Claudia Simon joined Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, P.C. as shareholder in San Diego and Santa Monica Offices.

Claudia represents public and private companies and private equity firms in domestic and cross-border mergers, stock and asset transactions, complex divisional carve-out transactions, minority investments, joint ventures, tender and exchange offers, leveraged buyouts, takeover defenses and corporate governance matters. She has represented clients from a broad range of industries including pharmaceutical, biotech, healthcare, medical products, chemicals, technology, aerospace and defense, construction, financial services, transportation, entertainment, food, retail and consumer products.

Claudia earned her J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law, magna cum laude, in 2001, and her B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, cum laude, in 1992. She is admitted to practice in California, New York, and the District of Columbia.

Carolina Schwalbach was promoted to partner of Carothers DiSante & Freudenberger LLP in Los Angeles.

Carolina Schwalbach practices employment litigation, defending employers against a wide scope of claims before California state and federal courts and administrative agencies. She also advises clients on compliance with California and federal wage and hour laws, always keeping overarching business goals in mind and engaging a practical approach.

Schwalbach regularly defends employers in actions filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), and the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), achieving favorable settlements and on many occasions, securing full dismissals.

As part of her practice Schwalbach also conducts internal investigations on a broad range of issues, including claims of sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination, and provides training to workforces regarding sexual harassment prevention, accommodation of disabilities in the workplace, and other employment matters.

Carolina is a native Spanish speaker and regularly utilizes this skill in advising and defending clients on employment law matters.

Ashley Halberda was promoted to partner of Carothers DiSante & Freudenberger LLP in Orange County.

Ashley A. Halberda advises and represents clients in matters involving California labor and employment law. Halberda is experienced in representing employers before state court in various employment disputes involving claims of wrongful termination, harassment, failure to provide overtime and paid breaks, as well as class actions.

In addition, Halberda plays an advisory role to California employers and helps them navigate the ever-changing waters of the state's labor and employment laws. She counsels clients on compliance strategies to enable them to take a proactive approach to avoiding future litigation.

Aside from her experience in employment law, Halberda has a broad range of civil litigation experience, including courtroom experience in matters related to breach of contract, premises liability and insurance defense.

Artin Betpera was promoted to parnter of Womble Bond Dickinson in Costa Mesa.

Artin is a trial lawyer with a national practice principally representing financial services companies in high stakes litigation in federal and state courts, involving both class and individual claims. He has developed a particular focus on Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation, but has significant experience in traditional commercial litigation, and regularly appears on behalf of some of the country's most significant banks and financial institutions. He also manages and supervises a litigation team serving the firm's clients across the state of California.

Kelly Allegra Weil was promoted to partner of Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro, Schulman & Rabkin LLP in Los Angeles.

Ms. Weil has over 24 years of experience in representing homeowner associations. In addition to her Juris Doctoris, she possesses a Master's Degree in Real Estate Development from University of Southern California. Her clients range from two units to 18,000 units, and include all types of multi-family housing, high rise luxury developments, planned unit developments (attached and stand-alone), condominiums and cooperatives.

Matthew Wolf was promoted to partner of Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro, Schulman & Rabkin LLP in Los Angeles.

Mr. Wolf has cultivated a versatile transactional practice in which he provides legal counsel in connection with emerging technology and startups, secured and general business transactions, real estate acquisition and finance and a wide variety of other transactional matters. Mr. Wolf’s technical background and understanding of underlying technology, products and applications enables him to provide clients with a unique legal and practical perspective.

Daniel Steven Wiesel was promoted to partner of Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro, Schulman & Rabkin LLP in Los Angeles.

Mr. Wiesel has a practice that focuses on transactional real estate and finance, including all aspects of the purchase and sale, financing, and development and leasing of commercial and residential property. He works diligently with his clients to negotiate and close complex real estate transactions involving multifamily, commercial, mixed-use and industrial properties, from entity formation and transaction structuring to syndication and financing. Additionally, Mr. Wiesel assists clients in the negotiation of various types of secured and unsecured credit facilities. His prior experience includes representation of issuers, underwriters and borrowers in conduit-issuance public finance transactions ranging from $1 million to more than $1 billion.

Johnny White was promoted to parner of Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro, Schulman & Rabkin LLP.

Mr. White is an experienced business and commercial litigator with a practice primarily focusing on bankruptcy, insolvency and debtor-creditor cases. He has extensive experience in both state and federal court across a variety of substantive areas, and has represented clients at both trial and appellate level in both California and New York. Mr. White is also a qualified barrister in the Republic of Ireland.

Lisa Spiegel was promoted to partner, chair of the immigration division of the firm's employment, labor, benefits and immigration practice group of Duane Morris LLP in San Francisco.

Duane Morris LLP has named partner Lisa Spiegel of the firm's San Francisco office as chair of the Immigration division of the firm's Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration Practice Group. Spiegel succeeds partner Denyse Sabagh, who has led the division since she joined the firm in 1997. Sabagh will continue practicing as a partner in the Immigration group.

"Under Denyse's leadership, the group has been consistently named as one of the best firms for immigration law, with attorneys spanning our offices across the United States and clients across the globe," said Eve I. Klein, chair of Duane Morris' Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration Practice Group. "I'm confident that Lisa will continue that success on behalf of our clients and expand the firm's prowess in this key area."

"I'm honored and excited to have the opportunity to lead this tremendous group of talented lawyers," said Spiegel. "The dynamics of today's immigration landscape necessitate counsel with a deep understanding of the law, the flexibility to keep abreast of--and respond to--changes, and a true creative and tenacious approach to fight for clients' needs. I'm proud to say that description fits every one of the attorneys in this group."

Spiegel practices in the areas of immigration and nationality law, concentrating on issues related to the employment of foreign nationals. She has been practicing immigration and nationality law for more than 30 years and is admitted to both the California and New York Bars. Spiegel has received many awards and recognitions for her work over the past few decades and also served as a past chair of the Northern California chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). Spiegel served on numerous committees for AILA, including the association's National Committee on Business and the AILA-USCIS Administrative Appeals Office Liaison Committee, as liaison to the New York and San Francisco District Offices of the Immigration & Naturalization Service and as national liaison with the California Service Center for many years. In addition, Spiegel is president of the board of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.

Spiegel is a graduate of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University (J.D., 1985) and a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany (B.A., with honors, 1980).

About Duane Morris' Immigration Group
The Duane Morris Immigration Group serves a diverse group of clients including multinational and Fortune 500 publicly traded corporations, medium-sized privately held companies and smaller sized startup ventures. Firm attorneys have experience in a wide range of industries, including: information technology, biotechnology, security, telecommunications, manufacturing, retail, market research, banking, shipping, healthcare, entertainment, and food and beverage. In addition, Duane Morris lawyers represent numerous universities, embassies, religious organizations and other nonprofit entities, as well as individuals, with immigration needs. Attorneys also handle immigration-related litigation and government compliance matters.

Sally James was promoted to partner of Greenberg Glusker in Los Angeles.

Ms. James works with Hollywood's top talent. She represents actors, writers, and producers, as well as production companies, talent managers, business managers, and investors in all business and legal aspects of the entertainment industry. She handles large film finance and M&A transactions for established Hollywood brands and also negotiates deals for entertainment start-ups.

She received her B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Richmond with a major in Theatre Arts and her J.D. from University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, Order of the Coif.

Mark Muir was promoted to partner of Greenberg Glusker in Los Angeles.

Mr. Muir brings a unique perspective to transactional entertainment law, having worked in the trenches of television production before turning his attention to representing actors, directors, producers, writers, authors, and multi-hyphenates, first in-house for a major talent agency and now at Greenberg Glusker. He utilizes his multi-faceted industry insight to advise a diverse clientele of established and emerging artists to structure and negotiate their entertainment deals at all stages, from the inception of an idea through production and exploitation.

He received his B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles and his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Brian D. Berman was promoted to partner of Greenberg Glusker in Los Angeles.

Mr. Berman counsels high net worth individuals and families on a wide range of estate planning issues, including complex tax planning, wealth transfer, business succession, and post-death trust administration. He focuses on clients in the real estate, technology and entertainment sectors.

He received his B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis (with honors) and his J.D. from University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.

Lori L. Werderitch was promoted to partner of Greenberg Glusker in Los Angeles.

Ms. Werderitch advises on a broad spectrum of matters for Los Angeles-based businesses of all sizes, high-net-worth individuals, and bankruptcy estates. Her goal is to help reduce client stress with bottom-line cost-effectiveness which she applies across the board from pre-litigation investigation and counseling to an array of functions for her local clients in business, real estate and employment disputes, or protracted, complicated, high-stakes trials and appeals.

She received her B.A. (with distinction) from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her J.D. from Tulane Law School.

Anat D. Simantob was promoted to partner of Elkins Kalt Weintraub Reuben Gartside LLP in Los Angeles.

Simantob has been promoted to partner in the firm's Wealth Transfer & Personal Planning department. Anat works with clients to establish plans fulfilling their desires for their legacies, including minimizing their wealth and related transfer taxes. She counsels clients in all aspects of estate planning, including basic planning, advanced trusts and wealth transfer strategies, estate administration, private foundations, conservatorships, guardianships, and dispute resolution. Anat regularly counsels clients with high- and ultra high-net-worths and a broad range of assets, including real estate, art, closely-held business interests, and intellectual property.

Shaye Diveley was promoted to principal of Meyers Nave in Oakland.

Shaye Diveley is a member of Meyers Nave's Land Use and Environmental Law Practice Group. She has more than 17 years of experience with complex issues involving land use and zoning, and natural resources and environmental law compliance and litigation. Shaye has counseled and litigated on behalf of clients in matters involving the California Environmental Quality Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Water Act, Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, state and federal endangered species laws, and other state and federal land use and environmental laws.

Best Lawyers in America has recognized Shaye in the Environmental Law and Natural Resources Law categories since 2011. She has also been recognized by Northern California Super Lawyers in the Environmental, Natural Resources, and Land Use/Zoning Law categories since 2010. Shaye's expertise was recently featured in Western City magazine in an article titled "CEQA: New Strategies for Streamlining Environmental Review" and in Super Lawyers magazine in an article titled "From Way Downtown: That's how attorney Shaye Diveley helped deliver an arena for the Kings -- and just before the buzzer."

Shaye earned her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and a B.A. from George Washington University.

Annita Zhong was promoted to partner of Irell & Manella LLP in Los Angeles.

Annita Zhong was elevated to partner at Irell & Manella LLP, effective Jan. 1, 2019. Zhong focuses on patent post-grant proceedings, patent litigation and licensing. She has deep experience handling inter partes review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, where she has an extraordinary track record of success. She has also litigated patent and trade-secret-related cases before federal and state courts, the International Trade Commission, and arbitral panels. Her experience spans technologies such as semiconductor fabrication and packaging, computer architecture, telecommunication network, wireless communication, standard essential patents, chemistry and materials. She also advises regarding the evaluation and exploration of patent portfolios. She was named to the Southern California Rising Stars list in 2018.

Zhong earned her J.D. from Yale Law School, her Ph.D. in chemistry from California Institute of Technology, and her B.S. in chemistry and chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before attending law school, Zhong worked as a senior research scientist. She is a co-author and co-inventor on peer-reviewed journal articles and issued patents.

Kamran Vakili was promoted to counsel of Irell & Manella LLP in Newport Beach.

Kamran Vakili was elevated to counsel at Irell & Manella LLP, effective Jan. 1, 2019. Vakili focuses on intellectual property law, particularly patent litigation, asset creation and strategic counseling. He has worked closely with a variety of U.S.-based and international clients to develop, manage and protect global patent portfolios. He has extensive experience prosecuting patent applications before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as well as representing plaintiffs and defendants in litigation before state and federal courts at the trial and appellate levels, the U.S. International Trade Commission and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Vakili earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as a member of the Fordham Law Review. He earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in physics from Princeton University, where he studied self-organizing behaviors of electrons in two dimensions, and received his B.S. in physics, with honors, from the California Institute of Technology.

Amy Proctor was promoted to partner of Irell & Manella LLP in Los Angeles.

Amy Proctor was elevated to partner at Irell & Manella LLP, effective Jan. 1, 2019. Proctor helps clients manage and resolve patent infringement disputes across a broad range of technologies, including computer architecture, signal transmission, renewable energy, and pharmaceuticals. Her expertise includes patent litigation and contested patent office proceedings, particularly inter partes reviews, at all stages from pre-litigation through trial and appeal. She was named to the Southern California Rising Stars list in 2017-2018.

Proctor earned her J.D. from USC Gould School of Law, where she was a member of Order of the Coif and earned the Arthur Manella Scholarship and the Malcolm Lucas Award. She earned her B.S. in physics, cum laude, from the University of Florida, where her research focused on using microelectromechanical systems to measure quantum forces. Before joining Irell, Proctor clerked for Judge John A. Kronstadt of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.