Caleb Y. Lee joined FordHarrison as counsel in Los Angeles.

Lee regularly appears in both federal and state courts, as well as before administrative agencies, where he adeptly defends employers in a wide range of employment litigation and administrative charge cases. His notable experience includes skillfully representing clients in class actions involving wage and hour claims under the California Labor Code and Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as handling background check claims under California's Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act, Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act, and the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Additionally, Caleb has successfully handled representative actions under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).

Bruce Steinert joined Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Steinert advises and represents a range of clients on debt financing and other related matters. He works with private equity (PE) sponsors, debt investment funds, publicly traded companies, and privately held ventures. He also advises founder and PE portfolio companies on acquisition facilities, refinancing facilities, recapitalizations, distressed and workout facilities, bond issuance, and second-lien lender and junior debt financings, both domestic and multijurisdictional, in a wide array of industry sectors such as retail, wholesale, manufacturing, software, IT, business services, consulting, brokerage, apparel, health care, insurance, agriculture, chemicals, medical supplies, and pharmaceuticals.

Peter R Fischer joined Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Fischer advises clients on complex corporate and real estate transactions. He regularly represents real estate developers and owners, private equity funds, investors, lenders, and entrepreneurs with mid-market M&A deals, stock and asset transactions, fund formation, syndication, joint ventures, and private placements. He also counsels his clients on crisis management, pre-litigation workouts, and investor, partnership, and shareholder disputes.

Michele Wein Layne joined O'Melveny & Myers LLP as of counsel in Los Angeles.

Layne worked at the SEC for nearly 30 years and served in senior leadership positions for more than 17 years, including as the SEC's Los Angeles Regional Director for 11 years. She leverages this experience to represent and advise corporate clients and their boards, committees, officers, and directors on securities-related enforcement matters, internal and regulatory investigations, and governance and compliance issues.

Stephen J. Squillario joined Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt LLP as general counsel in Los Angeles.

Squillario's background includes providing counsel and representation to law firms and public accounting firms on such matters as professional liability, risk management, ethics, engagement agreements, contracts, billing issues, and intra-partnership disputes. Squillario also has extensive experience representing businesses of all sizes in California state and federal courts.

Cindy M. Lovering joined Sidley Austin LLP as partner in Palo Alto.

Lovering is a member of the firm's California Global Finance practice, with a focus on representing lenders in fund finance and venture finance transactions. She has built a successful track record with extensive knowledge in global finance by leveraging her banking and financial center networks, in turn expanding Sidley's fund and debt finance footprint into the venture capital space and further establishing the firm's destination practice in Emerging Companies and Venture Capital practice.

Eryk Gettell joined Kennedys Law LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Gettell counsels insurers on complex insurance coverage and litigation matters involving director and officer liability, employment practices liability, financial institutions, professional liability, technology and media liability, cybersecurity and data privacy, and commercial general liability insurance. He has advised insurers on thousands of insurance claims such as securities class actions, board of director disputes, employment discrimination and sexual harassment matters, wage and hour lawsuits, professional negligence claims, regulatory investigations, data breach matters, and fiduciary liability claims.

Claudia M. Coleman joined Armstrong Teasdale LLP as associate in Orange County.

Coleman regularly represents clients against employment-related claims brought under federal and state employment laws, including claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and whistleblower claims. Coleman also has experience representing clients against claims of wage and hour violations of California's Labor Code, class, and representative Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) actions.

Rob C. Keitamo joined Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel as attorney in Pleasanton.

Keitamo offers clients comprehensive counsel in real estate matters, including lease disputes and enforcement; lease drafting and negotiation; habitability claims; rent board petitions, arbitrations, and mediations; and tenancy buyouts.

Morgan Forsey joined Arentfox Schiff LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Forsey regularly defends employers in wage-and-hour class actions, PAGA cases, and matters before governmental agencies, such as the DLSE, CRD, and EEOC. She also defends and assists employers in navigating regulatory audits, including those by the DOL, DOJ, and local enforcement agencies.

Daniel J. McQueen joined Arentfox Schiff LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

McQueen has represented employers in high-stakes cases and jury trials across the country. He helps clients navigate all stages of litigation and has a particular focus on defending wage-and-hour class actions, as well as representative actions under the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) and collective actions under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). He frequently represents employers in matters arising under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, and other labor and employment laws. In addition to his litigation practice, he advises on various human resources and workplace issues and conducts “wage and hour” audits to assist clients in navigating California’s byzantine employment laws.

Nora Stilestein joined Arentfox Schiff LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Stilestein represents employers in both federal and California courts in numerous labor and employment matters, with a particular focus on defending wage-and-hour class actions and PAGA actions through trial. Her litigation experience includes defeating several class certification motions, successfully defending certified claims through trial, and representing clients in arbitrations. Nora also provides training on various employment issues and advises employers on compliance with wage and hour laws, the classification of independent contractors, and employee discipline and terminations.

John E. Fitzsimmons joined Barnes & Thornburg LLP as partner in San Diego.

Fitzsimmons has a particular focus on intellectual property-related claims, including both the prosecution and defense of claims involving non-compete agreements, trade secrets, proprietary information, and restrictive covenants. In addition to guiding clients through California and federal wage and hour litigation and class actions, Fitzsimmons counsels and trains employees on day-to-day operations, employment issues, as well as labor-management relations. He also assists employers with union organizing, corporate campaigns, and collective bargaining and has represented employers in labor arbitrations and proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board.

Agustin Ceballos joined Buchalter as shareholder in San Diego.

Ceballos counsels clients in a wide range of complex tax and estate planning matters. His representative work includes advising on multi-generation succession planning for foreign nationals, cross-border estate and tax planning, compliance with FATCA and CRS regulations, structuring U.S. and Mexican investments, tax implications of business operations for foreign investors, and more. He received the Fulbright Garcia-Robles Scholarship. He actively participates in professional organizations such as the State Bar of California's International & Taxation Law Sections and the San Diego County Bar Association, where he serves on the executive committee for the International Law and Immigration Section of the California Lawyers Association

Daniel C. Silva joined Buchalter as shareholder in San Diego.

Silva is a former financial crimes prosecutor and in-house global risk counsel at an international financial technology company with extensive trial, investigation, and risk assessment experience. As an assistant U.S. attorney in San Diego, he led hundreds of investigations into financial crimes, anti-money laundering ("AML") violations, fraud, and forfeiture, often involving cooperating witnesses and whistleblowers. Many of his cases worked conducted in parallel with federal law enforcement agencies and financial regulators like the SEC, FinCEN, federal and state tax authorities, OFAC, and banking regulators. He has received some of the highest awards these agencies could bestow. After leading many of the most influential AML prosecutions in the U.S., Silva has been retained as an expert witness, taught at law schools in the United States and Mexico, and trained prosecutors, financial professionals, investigators, and foreign law enforcement.

Josh Escovedo joined Buchalter as shareholder in Sacramento.

Escovedo handles cases involving breaches of contracts, fraud, shareholder and partnership disputes, and other business-related actions. His also handles defamation and free-speech actions, and litigation and transactional intellectual property matters.

Rachael Aguirre joined Nukk-Freeman & Cerra, PC as counsel in San Diego.

Aguirre has a long history of successfully serving as General Counsel and in various in-house legal roles for prominent companies and organizations in Southern California. More specifically, her experience includes representing the management of private sector businesses in employment law and employee relations matters. Astute at advising her clients on all aspects of labor and employment matters, her practice encompasses expertise relating to laws such as under Title VII, EEO, FMLA, ADA, FLSA, FEHA, EDD, DOL, and other state and federal laws. She also advises and judiciously counsels on all types of employment-related matters, including discrimination claims, handbook provisions, workplace policies, accommodation issues, CDC guidelines, and COVID-related compliance issues.

Bruce Steinert joined Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Steinert advises and represents a range of clients on debt financing and other related matters. He works with private equity (PE) sponsors, debt investment funds, publicly traded companies, and privately held ventures. He also advises founder and PE portfolio companies on acquisition facilities, refinancing facilities, recapitalizations, distressed and workout facilities, bond issuance, and second-lien lender and junior debt financings, both domestic and multijurisdictional, in a wide array of industry sectors such as retail, wholesale, manufacturing, software, IT, business services, consulting, brokerage, apparel, health care, insurance, agriculture, chemicals, medical supplies, and pharmaceuticals.

Zachary A. Sarnoff joined Miller Barondess, LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Sarnoff is a business litigator with experience advising clients in state and federal courts throughout the country on a variety of complex litigation matters, including intellectual property, contract, antitrust and unfair competition, mergers and acquisitions, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, product liability, corporate governance, and general commercial.

Cesie C. Alvarez joined Miller Barondess, LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Alvarez is a litigator who concentrates her practice on intellectual property and commercial litigation issues affecting the media, entertainment, and new technology sectors. She has represented clients in copyright, DMCA, trademark, trade dress, right of publicity, and defamation disputes. Her clients have included artists and creators, internet service providers, media and toy corporations, and art collectors.

Rana Ayazi joined Miller Barondess, LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Ayazi is a litigator that represents employers in state and federal courts in a wide range of labor and employment law matters, including claims for discrimination, harassment, retaliation, trade secret misappropriation, wrongful termination, and wage-and-hour violations. Her experience includes representing and advising employers in single-plaintiff, class action, and Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) lawsuits.

Wendy S. Dowse joined Carlton Fields as of counsel in Los Angeles.

Dowse concentrates on legal research and writing and appellate practice, with a focus on product liability and mass tort matters. She has handled appellate matters and motion practice in state and federal courts across the country and has more than a decade of experience defending pharmaceutical companies in product liability litigation. Dowse's litigation practice encompasses a wide variety of matters and issues, including real estate, product liability, class actions, business law and contracts, personal injury, consumer law, punitive damages, admissibility of expert testimony, and FDA compliance.

Sylvia Torres-Guillén joined The Disability Rights Legal Center as director of litigation in Los Angeles.

Torres-Guillén spent decades fighting for civil rights and social, racial, and economic justice. As a federal public defender for nearly 20 years, the State of California's first Latina general counsel of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board, and ACLU of Southern California's Statewide director of education equity, she fought for the most marginalized and oppressed communities.

Shawn R. Loring joined Spaulding McCullough & Tansil LLP as associate in Santa Rosa.

Loring's practice focuses on the intersection between estate planning, business development and succession, and real estate transactions. He draws upon his 25+ year career as a financial planner to augment his law practice to help families create, grow, protect, and pass wealth through instruments such as wills, trusts, and powers of attorney. His experience as the CEO and attorney of a national organization with 36,000+ active member families inform how he counsels owners of family businesses.

Robert I. Lockwood joined Littler Mendelson P.C. as shareholder in San Francisco.

Lockwood counsels clients on various aspects of employment law and related litigation. He has defended both California and national employers against complex class action and collective action cases, as well as in single plaintiff litigation matters, involving claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, breach of contract, unfair competition, and misappropriation of trade secrets. Lockwood's clients span numerous industries, including financial services, technology and software, sports, pharmaceutical, transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, hospitality, wine and construction. In addition to his litigation practice, Lockwood provides workplace training, conducts investigations, and counsels employers on workplace policies, practices and agreements. He also focuses on labor management relations, including defending against union campaigns and representation petitions, handling grievance arbitration and administrative hearings, responding to unfair labor practice charges and advising on collective bargaining issues.