Halim Dhanidina joined Signature Resolution as mediatior/neutral in Los Angeles.

Dhanidina reviewed nearly 1,000 appeals spanning various disciplines, including family, employment, business litigation, and probate. Before his Court of Appeal appointment, Dhanidina served as a judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court and presided over multiple notable cases that significantly impacted both his career and those affected by the verdict.

Javkhlan Enkhbayar joined Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney P.C. as associate in San Francisco.

Javkhlan represents clients in business and intellectual property matters, as well as civil litigation and professional liability. As a law student, Javkhlan received the Intellectual Property and Technology Law Certificate and participated in the USPTO Trademark Program as a certified student, providing legal services to parties needing assistance with the registration of trademarks and copyrights. She also participated in the 2019 Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition. During her third year of law school, Javkhlan served as a board member for USF Law Review and USF Moot Court Program.

Brian L. Johnsrud was promoted to office managing partner of Duane Morris LLP in Silicon Valley.

Johnsrud has represented companies in their most challenging employment law matters for more than 25 years. When anticipatory and strategic work does not prevent a dispute, he defends companies in multiple forums, from agency proceedings and hearings to arbitration and litigation. Johnsrud defends a wide variety of claims, from whistleblower/retaliation claims to gender, age and race discrimination cases as well as executive contract and compensation matters. He has defended many PAGA actions as well as other wage-and-hour claims. Johnsrud is a frequent adviser on sensitive investigations and executive separations.

John E. Roesenthal joined Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Rosenthal has represented defendants and plaintiffs in matters involving business disputes, catastrophic personal injury or death, construction defects, and intellectual property as a litigator. He advises clients on regulatory compliance, including international agreements, federal regulations, and state law. He specializes in effectively communicating technical, scientific, and medical issues, often at the core of the defense of his clients. He has extensive experience in every aspect of complex litigation, from discovery to trial and appeal, including settlement negotiations, arbitration, mediation, and administrative hearings, and he has a strong track record for achieving favorable results for his clients.

Stephanie L. Pfaff joined Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP as partner in San Diego.

Pfaff has over a decade of experience working on various tax and real estate related transactions, primarily focusing on transactional tax planning and real estate tax matters, including all aspects of California documentary transfer tax and property tax, qualified opportunity zones, like-kind exchange transactions, and renewable energy tax credits. In addition, Pfaff's practice includes advising tax-exempt and nonexempt nonprofit organizations and closely held businesses and advising clients in transactional tax and real estate matters for estate planning trusts and family-owned businesses.

Julia B. Strickland joined Steptoe & Johnson LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Strickland is a market-leading lawyer who leads a substantial team on the defense of class actions and other complex actions for some of the biggest consumer financial services companies. In addition to her decades of experience representing clients through dispositive motion practice, trial and/or appeal, she has a well-deserved reputation for negotiating and structuring settlements of complex disputes and class actions. She is versatile and creative in developing settlement structure options tailored to the client's unique needs. She also routinely represents companies in compliance counseling, regulatory proceedings, and responding to claims by federal and state regulators and enforcement authorities. Julia's client list is a "Who's Who" of financial services companies, including American Express, JPMorgan Chase, Early Warning Services/Zelle, Discover, Citigroup, and Synchrony Bank, among others.

Stephen J. Newman joined Steptoe & Johnson LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Newman handles class action defense and other representative litigation, including multidistrict cases, as well as proceedings launched by government officials on behalf of the general public. He has extensive experience representing companies including internet businesses, retailers, banks, insurers, and manufacturers under California’s Unfair Competition Law and Consumers Legal Remedies Act. Stephen’s extensive experience extends to data security, consumer privacy, securities fraud, insurance and accountancy, and actuarial malpractice.

Christopher R. Fredrich joined Steptoe & Johnson LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Fredrich focuses his practice on complex civil litigation, with an emphasis on defending financial institutions and other commercial clients in class actions, arbitration, and enforcement matters. He represents banks, digital payment companies, credit card issuers, loan servicers, investors, and technology companies in state and federal court proceedings, at both the trial and appellate levels. He has significant experience litigating claims arising under banking and consumer protection laws, including the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, Truth in Lending Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and Telephone Consumer Protection Act, as well as California’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law, and Consumers Legal Remedies Act.

Kristina Lawson was promoted to chair of the board and executive committee of the bay area council of Hanson Bridgett LLP in San Francisco.

As Hanson Bridgett's chief executive, Lawson is responsible for all aspects of the firm's strategy and management. She is the first female Managing Partner in Hanson Bridgett's 60+ year history. Over the course of her career, Lawson has been deeply committed to public service. She is a former mayor of the City of Walnut Creek and was appointed by both Governors Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom to serve on the Medical Board of California, where she currently serves as the Board's President.

Abraham Tabaie joined Debevoise & Plimpton LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Tabaie's practice focuses on large-scale commercial business litigation for companies on the West Coast, often involving trade secret misappropriation, breach-of-contract, breach of fiduciary duty, false advertising, hacking, data privacy, debt collection, and unfair competition claims. He has represented clients across a range of industries, including technology, real estate, venture fund, private equity, manufacturing, and financial services at both the federal and state levels, as well as in private arbitration.

Josh A. Cohen joined Debevoise & Plimpton LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Cohen has advised high-profile Fortune 500 companies and senior executives of public and multinational corporations on cases involving a wide range of criminal and regulatory issues. Cohen also has significant experience in litigation involving class actions, shareholder derivative suits, and antitrust matters. A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and Vice Chair of the College’s Federal Criminal Procedure Committee, He also has experience in civil proceedings in federal and state courts in California and nationwide.

Carolina Bustillo joined Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP as associate in San Diego.

Bustillo counsels multinationals on an array of international tax matters, including efficient tax structuring, restructurings, cross-border transactions and IP migrations. Her clients operate in many industries, including life sciences and technology.

Teri Mae Rutledge joined Kennedys Law LLP as special counsel in San Francisco.

Rutledge advises clients on coverage matters, including commercial general liability, professional liability, employment practices liability, director's and officers' liability, and first-party coverages, with a focus on California law. She has litigated at the trial and appellate level in courts throughout the Ninth Circuit and nationwide. In addition, Rutledge has trained clients regarding California claims handling requirements.

Michael W. Melendez joined Kennedys Law LLP as partner in San Francisco.

As an insurance coverage attorney, Melendez focuses his practice on all types of complex insurance coverage, including construction defects, advertising injury, personal injury, professional liability, and general liability. He advises insurers on claims handling and coverage issues, defends bad faith suits, and litigates declaratory relief and contribution actions. He has designed and given several presentations to claims professionals and attorneys on insurance coverage and general legal issues, including claims practices, construction defects, additional insurance, independent counsel, ethics, and bad faith.

Venna Dubai joined University of California, Irvine School of Law as professor in Irvine.

Dubal's research examines the intersection of law, technology, and precarious work. She uses ethnography and critical theory to understand the impact of digital technologies and emerging legal frameworks on the lives of workers, the co-constitutive influences of law and work on society, and the role of law and lawyers in social and labor movements.

Kevin S. Haeberle joined University of California, Irvine School of Law as professor in Irvine.

Haeberle's research has centered on the stock market and other secondary markets for financial instruments. His scholarly work has been twice selected for republication in the Securities Law Review and for presentation at a number of events, including the 2022 Columbia Business Law Review Symposium on the Future of Securities Regulation, the 2020 Yale/Stanford/Harvard Junior Faculty Forum, and the 2015 George Washington University Center for Law, Economics, and Finance Junior Faculty Workshop. In 2022, he was named program fellow with the Columbia Law School and Columbia Business School Program in the Law and Economics of Capital Markets.

Ari Ezra Waldman joined University of California, Irvine School of Law as professor in Irvine.

Waldman is internationally recognized in academic, advocacy, and policy circles for his expertise at the intersection of law, technology, and society. Recognizing the impact of law and technology on marginalized and minoritized groups, he has dedicated his research to understanding the social dynamics of law, particularly with respect to privacy, artificial intelligence, misinformation, and the LGBTQ+ community. Waldman's extensive and award-winning scholarship explores the relationship between technology and power, often through an interdisciplinary lens. His most recent book, "Industry Unbound: The Inside Story of Privacy, Data, and Corporate Power" (Cambridge University Press, 2021), pulls back the curtain on tech companies' manipulation of privacy law.

Adam Cowing joined University of California, Irvine School of Law as professor in Irvine.

Cowing is an assistant clinical professor of law and teaches in the Community and Economic Development Clinic at UCI Law. Before coming to UCI Law, Cowing was a clinical teaching fellow and lecturer at Yale Law School, where he co-taught Yale's Community and Economic Development Clinic.

Heather Tanana joined University of California, Irvine School of Law as professor in Irvine.

Tanana previously served as an Assistant Professor (Research) and Wallace Stegner Center Fellow at the S.J. Quinney College of Law. She has clerked at the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah and founded the Indian Law Section of the Utah State Bar Association. Tanana's contributions to the legal field have earned her recognition and accolades from organizations such as the Natural Resources & Environmental Law Section of the Utah State Bar, the Utah Minority Bar Association, and the Environment, Energy, and Resources Section of the American Bar Association.

Megumi Horiuchi joined Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Horiuchi defends clients against claims involving property development, construction, transportation and trucking, product liability, toxic tort, breach of contract, and general liability. Her construction litigation practice includes the representation of builders, developers, general contractors, engineers, subcontractors, and manufacturers in commercial and residential high-rise, mid-rise, and conversion projects.

Raymond J. Park joined Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Park is a civil litigation attorney who defends clients against claims involving property development, construction, product liability, toxic tort, environmental, trucking and transportation, breach of contract, subrogation, and general liability. His construction litigation practice includes the representation of builders, developers, general contractors, engineers, subcontractors, and manufacturers in commercial and residential high-rise, mid-rise, and conversion projects.

Justine M. Phillips joined Baker & McKenzie LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Phillips focuses her practice on both proactive and reactive cybersecurity and data privacy services, advising clients through the development of practical and actionable programs and solutions to manage data, technology, cyber threats, privacy, security, and digital assets.

Dominic J. Nunneri joined Miller Barondess, LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Nunneri's practice focuses on civil litigation in state and federal courts. He has experience representing defendants and plaintiffs in high-profile disputes, including product liability, business litigation, healthcare litigation, and trust and estates litigation.

Margaret R. Akerblom was promoted to partner of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP in Los Angeles.

Akerblom has experience handling a broad mix of civil litigation matters in state and federal court, including actions involving 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, contracts, due process, takings, CEQA, premise liability, and writs of mandate. She is a trusted strategist for her clients, advising them as they work through federal, state, and local regulatory and entitlement processes related to their developments. She has represented clients in securing land use entitlements on a variety of commercial, residential, and mixed-use development projects in jurisdictions throughout California.

Nicholas DuBroff was promoted to partner of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP in San Francisco.

DuBroff is a land use attorney who helps clients take projects from vision to entitlement by guiding them through the state, local planning, and environmental laws that govern development in California. He enjoys collaborating with developers, planners, and architects. He has the ability to distill complex concepts and in-depth research into actionable recommendations and has worked with clients ranging from start-ups to some of the Bay Area's most prominent companies.

Emily Feder was promoted to partner of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP in Los Angeles.

Feder's practice focuses on all types of real estate transactions, from acquisition and disposition to leasing and finance. By monitoring and researching real estate trends, emerging industries, and new approaches and areas of law, she is able to provide thorough and efficient counsel to her clients. Feder began her professional career as a teacher and currently serves on the Associates' Board for Teach for America, a non-profit organization working to combat education inequality.

Peter A. Griffin was promoted to partner of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP in Los Angeles.

Griffin has represented clients in jury trials and argued before federal and state courts throughout California. His recent successes include obtaining a 12-0 jury verdict for a food manufacturer in an employment discrimination case, a judgment for an architecture firm in a bench trial over a contractual dispute, and a substantial arbitration award in a commercial landlord-tenant dispute. He previously had a successful career in technology, working for a Silicon Valley software company prior to attending law school.

Timothy R. Kelly was promoted to partner of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP in San Francisco.

Kelly regularly represents some of the San Francisco Bay Area’s largest institutional office landlords and multifamily owners in connection with their acquisition, financing, leasing, and disposition of assets located throughout the United States. He has represented the landlord on the largest office lease signed in the United States in 2021. In 2022 he was involved in the acquisition, disposition, and financing of transactions totaling more than $1 billion.

Grayson "Trey" W. Marshall III was promoted to partner of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP in San Francisco.

Marshall's litigation practice focuses on complex commercial, technology, and real estate litigation in both state and federal court.

Nathaniel Touboul was promoted to partner of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP in San Francisco.

Touboul's recent successes include representing a landlord in connection with a single-tenant 802,836 square-foot office lease for a property in California and subsequently representing the same landlord in connection with a $515 million construction loan secured by the subject property.

Andrew A. Wood was promoted to partner of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP in Orange County.

Wood's litigation experience ranges from negligence claims, fraud, breach of contract, construction contract disputes, alleged wrongful non-judicial foreclosure practices, unfair business practices, violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and management of e-discovery.

Stephen D. Simpson joined Tully Rinckey PLLC as associate in Ladera Ranch.

Simpson spent nearly eight years on active duty as a Marine Corps Judge Advocate Corps., where he focused on litigation and criminal matters. He also has experience serving as a prosecutor, defense counsel, and victim's legal counsel. He still serves as a captain in the Marine Corps Reserves. His practice focuses on military law, one of the firm's core practice groups.

Robert Bard Smith was promoted to partner of MLG Attorneys at Law in Costa Mesa.

With 18 years of experience in California and Nevada, Smith spent 15 years representing hospitals and medical providers. He then shifted his focus to cases against automotive manufacturers. Smith has taken more than twenty cases to trial, and most recently obtained a $1.5 million settlement in a motorcycle accident case.

Jessica L. Grant joined Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Grant has significant first-chair experience in high-stakes matters. This includes successfully trying three cases over $100 million and two cases over half a billion dollars. Her ability to handle trials across disciplines at a moment's notice makes her a highly sought-after litigation lawyer. Grant also handles mediation and pre-suit attempts to resolve cases without litigation.

Frank A. McGuire joined Complex Appellate Litigation Group LLP as counsel in Newport Beach.

McGuire was the 26th clerk of the California Supreme Court and former managing attorney of the 1st District Court of Appeal. In these roles, he gained vast insight into how justices think about and decide civil and criminal petitions, briefs, and writs at all appellate levels, as well as the processes and practices of California's appellate courts. In addition to these positions, he also previously served as a chambers attorney on the California Supreme Court, a research attorney for two 1st District justices, and a law clerk on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He also worked for several private law firms.

Ryan H. Weinstein joined Ropes & Gray LLP as counsel in Los Angeles.

Weinstein's practice focuses on complex, high-stakes civil litigation and white-collar criminal defense. Over his career, he has defended and prosecuted individuals and corporations in a wide variety of criminal, civil, and regulatory matters, spanning several industries, including health care, technology, sports, and financial services.

Richard D. Schramm joined Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel as of counsel in San Jose.

Schramm represents employers in resolving class action lawsuits and PAGA actions, along with other labor, employment, and contract disputes. He routinely advises and counsels public and private enterprises as well as nonprofit groups on a variety of employment-related issues. He represents clients in state and federal courts before the California Civil Rights Department, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the California Labor Commissioner's Offices, the Employment Development Department, the U.S. Dept. of Labor, and the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. He represents clients in individual cases as well as class actions, representative actions, Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) lawsuits, trade secret disputes, and disability access discrimination claims. He also advises on independent contractor agreements and statutory compliance challenges.

Michael P. Reiter joined Cole Huber LLP as partner in Ontario.

Reiter serves as the assistant city attorney for Yucaipa. His practice focuses on municipal law and litigation. Previously, Reiter was an in-house deputy city attorney for San Bernardino, assistant city attorney for Redlands, and advised cities and private parties regarding municipal law, particularly code enforcement. Reiter has criminally prosecuted hundreds of code enforcement defendants, reviewed dozens of administrative warrants, been involved with about 10 Health & Safety Code receiverships, participated in revocations of conditional use permits, revised and drafted ordinances, written extensively regarding code enforcement on the internet, lectured to community groups and legal organizations, and has been quoted in the media.

Jillian Martins joined Cole Huber LLP as partner in Ontario.

Martins serves as the assistant city attorney for Indio and advises on all aspects of municipal law issues involving zoning and land use, open government, and ethics (the Brown Act, the Public Records Act), contract formation and negotiation, drafting and amending ordinances, resolutions, parliamentary procedure, code interpretation, and employment policies. Her practice focuses on municipal law. Before joining Cole Huber, Martins had devoted her entire professional career to public service.

Ankush R. Israni joined Jones Day as partner in Los Angeles.

Israni advises on a broad range of commercial real estate matters, including senior debt and mezzanine financing, joint ventures, purchase and sale, loan sale agreements, fintech issues, and leases. His clients, which include both institutional and noninstitutional investors, consist of private equity funds, real estate investment companies, and REITs.

Gina M. Cavalier joined Arnold & Porter as partner in Los Angeles.

Cavalier is a leading fraud and abuse lawyer who dedicates her practice to guiding life sciences entities through complex healthcare laws and regulations. She has particular experience advising clients on issues arising under the Anti-Kickback Statute and other federal and state anti-fraud authorities. She also helps clients successfully navigate related data sharing and privacy issues.