Sean Monroe joined Paul Hastings LLP as partner in Century City.

Monroe specializes in mergers and acquisitions and corporate transactions in the entertainment and media industries.
He is based in Century City.

Ulysses Hui joined Davis Wright Tremaine LLP as partner in Silicon Valley.

Hui specializes in commercial technology transactions.
He is based in Silicon Valley.

Tanganica J Turner joined Musick, Peeler & Garrett LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Turner specializes in labor and employment litigation.
She is based in Los Angeles.

Gabrielle E. Higgins joined Desmarais LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Desmarais LLP expanded its Bay Area intellectual property capabilities with the addition of partner Gabrielle E. Higgins. She is the firm's first lateral partner hire in its San Francisco office, which opened in 2019.
"In some ways for me it's like coming full circle and coming home," said Higgins. "I started at Fish & Neave in New York, an IP litigation boutique that had a 250-year history representing companies such as the Wright Brothers and General Electric."
She added, she was attracted to returning to a firm of intellectual property trial lawyers who work together and have similar practices, as well as the opportunity to help build out the firm's Bay Area presence.
Including her time at Fish & Neave before its merger with Ropes & Gray in 2007, she was with that firm for 30 years.
During her time at Fish & Neave, she spent some time working with John Desmarais, founder of Desmarais LLP, and was one of nine attorneys that helped the firm establish its first West Coast office in the Bay Area.
With over three decades of patent litigation experience, Higgins has represented leading technology companies such as Apple, Google and Samsung before the board's Patent Trial and Appeal Board as well as federal court.
She is a member of the board's Bar Association, currently serving on the programming committee, and nonprofit ChIPs, which focuses on advancing and connecting women in technology, law and policy. She also is dedicated to mentoring the next generation and partners with her clients and friends to host
breakfasts and lunches for young women just beginning their intellectual property careers.

Carol Alexis Chen joined Winston & Strawn LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Chen was with the U.S. attorney's office for 15 years and was chief of the international narcotics, money laundering and racketeering section.
She is based in Los Angeles.

Christian Nickerson was promoted to partner of Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP in Santa Monica.

Nickerson focuses on employment, business, catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death litigation.
He is based in Santa Monica.

Bobby Lutzker was promoted to special counsel of Covington & Burling LLP in San Francisco.

Lutzker specializes in drafting and negotiating licenses, collaboration, supply, distribution and other commercial agreements for life sciences and technology companies.
He is based in San Francisco.

Mark Chen was promoted to special counsel of Covington & Burling LLP in Los Angeles.

Chen is a litigator and specializes in intellectual property and complex commercial disputes.
He is based in Los Angeles.

Michael Rome was promoted to partner of Buckley LLP in Los Angeles.

Rome focuses on complex commercial disputes, consumer class actions and government enforcement matters.
He is based in Los Angeles.

Mandana Massoumi joined Seyfarth Shaw LLP as partner in Century City.

Seyfarth Shaw expanded its Los Angeles employment and labor practice with the addition of partner Mandana Massoumi from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP.
Massoumi practiced at Manatt for seven years and is the former co-chair of the national retail and consumer products industry practice group. What drew Massoumi to Seyfarth was the firm's deep bench strength in employment law, she said.
"The quality of client service and the work for me was very impressive and was a draw in wanting to be part of the team and providing my clients with the opportunity to have this additional bench strength that can assist them not just here in California, but across the country and even internationally," she explained.
As a litigator, Massoumi specializes in class and collective actions, but her practice also includes advising clients on day to day employment matters and defending them in litigation and audits by government agencies.
"I've been fortunate enough to have a practice that's allowed me to work with clients across industry groups, but I've had particular experience and I have a large number of clients that are in the retail and consumer industry groups, as well as those who are in the technology and digital space," she said.
Massoumi said she enjoys most "being able to really partner with my clients and really fully understanding their businesses and being effective in that way, where I'm able to step in and work side by side with them or provide counsel in a way that can make a difference in how they're doing their work or how they're operating their business."
Massoumi has an active pro bono practice that has included advising nonprofits on employment matters and assisting in immigration and refugee cases.
She is also a board member of Orange County Coastkeeper, a nonprofit clean water organization.

Ashley Klein was promoted to partner of Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck in San Francisco.

Klein is co-chair of the real estate practice group and is comanaging partner of the San Francisco and Sonoma offices.
She is based in San Francisco and Sonoma.

John Lupton was promoted to partner of Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck in Los Angeles.

Lupton specializes in business litigation with a focus on the defense of legal malpractice cases and insurance litigation.
He is based in Los Angeles.

Lauren Jones was promoted to of counsel of Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck in San Francisco.

Jones specializes in real property, trust and probate litigation and landlord-tenant matters.
She is based in San Francisco.

David A. Gay joined Greenberg Traurig LLP as shareholder in Los Angeles.

Greenberg Traurig has added shareholder David A. Gay, formerly with Jones Day, to its Los Angeles office, expanding its intellectual property, technology, life sciences and medical technology practices.
A former biochemical research scientist, Gay practiced at Jones Day for 10 years and has more than 25 years of experience in the life sciences industry.
Gay considers the move a natural progression for his career, adding he was attracted to the firm's strategic focus on expanding its intellectual property and life sciences practices and the full range of services it would provide for his clients.
"As you can imagine with biotech, well most technology clients, they operate in sophisticated arenas and require seamless legal advice across a number of different disciplines other than intellectual property --corporate, products liabilities etc.," said Gay. "Greenberg Traurig is just exceptionally well suited to provide those sophisticated legal services, not only in the U.S., but globally."
Throughout his career, Gay has focused his practice on life sciences companies, primarily those within the biotechnology sector ranging from companies that specialize in metabolic engineering to small molecule therapeutics. He advises clients on strategic design, acquisition and management of intellectual property rights. He also evaluates patent portfolios and conducts due diligence investigations.
Gay's interest in law was sparked during his time as a research scientist, when he came to the realization that patent law bridges two of his passions: science and the law. Just 10 years after receiving his doctorate in biochemistry from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, he returned to school at the University of San Diego School of Law, graduating in 2002.

Richard R. Sheridan joined Paul, Plevin, Sullivan & Connaughton LLP as of counsel in San Diego.

Sheridan is the former general counsel and corporate secretary of Scripps. He specializes in governance and corporate law.
Sheridan is based in San Diego.