J. Tom Boer joined Hogan Lovells as partner in San Francisco.

Boer, an environmental litigator, joined Hogan Lovells in San Francisco.
The work Hogan Lovells does in the environmental space and its strength in its regulatory and litigation practices, are what drew Boer to join the firm.
"From my perspective, it was a great opportunity. The firm just has a world-class regulatory practice including environmental law and an excellent litigation practice, which is really the intersection of what I do," said Boer. "To be able to come to a platform like that, I think really provides great advantages to my clients and will also allow me to contribute to the continued growth of Hogan Lovells' environmental practice nationwide and internationally."
He came to Hogan Lovells from Hunton Andrews Kurth, where he practiced for the last five years as a partner within the administrative law group. He also served as hiring partner for Hunton Andrews Kurth's San Francisco office.
Boer is a former trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice Environmental Enforcement Section, who entered private practice in 2008.
Prior to joining the DOJ, he was with the Office of General Counsel of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington D.C., where he began his career.
"I think it is exceptionally helpful to understand how the government views environmental enforcement cases and I think it really provides me with insight in terms of how to respond to government enforcement cases, government inquiries and then [how to] work directly with the government in order to try to resolve those cases in an efficient and effective way for clients," said Boer.
Boer defends regulatory environmental enforcement actions and citizen suit actions under environmental statutes. He also assists clients in responding to catastrophic environmental incidents and site cleanup.
His clients include individuals, municipal utilities and large companies within the utilities, manufacturing and food service sectors.
Boer is Hogan Lovells' sole California partner in the environment and natural resources practice. The firm said it has 37 attorneys within the practice nationwide.
Boer's first day with Hogan Lovells was July 13.
"It's a great practice to add to the Bay area, where we've already been doing work with Bay Area clients on environmental litigation matters, but until now we've really had to leverage the resources in places like D.C. and Denver," said Clay James, Office Managing Partner for Hogan Lovells' San Francisco Office. "This really gives us an opportunity to put a premier practice in that area in the Bay Area and one that includes representing governmental entities in addition to businesses."

Kirstin Ault joined California Appellate Law Group LLP as counsel in Los Angeles.

Ault served in the Department of Justice for 20 years as an assistant U.S. attorney. Her practice is focused on high-end criminal appeals, appeals related to civil litigation and consulting on pre-trial, trial, and post-trial criminal litigation and sentencing. She is based in Los Angeles.

Marc David Peters joined Turner Boyd LLP as partner in Redwood City.

Peters represents clients in technology and intellectual property litigation. He is based in Redwood City.

Philip Albert joined Haynes and Boone LLP as partner in Palo Alto.

Patent prosecution veteran Philip Albert joined Haynes and Boone's intellectual property practice
group as partner.

Based in Palo Alto at the moment, Albert will join the firm's new downtown San Francisco office. Haynes and Boone has not announced the new office's opening date yet.

"It's an exciting opportunity to help Haynes and Boone expand their presence in the Bay Area and in San Francisco in particular," said Albert in a phone interview.

The opportunity to help Haynes and Boone expand its presence in San Francisco as well as the firm's depth and platform, were what drew Albert to the firm, he said.

Albert joined the firm from Davis Wright Tremaine, where he practiced for seven years. Before his stint at Davis Wright Tremaine, he spent nearly 22 years at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, where he began his career as a lawyer.

Albert was part of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and founded Galt Engineering Inc. before he went to law school. He said his background in engineering is essential to the work he does for his clients.

"[C]lients pretty much expect that I know what their technologists are talking about," he said.

A career in law was the opportunity to constantly learn about new technology and the ability to serve as a "translator between the legal sphere and the tech sphere," he said.

Today, Albert represents companies, ranging from startups to large businesses within the software sector, in patent prosecution and intellectual property transactions.

In addition to his legal practice, Albert is a member of the Court Appointed Special Advocates, and handles pro bono immigration cases.

The ability to have an early view into developing technology and ensuring clients' assets are properly protected are his favorite aspects of his practice.

"I'm asked to understand clients' business, legal issues and technology and I have to constantly merge all three of those together," he said. "Clients want to know what protections they have for their technology and also they want to know whether it makes sense to have [protections] as part of their business model.."

His first day with Haynes and Boone was July 6.

Eugenia Steele was promoted to managing attorney of TORKLAW in Los Angeles.

Steele is a senior associate, who focuses her practice on personal injury. She has handled matters related to motor vehicle accidents, products liability, sexual assault, medical malpractice and wrongful termination. She is based in Los Angeles.

Helen Christakos joined Fenwick & West LLP as counsel in Mountain View.

After four years with Alston & Bird, Christakos joined Fenwick & West's privacy and cybersecurity practice group as counsel in Mountain View on June 29.

She provides counsel for clients developing products and services that utilize data to ensure compliance with the law. She does work related to large M&A transactions that have privacy and data security components. Advising clients in preparing privacy and cybersecurity policies as well as data breaches is another area of focus.

Her clients range from small startups to large, established public companies within the technology and
life sciences sector.

"I really enjoyed my time at Alston & Bird. It's been a wonderful experience for me and I think it'll be sort of a great chapter as I look back upon my career," she said.

Fenwick's focus on tech and life sciences clients attracted her to the firm, she said.

"Fenwick also has a really unique privacy practice and they've built an integrated team of both lawyers and professionals who have a lot of industry experience and we work together to provide a comprehensive solution for clients and I think that's really unique in the industry. And that's something that really attracted me to Fenwick," she added.

She said hopes to continue to build out her practice on Fenwick's platform.

Christakos is an adjunct professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, where she teaches a cybersecurity law class she designed.

"The technology is often 10 steps ahead of the law and the law hasn't really anticipated where the technology is going to go. So bridging that gap between what the technology companies are doing and where the law is at is fascinating," she said. "It's brain food and I love working on problems like that."

Aviva J. Gilbert was promoted to co-chair of white collar defense and internal corporate investigations group of Farella Braun + Martel in San Francisco.

Gilbert is a senior associate. She represents individuals and businesses in federal and state civil enforcement, investigation and criminal justice matters. She is based in San Francisco.

Janice W. Reicher was promoted to co-chair of white collar defense and internal corporate investigations group of Farella Braun + Martel in San Francisco.

Reicher is a senior associate. She focuses her practice on white collar defense and complex business litigation. She is based in San Francisco.

Johnathan L Lorenzen was promoted to partner of Allen Matkins in San Diego.

Lorenzen represents buyers and sellers in the negotiation of purchase and sale agreements, development of properties, receivership matters and ongoing maintenance and management of projects. He is based in San Diego.

Tim C Hsu was promoted to partner of Allen Matkins in Los Angeles.

Hsu represents clients in disputes involving creditors' rights, environmental litigation and general commercial and appellate matters. He is based in Los Angeles.