Thomas F. Mazzucco was promoted to director of Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney P.C. in San Francisco.

Mazzucco concentrates his practice in the areas of white-collar defense and government investigations, intellectual property litigation, and business litigation.

Christopher R. Ulrich was promoted to director of Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney P.C. in San Francisco.

Ulrich provides his clients with invaluable insights on issues ranging from collection and use of data, breach and remediation, governmental investigations, and subpoenas, as well as the application of federal and state workplace and personal privacy laws.

Joseph S. Leveroni was promoted to director of Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney P.C. in San Francisco.

Leveroni's practice focuses on providing aggressive representation of individuals facing criminal prosecution, as well as individuals who have yet to be charged but who are under investigation.

Heidi Mayon joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP as partner in Palo Alto.

Mayon focuses her practice on corporate finance transactions, advising issuers and underwriters on a wide range of securities matters, including public company readiness, initial public offerings and complex follow-on equity and debt capital markets offerings. She has extensive experience across numerous industries, including technology, healthcare and life sciences, fintech and payments, marketplaces and retail, energy and clean technology.

Jesse Debban joined Allen & Overy LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Debban's practice focuses on a range of transactional matters such as M&A, joint ventures, securities offerings, and private equity and venture capital investments.

John M. Polson was promoted to chairman and managing partner of Fisher & Phillips LLP in Los Angeles and Irvine.

Polson leads the firm's Management Committee and is co-chair of the firm's PEO and Staffing Industry Team and co-leads the firm's Gig Economy Industry Team. His practice includes compliance, litigation, contracts, mergers and acquisitions, strategic planning, and startup representation. He is a trusted advisor to professional employer organizations and clients in the staffing and human resources outsourcing industries.

Cassandra Robinson joined Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP as attorney in San Diego.

Robinson's practice focuses on family law, personal injury, bankruptcy, probate, and real estate law. She clerked at the State Bar of California, where she gained incomparable experience evaluating complaints of attorney misconduct.

WIlliam O. Stein joined Fisher & Phillips LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Stein defends businesses in high-stakes employment lawsuits including those involving wrongful termination, harassment, disability, and trade secret claims.

Benjamin B. Buckwalter joined Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP as partner in Silicon Valley (Redwood City).

Buckwalter's practice will focus on regulatory and compliance support for companies and funds focused on the financial technology industry.

James Di Cesare joined Judicate West as neutral in Santa Ana.

Di Cesare is based in Orange County but available for mediations and arbitrations statewide. Appointed to the bench by Gov. Gray Davis in 2001, Di Cesare has nearly five decades of experience in law.

Ron B. Birnkrant joined Greenberg Traurig, LLP as shareholder in Los Angeles.

Birnkrant has a broad mergers and acquisitions practice, representing private and public companies on both buy- and sell-side transactions. He is experienced advising clients on a wide range of legal and business issues relating to acquisitions and divestitures, including advising on corporate restructurings and recommending and implementing remedial measures in advance of going to market, with the goal of reducing his clients' backend exposure. Ron's practice also extends to distressed mergers and acquisitions, where he works closely with the firm's restructuring and bankruptcy attorneys.

In addition, Birnkrant serves as outside general counsel to a number of clients, advising on corporate governance matters, day-to-day corporate matters, and commercial contracts. He has considerable experience with limited liability companies and regularly advises these clients on financing transactions and the issuance of equity incentives.

Birnkrant's experience extends across a broad array of industries, but, in particular, he has considerable experience advising on M&A transactions in the life sciences, technology, consumer products, apparel, defense, and logistics sectors.

Benjamin J. Mandel joined Miller Barondess LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Mandel is a civil litigator who represents clients in diverse matters including real estate, general liability, fraud, employment, sports and entertainment, and contract disputes.

Ariel E. Vento joined Knox Ricksen LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Vento's litigation experience affords her a variety of perspectives on insurance and healthcare-fraud matters. She has handled a high-volume disability rights cases and has handled multiple jury trials and managed more than 100 pretrial cases simultaneously.

Maureen Linch joined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP as partner in Bay Area.

Linch's practice includes the tax aspects of M&A and other transactional matters, as well as structuring and planning, for companies ranging from start-ups to large multinationals at all stages of their life cycle. She also has expertise in the tax aspects of renewable energy investments and bankruptcies and restructurings.

Marcela Robledo joined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP as partner in Bay Area.

Robledo's practice focuses on technology transactions and advising public and private clients across industries on the IP, privacy and cybersecurity aspects of corporate matters. Robledo's experience includes advising leading technology companies and video game developers on licensing agreements, strategic partnerships and mergers and acquisitions.

John V. Berlinski joined Bird, Marella, Boxer, Wolpert, Nessim, Drooks, Lincenberg & Rhow, P.C. as principal in Los Angeles.

Berlinski is regarded as one of Hollywood's most respected lawyers, with a practice focused on representing top actors, producers, directors, talent agencies, guilds, independent studios, casinos, resorts, and recording artists in their most significant disputes. He has been at the forefront of some of the most hot-button legal issues facing the entertainment industry today, representing clients in high-stakes and high-profile licensing, distribution, intellectual property, residuals, and "backend" profit participation disputes. In a case that drew national attention, John represented the actor-producer Scarlett Johansson in her groundbreaking lawsuit alleging that The Walt Disney Co. improperly failed to release her film Black Widow as promised, opting instead for a "day-and-date" release on streaming service Disney+ that deprived Ms. Johansson of tens of millions of dollars in box office bonuses. Berlinski is also well renowned for his role in obtaining the largest award in the history of profit participation arbitration, on behalf of David Boreanaz, Emily Deschanel, and Kathy Reichs, the actors and author-producer behind the hit Fox television series Bones.

Collin Chandler joined Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney P.C. as associate in Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney (Sacramento).

Chandler advises clients on an array of substantive legal issues including professional liability defense, products defect, general civil litigation, construction, real estate, as well as providing counsel to privately held businesses.

Amelia Sanchez was promoted to partner of Crosbie Gliner Schiffman Southard & Swanson LLP (CGS3) in San Diego.

Sanchez represents companies in all asset categories - supporting and advising clients on leasing transactions that include retail, office, financial, life science, mixed use, industrial, telecommunications and solar leases and on purchase and sale transactions. In addition to her breadth of commercial real estate experience, Sanchez has handled a variety of business and transactional matters, including licensing, consultant, easement, access, vendor, co-marketing, service and management agreements.

Lauren Wood joined Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek as associate in San Diego.

Wood's practice focuses on employee benefits and compliance, investment and taw law, international finance and tax planning and controversy.

Allyson N Werner joined Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek as associate in San Diego.

Werner represents individual clients and diverse businesses on a wide range of litigation and appellate matters.

Jake D. Sesti joined Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek as associate in San Diego.

Sesti assists clients in a wide range of complex litigation disputes.

Michael W Hervey joined Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek as associate in San Diego.

Hervey represents a wide range of clients, including high-net worth individuals in the areas of estate and gift tax liability, tax planning, trust formation and administration.

Nicholas (Nic) Frey joined Sidley Austin LLP as partner in Silicon Valley.

Frey focuses on executive compensation and benefits, equity plan and award design, M&A and capital markets transaction support, ERISA matters, and general public and private company compensation and benefit matters.

Ben Au joined Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP as partner in Santa Monica.

Au's practice includes complex civil litigation, representation of both plaintiffs and defendants, particularly in the areas of trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, and funder / founder disputes through arbitration and trial. He has also conducted a number of internal investigations on behalf of corporate clients. Ben has extensive experience in SEC enforcement actions, as well as federal criminal matters ranging from fraud to FCPA to export controls.

Kevin Benedicto was promoted to associate of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP in San Francisco.

Benedicto was just appointed to the San Francisco Police Commission.
Benedicto is a co-leader of the firm's Mobilizing for Equality Law Enforcement Policy Working Group. He is a member of The Bar Association of San Francisco's Criminal Justice Task Force and the San Francisco Superior Court Committee on Elimination of Bias.

Lindsay Puckett joined Stoel Rives LLP as of counsel in San Diego.

Puckett represents public and private clients in transactional and litigation matters involving the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), endangered species and habitat conservation plans, land use entitlements, conservation easements, alternative energy, coastal development, water issues, and Native American tribes. She also helps her clients obtain local, state and federal permits, including those from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Brian R. Michael joined Morrison & Foerster LLP. as partner in Los Angeles.

Michael's global practice also focuses on providing crisis management and compliance counseling, including on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and anti-corruption; cybersecurity and data privacy; FinTech, blockchain technology, and digital currency; trade sanctions; and workplace conduct matters. He leads global risk assessments and helps to design and implement multi-jurisdictional compliance programs.

Erica Michelle Chavez joined Wilshire Law Firm as partner in Los Angeles.

Chavez handles personal injury matters