Lisa Spiegel was promoted to partner, chair of the immigration division of the firm's employment, labor, benefits and immigration practice group of Duane Morris LLP in San Francisco.

Duane Morris LLP has named partner Lisa Spiegel of the firm's San Francisco office as chair of the Immigration division of the firm's Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration Practice Group. Spiegel succeeds partner Denyse Sabagh, who has led the division since she joined the firm in 1997. Sabagh will continue practicing as a partner in the Immigration group.

"Under Denyse's leadership, the group has been consistently named as one of the best firms for immigration law, with attorneys spanning our offices across the United States and clients across the globe," said Eve I. Klein, chair of Duane Morris' Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration Practice Group. "I'm confident that Lisa will continue that success on behalf of our clients and expand the firm's prowess in this key area."

"I'm honored and excited to have the opportunity to lead this tremendous group of talented lawyers," said Spiegel. "The dynamics of today's immigration landscape necessitate counsel with a deep understanding of the law, the flexibility to keep abreast of--and respond to--changes, and a true creative and tenacious approach to fight for clients' needs. I'm proud to say that description fits every one of the attorneys in this group."

Spiegel practices in the areas of immigration and nationality law, concentrating on issues related to the employment of foreign nationals. She has been practicing immigration and nationality law for more than 30 years and is admitted to both the California and New York Bars. Spiegel has received many awards and recognitions for her work over the past few decades and also served as a past chair of the Northern California chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). Spiegel served on numerous committees for AILA, including the association's National Committee on Business and the AILA-USCIS Administrative Appeals Office Liaison Committee, as liaison to the New York and San Francisco District Offices of the Immigration & Naturalization Service and as national liaison with the California Service Center for many years. In addition, Spiegel is president of the board of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.

Spiegel is a graduate of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University (J.D., 1985) and a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany (B.A., with honors, 1980).

About Duane Morris' Immigration Group
The Duane Morris Immigration Group serves a diverse group of clients including multinational and Fortune 500 publicly traded corporations, medium-sized privately held companies and smaller sized startup ventures. Firm attorneys have experience in a wide range of industries, including: information technology, biotechnology, security, telecommunications, manufacturing, retail, market research, banking, shipping, healthcare, entertainment, and food and beverage. In addition, Duane Morris lawyers represent numerous universities, embassies, religious organizations and other nonprofit entities, as well as individuals, with immigration needs. Attorneys also handle immigration-related litigation and government compliance matters.

Anat D. Simantob was promoted to partner of Elkins Kalt Weintraub Reuben Gartside LLP in Los Angeles.

Simantob has been promoted to partner in the firm's Wealth Transfer & Personal Planning department. Anat works with clients to establish plans fulfilling their desires for their legacies, including minimizing their wealth and related transfer taxes. She counsels clients in all aspects of estate planning, including basic planning, advanced trusts and wealth transfer strategies, estate administration, private foundations, conservatorships, guardianships, and dispute resolution. Anat regularly counsels clients with high- and ultra high-net-worths and a broad range of assets, including real estate, art, closely-held business interests, and intellectual property.

Shaye Diveley was promoted to principal of Meyers Nave in Oakland.

Shaye Diveley is a member of Meyers Nave's Land Use and Environmental Law Practice Group. She has more than 17 years of experience with complex issues involving land use and zoning, and natural resources and environmental law compliance and litigation. Shaye has counseled and litigated on behalf of clients in matters involving the California Environmental Quality Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Water Act, Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, state and federal endangered species laws, and other state and federal land use and environmental laws.

Best Lawyers in America has recognized Shaye in the Environmental Law and Natural Resources Law categories since 2011. She has also been recognized by Northern California Super Lawyers in the Environmental, Natural Resources, and Land Use/Zoning Law categories since 2010. Shaye's expertise was recently featured in Western City magazine in an article titled "CEQA: New Strategies for Streamlining Environmental Review" and in Super Lawyers magazine in an article titled "From Way Downtown: That's how attorney Shaye Diveley helped deliver an arena for the Kings -- and just before the buzzer."

Shaye earned her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and a B.A. from George Washington University.

Sally James was promoted to partner of Greenberg Glusker in Los Angeles.

Ms. James works with Hollywood's top talent. She represents actors, writers, and producers, as well as production companies, talent managers, business managers, and investors in all business and legal aspects of the entertainment industry. She handles large film finance and M&A transactions for established Hollywood brands and also negotiates deals for entertainment start-ups.

She received her B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Richmond with a major in Theatre Arts and her J.D. from University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, Order of the Coif.

Mark Muir was promoted to partner of Greenberg Glusker in Los Angeles.

Mr. Muir brings a unique perspective to transactional entertainment law, having worked in the trenches of television production before turning his attention to representing actors, directors, producers, writers, authors, and multi-hyphenates, first in-house for a major talent agency and now at Greenberg Glusker. He utilizes his multi-faceted industry insight to advise a diverse clientele of established and emerging artists to structure and negotiate their entertainment deals at all stages, from the inception of an idea through production and exploitation.

He received his B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles and his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Brian D. Berman was promoted to partner of Greenberg Glusker in Los Angeles.

Mr. Berman counsels high net worth individuals and families on a wide range of estate planning issues, including complex tax planning, wealth transfer, business succession, and post-death trust administration. He focuses on clients in the real estate, technology and entertainment sectors.

He received his B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis (with honors) and his J.D. from University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.

Lori L. Werderitch was promoted to partner of Greenberg Glusker in Los Angeles.

Ms. Werderitch advises on a broad spectrum of matters for Los Angeles-based businesses of all sizes, high-net-worth individuals, and bankruptcy estates. Her goal is to help reduce client stress with bottom-line cost-effectiveness which she applies across the board from pre-litigation investigation and counseling to an array of functions for her local clients in business, real estate and employment disputes, or protracted, complicated, high-stakes trials and appeals.

She received her B.A. (with distinction) from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her J.D. from Tulane Law School.

Annita Zhong was promoted to partner of Irell & Manella LLP in Los Angeles.

Annita Zhong was elevated to partner at Irell & Manella LLP, effective Jan. 1, 2019. Zhong focuses on patent post-grant proceedings, patent litigation and licensing. She has deep experience handling inter partes review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, where she has an extraordinary track record of success. She has also litigated patent and trade-secret-related cases before federal and state courts, the International Trade Commission, and arbitral panels. Her experience spans technologies such as semiconductor fabrication and packaging, computer architecture, telecommunication network, wireless communication, standard essential patents, chemistry and materials. She also advises regarding the evaluation and exploration of patent portfolios. She was named to the Southern California Rising Stars list in 2018.

Zhong earned her J.D. from Yale Law School, her Ph.D. in chemistry from California Institute of Technology, and her B.S. in chemistry and chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before attending law school, Zhong worked as a senior research scientist. She is a co-author and co-inventor on peer-reviewed journal articles and issued patents.

Kamran Vakili was promoted to counsel of Irell & Manella LLP in Newport Beach.

Kamran Vakili was elevated to counsel at Irell & Manella LLP, effective Jan. 1, 2019. Vakili focuses on intellectual property law, particularly patent litigation, asset creation and strategic counseling. He has worked closely with a variety of U.S.-based and international clients to develop, manage and protect global patent portfolios. He has extensive experience prosecuting patent applications before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as well as representing plaintiffs and defendants in litigation before state and federal courts at the trial and appellate levels, the U.S. International Trade Commission and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Vakili earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as a member of the Fordham Law Review. He earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in physics from Princeton University, where he studied self-organizing behaviors of electrons in two dimensions, and received his B.S. in physics, with honors, from the California Institute of Technology.

Amy Proctor was promoted to partner of Irell & Manella LLP in Los Angeles.

Amy Proctor was elevated to partner at Irell & Manella LLP, effective Jan. 1, 2019. Proctor helps clients manage and resolve patent infringement disputes across a broad range of technologies, including computer architecture, signal transmission, renewable energy, and pharmaceuticals. Her expertise includes patent litigation and contested patent office proceedings, particularly inter partes reviews, at all stages from pre-litigation through trial and appeal. She was named to the Southern California Rising Stars list in 2017-2018.

Proctor earned her J.D. from USC Gould School of Law, where she was a member of Order of the Coif and earned the Arthur Manella Scholarship and the Malcolm Lucas Award. She earned her B.S. in physics, cum laude, from the University of Florida, where her research focused on using microelectromechanical systems to measure quantum forces. Before joining Irell, Proctor clerked for Judge John A. Kronstadt of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Ryan Douglas Houck was promoted to partner of Sacks, Glazier, Franklin & Lodise in Los Angeles.

The trust and estate litigation firm, Sacks, Glazier, Franklin & Lodise, announced that Ryan D. Houck has been promoted to partner effective January 1, 2019.

"Ryan has demonstrated a commitment to providing our clients with exceptional service and growing the firm," said managing partner Matthew McMurtrey. "He is an invaluable asset and we are proud to welcome him to the partnership."

Mr. Houck practices exclusively in the area of trust, estate and conservatorship litigation. His cases include will and trust contests, and other challenges to estate plans, breach of fiduciary duty claims involving trustees and other fiduciaries, trustee accounting matters, and conservatorship proceedings.

Mr. Houck has been recognized as a Southern California "Rising Star" by Super Lawyers magazine every year since 2016, and has been a speaker to the California State Bar Trust and Estate Section on a variety of trust and estate litigation issues.

Prior to joining Sacks Glazier Franklin & Lodise, Mr. Houck was a patent litigation associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and is also a registered patent attorney.

Mr. Houck received his J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center in 2011, and his B.S. in Science, Technology and International Affairs from Georgetown University in 2006.

Lauren Drake was promoted to partner of Irell & Manella LLP in Los Angeles.

Lauren Drake was elevated to partner at Irell & Manella LLP, effective Jan. 1, 2019. Drake focuses on intellectual property and patent litigation, including patent post-grant proceedings. She has deep experience representing clients in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). She was named to the Southern California Rising Stars list in 2018.

Drake earned her J.D., summa cum laude, from Loyola Law School, where she was a Sayre Macneil Scholar, as well as Order of the Coif and a member of St. Thomas More Law Honor Society. She earned her B.S., with high honors, in biochemistry and molecular biology from University of California, Santa Barbara.

Yite John Lu was promoted to partner of Irell & Manella LLP in Los Angeles.

Lu was promoted to partner at Irell & Manella LLP, effective Jan. 1, 2019. Lu focuses on life sciences patent litigation, including patent post-grant proceedings. In biosimilar and small-molecule generic litigation, he has helped clients maintain exclusivity for drug products with billions of dollars in annual sales. Lu earned his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was notes editor for the Yale Law Journal and executive editor of the Yale Journal of Law & Technology. He earned his doctor of pharmacy, with highest distinction, from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

While in law school, Lu was an extern for Judge John T. Noonan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and he interned for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut. Before joining Irell, Lu clerked for Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Prior to his legal career, he worked in pharmaceutical marketing. Lu speaks Mandarin Chinese and has given seminars to Chinese attorneys on U.S. intellectual property law. He is a fellow of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity and chair of the board of directors for the Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center.

Niki Fang joined Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP as partner in Mountain View.

Fang represents issuers and underwriters in public offerings and capital markets transactions. She also counsels public and late-stage private companies on securities law compliance, disclosure matters, SEC reporting obligations, corporate governance and stock exchange listing obligations. Fang represents technology and life sciences companies, from privately held start-ups to publicly traded corporations. She has supported consumer electronics company Sonos in its $95.8 million initial public offering, real estate brokerage Redfin in its $258.3 million public offerings, and technology company GoPro in its $175 million debt offering. Prior to joining Orrick, Fang was at Fenwick & West LLP and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. She is a New York University School of Law alumna and is based in San Francisco.

"The move to Orrick was an easy one," said Fang. "What really attracted me to Orrick was that their tech and capital markets practices are strategic focuses for the firm. Bill Hughes, one of my former mentors at Fenwick made the move earlier and this will be a great opportunity to work with him again."

Fang added, the platform at Orrick would help grow her tech and biotech late-stage and public companies focused practice.

"In 2019, we expect to have tech IPOs, even if the markets are choppy," said Fang. "Late stage companies will continue to grow and raise capital in the private and public markets, and some companies regardless of market conditions will be able to IPO." She noted the biotech sector's continued need to raise money as an example.

"I am a gadgets person," said Fang, when asked about what technology she is most excited about. She noted that with Sonos, Fang not only loved their products, but was excited to build a long-term relationship and take the company public.

When asked the secret sauce in a long-term client relationship, Fang said, "I really focus on being available, being responsive, and thinking ahead and foreseeing challenges to help them navigate issues, whether with investors or the financing and IPO processes."

"There is always a place in today's time for women to step up into more responsibility and leadership roles," said Fang. "I think it is important for women lawyers seeking to move, to advocate for themselves, take important roles, and look for leadership opportunities."

Fang added, flexible work schedules and office locations as important draws. "I myself have very young children. Being able to save time on the commute and having more family time, that flexibility is really important."

Christopher C. Bolten was promoted to partner of Foley & Lardner LLP in San Diego.

Foley & Lardner LLP is pleased to announce that Christopher C. Bolten been elected to the partnership, effective February 1, 2019. Mr. Bolten specializes in Intellectual Property and is based in San Diego, CA.

Anil Shankar was promoted to partner of Foley & Lardner LLP in Los Angeles.

Foley & Lardner LLP is pleased to announce that Anil Shankar has been elected to the partnership, effective February 1, 2019. Mr. Shankar specializes in Business Law and is based in Los Angeles, CA.