Retired justice Kathleen E. O'Leary joined JAMS as a neutral in Orange County.

Justice O'Leary joins after more than four decades of distinguished judicial service in California. Most recently, she served on the 4th District Court of Appeal, Division Three, in Santa Ana from 2000 to 2025, including as presiding justice from 2012 to 2025. On the appellate bench, Justice O'Leary presided over thousands of civil and criminal cases; authored roughly 2,600 opinions, including nearly 200 published ones; and was recognized for her extensive knowledge of procedural fairness and constitutional rights. Based in the Orange County Resolution Center, Justice O'Leary will serve as an arbitrator, mediator, neutral evaluator, and court-appointed neutral (such as a special master or referee), handling appellate, business and commercial, civil rights, government/public agency, employment, insurance, personal injury/torts, and real estate matters. She is available to conduct sessions in person or virtually for clients across the country and internationally.

Nancy K. Canter joined Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP as a partner in Sacramento.

Canter is an experienced litigator and seasoned advisor, leveraging her extensive experience at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. to guide clients through complex regulatory challenges, administrative law matters, constitutional claims, and all aspects of commercial contract disputes and civil litigation. She is experienced in both employment-based and family-based immigration matters, as well as workplace compliance, and can advise on governmental investigations relating to compliance with U.S. immigration laws, including worksite enforcement actions and raids, immigration compliance audits, H-1B site visits, civil denaturalization, and responding to administrative and judicial warrants.

Amanda V. Anderson joined Knox Ricksen LLP as a counsel in Los Angeles.

Anderson's practice focuses on representing clients in civil actions relating to insurance fraud and unfair business practices against healthcare providers, clinics, management services organizations, and related entities and individuals.

Alese K. Rajaniemi joined Knox Ricksen LLP as a counsel in Los Angeles.

Rajaniemi is an experienced litigator, representing companies and individuals in all kinds of cases, including casualty, education and employment law matters. She has worked closely with insurance carriers and other healthcare professionals to manage expectations and assess risk and exposure.

Friedemann Thomma joined Baker Botts as a partner in San Francisco.

Thomma focuses on corporate international tax planning and U.S. taxation of foreign operations and has managed large-scale global structuring projects, including the design, implementation, and post-implementation phases. He has also served as the primary contact for multinational corporate clients, working closely with in-house tax, legal, treasury, and accounting departments to implement international legal and tax restructuring projects and post-M&A-integration projects. His clients include publicly traded multinational corporations in the high-tech sector, start-up companies, mid-market companies, high-end consumer manufacturing corporations, and high-net-worth individuals.

Becca Chappell joined Baker Botts as a partner in San Francisco.

Chappell advises clients on U.S. inbound and outbound transactional tax and cross-border tax planning, with a focus on design, implementation, and post-implementation work for complex acquisitions, business combinations, restructurings, fund investments, and global expansions. Becca has significant experience with high-profile, multi-jurisdictional transactions that involve the development and execution of tax-efficient and commercially effective tax planning strategies. She is well versed in tax structuring and transactional implementation in the U.S. and European markets, and has a comprehensive understanding of European financing considerations and evolving global tax initiatives.

Charity Schiller was elected managing partner of Best Best & Krieger LLP. Her tenure is effective Nov. 17, 2025.

Schiller is a longtime member of BBK's Environmental Law & Natural Resources practice and a member of the firm's Executive Committee. Schiller will be the first woman to lead BBK in its more than 130-year history. She joined BBK in 2004 and has spent more than two decades advising public and private clients on some of California's most high-profile environmental and land use matters, with extensive experience guiding them through all aspects of compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act and defending clients in trial and appellate court litigation.

Dylan Dordick was promoted to partner of Dordick Law Corporation in Los Angeles.

Since joining the family practice, Dordick tried a case as lead trial counsel that resulted in an award of more than $10 million for a little girl hit by a car who suffered a traumatic brain injury and in their first trial together as a father-son duo, a jury returned a verdict of more than $8 million for a client who was hit by a car resulting in ankle, knee and back surgeries.

John M. Upton was promoted to partner of Dordick Law Corporation in Los Angeles.

Upton is the partner leading the firm's law and motion and appellate advocacy department. He regularly represents the firm's clients in high-stakes motions, appeals, and writs in California's superior and appellate courts. Having handled hundreds of significant personal injury cases from intake through resolution, Upton brings his valuable insight and experience litigating a wide variety of plaintiff's claims, including car, truck and motorcycle accidents, premises liability claims, and medical negligence actions. Upton has moderated and spoken on numerous panels with judges, arbitrators, mediators, and other legal practitioners on topics related to pre-trial motions, trail motions, and appellate practice.

Christopher V. Bulone was promoted to partner of Dordick Law Corporation in Los Angeles.

Bulone is a rising star in California courts, continuously securing record results. He won a $2.5 million jury verdict in Van Nuys, believed to be a courthouse record for a mild traumatic brain injury. He also secured $42 million in a highly contested vicarious liability case involving a delivery truck and an auto, resulting in a severe traumatic brain injury. Additionally, he obtained $15 million against Caltrans in a negligently built highway case. He won $7.7 million for a man injured when a fire engine entered an intersection on a red light, and $18.7 million for a man struck by a park ranger while napping in a park. Furthermore, Bulone argued that a $100,000 insurance policy limit was "opened" due to insurance bad faith and recovered $5 million for a child injured when a driver ran a stop sign.

Joshua J. Wes joined Barnes & Thornburg LLP as a partner in Century City.

Wes defends pharmaceutical, medical device, and consumer products clients in product liability and mass tort litigation in state and federal court, including in multidistrict and coordinated proceedings. His practice includes largescale national litigation as well as individual injury and wrongful death cases. Wes has been a key member of numerous trial teams, taking on development of case strategy, day-to-day case management, and all aspects of fact and expert discovery.

Bret Stancil joined Jones Day as a partner in Silicon Valley.

Stancil advises leading corporate and private equity clients on significant mergers and acquisitions transactions, as well as related corporate matters. He represents private and public companies across a wide range of industries, such as technology and software, life sciences, internet and digital media, and retail and consumer products. Stancil's primary areas of focus include public and private mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, carve-outs, and leveraged buyouts. Some of his recent M&A deals in the technology space include the $12 billion acquisition of a customer engagement and marketing platform, the $7 billion acquisition of a leading consumer fintech platform, and the $6 billion equity investment by a private equity fund into a data center company.

Samuel G. Roseme joined Reed Smith LLP as a partner in Los Angeles.

Roseme focuses his practice on high-level transactional work in the entertainment industry, including representing studios, networks, production companies, directors, writers, and talent. He handles mergers and acquisitions of production companies, development and financing agreements, licensing and distribution deals, rights acquisitions, and corporate matters for clients across the entertainment spectrum. He has served as counsel on biopics for high-profile celebrities, Broadway productions, and a wide variety of film and TV projects. In addition to his U.S. practice, Roseme regularly manages cross-border transactions and is looking forward to collaborating with Reed Smith's entertainment & media lawyers across London, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. He has also done significant work in the music industry, where he handles transactions -- work that aligns closely with Reed Smith's leading global music practice, particularly in acquisitions of music portfolios from world-renowned artists.

Scott Paetty joined DTO Law as a partner in Los Angeles. The move was Oct. 6, 2025.

Paetty's practice focuses on internal investigations, criminal investigations, state and federal regulatory investigations and enforcement, complex commercial litigation, and dispute resolution across industries, including financial services, technology, media and entertainment, sports, telecommunications, energy, automotive, and healthcare.

Daniel D. Spencer as a partner in Los Angeles.

Spencer has experience in all aspects of employment-related litigation, including defending and resolving wage-and-hour class actions and representative actions under PAGA, claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, and failure to accommodate, misclassification claims, Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act claims, noncompete and trade secret claims. He has represented clients ranging from individuals to public entities to large corporations in arbitration, state and federal trial courts, appellate courts and in administrative proceedings. Spencer's practice also includes the defense of products liability claims as well as consumer class actions, including claims for false advertising, unfair competition, claims under the Consumers Legal Remedies Act, and other complex business litigation. His advisory services encompass a broad spectrum, including drafting and auditing employee handbooks, ensuring meticulous payroll compliance, evaluating various employment and termination decisions, and conducting employment-based investigations.

A. Peter Rausch, Jr. joined Offit Kurman as a principal in Aptos.

Rausch's practice covers a broad spectrum of disputes, including contract and shareholder/partnership matters, intellectual property issues, employment disputes, insurance coverage, secured transactions, copyright and trademark protection and disputes, corporate governance challenges and a wide range of civil disputes. C

Carmen Santana joined MG+M The Law Firm as a partner in Los Angeles--Figueroa Street. The move was Oct. 1, 2025.

Santana handles complex multi-party and multi-district insurance and liability litigation at the state and federal levels in the fields of toxic torts, product liability, construction defect and personal injury cases involving catastrophic injuries. Her product liability and toxic torts practice involves the defense of mesothelioma cases, as well as silica, benzene, and mixed dust cases. In her construction defect practice, she has particular experience in the defense of subcontractors.

Viiu Spangler joined MG+M The Law Firm as a partner in Los Angeles—Figueroa Street. The move was Jan. 10, 2025.

Spangler is an experienced trial attorney with a broad civil practice, including FELA matters and toxic torts, with an emphasis on product liability, premises liability, and personal injury defense. She also represents parties in breach of contract actions and other insurance defense actions. Viiu is a member of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles and volunteers with People for the American Way's Election Protection Program. Viiu is a proud member of the National Giving Alliance, working to improve the quality of life for economically disadvantaged individuals in the community.

Robert Berkes joined MG+M The Law Firm as a partner in Los Angeles—Figueroa Street. The move was Jan. 10, 2025.

Berkes has more than 40 years of experience trying civil cases. He has extensive jury trial experience and has handled cases to verdict in such areas as product liability, personal injury, construction accidents, accounting malpractice, commercial fraud, employment disputes, and insurance coverage disputes. He has placed particular emphasis in his practice on the trial of asbestos and toxic exposure cases. He also has extensive experience over the past 20 years in successfully arbitrating over a dozen complex, high-stakes insurance disputes over coverage for asbestos-related claims arising out of the Wellington Agreement (Agreement Concerning Asbestos-Related Claims).

Berkes was one of the lead trial counsel in the California Coordinated Asbestos Insurance Coverage Cases, the longest running and largest insurance coverage trial in California litigation history. He was also lead defense counsel in the litigation arising out of the 400 South Hope Street crane accident, one of the most serious accident cases in the history of downtown Los Angeles high-rise construction.

Christopher Bruni joined MG+M The Law Firm as a partner in San Francisco. The move was Jan. 10, 2025.

Bruni has more than 35 years of experience defending contractors, employers, distributors, retailers, and manufacturers in product liability and toxic tort litigation. He has particular experience in matters involving diseases such as lung cancer, mesothelioma, colon cancer, and kidney cancer. He has tried numerous cases to verdict throughout the state of California, including a complex, 5-month, multi-plaintiff jury trial that resulted in a defense verdict for his client.

Bruni also defends clients in automobile manufacturer and dealer litigation. He has tried cases for both manufacturers and dealerships involving claims brought under the Song-Beverly Act, the Magnuson-Moss Act, the CLRA, and the Business and Professions Code Section 17200. For more than seven years, he was statewide counsel for all dealerships insured by DaimlerChrysler Insurance in California.

Robert Engel joined MG+M The Law Firm as a partner in San Francisco. The move was Jan. 10, 2025.

Engel is an experienced litigation attorney who has tried, mediated, and arbitrated a variety of cases in state and federal courts in each of the three jurisdictions in which he is licensed to practice law--California, Oregon, and Washington.

For over 30 years he has counseled and defended clients in disputes related to products and premises liability, environmental and toxic torts, personal injury, construction defect, and defamation. He has managed and litigated hundreds of cases for Fortune 500 corporations, manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, construction companies, trucking companies, and medical professionals. Much of his work involves complex multi-party civil litigation.

Steven Spaulding joined MG+M The Law Firm as a partner in San Francisco. The move was Jan. 10, 2025.

Spaulding has more than 30 years of civil litigation experience. His practice has provided counsel and defense to businesses, from sole proprietors to Fortune 500 companies.

Spaulding's practice focuses on environmental litigation and toxic torts--including asbestos, silica, benzene, and lead litigation--mass torts, and complex litigation. He has extensive experience in state and federal coordinated matters, including the defense of medical devices.

Eric Wong joined MG+M The Law Firm as a partner in Walnut Creek. The move was Jan. 10, 2025.

Wong is an experienced litigation attorney who has successfully handled, mediated, arbitrated, and tried cases in the state of California and federal courts. For nearly 30 years, Wong has counseled and defended a multitude of clients in legal actions related to products, premises, and professional liability; personal injury involving catastrophic and traumatic brain injuries and wrongful death; construction defect and property damage, including but not limited to fire, flooding, and earth movement; transportation and trucking accidents; Americans with Disabilities Act claims; subrogation; and environmental and toxic torts.

Lindsey Greer Dotson joined O'Melveny & Myers LLP as a partner in Los Angeles.

Dotson has dedicated the past fourteen years to the United States Department of Justice, initially serving as an Assistant Attorney for the Central District of California and subsequently as the Chief of the Criminal Division. During her tenure, she adjudicated numerous white-collar and corruption-related investigations, including some of the nation's most prominent cases involving tax, fraud, and civil rights. In her new capacity at O'Melveny, Dotson will provide counsel to both international and domestic publicly traded corporations, officers, directors, and audit committees on various white-collar matters, including internal and regulatory investigations, compliance and governance issues, criminal cases, and enforcement proceedings.

Chad Chen was promoted to shareholder of Yoka | Smith, LLP in Los Angeles. The promotion is effective Sept. 22, 2025.

Chen's practice focuses on business litigation, land use and energy disputes, where he has built a reputation for delivering effective strategies and results. His elevation reflects both his commitment to excellence and the firm's continued growth in these key practice areas. He is based in the firm's Los Angeles office and can be reached for client inquiries and consultation. He represents national and multinational clients in a broad range of litigation and advisory matters. His litigation practice includes complex commercial and business disputes, product liability defense and class action defense. He has successfully represented companies of all sizes in high-stakes cases involving contract breaches and terminations, trade secret misappropriation, intellectual property disputes, warranty claims, unfair competition and fraud.

Paul E. Burns joined JAMS as a neutral in Los Angeles. The move was Sept. 24, 2025.

Burns has presided over 500 arbitrations and 150 mediations, including disputes valued at over $100 million and numerous international cases. From 2023 to 2025, he managed his own nationally recognized legal practice following over 13 years as a partner, arbitrator and mediator at Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP. Before 2010, he worked at Am Law 100 and regional firms, including Steptoe & Johnson and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae. He has also served as an arbitrator and mediator with the American Arbitration Association and the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR), is a Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators, and has been recognized by the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center on its Tech List of the world's leading technology neutrals. Based in the Century City and Los Angeles Resolution Centers, Burns will serve as an arbitrator and mediator, handling business and commercial, employment, technology/internet, intellectual property (patent, trade secret, copyright and trademark), entertainment and sports, franchise, health care, life sciences, insurance, cybersecurity and privacy, professional liability, securities, finance, real estate and international disputes. He maintains offices in Los Angeles and Phoenix/Scottsdale and is available to conduct sessions in person or virtually for clients across the country and internationally.

Joanne A. Buser was promoted to managing partner of Quarles & Brady LLP's San Diego office.

Buser has been named San Diego office managing partner, effective October 1. She succeeds Fred Plevin, who will continue with the firm as a labor and employment partner. Buser advises employers in a variety of industries, including higher education, on employment law and litigation, investigations of employee complaints, higher education litigation and more.

Matthew C. Wallin joined Fisher Phillips LLP as a partner in Woodland Hills.

Wallin has represented clients in industries such as construction, manufacturing, technology, healthcare, and professional services in single-plaintiff and class-wide actions. He has also appeared before various administrative agencies, including the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Department of Industrial Relations, and the Office of Administrative Hearings. In addition, Matt advises clients on implementing best practices to minimize risk and ensures their policies, procedures, and handbooks are up to date with ever-changing employment laws.

Gaurav B. Kalra joined Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP as a partner in Sacramento.

Kalra is a trial attorney and has litigated cases before state and federal courts and various administrative agencies, including bench and jury trials. He has extensive experience, including trials, involving the intersection of employee mobility and the protection of intangible assets. He has represented clients in cases involving claims for wage and hour violations, discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, fraud, business interference, trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition and business practices, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty.

Justin T. Carter joined Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP as an associate in San Diego.

Carter's practice is shaped by his prior experience representing plaintiffs in complex employment matters. He played a central role in securing a landmark eight-figure verdict in a single-plaintiff sexual harassment trial that withstood post-trial challenges, and has handled high-stakes class action litigation, including a case involving more than 140,000 putative class members.

Consensus Legal P.C. welcomes Fredrick A. Rafeedie as a partner in Los Angeles.

Rafeedie's litigation practice focuses on real estate, civil tort, and commercial and business litigation matters. He has extensive trial and appellate experience (including California Supreme Court experience) representing both defendants and plaintiffs in a wide variety of cases involving negligence, fraud, false advertising, contract disputes, commercial unlawful detainer, unfair competition, and unfair business practices.

Rafeedie has broad commercial real estate experience. His real estate practice includes real estate acquisition, disposition, and leasing, and he has provided representation to owners, tenants, buyers, sellers, and commercial real estate brokers. His corporate practice includes general business advice and representation from entity formation through dissolution.

Diana Lerma joined Jackson Lewis P.C. as a principal in Los Angeles.

Lerma's practice focuses on representing employers in workplace law matters, including preventive advice and counseling. She has extensive class action, PAGA and trial experience across the hospitality industry. She is known for her ability to connect with juries and deliver results, successfully representing employers in complex civil litigation matters. Her practice emphasizes not only achieving favorable outcomes but also building enduring partnerships grounded in trust.

Jessica Jones was promoted to partner of The Urbatsch Law Firm, P.C. The promotion is effective Oct. 1.

Jones works closely with individuals, corporate fiduciaries, and California-licensed private professional fiduciaries across the state who serve as trustees of Special Needs Trusts, assisting clients in selecting the best trustee option for their unique circumstances. She also supports persons with disabilities who need help making important decisions by creating powers of attorney, advance health care directives, and limited conservatorships, always with compassion and a focus on independence.

Edward S. Chang joined Morrison Foerster as a partner in Los Angeles.

Chang represents institutional clients in all aspects of complex litigation, with an emphasis on high-stakes consumer and commercial litigation. His focus includes cybersecurity and privacy class actions, complicated business disputes, and regulatory investigations and compliance matters. Ed also advises major corporations on complex cybersecurity incidents, including data breaches and ransomware attacks, and is frequently acknowledged as a leading cyber law practitioner in the United States.

Miranda L. Bane joined Goldberg Segalla as a counsel in San Francisco.

Bane advocates for clients in all aspects of employment litigation, including discrimination and harassment claims under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. She also defends matters of unpaid wage, minimum wage, overtime, meal/rest period claims and other claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Drawing on more than six years of experience defending claims against health care providers and residential care facilities, Miranda manages cases from pre-litigation strategy through resolution to achieve the most favorable results for her clients.

Nina Tajalli joined Goldberg Segalla as a counsel in Los Angeles.

Tajalli counsels and defends employers, insurance companies, and third-party administrators in all aspects of the workers’ compensation claims process. She is actively involved throughout the claim – from inception through resolution – including conducting depositions, negotiating settlements, participating in mediations, and drafting petitions and motions. Prior to joining Goldberg Segalla, Nina practiced as a corporate attorney with a focus on privacy and compliance matters, where she translated complex state and federal regulations into clear, actionable policies and procedures, trained executives and staff on privacy and compliance matters, and negotiated data sharing, data transfer and business associate agreements.

Edward Han joined Orrick as a partner in Silicon Valley. The move was Sep. 12, 2025.

Han joined Orrick's Financial & Securities Litigation Group. He brings a strong record of winning securities, commercial and fund litigation in federal and state courts, as well as advising on internal investigations and regulatory enforcement matters. He also has significant experience representing clients in investigations initiated by the DOJ, SEC, and other federal and state agencies and self-regulatory organizations. His clients include companies, officers, directors, underwriters, investment advisors, hedge funds, mutual funds and venture capital firms, and his experience spans the tech, life sciences and finance sectors.

Daniel Wu joined Greenberg Traurig, LLP as a shareholder in Los Angeles.

Wu represents emerging growth companies at all stages, and the venture capital and private equity firms and strategic investors that finance them. His work with companies spans the entire corporate life cycle, including advising on formation, governance, financings, commercial arrangements, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions. He closely works with companies in the space and defense and frontier tech industries as well as consumer internet, digital media, software-as-a-service (SaaS), e-commerce, fintech, video games, and digital assets/Web3.

Mayer Brown welcomes Davina Pujari as a partner in San Francisco.

Pujari's practice focuses on environmental and white-collar defense, class and mass actions, False Claims Act litigation, and crisis management. She has acted as lead counsel in high-profile matters under the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, the Superfund law, and other federal and state environmental statutes. Her representative work includes defending a global remediation contractor in parallel False Claims Act and mass tort actions, representing a Class I railroad in derailment-related litigation, and resolving numerous criminal environmental investigations with no charges filed.

Mayer Brown Chris Rheinheimer as a partner in San Francisco.

Rheinheimer represents clients in complex environmental, energy and real-estate litigation, class and mass actions, False Claims Act matters and state and federal enforcement defense. He regularly advises clients on land-use and NEPA/CEQA disputes. His recent matters include defending an environmental remediation contractor in multiple governmental enforcement actions and class actions arising from a Superfund site, representing a railroad in a class action and civil enforcement proceedings following a derailment, securing dismissal of charges for an individual in an Endangered Species Act/Lacey Act prosecution, and successfully challenging voter initiatives that sought to restrict large-scale energy and development projects.