Megan Gess as Partner in Newport Beach from Haynes & Boone LLP.

Gess advises companies on complex M&A, corporate governance, private equity, securities, and commercial transactions. Her experience spans a broad range of industries, including food and beverage, financial services, technology, healthcare and life sciences.  In particular, she has a deep understanding of and extensive experience in the wine industry, having completed several successful M&A deals for local and regional vintners.

Matthew J Frauenfeld as Associate in Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney (San Francisco)

Frauenfeld represents clients in litigation in a variety of areas including professional liability and commercial litigation. He also advises clients on corporate and data privacy compliance. As a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) with the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), he advises clients in matters involving privacy and cyber security. As a Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional (CCEP) with the Society Corporate Compliance and Ethics (CCEP) he advises on corporate governance and ABAC issues (Anti-Corruption and Anti-Bribery).

Tory Polin as Partner in San Diego

Polin, a Labor & Employment attorney, represents public and private employers across a broad range of sectors, including defense, biotech, communications, retail and education. She is a seasoned litigator with extensive courtroom and first-chair jury trial experience. Her practice covers all aspects of labor and employment litigation, advice and counseling, including wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination, and wage and hour matters. Polin earned a B.A. from UCLA and J.D. from University of San Diego School of Law.

Aaron Schu as Partner in San Diego

Schu is a Labor and employment attorney and represents a broad range of public and private employers in all facets of labor and employment law. He has significant experience resolving employee mobility and intellectual property matters on behalf of employers and defending employers in whistleblowing, wrongful termination, wage and hour, discrimination, and harassment matters throughout California. Schu received a B.A. from the University of Southern California and a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law.

Christina Snider as Partner in San Diego

Snider a Labor and employment attorney who defends her clients in employment and business lawsuits, ranging from wage and hour class actions to contract disputes. She also counsels on employment law compliance. Her clients have included Fortune 50 corporations, local businesses in various industries and sectors, and public entities.

Jessica S High as special counsel in San Diego

High counsels private sector colleges and universities in their many specialized relationships, including state and federal regulation matters, accreditation compliance and advocacy, and student and employee disputes and concerns. Before becoming an attorney, she spent over a decade employed by private sector colleges in their financial aid, admissions, accounting, student services and human resources departments.

Kelly Shea Delvac as Associate in Los Angeles from U.S. District Court, Central District of California.

Delvac is a litigation and appellate associate representing individuals and entities in a wide range of matters. Prior to joining Miller Barondess, Kelly clerked for U.S. Magistrate Judge Margo A. Rocconi.

James Nikraftar as Associate in Los Angeles from Goodwin Procter.

Nikraftar is a business litigator with a background representing diverse clientele in matters including contract disputes, fraud, consumer protection, labor disputes, business torts, and appellate concerns.

Daniel L. Riordan as Associate in San Diego from Pestotnik LLP.

Riordan specializes in representing clients in commercial litigation and various business-related disputes. His practice spanned various legal matters, including breach of contract actions, officer and director liability cases, and derivative lawsuits. Riordan also handled partnership disagreements, real estate conflicts, and professional liability litigation. His expertise extended to unfair competition claims, trade secret protection, and securities litigation, providing comprehensive legal support across multiple facets of business law.

Brian B. Kelly as Shareholder in San Francisco from We Work.

Kelly counsels companies of all sizes on the entire employment life cycle, including hiring, termination, wages and hours, incentive compensation programs, policies, investigations, leaves, discrimination/harassment/retaliation, and restrictive covenants, among other issues. He also will support the firm's Corporate Practice, advising clients on employment matters related to buy- and sell-side mergers and acquisitions and other transactional matters.

Alistair D. Blacklock as Partner in San Francisco

Blacklock focuses on litigating and resolving complex disputes, including multidistrict litigations, contested bankruptcy proceedings, appeals and confidential arbitrations.

Michael Brar as Partner in San Francisco

Brar specializes in investment fund work.

Psalm Cheung as Partner in San Francisco

Cheung is a member of the Antitrust & Competition Practice Group. She advises clients on all aspects of antitrust and competition law, including merger clearance, government investigations and day-to-day antitrust compliance.

Benjamin J. Jain as Partner in San Francisco

Jain's practice is focused on mergers and acquisitions, as well as advising companies with respect to corporate governance, joint ventures and other corporate matters. He currently serves on the board of the Glenn Gould Foundation.

Todd Melchor as Partner in San Francisco

Todd Melchior specializes in investment funds work.

Sean O'Connell as Partner in San Francisco

O'Connell specializes in transaction work.

Seth J. Pritchard as Partner in San Francisco

Pritchard is a member of the Technology & IP Transactions Practice Group where he concentrates on intellectual property, technology, cybersecurity, and privacy aspects of complex corporate transactions, including carve-outs, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and venture capital and private equity investments.

Michael White as Partner in Palo Alto

White concentrates his practice on complex business transactions, including carve-out transactions, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, leveraged buyouts of public and private companies, recapitalizations, private equity and venture capital investments, growth equity investments, investment exits, executive compensation and equity incentive arrangements, and related general corporate counseling.

Julia Waterhous as Partner in San Francisco

Waterhous is a member of the Firm's ESG & Impact Practice Group, which advises some of the world's most sophisticated and dynamic private equity firms, corporations, and project sponsors and lenders on complex and evolving legal issues relating to ESG and climate-related regulatory requirements, investor demands, strategic opportunities, and voluntary reporting frameworks and coalitions. Her practice includes ESG risk assessment, management, and mitigation with a focus on developing and evolving legal, regulatory, and market risks.

Maisie Allison as Partner in Los Angeles

Allison is a litigator. She represents both plaintiffs and defendants in high-profile cases across the nation. Her practice covers a broad range of substantive areas, including breach of contract, fraud, unfair competition and antitrust, and she has experience with all stages of litigation, including fact development and investigation, pleadings, motions to dismiss, discovery and related motion practice, depositions, summary judgment, trial, and mediation and settlement.

Elena Babakhanyan as Partner in Los Angeles

Babakhanyan specializes in corporate work.

Spencer Brass as Partner in Los Angeles

Brass specializes in corporate work.

Aura Gilham as Partner in Los Angeles

Gilham specializes in transaction work with a focus on the formation, structuring, marketing, management and regulatory compliance of investment funds, as well as the operational, legal and regulatory issues faced by their sponsors.

Nathaniel E. Haas as Partner in Los Angeles

Haas is a litigator. He has taken and defended depositions of key witnesses; briefed and presented arguments in connection with a variety of motions and appeals; and examined key witnesses at trial.

Phillip M. Kim as Partner in Los Angeles

Kim's practice focuses on acquisitions, dispositions, financings and joint ventures for institutional investors, owners and developers.

Leland Langston as Partner in Los Angeles

Langston is a member of the Investment Funds Practice Group. His practice focuses on private investment funds and investment advisers. Leland provides regulatory advice on a wide variety of matters, including the formation, offering and operation of private equity funds, venture capital funds, real estate funds and credit funds, as well as on adviser-led secondary transactions.

Arman Zadeh as Partner in Los Angeles

Zadeh specializes in corporate work.

Van Whiting as Partner in Los Angeles

Whiting specializes in capital markets with a concentration in corporate finance, securities regulation, and corporate governance. He advises issuers and sponsors in public offerings and private placements of debt and equity securities, while also providing strategic counsel on mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations, and other complex transactions. Additionally, he offers comprehensive corporate and securities law counsel, with a focus on corporate governance, disclosure matters, periodic reporting, Section 16 compliance, and stock exchange listing requirements.

Philippe Simard as Partner in Los Angeles

Simard specializes in corporate work.

Christian Rivas as Partner in Los Angeles

Christian Rivas specializes in debt finance work.

Ugo Nwasike as Partner in Los Angeles

Nwasike specializes in corporate work with a focus on capital raising. He advises private equity, venture capital and real estate sponsors on the formation, structuring and management of their private investment funds, as well as the operational, legal and regulatory issues facing them.

Peter Liskanich as Partner in Los Angeles

Liskanich's practice encompasses general corporate and business law, with an emphasis on representing private equity firms and private and public companies on a variety of matters, including mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, board governance and debt and equity offerings.

Sarkis Haroutunian as Partner in Los Angeles

Haroutunian's practice includes the representation of institutional real estate investors, developers and joint ventures in the acquisition, disposition, financing and development of commercial, office, industrial, hotel, residential and mixed-use properties across the United States.

Christopher Simpson as Partner in San Francisco

Simpson advises and represents clients with respect to complex business transactions in the private funds market, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, minority interest sales and other transactions involving investment management firms and on the establishment of structuring and execution of secondary transactions and other liquidity solutions.

Tariq I. Boulad as Associate in San Francisco from Ropers Majeski PC.

Boulad focuses his practice on representing retailers, manufacturers and commercial property owners in a wide range of disputes arising under State and Federal law, including California's Proposition 65 and the federal CERCLA statute.

Nolan S. Armstrong as Neutral in Los Angeles from McNamara, Ambacher, Wheeler, Hirsig & Gray, LLP,.

Armstrong managed civil litigation cases across State and Federal courts, including personal injury, landlord-tenant disputes, and employment defense. He is recognized for leading the defense in a class action against a real estate investment trust over ADA violations. A Thurgood Marshall Scholar, Armstrong earned his juris doctorate from The George Washington University Law School in 2005 and has served as President of the Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California and Nevada (ADCNCN).

Jeanette Barzelay as Partner in San Francisco from DLA Piper.

Barzelay is an experienced commercial litigator focusing on complex business disputes involving various sectors and legal issues. With a demonstrated track record representing and advising clients in commercial pre-litigation and litigation matters in state and federal court, Barzelay represents clients in commercial matters involving trade secret and technology disputes, contractual disputes, employment mobility, unfair competition, and related business torts.

Rajiv Dharnidharka as Partner in San Francisco from DLA Piper.

Dharnidharka navigates business disputes and potential disputes, focusing on intellectual property, technology, and general corporate matters through counseling, negotiation, litigation, arbitration, and mediation. His main practice areas are trade secret and software copyright litigation, and he is an established thought leader on domestic and international technology issues.

Nicole E. Granquist as Partner in Sacramento from Downey Brand LLP.

Granquist is among a select group of attorneys in California who specialize exclusively in water quality regulatory compliance, enforcement defense, and litigation. Described by clients as a “powerhouse” who has a “tremendous grasp of the complex scientific, legal, and political issues” involved in California water quality regulation and litigation, her tenacity, creativity, and pragmatic approach have consistently delivered exceptional results for her statewide municipal and industrial clients, earning her respect and credibility with both regulators and opposing counsel. She routinely negotiates NPDES Permits, waste discharge requirements (WDRs), and water reclamation requirements with the state board and regional water boards for municipal wastewater, industrial process water, and all types of stormwater discharges and reclamation projects.

Melissa A. Thorme as Partner in Sacramento from Downey Brand LLP..

Thorme counsels industrial and municipal clients in addressing environmental compliance challenges and negotiating or litigating regulatory enforcement actions. With nearly 35 years' experience, Thorme advises business entities, including food processors, lumber companies, agricultural companies, contractors, marinas and boat yards, auto dismantlers, small manufacturing companies, and oil field waste-produced water facilities, in addition to sanitation districts, counties, and cities throughout California on matters related to NPDES, wastewater, and recycled water discharge permitting and waivers, TMDLs, and enforcement actions brought by regulatory agencies or in Clean Water Act/Proposition 65 citizen suits.

Steven H. Goldberg as Partner in Sacramento from Downey Brand LLP.

Goldberg is a leading attorney in environmental litigation and compliance in California. With more than thirty-five years of experience, Goldberg is known as a strategic, effective, and responsive advocate with exceptional communication skills. He is known to negotiate and resolve complex disputes and is often selected by other attorneys and their clients as common counsel or liaison counsel for multiple-party lawsuits.

Patrick F. Veasy as Partner in Sacramento from Downey Brand LLP.

Veasy advises and represents clients from public and private sectors in environmental compliance matters, enforcement actions, and litigation. His practice specializes in water quality issues, including under the California Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act and federal Clean Water Act (CWA).

Gregory Oleson as Partner in San Diego from Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, LLP.

Oelson specializes in commercial real estate, handling acquisitions, sales, entitlements, and development for developers at local, regional, and national levels across all stages of transactions. He provides counsel to both lenders and borrowers on loan modifications, workouts, and the preparation of commercial loan documentation.

Heather W. Habes as Partner in Los Angeles

Habes focuses on complex insurance recovery for corporate policyholders under a variety of policies, including directors and officers liability, commercial general liability, professional liability, media liability, property, and employment practices. Working closely with in-house counsel and senior executives, she maximizes insurance protection and recovery in both informal negotiations and litigation against insurers.

Ebony A Koger as Director in San Francisco

Koger counsels clients in business, professional liability, and other forms of civil litigation. She principally represents attorneys, real estate brokers, property owners, accountants, funeral home owners, veterinarians, non-profit organizations, and employers. She is the Vice Chair of the firm's Association of Professional Women.

Laura Rose Grealish as Director in San Francisco

Grealish's practice includes the defense of professional liability matters involving lawyers and real estate professionals, construction defect, corporate disputes, personal injury, and wrongful death. Last month, she successfully obtained a defense verdict for her client in the face of a $36 million demand following a jury trial.

Thomas F Mazzucco as Shareholder in San Francisco

Mazzucco concentrates his practice in the areas of white-collar defense and government investigations, intellectual property litigation, and business litigation. He represents businesses and individuals in all phases of civil litigation, as well as advising professionals, executives, and businesses in civil and criminal proceedings involving California and Federal agencies. He has represented executives and professionals in matters before numerous governmental agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as in both civil and criminal matters and before the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the State of California Department of Justice. He has also represented clients in federal court litigation, in disputes before the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board, and in arbitration proceedings involving domain names.

Arthur J Harris as Shareholder in San Francisco

Harris has represented MPBF clients in commercial, business, professional liability, and real estate litigation matters, emphasizing legal malpractice, insurance and real estate broker defense, breach of contract claims, premises liability, elder law, and construction litigation.

Adriana R. Ochoa as Partner in San Diego from Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP.

Ochoa will be part of the firm's Special Litigation and Compliance practice group, where she will concentrate on providing guidance to private clients and public agencies, including healthcare districts and water and wastewater authorities, regarding governance, operational, and other public law matters, including the acquisition and negotiation of public services. Her experience incorporates the Ralph M. Brown Act, California Public Records Act, Political Reform Act, Government Code 1090, California Voting Rights Act, Proposition 218, public works contracting, operational and business issues, as well as litigation.

Quyen L. Ta as Partner in Palo Alto from King & Spalding .

Ta is a high-stakes trial and complex civil litigation lawyer focusing nationwide on consumer class actions, business disputes, and international and U.S. arbitrations. Her clients include publicly traded and venture-backed companies in various industries and regions worldwide.

Tami Kay Lee as Partner in Los Angeles from Hines Hampton Pelanda LLP.

Lee has more than twenty years of experience as defense counsel, assisting clients in complex insurance matters, including policy analysis, coverage opinions, and commercial general liability. Her work encompasses reinsurance, excess liability, errors and omissions, directors and officers, cyber liability, and data breach losses. In addition to her legal background, she is a Certified Public Accountant, providing clients with critical insight into financial and accounting aspects that arise in litigation.

Alec C. Stone as Senior Counsel in Los Angeles from California Department of Insurance.

Stone is an insurance regulatory attorney. As the former head of the California Department of Insurance's Rate Enforcement Bureau, he is uniquely positioned to advise insurers and other entities subject to California's extensive regulatory framework, including prior approval applications, market conduct issues, enforcement actions, proposed regulations, and further matters related to Proposition 103.

Zach P. Hutton as Partner in San Francisco from Paul Hastings LLP.

Hutton's practice spans all aspects of employment law, including discrimination and harassment, family and medical leaves, and wage and hour issues. He has successfully represented employers in numerous class and collective actions, agency investigations, individual plaintiff cases, and administrative hearings.

Bianca Levin-Soler as Partner in Los Angeles from Ropes & Gray LLP.

Levin-Soler advises on leveraged buyouts, public and private mergers and acquisitions, SPACs and restructurings in a range of industries, including technology, software, healthcare, retail, food and beverage and consumer products. In addition to advising TPG in the sale of its majority stake in Creative Artists Agency to Artémis last fall, Levin-Soler has advised firms including TPG Growth, Clearlake Capital Group, Industrial Growth Partners and Lion Capital on numerous deals. Levin-Soler also has in-house experience.

Dana Meyers as Shareholder in San Diego

Meyers focuses her practice on subrogation. As sole chair in subrogation and consumer collection actions, she has conducted more than 20 civil bench trials to verdict. She has litigated hundreds of state and federal cases throughout California from inception to settlement or trial, covering a broad range of legal issues, including subrogation, construction defects, product liability, and consumer collections.

Nathan Dooley as Shareholder in Los Angeles

Dooley serves as counsel on high-profile complex commercial litigation matters filed in California. He represents some of the firm's most prominent clients and his successes include a string of victories in consumer class action cases brought in state and federal court.

Nicole Cadman as Partner in Silicon Valley from Y Combinator.

Cadman's practice will focus on advising emerging companies and their founders across the corporate lifecycle, including on formation and governance, equity and debt financing, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate counseling.

April Kim as Partner in Irvine from Greenberg Traurig.

Kim's practice is focused on the energy sector, advising investors, sponsors, developers, and other renewable energy stakeholders in tax equity and tax credit transactions, mergers and acquisitions, project development and debt financings.

Honieh Udenka as Associate in Orange County from Brown Rudnick LLP.

Udenka represents clients' interests across the country in complex disputes in various fields, including brand, reputation, and crisis management, as well as commercial and business litigation.

Leo Norton as Principal in Orange County from Cooley LLP.

Norton has extensive experience defending against both nationwide and statewide consumer class actions under a range of statutes, including the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, California Unfair Competition Law, California False Advertising Law, the Song Beverly Credit Card Act, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FACTA). He also handles cases related to the Americans with Disabilities Act, California's Unruh Act, California wage and hour class actions, and PAGA.