Laura K. Lin joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP as partner in Palo Alto.

Lin's practice focuses on a wide variety of complex commercial litigation, including securities litigation and insurance dispute matters, among others. Currently Co-Chair of the American Bar Association's Ethics & Professionalism Committee, she also counsels clients in connection with matters arising from alleged breaches of fiduciary duties and other professional liability issues.

Joe Yelda joined Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP as associate in San Diego.

Yelda has represented clients in insurance coverage disputes and uninsured/underinsured motorists claims with a focus on transportation and rideshare companies. He held law clerk positions with both the California Innocence Project and Liberty Mutual Insurance.

Kimia Kojouri joined Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP as associate in San Diego.

Kojouri handles all aspects of family law and has considerable experience representing clients in high-conflict cases. She held an externship at the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office, and also garnered experience working at the Family Law Facilitator’s Office at the Santa Clara County Family Justice Center prior to working in private practice.

Jennifer Griffin joined Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP as associate in San Diego.

Griffin’s litigation experience includes defending businesses, professionals and individuals involved in civil and commercial litigation. Her work has also included contract drafting and counseling clients on regulatory compliance and risk management. She is licensed to practice law in both California and Hawaii.

Zi C. Lin joined Tucker Ellis LLP as counsel in Los Angeles.

Lin advises and defends clients in a variety of sophisticated business matters. He has extensive experience in all aspects of litigation and significant trial and arbitration experience in state, federal courts, and bankruptcy courts. With a focus on real estate and title insurance issues, He has obtained favorable results for clients in a broad range of high-exposure cases.

Drake A. Mirsch joined Armstrong Teasdale LLP as associate in Orange County.

Mirsch is a litigation associate whose practice focuses on all aspects of employment law. Drake regularly represents employers in all phases of litigation, including pre-litigation negotiations, dispositive motions, and appeals. He also advises clients in multiple industries on a broad range of employment issues, employment practices and policies, and responding to administrative charges.

Jens Koepke was promoted to counsel of Complex Appellate Litigation Group LLP in Los Angeles.

Koepke is a certified appellate specialist with more than three decades of experience representing large and small companies, individuals, and public entities in high-stakes appeals. He is the former chair of the Appellate Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and has been inducted into the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers.

Michael B. Garfinkel joined Venable LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Garfinkel represents studios, production companies, talent agencies, advertising agencies, and artists in matters involving intricate industry-specific agreements, trademark, copyright and right of publicity disputes, trade secrets, and defamation. He also represents a variety of clients in commercial litigation, including limited liability company and partnership disputes and consumer class action defense.

Manuel F. Cachán joined Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom PP as partner in Los Angeles.

Cachán is a trial lawyer who has represented Fortune 500 companies before federal and state courts in jury trials and class actions, including in breach-of-contract litigations, securities and banking actions, product liability lawsuits and professional malpractice cases.

Janelle Li-A-Ping joined Miller Barondess, LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Li-A-Ping has represented clients in a variety of complex commercial litigation and general litigation matters, actively involved in pro bono work, and has worked on cases involving prisoners' rights and civil claims pursuant to Section 1983.

Pedram Esfandiary was promoted to partner of Wisner Baum LLP in Los Angeles.

Esfandiary concentrates his practice on toxic tort injuries, pharmaceutical drug liability, class actions, consumer fraud litigation and police misconduct lawsuits.

Dana Kennedy joined Miller Star Regalia as shareholder in San Francisco.

Kennedy advises real estate developers, investors, and other clients on a wide range of land use matters and real estate transactions, including zoning, planning, and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Her practice focuses on the processing of entitlements, 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. She has also counseled clients on an array of real estate transactions, including the acquisition, disposition, and financing of retail, office, and hotel properties.

Dustin Calkins joined Goodwin Procter LLP as partner in San Francisco, CA.

Calkins represents leading public and private, and national and international real estate investors on a broad array of transactions focused on commercial assets, including industrial, multifamily, office, hotel and retail properties. He helps clients engage in transactions and financings, including forming joint ventures for numerous purposes such as large-scale investments, developments and recapitalizations. Calkins also advises on acquisitions and dispositions of single assets as well as large national portfolios, ground-up developments and large-scale re-developments, commercial leases and complex loan facilities.

Matthew Ryan Ball joined Musick Peeler & Garrett LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Ball's practice focuses on public entity liability, general business litigation, and professional liability, including the representation of public entities, architects, engineers, and legal professionals.

Jeff S. Westerman joined Zimmerman Reed LLP as of counsel in Los Angeles.

Westerman's experience spans 40 years in securities fraud, Ponzi scheme, consumer fraud, antitrust, shareholder derivative, and employment litigation. He has served as lead or co-lead counsel in cases resulting in significant corporate governance changes and recoveries - and recognized increased value to plaintiffs - totaling more than $2 billion. His strong reputation for leadership and positive collaboration have resulted in appointments to a leadership role in large multi-party cases. He has also been an active member of the California bar, serving in Court appointed and volunteer roles within California and the U.S. Central District of California including Chair, U.S. Central District of California Attorney Discipline Committee; Honorary Board Member and past President of the Federal Bar Association - Los Angeles Chapter; and Member, U.S. Central District of California Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel.

Erik J. Carlson joined Baker & Hostetler LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Carlson litigates and tries patent cases involving complex technology, including spine surgery systems and other medical devices, medical diagnostic and screening tests, spoken language understanding systems, artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, telecommunications, cryptography, cloud computing, mobile apps and smart devices.

Dennis Landin joined ADR Services Inc. as neutral in Los Angeles.

Landín brings 20 years of judicial experience to his ADR practice. As a judge assigned to the Mandatory Settlement Conference program, Landín holds a distinguished record of success in settlements and earned recognition for his ability to resolve even the most intractable disputes encompassing complex issues in nearly every area of civil law, including employment, wage & hour, business and commercial disputes, personal injury, and insurance coverage. In addition to his settlement work, Landín's prior judicial assignments include presiding over an Independent Calendar Court, a Personal Injury Hub Court, a Felony Trial Court, and serving as an Associate Justice Pro Tem for the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District.

Gordon Hart joined Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Hart focuses on environmental and land use law and government advocacy. He specializes in transactional, permitting, enforcement, and litigation issues on behalf of real estate developers and owners, energy project developers, and manufacturers. Prior to entering private practice, Hart served in several capacities on the staff of the California State Legislature, including serving as senior consultant to the Senate Toxics and Public Safety Management Committee, as counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and as counsel to the Speaker of the Assembly.

Alicia Zimmerman was promoted to partner of Singleton Schreiber in San Diego.

Zimmerman's practice focuses on antitrust class actions, representing class plaintiffs in various consumer and pharmaceutical cases. Subsequently, she possesses significant experience in complex, multi-party litigation. Her experience includes antitrust class actions, representing class plaintiffs in numerous consumer and pharmaceutical cases, and maximizing claims on behalf of national and international clients in complex financial antitrust settlements.

Alejandro (Alex) E. Moreno was promoted to office managing partner of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP in Downtown San Diego.

Moreno practices general business and commercial litigation in state and federal courts, and also handles appeals in the California Court of Appeal and the Ninth Circuit. He is experienced in private dispute resolution and arbitration, including FINRA arbitration. Moreno also represents clients in the banking and finance, mortgage, cannabis, hospitality, technology and telecommunications, restaurant and franchise, energy and extraction, and healthcare industries. Moreno defends consumer class actions, securities litigation and shareholder derivative suits, cross-border litigation, and litigation for high-net-worth individuals and companies with a need for Spanish speaking counsel.

Marisa B. Miller was promoted to office managing partner of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP in Del Mar, San Diego.

Miller is a seasoned litigator whose practice focuses on commercial litigation matters and internal investigations for public and private companies. She regularly handles complex, multi-party disputes involving contracts, trade secrets, corporate governance, partnership and fiduciary relationships, inverse condemnation and other strict liability claims, business tort and fraud. These disputes range from high-stakes commercial litigation to matters involving construction, energy, environmental, statutory, technology and shareholder rights issues. She counsels clients through all stages of litigation, from pre-lawsuit strategy and advice to post-trial motions and appeals.

Steven R. Hilst was promoted to partner of Bisnar Chase Personal Injury Attorneys, LLP in Newport Beach.

Hilst has presented more than 35 jury trials to verdict and has recovered more than $30,000,000 on behalf of victims and their families. He is a member of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates, an invitation-only association of the most elite trial attorneys in the United States. He is also a Master of the American Inns of Court and is a member of The Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an organization limited to those select attorneys who have obtained seven-figure awards or more for clients.