Alidad Adam Damooei joined Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth as shareholder in Westlake Village, CA.

Damooei represents public and private companies, as well as private equity firms, in domestic and cross-border transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, PIPEs, minority investments, and joint ventures. His industry experience includes retail & consumer products, healthcare & life sciences, technology and REITs & real estate. He also provides general corporate representation to public and private company clients in connection with corporate governance matters and SEC filings.

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.

Winston P. Hsiao was promoted to partner of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Los Angeles.

Hsiao focuses on complex civil litigation in state and federal courts. He represents clients in a wide range of suits, including securities and shareholder litigation, tax shelter and accounting malpractice, trade secret actions, contract disputes, unfair competition claims and fraud claims. His clients include U.S. and international companies in the financial services, tax consulting, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical insurance, energy, education, consumer products, logistics and food industries. Mr. Hsiao serves on the Pro Bono Advisory Council for Asian American's Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL), the Board of Governors of the Southern California Chinese Lawyer's Association and on the Advisory Board for Asia Society Southern California. He received his J.D. from UCLA School of Law in 2010 and a B.A. from Yale University in 2007.

David A. Niemeyer was promoted to partner of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Los Angeles.

Niemeyer represents public and private clients, private equity sponsors, portfolio companies, sovereign funds, family offices and special committees in a variety of U.S. and cross-border transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, auctions, investments, joint ventures, restructurings, spin-offs and SPAC transactions. He also regularly advises clients on corporate governance and other general corporate matters. He has represented a diverse set of clients in an array of industries, such as apparel, beauty, consumer products, energy, entertainment, fintech, food, gaming, media, sports and retail, among others. Mr. Niemeyer is actively involved in Skadden's training and recruiting programs and serves on the firm's Los Angeles office Recruiting Committee. He received his J.D. from University of Southern California Gould School of Law in 2011 and a B.A. from Loyola Marymount University in 2007.

Peter P. Jones was promoted to partner of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Palo Alto.

Jones represents clients across a range of corporate transactions, with a particular focus on private equity, financial sponsors and high-growth and established technology clients. He received his Legal Practice Course in 2010 and his Diploma in Law in 2009 from The College of Law, England & Wales; as well as a M.A. (Hons) from University of St. Andrews in 2008.

Emily A. Reitmeier was promoted to partner of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Palo Alto.

Reitmeier concentrates her practice in complex civil litigation, white collar criminal cases and internal investigations. She has experience representing individuals and corporations in all stages of state and federal trial and appellate litigation and civil and criminal enforcement issues. She regularly handles a wide range of matters, including criminal white collar cases, defending government inquiries, and conducting internal investigations related to anti-corruption, accounting irregularities, improper business practices, compliance practices, corporate governance issues and related matters. She received her J.D. from Notre Dame Law School in 2007 and a B.S. from University of Michigan in 2004.

Arielle Harris joined Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Harris represents developers, landowners, and public agencies in connection with land use entitlements as well as environmental review and permitting for a wide range of residential, commercial, and industrial developments as well as public infrastructure projects in California. She brings extensive experience in state planning and zoning laws, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), in addition to state housing production laws such as the Housing Accountability Act and Density Bonus Law. Harris is an experienced litigator, representing clients in administrative hearings as well as in litigation at both the trial and appellate court level in the areas of CEQA, land use law, and the public trust doctrine. She is a frequent speaker on matters involving land use, housing production, and CEQA.

Stephen M. Osborn was promoted to managing office partner of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. in San Francisco.

Osborn is a versatile corporate attorney who draws on his in-house legal and business management experience to advise clients on transactional, corporate finance, and general corporate matters. He has particular experience with middle market mergers and acquisitions and regularly advises clients on exit strategies. He represents public, private, and emerging growth companies in a variety of industries, including life sciences, technology, digital health, and retail and consumer products.

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.

James W. Beach joined Morrison & Foerster LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Beach's practice focuses on representing private equity funds and their portfolio companies in complex U.S. and cross‑border transactions, including leveraged buyouts of private and public targets, divestitures, and growth equity investments. He also advises private equity-owned and public companies in all stages of their life cycle. He has a particular focus on the tech sector, including enterprise software, data and security and hardware, as well as strong experience with logistics, manufacturing, and consumer products.

Rachael G. Weatherly joined Blank Rome LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Weatherly focuses her practice on a wide range on litigation matters. She has experience developing strategies for multi-district litigations in federal and state court, arguing in court, performing extensive research, and drafting briefs.

James M. Peterson was promoted to managing partner of Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP in San Diego.

Peterson succeeds current HFM Managing Partner Steve Cologne, who will return to his business litigation practice and expand his work as a panel arbitrator. Cologne has served as the firm's Managing Partner since 2017. In his law practice, Peterson currently counsels management and litigates disputes for business clients of various sizes on claims involving the employment relationship including individual, representative and class actions. He has extensive litigation and trial experience throughout the state of California on matters involving wage and hour class action and PAGA matters, discrimination, retaliation and sexual harassment claims and general claims for wrongful termination. He also counsels clients on hiring practices, wage and hour compliance, employment agreements, policy manuals, employee handbooks, termination decisions, lay-offs, and disability management.

Elizabeth A. Frohlich joined Locke Lord LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Frohlich has represented U.S. and ‎international companies in their most important commercial and financial services disputes ‎nationwide. She represents banks and securities broker-dealers in complex, high-stakes civil and criminal actions in federal and state courts as well as arbitrations. She is particularly ‎experienced with litigation involving asset-backed securities.‎ In addition to her securitization litigation work, she handles investor cases, trust instruction proceedings, National Fair Housing Act cases, actions by ‎municipalities, and County Recorder/Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems actions. ‎Frohlich often provides clients with advice concerning pre-litigation legal strategy as well as post-‎litigation consulting.

Michael Guan joined Knox Ricksen LLP as associate in Walnut Creek.

Guan has defended clients in several types of general liability insurance matters. He has handled all aspects of discovery, including briefs, requests and responses, as well as pre-trial motions and motions for summary judgment. Prior to graduating from law school, Guan clerked for an insurance defense firm, representing clients in various general liability matters. He is fluent in Mandarin.

Monica Mazzei joined Buchalter as shareholder in San Francisco.

As Chair of the Family Law Group, Mazzei takes a modern approach to the practice of family law - addressing various needs for her clients related and unrelated to their family law case. She is a Certified Family Law Specialist representing high net-worth clients throughout California, with a concentration in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Los Angeles. She specializes in dissolution actions involving complicated valuation and financial matters, complex community property and support issues, including international issues, and dissolutions of marriage matters involving hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, and privately held businesses. Mazzei also represents clients in creating pre-marital agreements which reflect the goals of the individual couple.

Yan Zhang joined Norton Rose Fulbright as partner in San Francisco.

Zhang represents public and private companies in corporate and securities matters along with the financial institutions that invest in or provide services to them. His experience includes public offering and private placement of securities, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and licensing and foreign direct investment, general corporate governance and compliance matters. Zhang regularly advises China- and Asia-based clients on their most significant legal matters in the US and internationally and also helps international clients who have interest in doing business in Asia.

Pascal Benyamini was promoted to los angeles office leader of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP in Los Angeles.

Benyamini teams up with employers to defend them against employment law claims -- including wage and hour, discrimination and wrongful termination claims -- and to advise them on compliance, claim prevention, investigations and employment best practices. He previously served as co-leader of the firm's consumer products and retail industry team. As a former hockey player, Pascal applies the teamwork and tenacity he learned on the ice to his client relationships and advocacy.

Summer Conley was promoted to benefits and executive compensation practice group leader of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP in Los Angeles.

Conley guides companies through the complicated legal landscape surrounding employee benefits. She advises on qualified plan, health and welfare and executive compensation issues related to retirement plan committee fiduciary responsibilities, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Department of Labor (DOL) correction procedures, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), Section 125, Health care reform, and Alternative plan investments. She helps companies comply with HIPAA privacy regulations and health care reform rules, and she assists plan sponsors and fiduciaries in complying with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code.

Daniel I. Spector joined Hanson Bridgett LLP as partner in Sacramento.

Spector was a Sacramento sole practitioner focusing on trust, probate, and complex civil cases involving families. He serves as a mediator, arbitrator, and expert witness of trust, probate, and complex family civil disputes. He is one of only a handful of practitioners included in both the Sacramento Superior Court's list of Pro-Tem Settlement Conference judges and its list of approved mediators qualified to mediate trust and estate disputes pending in Sacramento Superior Court.

Brianna Hutton joined Hanson Bridgett LLP as associate in Sacramento.

Hutton practices trust and estate law. She represents clients in mediation and all stages of litigation. She is adept at drafting briefs and motions as well as taking and defending depositions.

Janine M. Braxton joined Meyers Nave as senior of counsel in San Diego.

Braxton advises and defends employers in all aspects of California labor and employment law and litigation, including wage and hour class and representative PAGA actions, discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wrongful termination, and other labor code violations.

Candice Choh was promoted to co-partner-in-charge of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Century City.

Choh is the firm's Co-Partner in Charge of the Century City and Los Angeles offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where she practices in the firm's Corporate Transactions Practice Group. Ms. Choh has a broad-based practice encompassing public and private company mergers and acquisitions across a wide variety of industries and other private equity transactions, including investment fund formation, co-investments, secondary transactions, and investments in sponsors. Ms. Choh regularly counsels private equity sponsors on firm structuring and internal governance matters.

Kahn A. Scolnick was promoted to co-partner-in-charge of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Los Angeles.

Scolnick is the firm's Co-Partner in Charge of the Los Angeles and Century City offices, Co-Chair of the firm’s Class Actions Practice Group, and is also an active member of the Appellate and Constitutional Law and Securities Litigation Practice Groups, among others. He specializes in class actions, complex commercial cases, and litigating a variety of constitutional issues—both in the trial courts and on appeal.

Mark V. Boennighausen joined Hopkins & Carley as of counsel in San Jose and Redwood City.

Boennighausen has broad civil litigation experience, with specific capabilities and successes in trusts and estate litigation, trade secret law, real estate and commercial disputes involving technology companies.

Julio E. Martinez joined Gilson Daub as managing partner in San Clemente.

A seasoned professional with a knack for leadership, Martinez has been managing teams and handling workers' compensation claims since becoming an attorney in 2007. Passionate about issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), Martinez has consistently prioritized improving diversity in the workers' compensation industry throughout his career. Most recently, in August 2022, he was appointed Board Member of the Hispanic Insurance & Risk Management Association (HIRMA) as their Director of Legal Affairs. He is also a frequent speaker at many industry conferences.

Richard D. Gluck joined Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek as of counsel in San Diego.

Gluck's practice focuses on complex, "bet-the-company" cases, including securities and consumer class actions, construction and real estate development disputes, unfair competition, trademark infringement and trade secret theft actions and wrongful termination, and other employment matters. He also has extensive experience representing public companies and their officers and directors in SEC and other government investigations and enforcement actions. Gluck investigated and prosecuted claims under federal and state securities laws, helping to recover more than $4 billion for investors. Before that, he spent nearly 20 years defending accounting firms, law firms, investment managers, contractors and subcontractors, and other businesses of all sizes and forms against claims of negligence, professional liability, fraud, and breach of contract.

Rebecca F. Zipp joined Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek as of counsel in San Diego.

Zipp focuses her practice on complex business litigation and criminal defense. She served as a San Diego County deputy district attorney, where she prosecuted 50 jury trials to verdict, and as chief deputy of domestic violence and sex crimes for the San Diego City Attorney's Office, where she supervised over 60 jury trials. Active in the community, Zipp is a member of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers and American Inns of Court, Louis M. Welsh San Diego Chapter, as well as a former board member of the Lawyers Club of San Diego, California Women Lawyers Association, and Ohr Shalom Synagogue. She also volunteers for the Jewish Family Services of San Diego.

Agustin Ceballos was promoted to of counsel of Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek in San Diego.

Ceballos joined the firm as an associate in 2017. His practice focuses on cross-border tax and corporate matters, international estate planning, advising on tax reporting and compliance, and tax controversy. He has extensive experience structuring international transactions, operations, and investments, including the use of tax treaties for reduced tax rates, optimum use of foreign tax credits, and entity classifications.

Ronnie M. Schmelz joined K&L Gates LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Schmelz spent the first part of her career at an international law firm defending clients in complex litigation, including consumer class actions and disputes involving reinsurance, general commercial, real estate, and healthcare-related matters. She now spends a significant amount of her time counseling clients on litigation-avoidance strategies so they can confidently focus on building and operating their businesses in a way that reduces the risk of regulatory oversight and consumer challenges.