Chris Carr joined Baker Botts as partner in San Francisco.

Baker Botts has announced that Chris Carr has joined the firm’s Environmental practice based in San Francisco. Mr. Carr represents businesses, land developers, private individuals, public agencies and nonprofits in all areas of environmental and natural resource law, including energy, transportation, water, forestry, mining, coastal and marine resources, and agriculture. In particular, Mr. Carr's practice focuses on permitting and litigation under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as well as their California counterparts: the California ESA, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). He is also an expert in local, state, federal and international laws, regulations, initiatives and programs to promote the development of clean energy.

Tad Tadashi Egawa was promoted to chief counsel of California Department of Tax and Fee Administration in Sacramento.

Tad Egawa has been appointed chief counsel at the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration after serving as general counsel at the California Department of Housing and Community Development since 2015. Tad was assistant commissioner of legal affairs at the California Bureau of Real Estate from 2013 to 2015, and was a deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 2009 to 2013.

Donna Lynne Wilson was promoted to co-chair of financial services group of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP in Los Angeles.

Donna Wilson is nationally-recognized for her high-profile work on behalf of companies facing litigation and government enforcement actions, with a focus on both the consumer financial services and privacy and data security spaces. She has successfully represented clients including banks, mortgage servicers, auto finance companies, retailers and other financial services providers, as well as clients in other regulated industries, in a range of complex, high-stakes matters.

Gary A. Barrera joined Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean LLP as partner in Oakland.

Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean LLP has added Gary A. Barrera as a partner in its Insurance Practice Group. Gary has more than 12 years of experience in insurance coverage litigation, defending insurance carriers and third-party administrators on bad faith, declaratory relief and equitable contribution actions. He has also represented major residential home builders in all aspects of construction defect litigation and has resolved insurance coverage disputes arising out of construction claims on behalf of policyholders.

Matthew Herman Poppe joined Rimon, P.C. as partner in Palo Alto and San Francisco.

Rimon, P.C. has added Intellectual Property Litigation Partner Matthew Poppe as a partner in the firm's Palo Alto and San Francisco office. Matt has handled patent and IP cases for clients such as Varian Medical Systems, Dell EMC, eBay, Baidu, and Brocade, and has represented a variety of Asia-based clients in U.S. litigation arising out of troubled business relationships.

Ian D. Smith joined Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth as shareholder in Santa Barbara.

Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth has hired Ian Smith as a shareholder in the firm's Santa Barbara office. He will be a part of the firm’s venture capital, emerging companies and M&A deal teams. Smith has extensive experience in private and public securities, venture capital, and mergers and acquisitions. Smith’s more notable deals include SingTel’s acquisition of the US operations of Adconion Media, LegalZoom’s equity sale to Permira, Fidelity National Financial’s sale of One Digital to New Mountain Capital and TrackR’s Preferred Stock financing transactions.

Travis F. Jackson joined King & Spalding LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

King & Spalding LLP has hired Travis F. Jackson as a partner in its Los Angeles office. Jackson represents clients — including health systems and hospitals — on transactional issues in the healthcare sector, including commercial, M&A, tax, executive compensation, corporate governance and financial matters.

Ying Genève DuBois joined Greentarget Global Group as partner in Miami.

DLA Piper has announced that Ying Genève DuBois has joined the firm’s Real Estate practic as a partner in the Miami office. DuBois focuses her practice primarily on representing US and global investors in their US real estate investments. She has extensive experience in complex transactional matters, particularly in regard to investors from China and other Asia-Pacific countries. Prior to joining DLA Piper, DuBois was a partner with Holland & Knight LLP. She received her J.D., cum laude, from the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law and earned her B.B.A., summa cum laude, from Texas Christian University.

Danielle V. Garcia joined Holland & Knight LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Holland & Knight LLP has hired Danielle V. Garcia as a partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office. She will be part of Holland & Knight's financial services practice group. Garcia focuses her practice on representing lenders in secured finance transactions, including senior, second lien and mezzanine financings, on an asset-based, recurring revenue, cash-flow and leveraged basis.

Carolyn J. Kubota joined Covington & Burling LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Covington & Burling LLP has hired Carolyn J. Kubota as partner in the firm's Los Angeles office. She will be part of Covington's litigation and investigations and regulatory and public policy practice groups. Kubota has served as lead counsel on high-profile investigations, criminal trials, and high-stakes commercial litigation matters, representing clients in a range of industries, including life sciences, health care, and technology.

Bruce Nye joined The Scali Law Firm as of counsel in Oakland.

The Scali Law Firm has hired Bruce Nye as of counsel in the firm's new Oakland office. He focuses his practice on representing automobile dealerships and other companies in consumer litigation to representing companies in business litigation, toxic exposure litigation, personal injury, product liability and employment litigation.

Paul Traina joined Stalwart Law Group as partner in Los Angeles.

The Stalwart Law Group has hired Paul Traina as a partner in the firm's Los Angeles office. Traina's practice focuses on high-value catastrophic injury cases, complex civil and business litigation, class action, securities litigation, and professional liability claims.

Jaikaran Singh joined Foley & Lardner LLP as partner in San Diego.

Foley & Lardner LLP has hired Jaikaran (Jai) Singh as partner in the firm's San Diego office. Singh will be a part of Foley & Lardner's consumer law, finance and class action practice group. His practice focuses on high-stakes business and commercial litigation and consumer class action defense, including multi-district litigation, primarily in the retail, food and beverage, multifamily housing, healthcare, manufacturing and financial industry sectors.

Erik C. Swanholt joined Foley & Lardner LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Foley & Lardner LLP has hired Erik C. Swanholt as a partner in the firm's Los Angeles office. He will be part of Foley & Lardner's business litigation and dispute resolution group. With over 19 years of experience as a business litigator, Swanholt’s practice is focused on a wide range of litigation matters involving product liability, commercial and consumer class actions, toxic tort litigation and pharmaceutical drug defects. He also works on matters involving privacy, cybersecurity and data protection.

Alan D. Seem joined Jones Day as partner in Palo Alto.

Jones Day has hired Alan D. Seem as partner in the firm's Palo Alto office. He will be a member of the firm's corporate and securities practice. His primary areas of focus are IPOs, follow-on offerings of debt and equity securities, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, private equity, going-private transactions and fund-related issues. Seem regularly advises companies and their boards regarding corporate governance matters, including SEC and stock exchange compliance, board and committee functions and disclosure-related matters.

Mei Tsang joined Umberg Zipser LLP as partner in Irvine.

Umberg Zipser LLP has hired Mei Tsang as partner in the firm's Irvine office. Tsang has an international intellectual property practice focused on helping clients formulate IP strategies to achieve their business goals.

Ryan S. Dean joined Umberg Zipser LLP as partner in Fish & Tsang LLP.

Umberg Zipser LLP has hired Ryan S. Dean as partner in the firm's Irvine office. Dean specializes in global patent and trademark prosecution for clients of all sizes and focuses primarily in the areas of mechanical and aerospace engineering, process engineering, household and consumer products, medical devices, and fluid conditioning systems.

William Mark Levinson joined Thompson Coburn LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Corporate attorney William Mark Levinson will be joining Thompson Coburn as a partner in its Los Angeles office. Mark’s practice focuses on corporate and securities, municipal finance and real estate. Mark brings more than three decades of experience with him, most recently serving as a partner at Fox Rothschild LLP, where he was co-chair of the firm’s Financial Services industry practice.

David Lisson was promoted to partner of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP in Menlo Park.

David Lisson has joined Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP as a partner in the firm's Litigation Department, practicing in Northern California. He has experience litigating patent infringement and other intellectual property cases, as well as general commercial disputes. He has worked on matters across various industries, including telecommunications, data and video networks and services, minimally invasive surgical devices, and search engine and database applications.

David B. Franklin joined VLP Law Group LLP as partner in San Francisco.

VLP Law Group LLP has hired David B. Franklin as a partner in the firm's San Francisco office.
He will be a part of the firm's real estate practice group.
Franklin’s practice concentrates on real estate transactions and land use, primarily in California and Hawaii. He represents clients in acquiring, leasing, financing, entitling, developing, constructing, selling and exchanging real estate. Additionally, he regularly represents clients regarding general business needs, including formation, entity structure and multi-state operations.
Most recently, Franklin was with Dentons US LLP in that firm's San Francisco office.