Paul Vargas joined Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek as of counsel in San Diego.

Vargas, a veteran tax attorney, handles transactional tax planning, tax controversy, international finance, and investment matters for businesses, investors and individuals.
He is based in San Diego.

Vanessa Baehr-Jones as founding partner in Oakland

Baehr-Jones spent nearly a decade prosecuting child sex offenders and securing restitution for survivors. As the Project Safe Childhood coordinator in Los Angeles, she managed the intake of all child exploitation cases in the seven-county Central District.
She is based in Oakland.

Ami Sheth Sagel as founding partner in Oakland

Sagel, a litigator for more than 15 years, was a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles and Riverside. She was human trafficking coordinator in Riverside and helped create the Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force, a collaboration of prosecutors, law enforcement, and victim servicers.
She is based in Oakland.

Joshua R. McLane joined Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP as partner in Orange County.

Sheppard Mullin expanded its tax practice with the addition of Orange County based partner Joshua R. McLane, formerly of Kirkland & Ellis.
"I've worked across from Shepherd Mullin attorneys on past transactions and have always found them to be smart, collaborative and just practical attorneys," McLane said in an interview. "Really, the relationships were something that drove me here, the people I knew."
The firm's expanding private equity practice was an additional draw, McLane said.
"The opportunity to take part in that and work hand-in-hand with the corporate partners was something that I was very attracted to," he explained.
McLane spent a decade at Kirkland & Ellis and specializes his tax practice on private equity funds and their portfolio companies.
He handles complex business transactions and reorganizations such as mergers and acquisitions, investments, joint ventures and divestitures.
He was also general counsel and corporate secretary for CareTrust REIT, a real estate investment company in San Clemente, and was a senior tax associate at Deloitte.
With the move to Sheppard Mullin, McLane expects his practice to remain the same, but anticipates tax regulation changes in the future that could influence the way corporate transactions are structured.
"There's always new exciting things to learn in tax, and it's ever changing," McLane said. "And, frankly, that's something that drew me to the practice, broadly speaking."
What he enjoys most is being able to translate complex tax rules for his clients and colleagues and providing them with paths to their business objectives.
"On a personal level, I find great satisfaction in helping young associates build a tax foundation," he said.
McLane received his law degree from Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School.

Lloyd Winawer joined Bergeson, LLP as partner in San Jose, California.

Winawer, known for his work on complex business litigation and investigations and securities law matters, is the leader of Bergeson's mergers and acquisitions dispute resolution group.
He is based in San Jose.

Amy Senia joined BraunHagey & Borden LLP as attorney in San Francisco.

After wrapping up her clerkship for Hon. Michael W. Fitzgerald of the Central District of California, Impact associate Amy Senia joins the firm's San Francisco office. As a recent Stanford Law School graduate, Amy started as a trial attorney at the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of California. During her time at the Federal Public Defender's office, Amy handled felony and misdemeanor cases across all stages of litigation, with a focus on motion work. Amy is joining the BHB Impact Project where she will continue to hone her court room skills and fight for broad systemic change on behalf of the underserved and underrepresented.

Nadia Sarkis was promoted to partner of Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland LLP in Los Angeles.

Sarkis specializes in civil rights litigation, employment and municipal liability.
She is based in Los Angeles.

John Nelson joined Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP as partner in San Diego.

San Diego environmental attorney John Nelson joined Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP particularly because its real estate practice aligns well with his focus.
Nelson was also drawn to make the move from Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP because of Procopio's collegial spirit and strong practice groups, he said in an interview Thursday.
"One thing that I noticed right away when I started talking to them is that it's a very collegial environment," Nelson said. "I was impressed by the number of partners who went out of their way to meet with me on Zoom. It felt like a very collegial environment and that's been confirmed since I've joined."
Nelson spent the last four years at Lewis Brisbois and previously held inhouse roles at Ash Grove Cement Co. and Monsanto.
His practice focuses on litigation, regulatory and transactional work involving environmental law ranging from water rights to California Environmental Quality Act compliance.
"I really enjoy the regulatory work the most because you really get to dig into the regulations and all the policy issues that come with it," Nelson said. " That's kind of the heart of environmental law in a lot of ways."
What sets his practice apart from others, Nelson said, is his in-house experience. After spending a decade in house, he said, he understands clients' unique needs.
At Procopio, he looks forward to helping meet the environmental needs of the firm's existing clients and providing to his clients resources the firm has to offer, particularly real estate expertise.
Nelson graduated from UCLA School of Law.

Stefan Caris Love joined Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Love clerked for Ninth Circuit Justice Paul J. Watford before joining the firm.
He is based in Los Angeles.

Landon J. Dial joined Miller Barondess, LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Dial specializes in complex civil litigation matters, including real property, business, and tort disputes.
He is based in Los Angeles.

Jang H. Im joined Fisher Phillips LLP as partner in San Francisco.

A new partner with a specialization in immigration services for corporations has joined Fisher Phillips LLP to help expand the firm's practice in San Francisco.

On Oct. 14, Jang H. Im joined from Epstein Becker & Green PC, where he spent 15 years as a corporate employment and immigration attorney. He helps employers hire foreign talent and guides the company and workers through the immigration process.

"Fisher Phillips has a growing immigration practice that I think leverages, not only my team, but the clients that I have for additional immigration support," Im said in an interview.

Arit Butani moved with Im from Epstein Becker, and will be joining as Counsel, along with six paralegals.

"The whole U.S. residency sponsorship for work authorization can be very time consuming, complex, as well as maddening for a lot of individuals who are waiting for their final approval of their permanent residency," he said. "When we can procure documentation and the evidence to connect the dots to show an extraordinary ability worker, that's when you truly feel the accomplishment and satisfaction that you've done something rewarding for the individual."

He recalled a case where he helped an extraordinary ability worker get into the country after he was denied, saying these kinds of challenges are why he finds the work rewarding.

"There's no way this should get denied," he said about the visa application. "We appealed the case, and upon appeal, the administrative appeals office in D..C agreed with our argument. ... Soon thereafter he received his U.S. permanent residency."

Im said he feels like he's not only helping an individual, but the country, by allowing workers to support the U.S. economy and society.

"You're cooperating with government agencies to show them that this individual truly does deserve to stay here to help support not only our economy and the industry, but to be proactive members of society," he explained. "Many of the Silicon Valley start-ups that became growing companies that added jobs were from foreign nationals that went through these types of processes."

Im graduated from San Francisco Law School and is active in the American Immigration Lawyers Association.