Stephanie Nation joined Buchalter as a partner in Orange County. The move was Oct. 20, 2026.

Nation represents residential and commercial real estate developers throughout California in connection with the creation of common interest developments, including master planned communities, condominium and planned developments, mixed-use projects, age-qualified residential communities, build-to-rent communities, high-rise condominiums and custom lot subdivisions.

Charles M. Clark joined Buchalter as a partner in Orange County.

Clark's practice focuses on real estate and commercial disputes, securities fraud, trade secret misappropriation and unlawful detainer matters. He has represented a broad range of clients through every stage of litigation, from large real estate developers to independent businesses of all sizes.

Matthew E. Sloan joined Valle Makoff LLP as a partner in Los Angeles

Sloan has joined Valle Makoff after 15 years as a litigation partner at Skadden in Los Angeles. He has more than 30 years of experience as a federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles and in private practice. He has represented individuals and companies in civil, criminal and regulatory matters involving securities and health care fraud, insider trading, defense contractor fraud and False Claims Act litigation. He has also conducted internal investigations for domestic and international companies, including Fortune 500 corporations.

Jamie Chou was promoted to office managing partner of Womble Bond Dickinson in San Francisco and Walnut Creek. The promotion was effective Oct. 14, 2026.

Chou joined Womble Bond Dickinson in 2022 through the firm's combination with Cooper, White & Cooper LLP, the 126-year-old San Francisco firm that established Womble's presence in the city. As a corporate and real estate attorney, she counsels companies through the full life of a business, from formation and financing through acquisitions and sale, and represents landlords and tenants in commercial leases across office, retail, life sciences, and mixed-use properties, along with purchase and sale of commercial properties around the country.

Louis A. Montengro joined Goldberg Segalla as an associate in Los Angeles.

Montenegro focuses his practice on workers' compensation matters, counseling and defending employers, insurance carriers, and third-party administrators. He is involved in all aspects of the claims-handling process, including claim evaluation, discovery, depositions, hearings, and litigation strategy, drawing on his experience serving in the United States Marine Corps, where he held leadership roles, led a 40-member unit, and deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2012. In high-pressure environments that demand accountability, discretion, and attention to detail, he developed the discipline, communication skills, and commitment to service he brings to his work on behalf of clients.

Bret R. Henry joined Dykema as senior counsel in Los Angeles.

Henry counsels on vehicle design, safety systems, product defect allegations, and catastrophic injury claims. Drawing on his deep understanding of the automotive industry and emerging vehicle technologies, he develops coordinated defense strategies for multistate litigation and works closely with in-house counsel, engineers, experts, and local counsel across jurisdictions.

Rebecca Grey joined ADR Services, Inc. as a neutral in San Francisco. The move was Oct. 26, 2026.

Grey is a highly respected mediator and former litigator bringing more than 25 years of legal experience and over a decade of mediation expertise to ADR Services, Inc. Since beginning her dispute resolution practice in 2012, she has successfully resolved a broad spectrum of disputes, including insurance coverage, bad faith, subrogation, real estate, landlord tenant, employment, personal injury, lemon law and other civil disputes. She is known for her thoughtful preparation, practical case analysis, and ability to connect with litigants and counsel alike. Her direct, down-to-earth approach, combined with decades of trial and litigation experience, enables her to provide realistic assessments of risk while helping parties find common ground and achieve resolution.

Daniel B Johnson joined Hodgson Russ LLP as a partner in Sacramento

Johnson will be a member of the firm's State & Local Tax Practice. He represents businesses and individuals in California tax disputes before the Franchise Tax Board and Office of Tax Appeals. He previously spent more than a decade at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, handling state and local tax matters.

Tiana DeLeo Dunn joined Greenberg Traurig LLP as a shareholder in San Francisco

Dunn focuses her practice on leasing and development. She represents shopping center developers, owner-operators, landlords, and tenants across the full lifecycle of commercial assets, from acquisition and financing to leasing, development, management, and disposition. Dunn also advises on data center leasing and related digital infrastructure real estate matters, including transactions that require coordination among real estate, operations, and business stakeholders.

Alexandra A. Roje joined Farella Braun + Martel LLP as a partner in San Francisco.

Roje assists policyholders in maximizing their insurance recovery during complex disputes involving product and environmental liability, Directors and Officers liability (D&O), Employment Practices Liability (EPL), first-party property coverage, crime and fidelity coverage, as well as insurance issues in bankruptcy proceedings. She works with policyholders to negotiate favorable policy terms and advises corporate boards on insurance coverage and liability matters related to mergers and acquisitions. This includes advice on transactional risk insurance, such as representations and warranties liability and tax indemnity insurance products.

Julie A. Cress joined Hogan Lovells Cadwalader as a partner in San Francisco.

Cress helps businesses navigate complex environmental regulations with practical advice informed by experience in government, industry, and private practice. She advises on California and federal air quality, climate change, fuels, and mobile source requirements, helping clients anticipate regulatory change, maintain compliance, respond to incidents, and resolve enforcement matters.

Katherine C. Fine was electetd managing partner of Duckor Metzger & Wynne, APLC in San Diego. The promotion is effective Jan. 1, 2027.

Fine is head of DMW's Litigation Department and has played an active role in recent years helping drive the firm's strategic direction and growth. This includes working to expand DMW's Privacy & Cybersecurity practice, which provides comprehensive counsel on privacy compliance, cybersecurity risk management, regulatory investigations and related litigation. She represents businesses and individuals in high-stakes litigation, including defending employers in complex discrimination and wage-and-hour cases and navigating contentious trust and estate matters. Fine will take over the managing partner role from Anna F. Roppo.

Maurice A. Leiter joined JAMS as a neutral in Los Angeles.

Leiter served for almost 11 years as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, including more than nine years presiding over and resolving cases in a busy Independent Calendar civil courtroom. His docket and trial calendar included a wide variety of commercial, employment, personal injury, wrongful death, elder abuse, real estate, professional malpractice, insurance and construction cases. He also presided over environmental and CEQA lawsuits as well as asbestos and talc litigation in the court's Complex Litigation Department, enhancing his ability to assess complex technical, scientific and medical issues. Judge Leiter meticulously prepared for motion practice and trial, and facilitated resolutions by addressing key legal issues and encouraging early settlement efforts.

Tony L. Richardson joined ADR Services, Inc. as a neutral in Los Angeles.

Richardson brings more than four decades of legal experience to his work as a neutral, including nearly three decades in private practice handling complex commercial litigation and more than thirteen years on the Los Angeles County Superior Court. His career has placed him on both sides of the bench in sophisticated civil disputes. He has experience as a trial attorney and partner at several prominent national law firms, as a judge managing an independent civil calendar, and for seven years as a member of the Superior Court's Appellate Division. In 2020, he also served by assignment as a Justice Pro Tem of the 2nd District Court of Appeal. During his judicial career, he authored thousands of appellate opinions and decisions, including several published opinions.

John J. Heber joined Jeffer Mangels & Mitchell LLP as a partner in San Francisco.

Heber is a business transactional tax attorney with over 30 years of experience working with domestic and international companies of all shapes and sizes, from start-ups to the Fortune 50. He also focuses on executive compensation and employee benefits practice, providing insightful guidance on trending issues and pending legislation. He provides clients with fully informed advice that considers not only the business purpose and economics of a particular transaction, but also the complex tax, executive compensation and employee benefits issues that often complicate M&A and IPO transactions.

Burak S. Ahmed joined Jeffer Mangels & Mitchell LLP as counsel in Los Angeles.

Ahmed is a business and tax attorney who represents individuals and business entities in transaction structuring, debt and equity financings, executive and equity-based compensation arrangements, and mergers and acquisitions. Ahmed regularly advises clients on transactions ranging from approximately $10 million to more than $1 billion, helping them address tax considerations, manage transaction risk, and achieve efficient outcomes.

Helen Gilbert joined Jenner & Block as a partner in San Francisco. The move was Oct. 14, 2026.

Gilbert spent more than 10 years at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, where she served as chief of the National Security, Cyber, and Special Prosecutions Section. She supervised prosecutions involving national security, cybersecurity, trade secret theft, economic espionage and public corruption. Her experience also includes wire fraud, tax fraud, government program fraud and evaluating qui tam cases for potential criminal prosecution. In private practice, she represents clients in government investigations, white-collar criminal matters and corporate crises, including companies in the artificial intelligence, semiconductor, cybersecurity and advanced mobility industries.

Jacqueline G. Go joined Goldberg Segalla as a partner in San Francisco.

Go is an experienced workers' compensation attorney whose practice focuses on defending the interests of insurance companies, employers, and third-party administrators throughout California. Known for her proactive approach to claim management, she partners with clients to develop defense strategies, mitigate risk, and resolve matters efficiently while advancing the client's business objectives. Having dedicated more than 14 years to workers' compensation defense, Go skillfully manages matters from inception through settlement, trial, and post-award proceedings. Her practice includes defending complex claims involving multiple parties, significant medical issues, and structured settlements.

Patrick Sharma joined Stradling as a partner in Los Angeles. The move was Oct. 8, 2026.

Sharma joins Stradling from Cooley LLP, where he advised startups, established companies and investors on a range of tax issues and business transactions including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, debt and equity financings, joint ventures, and inbound and outbound investments. He also maintains an active pro bono practice helping organizations achieve and preserve tax-exempt status.

Before returning to private practice in February 2025, Sharma served as senior manager of Tax Planning at Snap Inc., where he oversaw tax planning and compliance, SEC reporting and transfer pricing. Earlier in his career, he practiced in the tax departments of Cooley and Latham & Watkins.

Zena M. Ho joined Jones Day as a partner in Los Angeles. The move was Oct. 7, 2026.

Ho's practice focuses on real estate and real estate finance, counseling borrowers and lenders on structuring and documenting financing transactions involving multifamily developments, office and industrial parks, retail centers, mixed-use projects, and hospitality properties. She also represents lenders in the purchase, workout, and restructuring of distressed loans, as well as debt and equity financing and other intercreditor transactions.

Sean M. Callagy joined Jones Day as a partner in San Francisco.

Callagy is an experienced commercial litigator whose practice focuses on intellectual property law, particularly in relation to cutting-edge technologies and in the intersection of copyright law with technological developments. He has represented clients before federal and state courts in disputes pertaining to copyright, patent, trademark, and trade secret laws; contract and business tort laws; the Sherman Antitrust Act; and state statutes on unfair trade practices. Callagy's significant courtroom experience in all stages of litigation, from preliminary remedies to post-trial motions, also informs the counseling and pre-lawsuit advice on IP matters that he provides to clients.

KC Maxwell joined Glenn Agre Bergman & Fuentes as of counsel in San Francisco. The move was Oct. 5, 2026.

Maxwell is a trial lawyer and strategic advisor with three decades of experience representing individuals, executives and organizations in high-stakes criminal and civil matters. She has served as general counsel and advisor to startups and emerging companies while maintaining a litigation and counseling practice and has represented individuals and institutions in trials, investigations and business disputes in state and federal courts. Maxwell also has worked closely with founders, executives and investors in the technology and venture communities. At Glenn Agre, she will serve as a strategic advisor for clients whose matters draw on the firm's litigation, investigations and restructuring teams.

Glen G. Mastroberte joined Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP as a partner in Los Angeles.

Mastroberte represents a wide range of clients in all legal and business aspects of the media, entertainment, music and sports industries. His practice spans complex M&A transactions, financings, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, strategic alliances, branding, licensing and endorsement transactions, and other corporate transactions on behalf of investors, investment funds, private equity firms, financial institutions, studios, production companies, producers, music labels, music catalog owners, talent agencies and individuals. He has extensive experience advising on high-profile deals for clients in the film, television, music, sports, video gaming, beauty and technology sectors.

Dean J. Zipser joined JAMS as a neutral in Orange County. The move was Oct. 5, 2026.

Zipser is a founding partner of Umberg Zipser LLP and has represented companies and individuals in matters involving commercial contracts, business torts, intellectual property, class actions, financial services, real estate and construction, and unfair competition and false advertising. His experience spans all stages of litigation, from pretrial proceedings through trial and appeal, and includes extensive involvement in alternative dispute resolution. Zipser is widely recognized for his leadership within the Orange County legal community. He is a past president of, among other organizations, the Orange County Bar Association, the Orange County Chapter of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, the Orange County Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and the OCBA Charitable Fund.
Based at the Orange County Resolution Center, Zipser will serve as a mediator, arbitrator, and court-appointed neutral (referee/special master), handling business and commercial, class action, financial services, intellectual property, real estate and construction, and unfair competition matters. He is available to conduct sessions in person and virtually for clients across the country.

Jacqueline Harding joined ADR Services, Inc. as a neutral in Los Angeles. The move was Oct. 5, 2026.

Harding brings nearly 30 years of civil litigation and settlement experience, with a distinguished career focused on employment law and complex workplace disputes. A longtime partner at Wilson Elser, where she practiced for more than two decades, she handled a broad range of matters involving discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, whistleblower claims, wage and hour class actions and PAGA, disability law, leave disputes, employment contracts, and Equal Pay Act claims.

Thomas E. Loeser joined Hausfeld as a partner in San Francisco. The move was Oct. 5, 2026.

Hausfeld brings more than 27 years of legal experience to Hausfeld, including nearly two decades leading complex consumer and data breach and privacy class actions and nearly five years as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, where he served in the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section. Before law school, he built a career in technology: after a BA in Physics, he earned an MBA and wrote code for Treasury at Microsoft and served as a product line financial analyst at the Hewlett-Packard Company.

Nathan S. Smith joined Snell & Wilmer LLP as a partner in Orange County.

Smith's practice focuses on intellectual property transactions, licensing matters, and domestic and foreign patent prosecution. He works with a broad range of life sciences and technology companies, including medical device and pharmaceutical organizations, and has experience spanning industries such as software, consumer electronics, agriculture, automotive, aerospace, and energy.