Emily J. Atherton joined Klinedinst PC as counsel in Los Angeles.

Atherton's practice includes business, commercial and employment litigation. She has experience practicing in areas such as toxic tort, product liability, premises liability, business litigation and employment litigation.

James E. Sell was promoted to equity partner of Tyson & Mendes LLP in San Francisco.

Sell has extensive experience in construction, public works, products liability, catastrophic injury, wrongful death and professional liability litigation. He serves as general counsel to many Bay Area contractors, subcontractors and suppliers.

Marc D. Hauser joined Reed Smith LLP as co-vice chair in San Francisco.

Hauser focuses his practice on representing business and investor interests in all aspects of the international cannabis and hemp industries. He has experience advising clients and colleagues on billions of dollars of business transactions and has covered a broad range of industries and asset classes, such as private equity and venture financings, acquisitions and dispositions, governance, debt financings and complex tax structuring.

Mishell Parreno Taylor was promoted to office managing shareholder of Littler Mendelson PC in San Diego.

Parreno Taylor previously served as the firm's board member for its Mexico offices and as co-chair of the Reunión affinity group. Parreno Taylor's practice focuses on representing employers of all sizes on many employment law issues. She also has experience in handling employment litigation in federal and state courts and administrative agencies.

A. Marisa Chun joined Crowell & Moring LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Chun is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer who focuses on commercial litigation, consumer class actions and internal and government investigations. Her significant emphasis resides on the technology, energy and health care sectors.

Scott N. Weston joined Fox Rothschild LLP as co-chair in Los Angeles.

Weston is a certified family law specialist and has more than 30 years of experience representing celebrities and high net worth clients in family law matters, including the enforcement of premarital agreements, child support, spousal support, custody and complex property division and business valuation.

Katherine S. Catlos was promoted to partner of Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck LLP in San Francisco.

Catlos is Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck's first chief diversity and inclusion officer. She is a labor and employment partner and focuses on Equal Pay Act claims, advising and assisting with audits, class actions and collective Private Attorneys General Act actions. She also has experience with education law and housing discrimination matters.

Sam Miller joined Rimon Law as partner in Los Angeles.

Miller focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance with experience in cross-border transactional representation, corporate and partnership structuring, shareholder, operating and buy-sell agreements, general corporate matters and commercial transactions.

Tom F. Hanley joined Glaser Weil LLP as partner.

Hanley's transactional real estate practice includes advising investors, lenders, property owners and developers in all aspects of purchase, sales, financings, lease agreements and joint ventures. He also regularly advises on restructuring loan agreements, real estate workouts, negotiating prebankrupcty settlements and coordinating regulatory compliance.

Nicholas P. Roxborough joined The California Organized Investment Network Advisory Board as board member in Woodland Hills.

Co-managing partner at Roxborough, Pomerance, Nye & Adreani, Roxborough has more than three decades of experience in trials and appellate decisions regarding the insurance industry. He was first appointed to the COIN Advisory Board in 2013 and has been reappointed.

Eric C. Lee joined Loeb & Loeb LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Lee focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, private equity and general corporate matters. He has represented clients on a variety of U.S. and cross-border acquisitions and divestitures, joint ventures, restructurings, spin-offs and complex real estate investment trust transactions.

Jennifer M. Millier as founder in Culver City

Santa Monica Bar Association President Jennifer Millier has launched a boutique litigation practice focused on product safety, business, employment and intellectual property litigation.
Her firm, Millier Law Inc., strives to achieve environmental and social sustainability throughout its business practices, according to a statement.
An experienced litigator, Millier guides clients, including very large companies as well as solo shops, through all aspects of civil litigation. She has experience with mediation, arbitration and trials. She has collaborated with startups, nonprofits and corporations in Silicon Beach to develop successful legal strategies that support and drive business objectives.

Thomas H. Hutchinson joined Dykema Gossett PLLC as senior counsel in Sacramento.

Hutchinson has 30 years of experience representing product manufacturers and distributors, as well as local businesses and individuals. He practices insurance defense litigation, defense of Lemon Law claims against vehicle manufacturers and prosecuting cases for vehicle financing and leasing companies.

Lawrence R LaPorte joined Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

LaPorte has joined the multi-faceted firm as a partner. He comes to the firm with more than 30 years of experience focusing on intellectual property law and litigation for a wide variety of high-tech clients. His knowledge compasses IP issues, patents, trademarks, trade secrets and antitrust and unfair competition matters. LaPorte also has a technical background because of experience managing cases relating to aerospace and aviation technologies, software, solar cells, electronic design automation tools and semiconductors, among others.

Ben M. Gipson was promoted to partner of DLA Piper LLP in Los Angeles.

Gipson counsels employers in all areas of employment law including state and federal wage and hour, discrimination and harassment matters, leaves of absence, traditional labor matters, executive compensation, hiring and separation and reductions in force, among other areas of expertise.

Shane P Nix was promoted to partner of Venable LLP in Los Angeles.

Nix counsels companies and individuals on various business transactions, with an emphasis on transactional tax matters in a variety of industries, particularly entertainment and media.

Kristin Walker-Probst joined Womble Bond Dickinson LLP as partner in Costa Mesa.

Walker-Probst's practices include financial services litigation, product liability and personal injury defense, labor and employment litigation and general business disputes. In her 20 years of experience, Walker-Probst has tried more than 100 cases, including more than 60 jury trials.

Germain D Labat joined Greenspoon Marder LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Labat joins the business firm with more than 20 years of experience as a California lawyer. His knowledge includes matters regarding financial services, commercial real estate, cosmetics, health care, food and beverage and retail and technology in both public and privately held companies. He has tried numerous jury and bench trials of complex and length matters, including one of the longest bench trials in California history that spanned nearly 300 trial days and said he is looking forward to bringing his expertise to Greenspoon Marder.

Grace Chung was promoted to partner of Venable LLP in Los Angeles.

Chung represents entrepreneurs, closely-held businesses, exempt organizations and fiduciaries, in matters relating to governance, succession and administration. She also has substantial experience with international income, estate and gift tax issues.

Edward C Prokop joined Winston & Strawn LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Prokop's practice includes various types of real estate transactions including financings, net lease deals, acquisitions and dispositions. During his 23-year career, he also gained experience in large portfolio sale-leaseback transactions and residential mortgage loan platforms.

Eric J. Coffill joined Eversheds Sutherland LLP as senior counsel in Sacramento.

Coffill has more than 35 years of experience advising clients on multi-state tax controversy and litigation matters at the administrative, trial and appellate levels. He also has represented clients before the California Franchise Tax Board and the State Board of Equalization.

Christopher P. Murphy was promoted to partner of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Palo Alto.

Murphy, a member of the Tax Controversy group in the Palo Alto office of Skadden, Arps, has been promoted to partner. His practice focuses on tax controversy and litigation. He represents multinational corporations and financial institutions through the full range of federal income tax controversy proceedings, including audit, administrative appeals, and trial and appellate judicial proceedings.

Brian D Lee was promoted to partner-in-charge of Baker Botts LLP in Palo Alto.

Lee advises private and public companies, venture capital and private equity firms and investment banks, across a broad range of industries. His practice centers on mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, start-up companies and company representation.

Dominique Y Tauzin joined Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro, Schulman & Rabkin LLP as counsel in Los Angeles.

Tauzin has nearly ten years of experience in connection to estate planning, tax law, trust administration and probate matters. Over the years, Ms. Tauzin built a multi-faceted and full-service trust and estates practice in which she advises individuals, couples and family-owned and small business owners on legal issues ranging from simple trust-based estate plans to more analytical estate and tax planning. She also has extensive experience with trust administrations, including disputes involving fiduciaries, beneficiaries and charitable organizations, and court probates.

Hon. Gerald Jessop (Ret.) joined JAMS as arbitrator and mediator in San Diego.

Jessop will serve as an arbitrator and mediator in a variety of practice areas, including family law and probate.

Mark Riera joined Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Riera has significant experience in antitrust, trade regulation, class actions, trust and estates litigation, energy and securities matters, including appeals. He has represented clients in matters involving securities fraud, criminal defense, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and the False Claims Act.

Mi K. Kim joined Roxborough, Pomerance, Nye & Adreani, LLP as senior attorney in Woodland Hills.

Having served California as an attorney and executive for the Department of Industrial Relations, Kim brings to the firm extensive litigation, trial, appellate, executive oversight, and policy development experience.

Lee Scott Brenner joined Venable LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Brenner is a trial attorney and business litigator with experience in the media and entertainment industry, particularly in the areas of defamation, copyright law, idea theft, credit disputes, privacy, intellectual property, and right of publicity. He also has developed significant experience with defamation by anonymous posters on the Internet.

David Edward Fink joined Venable LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Fink has prosecuted and defended against complex claims involving hundreds of millions of dollars. His experience includes business, media and entertainment, and employment litigation with particularly notable results in First Amendment, entertainment, and intellectual property law claims.

Michael John O'Connor joined Venable LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

O’Connor has prosecuted and defended against hundreds of claims in a wide variety of commercial cases, including the full spectrum of insurance policyholder matters as well as entertainment industry and First Amendment law claims. He has secured significant verdicts and settlements for clients, ranging from well-known Fortune 500 companies to entrepreneurs and individuals.

Sarah Lynn Cronin joined Venable LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Cronin’s practice includes entertainment, intellectual property, insurance recovery, and complex business litigation. She represents and advises media and entertainment companies on a variety of matters, including copyright, trademark, defamation, invasion of privacy, right of publicity, insurance recovery, breach of contract, employment, cyber-piracy, and Internet domain name retrieval through the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Nellie Torres Klein joined The Law Offices of Alan Ellis as counsel in San Francisco.

Klein has 20 years of prison litigation experience specializing in sentence computation, disciplinary hearings and sanctions, conditions of confinement, and cases brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act.