David Frankenberger as managing partner

Frankenberger's practice includes complex state court and federal court litigation involving motor vehicle accident defense; trucking defense; complex personal injury; premises liability; product liability, agricultural litigation, and construction defect liability for both subcontractors and developers.

Michael Lehman as partner

Lehman has practiced civil litigation for more than 30 years and is a member of ABOTA. His trial experience includes representing private and public entities and individuals in cases involving torts, employment law, products liability, professional negligence, and civil rights, in both state and federal courts.

Brett Runyon as partner

Runyon has successfully defended his clients in a variety of cases, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in mass tort actions, complex industrial fire cases, environmental and industrial contamination cases, inverse condemnation claims and catastrophic loss, and construction defect.

Carol Ann Seita as partner

Seita is experienced in matters involving personal injury, premises liability, employment law, subrogation defense, products liability, property damage, and construction defect. Her prior experience also includes working for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Fresno in various capacities, including in the Administrative Division, the Victim Witness Unit and the Criminal Unit.

Rachel A. Garcia joined Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel as associate in San Jose.

Garcia focuses on litigation in all areas of employment law, including wage and hour, terminations, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and trade secrets. Her practice also focuses on employment counseling.

Ryan Sandrock joined Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Sandrock is co-chair of the firm's Antitrust Practice. He will focus on litigation, transactions, investigations, and counseling at the nexus of competition or consumer protection.

James Lu joined Sidley Austin LLP as partner in Century City.

James Lu joins Sidley as a partner in the firm's life sciences, corporate and ECVC practices. Lu focuses on representing leading companies and their venture capital and private equity investors, especially in the life sciences and technology sectors. He also has extensive experience advising clients on private and public securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and other strategic transactions, especially cross-border transactions involving multiple jurisdictions.

Britt Strottman joined Singleton Schreiber LLP as partner in Sacramento.

Strottman will help lead the firm's public entity environmental practice group which specializes in litigation against corporations for wrongdoing. She has spent more than 20 years representing state and local governments, as in-house and outside counsel.

After working on the tobacco litigation and sub-prime mortgage issues as a senior assistant attorney general in Ohio, Strottman represented more than 40 California cities and counties in opioid and fire litigation, culminating in a $1 billion settlement with PG&E for the North Bay and Camp Fires.

Jerry A. Katz joined Blank Rome LLP as senior counsel in Los Angeles.

Katz has more than three decades of experience handling virtually every aspect of real estate-related transactions, including real estate acquisitions and dispositions, development, real estate secured and asset-based financing, loan workouts, tax-deferred exchanges, complex title insurance matters, ground leases, and commercial leasing.

Kaylee Yang joined Norton Rose Fulbright LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Yang represents public and private companies in complex business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, investments and joint ventures as well as operational and corporate governance strategy. She counsels clients in various industries, including life sciences, TMT, clean energy and entertainment. Her practice focuses on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital investments as well as antitrust matters.

Daniel Elefant joined Sidley Austin LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Elefant has experience in representing technology and life sciences companies, from formation through IPOs or M&A exits, and as a corporate/securities counsel following IPO.

Elizabeth K. McCloskey joined Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP as partner in San Francisco.

McCloskey's practice focuses on high-stakes, complex litigation across a broad range of subject matters, including founder disputes, trade secret challenges, copyright, antitrust and breach of contract actions, white-collar criminal defense cases and investigations.

Thomas C. Schroeder joined Davis Wright Tremaine LLP as partner in Seattle.

Schroeder has more than 15 years' experience representing high-profile national institutions, both in-house and in private practice. He worked for the Office of the General Counsel at the University of California for almost a decade, advising on nonprofit organization and charitable giving matters. Previously he worked in-house at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, a $13+ billion private foundation.

Schroeder began his legal career as an associate in Davis Wright's Tax-Exempt Organizations practice group, to which he now returns as a partner. His practice includes advising on: entity choice; formation and dissolution; organizational structures and re-organizations (including subsidiary formation and operation, affiliated organizations, and mergers and acquisitions); tax qualification and compliance; corporate governance (fiduciary duties, conflicts of interest, board policies and practice); executive compensation; and advocacy activities, including campaign intervention and lobbying. Schroeder has a special interest in innovation activities of charities and educational institutions, including operation of incubators, accelerators and venture fund creation and affiliation(s). Schroeder also draws upon his significant in-house experience to advise clients on complex charitable giving matters, including private foundation grantmaking and significant gifts to operating charities. Finally, Schroeder works with clients to navigate charitable trust law and endowment matters, including representing clients before state attorneys general.

Jesse Adriance joined Neil, Dymott, Frank, McCabe & Hudson APLC in San Diego.

Adriance's practice areas include general civil litigation and the defense of general and professional liability and medical malpractice matters. He is admitted to practice in California and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Kristin Rizzo as neutral in San Diego

Based in San Diego, Rizzo is available as a mediator for matters statewide. With nearly two decades of legal experience, Rizzo has represented clients in litigation and mediation across a wide range of civil matters, with an emphasis on employment law matters. Beyond employment law, Rizzo has handled business and contractual, housing discrimination, disability access, internal workplace, personal injury and medical malpractice disputes.

Sangeetha M. Raghunathan joined Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP as partner in Silicon Valley (Redwood City).

Raghunathan will focus on regulatory and compliance support for companies in the fintech, web3 and modern finance sector. Prior to joining Gunderson Dettmer, Raghunathan was general counsel and chief eompliance officer at fintech company Earnin.

Ima E Nsien joined Squire Patton Boggs as principal in Los Angeles.

Nsien is a healthcare trial and licensing lawyer, specializing in complex disputes. She advises commercial, Medicare and Medicaid managed care entities in a variety of legal disputes in state and federal court, including bad faith, breach of health plan contracts, ERISA and mental health parity claims and also has experience in handling skilled nursing facility enforcement action appeals before state and federal regulators. She assists clients through the Knox-Keene health plan licensing application process and represents healthcare clients in government investigations.

Kevin T. Collins was promoted to shareholder of Buchalter, A Professional Corporation in Sacramento.

Collins represents clients in a wide variety of areas including, misappropriation of trade secrets, false advertising, unfair competition, trade dress infringement, securities, class actions, multi‐district litigation, and antitrust.

Brian Adkins was promoted to shareholder of Buchalter, A Professional Corporation in San Diego.

Adkins specializes in housing discrimination investigations conducted by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He also regularly provides employment advice and counsel, as well as prepares employment agreements for his clients. He has also represented clients in California Labor Commission and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission matters.

Stephanie S. Downer was promoted to shareholder of Buchalter, A Professional Corporation in San Diego.

Downer focuses her practice in the areas of estate planning, wealth transfer planning, transfer tax minimization, trust administration, and probate law.

Philip Nulud was promoted to shareholder of Buchalter, A Professional Corporation in Los Angeles.

Nulud assists clients in developing, protecting, and licensing their valuable ideas by providing critical freedom to use clearance and infringement opinions for patents and trademarks, while also preparing, prosecuting, and enforcing their patents, trademarks, and copyrights.

Valerie Bantner Peo was promoted to shareholder of Buchalter, A Professional Corporation in San Francisco.

Bantner Peo focuses her practice on creditors’ rights, real estate, finance, and commercial litigation with significant experience at the trial and appellate levels in bankruptcy, federal, and state court.

Pooya E. Sohi

Sohi represents public and private companies in a variety of state and federal court cases involving contract disputes, commercial litigation, and business torts, including tortious interference, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty.

Jason Lee joined K&L Gates LLP as partner in Orange County.

Lee focuses his practice on corporate transactions such as mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions, as well as general corporate matters. This includes advising public and private clients in the middle-market and emerging growth sectors on company formation, SEC reporting requirements and registrations, federal and state securities laws and compliance, corporate governance matters, joint ventures and executive employment agreements.

SeoJung Park joined Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP as partner in Silicon Valley.

Park represents private equity funds in all phases of their operations, including formation, acquisition, financing, restructuring and existing portfolio investments. She also counsels private and public companies, banks and financial institutions on the U.S. tax aspects of various financings, capital markets, cross-border mergers and other transactions.

Alya Sulaiman joined McDermott Will & Emery as partner in Los Angeles.

Sulaiman works with clients to navigate complex healthcare regulatory, privacy and transactional matters, with a focus on digital health and data use strategy. She also advises on the legal and business frameworks for innovative technologies, including predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, electronic health records, interoperability tools, health data platforms and digital therapeutics.

William K. Wetmore joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Wetmore's practice includes crafting strategies for compliance with Sections 13(d) and 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, assisting with litigation strategy and providing guidance on pleadings for Section 16 short-swing trading liability cases, structuring takeovers and private placements to reduce Section 16 exposure, and reviewing client corporate governance policies and advising on governance best practices.

V. Sathienmars joined Tucker Ellis LLP as counsel in San Francisco.

Sathienmars defends high-profile and high-net-worth clients in "bet the company" lawsuits and routinely oversees civil litigation matters from pre-suit through trial. His experience includes coordinating with defense liaison counsel on case management strategy, court filings, and discovery efforts in federal multidistrict litigation, as well as Judicial Council Coordinated Proceedings in California state courts. He has also represented clients in appeals in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and California appellate courts.

Zachary Elsea joined Eisner, LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Elsea has extensive experience representing companies and individuals in the entertainment, technology, financial services, and real estate industries. He also has particular expertise in intellectual property litigation and counseling, including copyright, trademark, right of publicity, and related issues along with significant experience representing both employers and employees in high-stakes trade secret, non-compete, employment, and partnership disputes.

Ellie S. Ruth joined Miller Barondess LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Ellie specializes in appeals, writs, and dispositive pre- and post-trial motions on a broad range of legal issues, including premises liability, attorneys fees, contracts, family law/complex divorces, evidence, insurance (bad faith, Cumis counsel), products liability, employment and civil procedure.

David J. Edwards joined San Diego County Water Authority as general counsel in San Diego.

Edwards has served as deputy city attorney and lead counsel for the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power since 2011, defending the city's water rights in the Eastern Sierra and the Los Angeles Aqueduct. He brings nearly 17 years of public service at LADWP, the past 12 of which directly relate to water, natural resources, power, and public utility/agency issues. His current practice focuses on water rights/resource development, the Endangered Species Act, Native American issues, sustainability, legislative/regulatory affairs, and other environmental considerations related to public power/alternative energy development, CEQA and compliance with open government laws, including the Brown Act. He also brings significant experience working on issues related to the Colorado River, the Imperial Irrigation District, and the Salton Sea.

Donna Tobar joined Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP as partner in Irvine.

Tobar provides a full range of litigation and counseling services in the areas of construction and suretyship, with experience in government contracting as well. She has successfully represented contractor and surety clients in various legal settings, including litigation (state and federal), mediation, arbitration, and various informal settings including counseling services during contract performance.