Aileen McGrath joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as senior counsel in San Francisco.

Aileen McGrath, the former co-chief of appellate litigation in the San Francisco City Attorney's Office, has joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in San Francisco.
"I've been familiar with Pratik Shah's work from his very earliest days," said McGrath of her decision to move. "Pratik was an assistant to the Solicitor General when I was a law clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer and I remember watching him do some of his very first arguments many years ago at the court. So I had followed his career with interest over the years and this past fall, when I first began thinking about possible next steps, a mutual acquaintance of ours mentioned that he thought that I might be a natural fit for Pratik's Supreme Court and appellate group at Akin Gump."
McGrath added, she and Shah discussed the opportunity further in terms of what opportunities there were for her to leverage her state and federal experience litigating in the California courts as part of the practice group.
"I started thinking about next steps in the fall," she added. "During my last few years at the city attorney's office, I focused heavily on the office's lawsuits against the federal government, against the Trump administration in particular. My old office filed lawsuits on a range of topics ranging from sanctuary city issues to LGBT issues to health care and the like and with the election in the fall it became clear that kind of work would naturally start to transition and so I began thinking about next steps that would enable me to do that same kind of high stakes, high importance rapid pace litigation in the federal appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court as I had been doing."
Her move to Akin Gump is McGrath's return to private practice, she formerly was an associate at Goodwin Procter LLP before joining the city's attorney's office in 2012.
She had been with the office until her move to Akin Gump except for a year stint in 2015, where she served as a chambers attorney for Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar of the Supreme Court of California.
She also served as a law clerk to U.S. Court Appeals Judge Michael Boudin of the 1st Circuit in Boston and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer following her graduation from Harvard Law School.

Justin C. Adofina joined Pircher, Nichols & Meeks LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Adofina is a member of the real estate department and is a former federal sector clerk in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Hearings Unit.
He is based in Los Angeles.

Corey J. Cabral was promoted to chair of cdf's paga litigation practice group of CDF Labor Law LLP in Sacramento.

Cabral focuses on defending employers in high stakes PAGA lawsuits.
He is based in Sacramento.

Anthony (Tony) R. Callobre joined Blank Rome LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Callobre specializes in representing lenders and borrowers in commercial loan transactions particularly asset-based lending and fund finance.
He is based in Los Angeles.

Laura J Ruettgers joined Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck LLP as partner and chair of the data privacy and cybersecurity practice in San Francisco.

Ruettgers represents insurance carriers in coverage disputes and litigation.
She is based in San Francisco.

Jen Cornell joined GBG LLp as partner in San Francisco.

Cornell specializes in California class and representative actions under the California Private Attorneys General Act with a focus on startups and technology companies.
She is based in San Francisco.

Will S. Chuchawat joined Proskauer Rose LLP as co-head of the global mergers and acquisitions practice in Los Angeles.

Partner Will S. Chuchawat joined Proskauer's Los Angeles office on Feb. 11 as co-head of the global mergers and acquisitions practice. He had been with Sheppard Mullin for 16 years and led the mergers and acquisitions group.
Chuchawat was attracted to the opportunity to join Proskauer due to its depth, strength in private equity and private capital, its culture and mindset, he said.
"They've got the same passion for exceeding expectations and delivering outstanding results for clients that I do," he explained.
Chuchawat described his practice as, "M&A all day, every day." His work includes buy and sell side transactions with a particular focus on private equity and leverage buyouts.
He also advises clients in growth equity and venture capital transactions. His clients include private equity funds, public companies, venture capital and private companies in the technology, health care, consumer, business services, industrial, aerospace, defense, life sciences, financial services and media business.
His most recent deals include advising Mercury Systems Inc. in its acquisition of Physical Optics Corp. and advising TRUaire on its sale to CSW Industrials Inc. for $360 million.
Outside of his practice, Chuchawat has been a board member since 2018 of YPO, a global leadership community of chief executives.

Michael Russell joined Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati as partner and colead of the mergers and acquisitions practice in Palo Alto and San Francisco.

Corporate partner Michael Russell has rejoined Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati to colead the mergers and acquisitions practice. He previously was a partner at Goodwin Procter LLP for five years.
"I think it's worth noting I wasn't on the market," said Russell. "I was happy at Goodwin. I had a great experience and I really enjoyed working there."
Russell said he was approached by Robert Ishii, a longtime friend, about the opportunity to return to Wilson Sonsini. Ishii is now colead of the mergers and acquisitions practice alongside Russell.
"I have had that conversation off and on over the last five years with him," Russell added. "But what was a little different this time was that it was a little more concrete. I think that given the demand in the marketplace, both from Wilson's existing clients and externally, they decided that there were a number of areas that they wanted to make meaningful investments in to build out the practices, and mergers and acquisitions was one of them. So the outreach from Rob was not just, 'Hey, do you want to come back?' but, 'Do you want to come back and be part of this effort and initiative to build up the practice and help me do it?'"
Additionally, the ability to practice with attorneys he has known for the majority of his professional career attracted him to the opportunity, he added.
Russell previously was with Wilson Sonsini for 18 years as part of the corporate and securities practice. He joined the firm in 1998 from the San Francisco city attorney's office and became a partner in 2007.
Russell focuses on representing public and private companies and investors in domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions. His clients include technology and life sciences companies on both the buy and sell side of transactions. Notable companies he has worked with include Micron Technology Inc., Twitter, TiVo, Fitbit Inc., Slack Technologies Inc. and Sumo Logic.

Amanda Graham Brazinski was promoted to senior counsel of Atheria Law in San Francisco.

Brazinski advises insurers in cyber, privacy, technology and media claims.
She is based in San Francisco.

Tammy Chang was promoted to senior counsel of Atheria Law in Los Angeles.

Chang represents insurers in technology, media, intellectual property and privacy claims.
She is based in Los Angeles.

Aishlin Cook was promoted to senior counsel of Atheria Law in San Francisco.

Cook advises insurers in errors and omissions claims against attorneys, accountants and real estate professionals.
She is based in San Francisco.

EJ Kim was promoted to senior counsel of Atheria Law in San Francisco.

Kim represents insurers in cyber and privacy claims.
She is based in San Francisco.

Vincent I. Parrett joined Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP as partner in Menlo Park.

Parrett specializes in plaintiff and defendant business litigation including contract, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and other commercial disputes.
He is based in Menlo Park.

Kevin Gray joined Tyson & Mendes LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Gray is a civil defense attorney and has tried more than 60 cases.
He is based in San Francisco.

Nicole Shapiro was promoted to partner of Atheria Law in San Francisco.

Shapiro represents insurers in complex errors and omission claims against professionals such as attorneys and accountants.
She is based in San Francisco.

Nicholas Lieberknecht was promoted to partner of Atheria Law in San Francisco.

Lieberknecht specializes in representing insurers in disputes involving design professionals and construction companies such as errors and omission policies issued to architects and engineers.
He is based in San Francisco.

Eric B. Shortz was promoted to partner of Pircher, Nichols & Meeks LLP in Los Angeles, CA.

Shortz specializes in transactional real estate with an emphasis on the representation of borrowers in complex financing.
He is based in Los Angeles.