Natham Whitaker was promoted to partner of Latham & Watkins in Los Angeles.

Whitaker represents private equity sponsors, public and private companies, and debt providers on domestic and cross-border leveraged financings, asset-based financings, senior secured lending, unsecured investment-grade debt, and complex restructurings.

Britt Lovejoy was promoted to partner of Latham & Watkins in San Francisco.

Lovejoy provides clients seeking to navigate complex licensing and other business disputes nuanced legal advice informed by her deep knowledge of the technology and digital media markets, and her experience representing companies in high-stakes litigation against their direct competitors, suppliers, and downstream buyers.

Richard Kim was promoted to partner of Latham & Watkins in Silicon Valley.

Kim advises public and private companies in the life sciences and technology industries. He also represents underwriters in securities offerings. His practice has a particular emphasis on capital markets matters, and he represents issuers and investment banks on various matters including initial public offerings and follow-on and secondary offerings.

Steven B. Lesan was promoted to partner of Latham & Watkins in San Diego.

Lesan represents policyholders in high-stakes insurance coverage and bad faith disputes involving a wide range of environmental, property, casualty, investment, and professional liability matters. He has extensive experience in state and federal courts, securing coverage for clients under virtually every type of insurance available, including comprehensive general liability, directors and officers liability, cyber, errors and omissions, environmental impairment liability, builders risk, film production, business interruption claims, and property policies.

Tiffany E. Taubman was promoted to counsel of Latham & Watkins in Century City.

Taubman advises clients on the acquisition, disposition, and financing of commercial properties and real estate portfolios.

Lucas I. Quass was promoted to counsel of Latham & Watkins in Orange County.

Quass is a transactional and litigation lawyer who helps clients secure water rights and supplies as well as obtain and defend land use and environmental approvals for infrastructure, energy, and development projects.

Alexandra Welch McArthur was promoted to counsel of Latham & Watkins in Century City.

McArthur represents private and public companies in a broad range of industries including food and beverage, digital media and technology, consumer retail, and entertainment, as well as private equity funds and financial institutions.

Achraf Farraj was promoted to counsel of Latham & Watkins in San Diego.

Farraj advises clients on a broad range of real estate and finance transactions, including property acquisitions and dispositions, secured lending, hotel, casino, and energy development and financing, joint ventures, and commercial leasing.

Allison S. Blanco was promoted to counsel of Latham & Watkins in Orange County.

Blanco’s practice focuses on intellectual property, with experience in complex disputes relating to trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights and licensing, as well as sports, entertainment and media litigation.

Samantha Rifkin joined Miller Barondess LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Prior to joining Miller Barondess, Rifkin was a certified law clerk for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, where she assisted prosecutors in the Major Crimes Division on a high-profile, first-degree murder case. She also conducted preliminary hearings at the Airport Branch Office.

Judge Emily E. Vasquez joined Judicate West as neutral in Sacramento, CA.

Judicate West has added Judge Emily E. Vasquez, formerly of the Sacramento County Superior Court, to its roster of neutrals. Judge Vasquez has more than 44 years of legal experience, highlighted by 20 years on the Sacramento County Superior Court Bench. During her tenure, she presided over a general trial department that encompassed criminal and civil jury trials, bench trials and preliminary hearings, and complex civil litigation. She has decided hundreds of cases involving a wide range of constitutional, statutory, and other legal questions, including presiding over a combined total of nearly 400 civil and criminal jury trials.

Carolina Juarez joined Hone Maxwell LLP as partner in San Diego.

Juarez's practice focuses on U.S. corporate law for businesses of all sizes and types. Carolina has provided skilled guidance on everything from joint ventures for real estate projects to manufacturing deals for more than two decades

Cameron Davidson joined Hone Maxwell LLP as associate in San Diego.

Davidson applies his familiarity and understanding of U.S. and international tax laws to help clients find the right solution to their tax questions.

Michael P. Burns joined Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP as partner in San Diego.

Burns represents builders, developers, and investors on a variety of real estate transactions, including leasing, purchase and sale agreements, and development transactions. His corporate work includes advising clients in structuring and negotiating complex merger, acquisition, disposition, joint venture, reorganization, and finance transactions.

N. Asir Fiola joined Wilson Elser as partner in Los Angeles.

Fiola will focus his practice on legal matters in the areas of trucking, transportation and general liability, as well as product liability and toxic tort. With almost 20 years of trial experience, he has represented insurance and private clients in all areas of civil litigation, including cases arising out of automobile accidents, construction accidents, construction defects, subrogation claims, breach of contract and premises liability.

Celeena B. Pompeo joined Wilson Elser as partner in Los Angeles.

Pompeo represents insurance carriers, corporations and small business owners in the defense of personal injury suits, including cases arising out of catastrophic injury. Her clients include national corporations, several among the giants in their industries. She has particular experience representing insurance carriers and businesses in disputes that involve multi-party trucking and transportation cases and product liability.

Hedyeh (Chelsea) Tirgardoon joined BraunHagey & Borden, LLP as attorney in San Francisco.

Tirgardoon has represented clients in a broad range of litigation matters in state and federal courts across the nation. While attending UC Irvine School of Law, she participated in the Intellectual Property, Arts and Technology Clinic, Civil Rights Litigation Clinic, and Labor Law Practicum Clinic. She assisted in drafting motions and amicus briefs and participated in oral arguments before California state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

Tirgardoon also was an executive editor of the U.C. Irvine Journal of International, Transnational, and Comparative Law and served as a student liaison to the California Senate Select Committee on the Growing Impact of Artificial Intelligence.

Sanjay Bansal joined Kaufman Dolowich Voluck, LLP as co-managing partner in Los Angeles.

Bansal concentrates his practice in the areas of labor and employment law. He represents and counsels' clients regarding class action wage and hour cases, whistleblower, and Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) matters. He advises and defends clients who are the target of wrongful termination actions as well as harassment, discrimination, and retaliation claims. He handles contract negotiations and disputes, grievance hearings and writ of mandamus actions.

Stephanie Reynolds joined Fisher & Phillips LLP as partner in San Diego.

Reynolds brings more than two decades of experience representing employers in complex employment litigation in state and federal courts across California. She has represented clients in matters involving wrongful termination, harassment, employment discrimination, retaliation, misclassification, equal pay, and wage and hour claims.

Jordan R. Ferguson was promoted to partner of Locke Lord LLP in Los Angeles.

Ferguson has extensive experience defending and prosecuting claims on behalf of employers on individual, representative and class-wide claims before state and federal courts, in private arbitration and before governmental agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, California Department of Fair Employment and Housing and California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement

John Pavolotsky joined Stoel Rives LLP as of counsel in San Francisco.

Pavolotsky's practice will focus on advising clients regarding privacy and data security matters and on structuring and negotiating complex technology transactions, including inbound and outbound hardware and software licensing and strategic collaboration and development agreements.

Winnie Ward joined Rimon, P.C. as partner in Sacramento.

Ward advises commercial real estate clients in all facets of the industry, from national real estate investment trusts to local commercial developers. She specializes in leasing transactions, and she has drafted and negotiated literally thousands of lease documents, ranging from small retail tenants to single-tenant office buildings in excess of 170,000 square feet.

Jennie Wang VonCannon joined Crowell & Moring LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

VonCannon is a partner in the Los Angeles office and is a member of the firm's White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement and Privacy & Cybersecurity groups. She is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) and has previously served for over 11 years as an assistant U.S. attorney and was appointed the deputy chief of the Cyber & Intellectual Property Crimes Section of the National Security Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Benjamin Fuchs joined Knox Ricksen LLP as associate in Walnut Creek.

Fuchs has more than four years of litigation experience, having tried numerous labor and employment matters, including wage and hour violations, workplace safety issues and worker misclassifications, and representing labor unions and members before various state and federal agencies.

Michele Floyd joined Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Floyd has extensive experience defending actions brought under California's Unfair Competition Law (UCL), False Advertising Law (FAL), and similar statutes of other states and has handled complex commercial actions in federal and state courts across the country

Juan E. Zúñiga was promoted to managing partner of Rimon, P.C. in San Diego.

Zúñiga's practice is focused on buying and selling real estate, resort and hospitality transactions, mergers & acquisitions, overseas distribution agreements, international joint ventures, foreign trade and commerce, workouts of distressed assets, lending and investment issues. He has been particularly sought out for his handling of cross-border transactions, especially in Latin America.

Mariana Acedo joined Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP as associate in San Diego.

Acedo brings a variety of transactional experience to the Firm, including work on cross-border transactions, business formation, filings and restructuring, drafting operating agreements and resolutions. Her experience also includes work on mergers and acquisitions, conducting corporate maintenance and assisting with commercial real estate matters, including representing clients in overseas investments. Acedo is licensed to practice law both in the state of California and in Mexico.

Koryn K. Sheppard joined Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP as associate in San Diego.

Sheppard is a Certified Family Law Specialist. Earlier in her career, Sheppard became a Minor's Counsel, which required specialized training allowing her to represent children in family law cases. She also has considerable experience handling divorces for military families.

Ryan M. Simone joined Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP as associate in San Diego.

Simone’s experience includes complex civil litigation, catastrophic personal injury including traumatic brain injury, and construction-defect litigation. Simone has advised, negotiated, and advocated for numerous policyholders in insurance coverage litigation disputes against insurers. He has also practiced bad faith insurance litigation, environmental and toxic tort litigation, as well as general business and commercial litigation.

Brian C. Bunger joined Holland & Knight LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Bunger has more than 30 years of experience in environmental, air and climate law, with a particular focus on environmental administrative law and litigation and has vast experience handling litigation matters, including arguing cases in state and federal trial and appellate courts.

Jaye Heybl joined Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth as shareholder in Westlake Village.

Heybl is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and focuses on patent and trademark prosecution and litigation in federal and state courts, as well as before the USPTO. He has prosecuted patents in a variety of technologies including semiconductors, electronics, communications and computer related technologies, as well as mechanical matters.

Jill Heybl joined Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth as of counsel in Westlake Village.

Heybl practices extensively in trademark and trade dress prosecution. She has expertise in trademark watching, trademark clearance and infringement investigations and opinions, trademark disputes, and U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board proceedings such as appeals, oppositions, and cancellations. She represents clientele from various technologies focusing on consumer products and services. Jill practices regularly before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office prosecuting trademark applications and advises clients worldwide on securing their intellectual property rights.

Priya Huggett joined Crosbie Gliner Schiffman Southard & Swanson LLP as partner in San Diego.

Huggett's practice emphasizes a variety of corporate/commercial and real estate transactions, particularly private equity, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and commercial contracts including vendor and licensing contracts. With respect to real property, her focus is on purchase and sale, commercial leasing, subdivision, easements and licenses, financing and related business matters. While serving as general counsel for Brixton Capital, Huggett oversaw all legal aspects of Brixton and its affiliates - providing oversight and a legal perspective for the acquisition, leasing and disposition of properties.

Carolyn G. Burnette was promoted to managing principal of Jackson Lewis P.C. in Sacramento.

Burnette has more than 20 years of litigation and investigation experience, having spent most of her legal career with the firm. She serves as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and privately mediates as well. Her robust advice, counsel practice, and extensive business background are valued by clients across industries. She also serves as a Judge Pro Tem for Sacramento County Superior Court.

Zak Megeed was promoted to partner of Covington & Burling LLP in San Francisco.

Megeed advises life sciences companies in complex collaborations and other strategic transactional matters spanning the full range of discovery, development and commercialization activities.

William P. Keane was promoted to american college of trial lawyers board of regents of Farella Braun + Martel.

Keane will serve on as an ACTL Regent for Region 2, which encompasses Northern California and Nevada, for a four-year term. Keane has over 30 years of experience in every aspect of jury trials, administrative hearings, parallel criminal-civil proceedings, and pre-charge investigations by numerous enforcement and regulatory agencies. He became an ACTL Fellow in 2010.

Brandon Michael Palmen was promoted to partner of Covington & Burling LLP in Palo Alto.

Palmen advises clients on their commercial and intellectual property transactions, drafting and negotiating agreements with key customers, suppliers, and technology development partners, complex data and intellectual property license agreements, and agreements associated with technology-focused mergers, acquisitions, investments, joint ventures, and spinoffs.

Christen Nalley Sewell was promoted to partner of Covington & Burling LLP in Los Angeles.

Sewell counsels private and public companies and executives on all aspects of employee benefits and executive compensation, with a particular focus on benefits issues for start-ups and emerging growth companies.

Lindsey Catherine Barnhart was promoted to partner of Covington & Burling LLP in Palo Alto.

Barnhart focuses on complex class actions and commercial litigation. She has handled matters involving a range of issues, such as consumer protection, breach of contract, warranty, fraud, and intellectual property claims, and works with clients in the technology, sports, consumer brands, and financial services industries.