Yuri Mikulka joined Alston & Bird LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Mikulka represents clients ranging from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies in the U.S. and multinational companies based in Asia and Europe. In addition to litigating patent, trademark and copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation, and commercial disputes, she counsels companies on intellectual property rights, brand protection, and legal issues related to consumer technology, goods, and services.

Nellie Torres Klein joined The Law Offices of Alan Ellis as counsel in San Francisco.

Klein has 20 years of prison litigation experience specializing in sentence computation, disciplinary hearings and sanctions, conditions of confinement, and cases brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

Hon. Gerald Jessop (Ret.) joined JAMS as arbitrator and mediator in San Diego.

Jessop will serve as an arbitrator and mediator in a variety of practice areas, including family law and probate.

Lee Scott Brenner joined Venable LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Brenner is a trial attorney and business litigator with experience in the media and entertainment industry, particularly in the areas of defamation, copyright law, idea theft, credit disputes, privacy, intellectual property, and right of publicity. He also has developed significant experience with defamation by anonymous posters on the Internet.

David Edward Fink joined Venable LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Fink has prosecuted and defended against complex claims involving hundreds of millions of dollars. His experience includes business, media and entertainment, and employment litigation with particularly notable results in First Amendment, entertainment, and intellectual property law claims.

Michael John O'Connor joined Venable LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

O’Connor has prosecuted and defended against hundreds of claims in a wide variety of commercial cases, including the full spectrum of insurance policyholder matters as well as entertainment industry and First Amendment law claims. He has secured significant verdicts and settlements for clients, ranging from well-known Fortune 500 companies to entrepreneurs and individuals.

Sarah Lynn Cronin joined Venable LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Cronin’s practice includes entertainment, intellectual property, insurance recovery, and complex business litigation. She represents and advises media and entertainment companies on a variety of matters, including copyright, trademark, defamation, invasion of privacy, right of publicity, insurance recovery, breach of contract, employment, cyber-piracy, and Internet domain name retrieval through the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Mi K. Kim joined Roxborough, Pomerance, Nye & Adreani, LLP as senior attorney in Woodland Hills.

Having served California as an attorney and executive for the Department of Industrial Relations, Kim brings to the firm extensive litigation, trial, appellate, executive oversight, and policy development experience.

Kristen Amy Baracy joined Tucker Ellis LLP as counsel in Los Angeles.

Baracy represents both privately held and public companies. She has worked on public and private offerings of securities, compliance with rules and regulations enforced by the Securities and Exchange Commission, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate matters.

Steven Frederick Werth was promoted to senior counsel of SulmeyerKupetz in Los Angeles.

Werth's practice focuses on representing Chapter 11 debtors in bankruptcy and the rights of creditors and creditors' committees in Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases. His experience includes representing clients in industries as diverse as entertainment, import-export and real estate.

Assaf S. Hami was promoted to senior counsel of SulmeyerKupetz in Los Angeles.

Hami has extensive experience representing debtors, creditors, trustees, and asset purchasers in Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases and out-of-court restructurings. He has represented a broad range of clients, including real estate finance companies, national retailers, and professional services firms.

David John Richardson was promoted to partner of SulmeyerKupetz in Los Angeles.

Richardson devotes his practice to corporate restructuring, commercial litigation and appellate practice. He has represented corporate debtors, creditors’ committees, liquidating trusts, financial institutions, insurance companies and entrepreneurs in a variety of litigation and insolvency matters.

Jeffrey Michael Pomerance was promoted to partner of SulmeyerKupetz in Los Angeles.

Pomerance represents individuals and businesses seeking assistance in creating, maximizing, protecting and retaining their value proposition throughout the business “life cycle.”

Cathy Ta was promoted to senior counsel of SulmeyerKupetz in Los Angeles and Riverside.

Ta focuses on all aspects of chapter 7, 9, 11 and 12 bankruptcy, bankruptcy litigation and general litigation.

Craig Arthur Menden joined Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP as partner in Palo Alto.

Menden focuses on the representation of technology and life sciences companies in a broad range of deal structures, including classic public company acquisitions and VC-backed private acquisitions.

James Egan Sell was promoted to equity partner of Tyson & Mendes LLP in San Francisco.

Sell is the managing partner of the firm's Northern California office and leads a multi-attorney litigation team. He has extensive experience in construction, public works, products liability, catastrophic injury, personal injury, wrongful death, and professional liability litigation.
He also serves as "general counsel" to a number of Bay Area contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers in hundreds of construction matters and disputes.

Nicholas Ryan Transier was promoted to partner of Patterson & Sheridan LLP in San Diego.

Transier focuses on building international patent portfolios for clients, especially in the areas of data science, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, software, telecommunications, automotive technologies, and consumer electronics. He has also defended mechanical and electrical innovations, including consumer electronic devices, computer software systems, display technologies, and medical devices.

Erin Marie Bradrick was promoted to co-principal of NEO Law Group in San Francisco.

Bradrick provides corporate, governance, charitable trust, and tax counsel solely to nonprofits and exempt organizations.

Ashley Lynn Shively joined Holland & Knight LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Shively is a partner in the firm's West Coast litigation group. She represents financial institutions and businesses in consumer class and individual actions, including fair lending, privacy, credit reporting, debt collection, false advertising and unfair business practices.

Ryan Michael Leaderman joined Holland & Knight LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Leaderman is a partner in the firm's West Coast land use and environmental practice group. He focuses on obtaining and negotiating land use entitlements for complex land use planning and mixed-use developments and securing project approvals for all types of major developments in Southern California. He also represents clients in all aspects of the California Environmental Quality Act, including CEQA litigation.

Jina Choi joined Morrison & Foerster LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Choi is a partner in the firm's securities litigation, enforcement, and white-collar defense group. She previously served as head of the SEC's San Francisco regional office for five years and developed a reputation for her work on high-profile, complex, and novel enforcement actions.

Alex S. Kaufman joined Paul Hastings LLP as partner in Palo Alto.

Kaufman advises private equity funds and stand-alone technology companies on mergers and acquisitions transactions, including leveraged buyouts, growth equity investments and divestitures with an emphasis on the software and technology sectors.

Brian C. Fish joined Buchalter APC as shareholder in San Diego.

Fish is a member of the firm's real estate group. His expertise covers all aspects of real estate development, including land use, permitting and entitlements, public and private partnerships, public contracting, and environmental matters.

Daniel H. Wu joined Buchalter APC as shareholder in Los Angeles.

Wu is a member of the firm’s litigation practice group. His litigation practice focuses on financial institutions, commercial and business litigation as well as intellectual property litigation.

Frederick M. Heiser was promoted to shareholder of Klinedinst PC in Los Angeles and Orange County.

Heiser is a member of the firm's business and commercial litigation, commercial general liability, and employment practice groups. His clients include local entrepreneurs, small family businesses, and Fortune 500 companies.

David M. Majchrzak was promoted to shareholder of Klinedinst PC in San Diego.

Majchrzak is a seasoned ethicist, civil litigator, and certified specialist by the State Bar of California in legal malpractice law with motion, trial, and appellate experience. He counsels his clients on how to achieve their professional goals in an ethical way.

Robert M. Shaughnessy was promoted to shareholder of Klinedinst PC in San Diego.

Shaughnessy represents clients in all phases of litigation from the outset of a case through trial, judgment, and the appeal process. His law and motion experience allows him to resolve many cases early in the litigation process. His appellate experience allows him to protect a client’s successful trial-court outcome on appeal or to spot appellate issues.

Keith D. Taylor was promoted to shareholder of Klinedinst PC in Santa Ana.

Taylor focuses on the identification and control of risks. His trial experience includes general liability, products liability, premises liability, public entity liability, transportation liability, and catastrophic construction loss.

William "Buddy" Rowell joined Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean LLP as partner in Oakland.

Rowell has nearly 25 years of litigation experience, representing public entities, including several of the region's school districts and utilities, and businesses, including major retailers and property owners and developers.

Tamara L. Osborne joined Ballard Spahr LLP as of counsel in Los Angeles.

Osborne is known for her work representing syndicators, investors, and developers in all phases of affordable multifamily property acquisition, ownership, and financing, with emphasis on tax credit-driven transactions. She negotiates all financing documents and reviews and oversees borrower due diligence and closing documents for institutional and tax-exempt bond financing, as well as for funding from government sources such as HUD/FHA and the USDA's Rural Development program.

Mark D. Hauser joined Reed Smith LLP as counsel in San Francisco.

Hauser will serve as co-vice chair of the firm's cannabis law team. He represents business and investors throughout the cannabis and hemp industries, where he advises on transactions and risk, including public and private companies, multi-state operators and startups, as well as advising companies in other industries and disciplines working in cannabidiol and cannabis.

Brian Tsu joined Higgs Fletcher & Mack as partner in San Diego.

Tsu is a partner in the firm's trusts, estates and estate planning practice group.

F. Phillip Hosp joined Foley & Lardner LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Hosp represents directors, officers, investment firms, public and private companies, family offices, and other parties in mergers and acquisitions litigation, and other cases involving fiduciary duties, unfair competition, and corporate law claims.

M. Kathleen Smalley joined Foley & Lardner LLP as of counsel in Los Angeles.

Smalley’s practice includes sophisticated real estate transactions and disputes, complex corporate transactions, corporate and family business governance, and matters relating to family wealth.

Linda L. Miller joined JAMS as arbitrator and mediator in Orange County.

Miller will serve as an arbitrator and mediator in a wide variety of disputes, including business and commercial, employment, family law, personal injury, torts and real property.

Paul P. Chen joined Mayer Brown as partner in Northern California.

Chen focuses on complex transactions in the insurance, financial services and health care sectors, especially deals involving technology and innovation. He also advises clients on U.S. securities law matters, including tender offers, going private and raising capital.

Kenneth D. Askin was promoted to partner of Latham & Watkins LLP in Los Angeles.

Askin is a member of the firm's banking practice in the finance department. He advises on domestic and cross-border acquisition financing, structured financing, and other secured and unsecured leveraged financial transactions. Askin's clients include financial institutions, gaming entities, private equity sponsors, real estate investment trusts and other institutional investors.

Ghaith Mahmood was promoted to partner of Latham & Watkins LLP in Los Angeles.

Mahmood is a member of the firm’s technology transactions practice in the corporate department. His practice focuses on technology and intellectual property-related transactions, advising companies and investors in technology and digital media sectors, including software, video games, virtual and augmented reality, social media, digital media, digital health, e-commerce and information technology.

Yoo Jin Elizabeth Oh was promoted to partner of Latham & Watkins LLP in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Oh is a member of the firm’s banking practice in the finance department. She advises on debt financing for direct lenders in the late stage growth and lower middle market space, including technology and life sciences companies. She also represents private equity sponsors and public companies in leveraged financial transactions, with a focus on domestic and cross-border acquisition financings.

Patricia Young was promoted to partner of Latham & Watkins LLP in Silicon Valley.

Young is a member of the firm’s intellectual property litigation practice in the litigation and trial department. She represents clients in intellectual property litigation matters spanning the technology, life sciences and industrial sectors. She has experience litigating and managing high-stakes, complex, multi-patent, multi-defendant and multi-jurisdictional cases, and she also counsels clients on patent and intellectual property issues arising in mergers and acquisitions.

Michelle L. Landry joined Vedder Price PC as shareholder in San Francisco.

Landry focuses her practice on prosecuting and defending complex civil litigation across a wide array of industries for individuals, partnerships, and private and publicly traded companies. She has represented clients in breach of contract, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, unfair business practices, commercial lease disputes, trademark and trade secrets, defamation, invasion of privacy cases and price-fixing.

Lisa M. Simonetti joined Greenberg Traurig LLP as shareholder in Los Angeles.

Simonetti focuses her practice on the defense of complex litigation, including financial services class actions and mass actions.

Michelle M. McCarthy joined Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

McCarthy's works on federal and state taxation issues pertaining to individuals and entities, and she represents them in Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of Labor audits, corrective programs and determination requests.

Kelly D. Gemelli was promoted to principal of Jackson Lewis PC in San Diego.

Gemelli provides advice and counsel to management on a wide range of employment issues. She is a certified leave of absence specialist and is an active member of the California Advice and Counsel Resource Group.