson LLP in Los Angeles. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Lahana has been with Larson since 2020. His practice emphasizes complex civil disputes and white-collar criminal defense matters. He has litigated issues involving class action defense, complex real property transactions and disputes, trusts and estates, employment disputes, and trade secrets, along with government investigations and criminal proceedings. Lahana earned his J.D. from UCLA School of Law, and a B.A. from the University of California, Irvine.

Andrew E. Calderón was promoted to Counsel of Larson LLP in Los Angeles. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Calderón joined Larson in 2023. His experience includes matters in state, federal and international jurisdictions, and he has represented clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to local businesses and private individuals. Calderón also served as a police officer in Long Beach, and as a field artillery officer in the California Army National Guard. He earned his J.D. from UCLA School of law, and a B.A. from California State University, Long Beach.

Ranja Rasul was promoted to Counsel of Larson LLP in Los Angeles. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Rasul joined Larson in 2021 and has a broad range of civil and criminal experience both domestically and internationally. He focuses his practice on complex civil litigation and white-collar criminal defense. Ranja earned his J.D. from UCLA School of Law, and a B.A. from Loyola Marymount University.

Michael J. Mason was promoted to partner of Finch, Thornton & Baird LLP in San Diego. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Mason brings extensive expertise in construction law, business and commercial litigation, and real estate disputes. He has a diverse clientele, including federal and local contractors, real estate owners, and development teams. A retired U.S. Navy commander with 24 years of service, Mason holds a business administration degree from the University of Texas and a Juris Doctor from the University of San Diego School of Law.

Steven L. Hwang was promoted to partner of Finch, Thornton & Baird LLP in San Diego. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Hwang specializes in estate planning, corporate governance, and business planning, offering comprehensive guidance to business owners, multi-generational families, and professional advisors. Hwang earned a Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of San Diego, a Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University School of Law, and a bachelor’s in business economics from UC Santa Barbara.

Kelly Sagaser joined Miller Barondess, LLP as an associate in Los Angeles.

Sagaser is a commercial litigator who represents clients across many industries including entertainment, intellectual property, and technology.

Paul G. Murtagh was promoted to a partner of Levinson Arshonsky Kurtz & Komsky, LLP in Sherman Oaks. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Murtagh's practice includes a wide range of complex commercial litigation matters including business litigation, unfair competition, government litigation, entertainment, insurance coverage disputes, defendant class actions, professional liability, and other business contract and tort claims.

Matthew P. Houghton was promoted to counsel of Reed Smith LLP in San Francisco. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Houghton has substantial commercial litigation and arbitration experience working on complex cases involving trade secret misappropriation, business torts, and contractual disputes. He is highly experienced in construction and real estate, having handled both transactional negotiations and disputes on behalf of owners, contractors, and developers of commercial, residential, and energy construction projects.

Kevin M. Levy was promoted to counsel of Reed Smith LLP in San Francisco. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Levy's practice spans project development, M&A and finance in energy and infrastructure transactions, with a focus on renewable energy. He has extensive experience in negotiating and drafting deal terms, financing documents, and other ancillary documents.

Margaret C. McDonald was promoted to partner of Reed Smith LLP in Los Angeles. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

McDonald advises clients on a variety of insurance issues. She is an experienced litigator who has worked on various coverage disputes. She has actively participated in all stages of litigation, from pre-litigation ADR to cross-examinations at trial. Her insurance experience includes representing clients in disputes involving D&O, EPL, CGL, property, and mortgage insurance, among others.

Brian P. Cadigan was promoted to partner of Reed Smith LLP in Los Angeles. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Cadigan defends high-profile, multi-million-dollar product liability, medical device, and pharmaceutical cases nationwide in state and federal courts. From catastrophic brain injury to cancer, regardless of the allegation he is defending, He is a tenacious litigator known for his keen ability to cross-examine witnesses and distill complex factual and legal issues into straightforward narratives for judges and jurors.

Kelsie Docherty was promoted to a partner of BraunHagey & Borden LLP in New York. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Docherty represents clients in a broad range of complex commercial litigation including federal and state antitrust litigation, bankruptcy litigation, intellectual property litigation, mass tort litigation and investigations. She is one of three BHB partners who graduated from Texas Law. Docherty clerked for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She graduated from University of Texas School of Law.

Kory DeClark was promoted to a partner of BraunHagey & Borden LLP in San Francisco. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

DeClark focuses on bringing impact litigation in state and federal courts to advance the law for underserved causes and communities. He is experienced as an appellate attorney in a leading Supreme Court and appellate practice and a trial attorney at the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of California and worked at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office, where he worked toward bail reform in California. DeClark has handled felony and misdemeanor cases across all stages of litigation. He has tried cases to verdict in both state and federal court -- winning acquittals on a range of criminal charges -- and has argued before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where he was a law clerk. He graduated from Yale Law School.

Liane Katzenstein Ly as partner in Los Angeles.

Abbey A Barrera was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in San Francisco. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Barrera regularly represents multinational companies in a wide variety of complex litigation, including in data privacy, cybersecurity, and class action matters. She has significant experience representing clients in the technology, social media, and internet industries in particular.

Dana L Craig was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in San Francisco. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Craig has established a reputation for her skillful handling of the most consequential e-discovery challenges our clients face. She is considered an authority at successfully guiding clients through their most complex discovery issues, sweeping across jurisdictions both national and international. Clients rely on her to effectively and efficiently navigate them through massive discovery, with Dana leading all stages of the process including setting strategy to drafting discovery motions to argument.

Todd J. Trattner was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in San Francisco. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Dr. Trattner represents public and private companies, investors, and academic institutions in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, technology, medical device, and diagnostics industries in connection with royalty financings, licensing transactions, technology transactions, and mergers and acquisitions.

Sara Ghalandari was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in San Francisco. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Ghalandari's practice encompasses a wide-array of land use/development matters and real estate transactions, including zoning, planning, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), public private partnerships, and matters regarding construction access, underpinning and shoring. The primary focus of her practice is the processing of entitlements for major real estate development projects in the Bay Area and throughout California, supervising the preparation and approval of environmental documentation, and negotiating transactional documents associated with land use, project development, and construction, including agreements between private and public entities.

Melanie E. Neary was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in San Francisco. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Neary's practice is focused on advising clients in connection with a variety of financing transactions, including initial public offerings, secondary equity offerings and venture and growth equity financings as well as complex corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions.

Michael J. Kahn was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in San Francisco. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Kahn's practice focuses on securities litigation, including securities class actions, stockholder derivative suits, and other stockholder disputes. He has crafted winning arguments in many complex securities actions, including for Slack in the U.S. Supreme Court's 9-0 opinion in Slack Technologies v. Pirani.

Prerna Soni was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in San Francisco. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Soni's practice involves a broad range of commercial real estate transactions. She represents private equity funds, REITs, developers, and other real estate investors in connection with acquisitions and dispositions, joint ventures, preferred equity transactions, construction and permanent financings, and development matters.

Marissa Benavides was promoted to a partner of BraunHagey & Borden LLP in New York. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2025.

Marissa Benavides focuses on bringing impact litigation in state and federal courts to protect and advance the rights of disadvantaged communities in the U.S. Benavides has litigated a range of state and federal cases under Section 1983, Title IX, Title VII, the New York Child Victims Act, the New York Unjust Conviction and Incarceration Act, and the New York City Human Rights Act. She also has represented entities in complex commercial litigation, including major commercial fraud and breach of contract actions. Benavides clerked for the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He graduated from Harvard Law School.