Kristen Wenning was promoted to partner of LaPolt Law P.C. in Los Angeles.

Wenning's practice focuses on advocacy and legislative change in favor of creators. Soon after joining LaPolt Law, Kristin found herself immersed in the final revisions and eventual historical passing of the Orrin G. Hatch--Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act, a huge win under U.S. Copyright Law for songwriters and artists!

Tom Dean was promoted to partner of LaPolt Law P.C. in Los Angeles.

Dean focuses his practice on talent representation and represents, advises and counsels numerous recording artists, content creators, producers, and songwriters in all aspects of their entertainment careers. With over 15 years of experience in the music and entertainment industry.

Dominic Chaklos was promoted to partner of LaPolt Law P.C. in Los Angeles.

Chaklos represents a wide variety of talent in the music and entertainment industry. He advises clients on all aspects of their careers and helps them make informed decisions regarding business development and brand management.

Lindsay Arrington was promoted to partner of LaPolt Law P.C. in Los Angeles.

Arrington specializes in matters relating to electronic music, endorsements, and independent labels. She negotiates all varieties of agreements relating to the music business, as well as endorsement and social media agreements for influencers, entrepreneurs and professionals across the entertainment industry.

Mariah Comer was promoted to partner of LaPolt Law P.C. in Los Angeles.

Comer’s practice focuses on a wide range of transactional entertainment and intellectual property matters relating to both the music industry and brand endorsements.

John F. Simonis joined Reed Smith LLP. as partner in Los Angeles.

Simonis represents investors, owners, developers, and operators in complex real estate transactions and development matters, and has substantial experience in real estate joint ventures, funds, purchases and sales, leasing, financings, development and construction, with particular depth of experience in data centers and technology-related facilities.

Daniel J. Hagedorn joined Reed Smith LLP. as partner in Los Angeles.

Hagedorn practices in all areas of commercial real estate transactions, including joint ventures and the acquisition and disposition of commercial projects, including multifamily and affordable housing projects, industrial projects, retail centers, data centers, leasing, and real estate financings.

Peggy Hosking joined Buchalter as shareholder in Los Angeles.

Hosking serves as outside general counsel to her clients focusing on their commercial real estate transactions. She represents owners, developers, borrowers, lenders and investors in the acquisitions, disposition, development, finance, leasing, and management of real estate for their retail, commercial, industrial, residential, and office use needs. Further, she has extensive experience counseling clients in all areas of business, from formation through succession.

Caroline Djang joined Buchalter as shareholder in Orange County.

Djang counsels her clients on the best strategies for pursuing and collecting debts and provides realistic solutions for recovery. Her notable work includes representation of one of the largest creditors in the chapter 11 case of a recycling company and representation of an internationally known luxury brand with respect to creditors’ rights. She also represents several prominent landlords, banks, and cities with respect to creditors’ rights and claims in bankruptcy.

Rachel A. Simon joined Snell & Wilmer LLP as partner in Orange County.

Simon, a corporate and securities partner, provides comprehensive legal counsel to her clients on a global stage. In addition to mergers and acquisitions, tax structuring, financing, and general corporate matters, Simon has built trusting relationships with clients and often acts as go-to outside counsel for them.

Nathaniel P. Gallon joined O'Melveny & Myers LLP as partner in Silicon Valley.

Gallon counsels clients on corporate and securities law and also acts more generally as a trusted business advisor in connection with a wide range of transactions that technology companies typically undertake throughout their life cycle - entity formation, debt and equity financings, recapitalizations, joint ventures, spin-offs, and growth stage through to a liquidity event.

Ashwin Gokhale joined O'Melveny & Myers LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Gokhale regularly negotiates and advises technology companies on a range of intellectual property licensing and other commercial transactions, including agreements for software and hardware development and licensing, manufacturing and distribution, advertising and marketing, patent licensing, mergers and acquisitions and venture capital investments.

Andrew D. Thorpe as partner in San Francisco

Thorpe advises management teams and boards of directors on securities regulation, public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, and key corporate governance matters. In addition to extensive experience representing issuers and underwriters -- including in over 40 initial public offerings to date -- he served for six years at the Securities and Exchange Commission. While at the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance and in the Office of Rulemaking, Thorpe reviewed and commented on numerous public companies' SEC filings and played a significant role in drafting several landmark regulations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Colin M. Kawaguchi was promoted to shareholder of Nevers, Palazzo, Packard, Wildermuth, & Wynner, PC in Westlake Village.

Kawaguchi counsels emerging and established companies in the areas of corporate governance, mergers, acquisitions, financings, and general business matters. Colin has experience in various industry sectors including biotech, financial services, information technology, hospitality, and insurance.

John R. Bamford was promoted to shareholder of Nevers, Palazzo, Packard, Wildermuth, & Wynner, PC in Westlake Village.

Bamford has successfully defended numerous complex business litigation cases, including obtaining a compl;ete defense verdict for a financial advisor alleged to have mismanaged client accounts in 2019.

Heather D. Bennett joined Barton LLP as partner in Los Angeles and Nashville.

Bennett's practice focuses on intellectual property matters including copyright, trademark, trade secret, and right of publicity from creation and acquisition to licensing and litigation. With over a decade of experience in entertainment, art, media, and technology in the U.S. and abroad, Heather's client relationships go beyond negotiating deals and handling judicial matters.

Lee D. Oida joined Youngman Reitshtein, PLC as associate in Los Angeles.

Oida's passion for family law and domestic violence advocacy developed while interning for the Battered Women's Justice Project, and then later representing families at the Family Justice Litigation Clinic.

John Gregory Yslas joined Wilshire Law Firm as senior partner in Los Angeles.

With over 25 years of experience since graduating from UCLA Law School in 1996, John has litigated countless wage and hour class actions as well as single and multi-party matters. He previously has been a partner at Foley & Lardner, Norton Rose Fulbright and Seyfarth Shaw.

He currently serves as the Southern California Regional President with the Hispanic National Bar Association and on the Mexican American Bar Foundation Board of Directors. Previously he has served as the National Chair of the Communications Committee with HNBA, on the Board of Directors with the California Minority Counsel Program, as well as a commissioner with the Los Angeles Civil Service Commission and the Los Angeles Convention Center Commission (where he was appointed by two mayors).

Brenda Aguilar-Guerrero joined Burke, Williams & Sorensen LLP as partner in Oakland.

Aguilar-Guerrero represents public entities on complex eminent domain and inverse condemnation matters. She represents clients with large, complex multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects requiring hundreds of acquisitions, as well as smaller scale projects throughout the state for a variety of clients.

David E. Parsly joined Blank Rome as partner in Los Angeles.

Parsly advises clients on a full range of corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, emerging growth and venture capital financings, joint ventures, corporate restructurings, and corporate governance.

Melissa Mills joined Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati as partner in Los Angeles.

Mills is a litigation partner where she is a member of the firm's national team of trial lawyers known for its success in litigating innovative disputes in technology, intellectual property, and other areas.

Laurie D. Zelon joined Judicate West as neutral in Santa Ana.

Zelon will be based in the Orange County office and available as a private judge statewide focusing on arbitration, special master, private judging, neutral analysis and appellate matters. Zelon served as a justice on the 2nd District Court of Appeal from 2003 to 2020, and she is widely recognized for her work expanding and improving access to justice for low-income citizens.

Christopher Dacus joined Glaser Weil LLP as of counsel in Los Angeles.

Dacus handles all aspects of complex commercial litigation and manages cases from inception through judgment. He represents clients in complex commercial litigation, entertainment litigation, and white collar defense.

Russell L. Hom joined Judicate West in Sacramento.

Hom is available as a mediator, arbitrator and private judge for matters statewide. He has more than 40 years of combined legal experience, headlined by serving on the Sacramento County Superior Court for the past 20 years. During his tenure on the bench, Hom presided over a wide range of civil matters, including real property, premises liability, employment discrimination, workplace harassment, wrongful termination, personal injury, elder abuse, wage and hour, contract disputes and medical malpractice.

Jonathan Braunstein joined Dentons as partner in Oakland.

Braunstein is a member of Dentons' Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice. He advises clients in the health care, insurance, employee benefits, financial services, technology, real estate, retail, construction and defense industries.

Cheryl Sabnis joined Vedder Price as shareholder in San Francisco.

Sabnis joined the firm's Labor and Employment practice area. She has long represented businesses and other organizations in high-stakes employment litigation, including complex wage and hour class actions, Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims and matters involving sensitive topics, such as gender, race and disability discrimination, harassment and retaliatory discharge.

Jeffrey Wilcox joined Meyers Nave as of counsel in Oakland.

Wilcox advises public agencies, public utilities, transportation authorities and other municipal and state authorities in all phases of the condemnation process, from the pre-acquisition planning phase of eminent domain proceedings through trial and appeal.

Kristine Waggener was promoted to partner of Farella Braun + Martel LLP in San Francisco.

Waggener works with high-net-worth individuals and multi-generational families to minimize income, estate, gift, and California property taxes while focusing on each client's priorities. She represents families owning substantial interests in closely held and publicly traded corporations and she advises on how to hold wealth in family partnerships, limited liability companies, and S corporations.

Ashley N. Kim joined Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney P.C. as associate in San Francisco.

Kim's practice includes professional liability, employment law, medical malpractice, and construction defect cases.

Ori S. Blumenfeld joined Levinson Arshonsky & Kurtz, LLP as senior counsel in Sherman Oakes.

Blumenfeld focuses his practice in all areas of complex bankruptcy and insolvency, corporate restructuring, distressed assets, acquisition and disposition, and related litigation matters.

Michael D. Klaus joined Milbank LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Klaus focuses his practice on the financing and sale of renewable energy projects. He has significant experience with every aspect of the acquisition, development and financing of energy and infrastructure projects across a range of technologies, including solar, wind and battery storage projects..

Jane Ross was promoted to managing partner of Hogan Lovells LLP in Silicon Valley.

Ross represents buyers and sellers of public and private companies across many industries, with a focus on the technology and life sciences sectors. Her practice includes domestic and cross-border M&A and complex joint venture transactions.

Hons Yung joined Farella Braun + Martel LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Yung counsels high-net-worth individuals, families, and closely held businesses with respect to tax, estate, and succession planning - crafting bespoke strategies that minimize income, estate, gift, and property taxes. He also works with fiduciaries and beneficiaries in probate and trust administration, assisting with federal gift and estate taxes returns, and representing clients in tax disputes with state and local taxing agencies and the IRS.

Kelly Hunsaker was promoted to managing partner of Winston & Strawn LLP in Silicon Valley.

Hunsaker leads patent litigation involving a wide range of technologies and industries, especially in high-tech fields involving computer software and hardware, consumer electronics, and Internet applications and technologies.

Elizabeth C. Sluder joined Norton Rose Fulbright LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Sluder focuses on project finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and general corporate matters. She represents clients in renewable energy transactions, including construction and term debt financings, tax equity investments and negotiating supply agreements, construction contracts and offtake arrangements. She also represents lenders and borrowers in secured lending as well as private banking and mezzanine and junior capital financing.

Shannon Eagan was promoted to managing partner of Cooley LLP in Palo Alto.

Eagan represents corporations and individuals in complex disputes and litigation, internal corporate investigations and Securities and Exchange Commission investigations and actions.