Su Da was promoted to counsel of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Palo Alto.

Da advises public and private clients on a variety of internal and third-party transactions, including domestic and cross-border acquisition, disposition, and restructuring transactions, debt and equity financings, initial public offerings, and international planning.

Christopher P. Hammond was promoted to counsel of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Palo Alto.

Hammond represents public and private clients in complex strategic transactions and corporate governance matters, including domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, investments and restructurings, as well as situations involving challenges to corporate control.

Hillary A. Hamilton was promoted to counsel of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Los Angeles.

Hamilton represents a wide variety of clients in commercial litigation disputes in federal and state courts across the nation. She has extensive experience in complex litigation matters, particularly in consumer class actions.

Anoush D. Sarkissian was promoted to counsel of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Los Angeles.

Sarkissian represents clients in a range of complex real estate matters. Her practice includes portfolio and single-asset acquisitions, dispositions of various classes of real estate assets, joint ventures, financings, developments and leases. Her clients include institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, private equity firms, lenders, borrowers, buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants and developers. She also has been involved in various alternative energy transactions involving wind and solar farms, and the development and financing of transmission facilities.

Paul Fraidenburgh joined Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP as partner in San Diego.

Fraidenburgh has tried to conclusion numerous high-stakes business disputes. He has prevailed on behalf of clients in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and at the state Supreme Court level. Paul represents clients ranging from government agencies to Fortune 100 companies across a wide range of industries, including technology, aviation, real estate, energy, sports, and entertainment.

Bryn E. Jedlic joined Miller Starr Regalia as of counsel in Walnut Creek.

Jedlic is in the Land Use Department at Miller Starr Regalia, focusing on land use matters. He led the real estate team at Mubadala Real Estate and Infrastructure, overseeing the development of more than three million square feet of retail, residential, hospitality, and office projects on Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi, UAE, while also leading Mubadala's international real estate investments and partnerships.

Jayni F. Hein joined Covington & Burling LLP as of counsel in San Francisco.

During her tenure at CEQ, she oversaw the Biden Administration's ambitious environmental and clean energy agenda, leading work on low-carbon projects and climate disclosure and advancing the successful implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (2021) and Inflation Reduction Act (2022). She has extensive experience advising clients on NEPA, Clean Air Act, and Endangered Species Act issues, as well as energy development on public lands. As the former senior political appointee spearheading work to revise NEPA regulations and issue guidance on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, she offers clients first-hand experience with infrastructure projects that require federal and state permits and authorization. She helps clients identify new funding opportunities and successfully advance clean energy and other infrastructure projects, including onshore and offshore wind, solar, hydrogen, transmission, semiconductor, and carbon, capture, sequestration, and utilization (CCUS) projects.

Susan Leader joined Paul Hastings LLP as partner in Century City.

Leader litigates and tries cases in high-stakes commercial matters and class actions in federal and state courts. She has chaired more than a dozen trials, arbitrations, and international arbitrations and has represented clients in a variety of industries, including entertainment and media, hospitality, funds, and renewable energy sectors. Ms. Leader's broad base of experience includes handling a wide variety of commercial litigation matters, employment disputes, product liability disputes, franchise law violations, False Claims Act, and RICO and Sherman Act violations.

Kenneth Deutsch joined Paul Hastings LLP as partner in Century City.

Deutsch is global co-chair of the Entertainment and Media practice of Paul Hastings and is based in the firm's Century City office. He represents a broad array of operating entities in the entertainment and media industries, including film and television studios, streaming platforms, and independent media companies, advising on their most significant corporate transactions as well as on a variety of film, television, and other commercial ventures.

Leslie A. Horwitz joined Blank Rome LLP as associate in Orange County.

Horwitz concentrates her practice on a wide range of labor relations and employment law matters.

Alex G. Romain joined Jenner & Block LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Romain's practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, white-collar defense, and internal investigations. He has vast experience representing individuals and corporations in matters alleging campaign finance violations, obstruction of justice, consumer fraud, bank fraud, environmental pollution, theft, and fraudulent misappropriation. He also successfully represented the Baltimore Ravens and members of their senior personnel regarding the independent investigation that was conducted by former FBI Director Robert Mueller. Additionally, he has successfully defended numerous law firms, accounting firms, and actuarial firms against claims of professional negligence and malpractice, and on conflicts issues.

Sarah Estephan joined Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP as associate in Orange County.

Estephan focuses her practice on assisting clients with creating data privacy and cybersecurity policies and procedures, as well as with implementing corporate compliance and privacy programs. In addition, Estephan regularly provides fully managed incident response services to clients of all sizes and in all sectors, including the facilitation of digital forensic investigations and determinations regarding legal breach notification obligations.

Daniel A. Cody joined Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. as member in San Francisco.

Cody represents a diverse set of clients, such as hospitals, health systems, physicians, post-acute care entities, digital health and medical technology companies, life sciences organizations, and investors on a broad range of complex regulatory, compliance, privacy, and transactional matters. He assists clients in navigating evolving federal and state laws and regulations regarding pricing and reimbursement, licensing and accreditation, state corporate practice of medicine, privacy and consent, federal and state anti-kickback statutes, and federal and state self-referral provisions. He additionally oversees regulatory due diligence in mergers, acquisitions, and other transactional matters.

Marc H. Axelbaum joined Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. as member in San Francisco.

Axelbaum is a highly skilled litigator who handles a wide range of cases involving criminal and civil litigation, sensitive investigations, and disputes related to trusts and estates for affluent individuals. He has now become part of our team in San Francisco, where he takes on important cases for clients across various industries such as renewable energy, life sciences, health care, technology, financial services, real estate, and construction. Marc's clientele includes both US and international companies, executives, public officials, and individuals.

Erick Dimalanta was promoted to partner of Tyson & Mendes LLP in San Francisco.

Dimalanta focuses on construction disputes, business litigation, premises liability, property damage, subrogation claims and professional liability matters. Dimalanta is a veteran litigator with extensive experience in all aspects of complex civil litigation. He has resolved hundreds of lawsuits and pre-litigation disputes through motion, settlement or decision.

Rachel Donnelly was promoted to partner of Tyson & Mendes LLP in San Diego.

Donnelly represents clients in state and federal courts. She has over a decade of legal experience representing clients in civil cases ranging from personal injury to labor and employment matters and is currently a member of the firm's Complex Trial Team. She has successfully achieved superior results for her clients through dispositive motions and settlement negotiations.

Derek Earley was promoted to partner of Tyson & Mendes LLP in Orange County.

Earley focuses on the defense of personal injury, general commercial liability, professional liability and business litigation matters. He has achieved favorable results for his clients during all phases of pre-trial litigation, including complex discovery matters and motion practice, depositions, dispositive motions and alternative dispute resolution.

Julie Fritsch Earley was promoted to partner of Tyson & Mendes LLP in Los Angeles.

Earley's practice focuses primarily on catastrophic personal injury. She has extensive experience litigating cases in both federal and state courts, representing clients in areas including general negligence, personal injury, trucking, product liability, employment, and healthcare. She has experience handling all phases of litigation, including jury trials and arbitrations. She has also drafted and argued numerous successful dispositive motions, including several motions for summary judgment. Additionally, Earley drafted the appellate papers for an opinion discussing arbitration agreements for nursing home residents.

Kelley Harman was promoted to partner of Tyson & Mendes LLP in Los Angeles.

Harman has extensive litigation experience, including investigation, discovery, motion practice, mediation, and trial. She has co-chaired several personal injury jury trials as a defense attorney, receiving several defense verdicts. Her experience also includes representing government entities. Prior to joining Tyson & Mendes, Ms. Harman was in-house counsel to a large public agency in Los Angeles, where she handled all the agency’s litigation as both plaintiff and defendant, involving construction, contracts, and injury matters. Her practice focuses on general tort claims, including large catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death claims, premises liability, and product liability actions.

Darrell Nguyen was promoted to partner of Tyson & Mendes LLP in San Francisco.

Nguyen's practice focuses on complex multi-party construction litigation, real estate litigation, professional liability, landlord-tenant and habitability, personal injury, and general liability litigation. He has over 20 years of experience in civil litigation and has successfully handled hundreds of cases from inception through all phases of litigation, including trial, arbitration, and settlement.

James P. Kousoulas joined Alston & Bird LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Kousoulas counsels banks, private equity firms, private lenders, debt funds, life insurance companies, and other corporate clients on commercial lending and transactional real estate matters. He has more than 25 years of experience helping clients through a variety of complicated commercial loan transactions, including commercial mortgage-backed securities, mezzanine financings, secured and unsecured real estate and asset-based borrowing facilities, letter of credit facilities, secured and unsecured revolving lines of credit, and construction and bridge loans. His advice to clients throughout the United States often focuses on multistate transactions.

James P. Litwinovich joined Alston & Bird LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Litwinovich represents institutional lenders in commercial real estate financing and a wide range of other financial services matters across the real estate and banking industries. Clients around the country seek his assistance with acquisition and development loans, construction and bridge loans, permanent financing, mezzanine and other subordinate financing, and other complex real estate financing transactions.

Joe Binder was promoted to partner of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in San Francisco.

Binder's practice focuses on advising sponsors of private investment funds across a range of strategies, including venture capital, growth equity, buyouts, and secondaries. His experience includes acting for clients such as Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, HarbourVest Partners, Crescent Capital Group, Stone Point Capital, Morgan Stanley, and One Rock Capital.

David Downing was promoted to partner of Pearlman, Brown & Wax, LLP in Los Angeles.

Downing specializes in the defense of complex workers' compensation matters, having litigated cases from file inception through trial and appeal, focusing on quick and cost efficient resolution.

Corinne Spencer was promoted to partner of Pearlman, Brown & Wax, LLP in Los Angeles.

Spencer's practice encompasses single-party discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination cases, most often arising out of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), wage-and-hour class actions, and Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) Representative Actions. She has defended numerous clients across all industries including food service, healthcare, sporting goods, and entertainment. In addition to conducting independent investigations of workplace misconduct, she has extensive experience drafting law and motion, responding to discovery, taking and defending depositions, and arguing substantive and dispositive motions. She also zealously advocates for employers and management in mediations, arbitrations, trial and appellate courts.

Daniel R. Paluch joined Gipson Hoffman & Pancione as attorney in Century City, Los Angeles.

Paluch is an experienced litigator with a record of success representing businesses and individuals in complex litigation matters in state and federal court. His multi-faceted expertise covers torts, breach of contract cases, finance and lender liability disputes, residential and commercial real estate matters, intellectual property claims, consumer protection matters, family law, and trusts and estates controversies. He is also among the nation's most experienced Property Assessed Clean Energy ("PACE") financing litigators, having personally handled in excess of eighty PACE-related cases on behalf of PACE financing providers and their government partners.

Rosemary T. McGuire joined Judicate West as neutral in Santa Ana.

Judge McGuire, who is affiliated with the Santa Ana office, is available statewide as a mediator, arbitrator, and private judge. Appointed by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010, Judge McGuire served on the Fresno County Superior Court bench for 12 years, presiding over civil and family law matters, as well as serving on the court's Appellate Division. Prior to her bench appointment, she was a partner with Weakley, Arendt & McGuire LLP and spent 17 years in private practice trying a variety of civil rights and tort litigation matters involving public, business and religious entities. From 2001-2006, Judge McGuire served as judge pro tem in the Juvenile Delinquency Division of the Fresno County Superior Court.

Sonia Salinas joined Hanson Bridgett as partner in Los Angeles.

Salinas represents clients in a wide range of labor and employment matters, including litigation of wrongful discharge; race, gender, and disability discrimination/harassment; retaliation; wage and hour claims (including class actions and FLSA collective actions); and claims involving non-compete agreements. Salinas also provides advice and counsel to clients on employee discipline, leaves of absence, employee handbooks, and personnel policies.

Bret H. Hunter joined Blank Rome LLP as of counsel in Los Angeles.

Hunter has significant experience representing high-profile and high-net-worth individuals in family law, custody, domestic violence, and paternity cases. He has served as lead counsel in over a hundred long and short cause trials, orders to show cause, procedural and discovery motions, and requests for order in both the family law and civil departments of the Superior Court of California. He is also a well-respected mediator in high-net-worth and high-conflict divorce cases and has served as an expert witness on California family law topics in other jurisdictions.

Buck Endemann joined Perkins Coie LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Endemann focuses his practice on renewable energy project development. He counsels clients on renewable power and fuels offtake, development agreements, EPC and supply agreements, and environmental attribute and carbon offset transactions.

David Lee was promoted to chair, litigation department of Nossaman in San Francisco.

Lee focuses his practice on intellectual property matters, including copyright and trademark claims, trade secrets and internet domain name disputes. Lee also handles business litigation matters involving contract claims, unfair business practices and other corporate disputes. He provides risk management and general counsel to startups and growing companies in multiple areas, including intellectual property strategies, risk avoidance analysis, contract negotiations and strategies. His clients include technology companies, public entities, manufacturers and business owners.

Ben Rubin was promoted to chair, environment & land use group of Nossaman in Irvine.

Rubin focuses on helping developers, public agencies, landowners, and corporate clients on a variety of complex land use and environmental matters. He counsels clients on matters dealing with the Federal and State Endangered Species Act, the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Federal Toxic Substances Control Act, the California Hazardous Waste Control Act, the California Environmental Quality Act, the California Coastal Act, the California Permit Streamlining Act, and the Federal and State Constitutions. Rubin was a law clerk to the U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford of the Central District. He also served as an intern for U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Walsh.

Simon Adams was promoted to co-chair, real estate group of Nossaman in San Francisco.

Adams handles leasing transactions and construction contract matters for a variety of commercial, retail and industrial spaces, including professional offices, technology laboratories, data centers, telecom towers and brick and mortar stores. He also advises on acquisitions, dispositions and sale and leaseback arrangements and provides counsel on financing issues. He counts among his clients major information technology and telecommunications companies, pharmaceutical corporations, medical insurance providers, pension finance firms and banks.

Jill Jaffe was promoted to co-chair, real estate group of Nossaman in San Francisco.

Jaffe specializes in disputes involving real estate, public procurements and infrastructure projects. She has particular experience counseling clients on myriad aspects of public contracting and procurement disputes and litigation claims on behalf of project owners, including defending bid protest challenges and litigating construction claims. She is experienced in all phases of litigation in both federal and state courts, including pre-litigation government investigations, pleadings, e-Discovery, dispositive motions, mediation and trial. Jill has successfully obtained verdicts for her clients as a lead trial attorney, including for the Texas Department of Transportation.

Allison Callaghan was promoted to co-chair, employment group of Nossaman in Sacramento.

Callaghan focuses her practice on employment litigation and counseling. She has a proven track record defending employers in wage-and-hour class and PAGA representative actions and single-plaintiff harassment, discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuits. Allison has successfully represented clients in all phases of litigation, including at trial, as well as in administrative and alternative dispute resolution proceedings. She also regularly advises both public entities and private companies on a broad array of employment and management issues and conducts workplace trainings and investigations.

Melissa Borrelli was promoted to co-chair, healthcare group of Nossaman in Sacramento.

Borrelli provides legal services and solutions to payors, health systems, providers and others in the health, managed care and health insurance industry. Melissa offers legal counsel to commercial, discount, specialized (including EAP, psychological, dental, vision and chiropractic/acupuncture) and government-based health plans, including Medi-Cal, Medicare and Marketplace. In addition, she advises health plans and risk-bearing providers on licensing, contracting and other matters pertaining to the laws and standards of managed care and advises on issues pertaining to compliance and regulatory affairs, auditing/operational assessment, privacy and information security, enterprise risk management, digital health, corporate governance, contracts, process improvement and due diligence.

Kathryn Eidmann was promoted to vice president chief of litigation and legal programs of Public Counsel in Los Angeles.

Eidmann has litigated major cases in the areas of education equity, children's rights, gender discrimination, criminalization of poverty, immigrants' rights, housing and homelessness, and the rights of low-wage workers. She has particular expertise in litigation and advocacy to reform education, child welfare, and other systems to address the needs of children impacted by trauma

Daniel V. Kitzes was promoted to partner of Fox Rothschild LLP in Los Angeles.

Kitzes represents large and small businesses in a wide array of labor and employment matters. A proficient litigator, Kitzes has experience defending Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), class action, wage & hour, whistleblower, discrimination and harassment cases, as well as contract and breach of warranty matters. His practice also includes representing companies in administrative hearings, including before the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

Ketul D. Patel was promoted to partner of Fox Rothschild LLP in Los Angeles.

Patel's practice focuses on preventative counseling and defending employers in both state and federal courts through trial. Patel focuses on cases involving whistleblower complaints, restrictive covenants, wage and hour, wrongful termination, sexual harassment, discrimination, statutory leave, retaliation and breach of contract claims. He also represents employers in complex wage and hour class actions and PAGA representative actions.

Emily M. Weissenberger joined Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP as counsel in San Francisco.

Weissenberger is an accomplished trial attorney focused on defending clients against product liability, mass tort, environmental and complex litigation claims in the life sciences, pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer products fields.

Wyatt Donen joined Custodio & Dubey LLP in Los Angeles.

Donen is an associate attorney in the Consumer Protection division.

Douglas A. Thompson joined Snell & Wilmer LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Thompson defends class action litigation matters and represents financial institutions and businesses in related regulatory investigations. Throughout his career, he has represented clients in more than 250 putative class actions and has been admitted pro hac vice in numerous federal district courts. He assists clients in mitigating emerging regulatory and litigation risks and collaborates with clients to champion inclusion, innovation, and thought leadership initiatives.