Samantha Grant joined Reed Smith LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Grant represents employers and management in administrative, arbitration, and trial proceedings. She has handled cases involving allegations of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour, breach of contract, fraud, defamation, trade secret, and unfair competition cases, among others.

Lester Ang was promoted to partner of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto.

Ang represents start-up and late-stage private companies in matters ranging from incorporation and initial capitalization to venture capital, debt financing, and initial public offerings. He also represents public companies in securities offerings, M&A transactions, SEC reporting, and corporate governance matters. In addition, Ang advises investment banks, venture capital firms, and private equity firms.

Jonathan Chan was promoted to partner of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto.

Chan works in the emerging companies practice, and represents private technology companies and investors in formation, venture capital financing, and mergers and acquisitions. He focuses on representing companies and investors in the fintech, blockchain, and gaming sectors.

Broderick K. Henry was promoted to partner of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto.

Henry focuses on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, equity investments, and other strategic matters involving public and private companies. He primarily represents clients in the technology industry, but he has represented clients in a wide range of sectors, including aviation, financial services, consumer products, energy and infrastructure, security, and manufacturing.

Megan K. Kayo was promoted to partner of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in San Francisco.

Kayo advises clients on information security and privacy issues under various laws and regulations, specializing in data breach response and mitigation. She has worked on hundreds of security incidents and acted as the lead counsel, directing the investigation, notifications, and responses to regulators and consumers in connection with global data breaches.

David Pirko was promoted to partner of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto.

Pirko represents leading life sciences companies and venture capital investors in strategic transactional and corporate matters, including partnering and collaboration agreements, licensing agreements, services agreements, clinical trial agreements, manufacturing and supply agreements, and other complex matters. His practice extends from start-ups to public companies operating in all sectors of the life sciences industry.

Dr. Deborah M. Smith was promoted to partner of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in San Diego.

Dr. Smith advises companies on IP strategy beginning from early platform development through commercialization. This includes venture capital, capital markets, and M&A transactions in the fields of chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. Dr. Smith specializes in advising clients that use platform technologies to bring new therapeutics to market.

Stephen B. Strain was promoted to partner of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto.

Strain is part of the firm's complex litigation and investigations group. He focuses on representing clients in government and internal investigations, including matters involving allegations of insider trading, complex financial reporting and accounting fraud, violations of the FCPA, and disclosure violations, among others. Strain also frequently represents companies, as well as their officers and directors, in securities class actions, shareholder derivative suits, and related litigation matters.

Jessica R. Bogo was promoted to partner of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Bogo focuses her practice on construction law, guiding clients through all phases of the construction process, including licensing, contracting, project delivery, claims and dispute resolution. Primarily representing owners and general contractors, Bogo has represented clients in the United States and abroad, on a wide range of projects, including commercial, residential and energy projects. In addition to California, Bogo is also licensed to practice in Washington, DC.

Lee Brand was promoted to partner of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in San Francisco.

Brand represents technology companies and financial institutions, ranging from emerging startups to Fortune 100 businesses. His practice focuses on securities and competition, including shareholder and consumer class actions, international cartel litigation, high-stakes contract disputes, and government and internal investigations. He regularly handles matters in federal and state courts across the country, as well as in various arbitral settings.

Michael S. Horikawa was promoted to partner of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in Los Angeles.

Horikawa handles all aspects of patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret law, with a focus on computer technologies, consumer electronics and biomedical devices. He represents clients in both litigation and transactional matters—including IP litigation in federal courts, at the International Trade Commission and in alternative dispute resolution proceedings—and advises on IP issues in mergers and acquisitions, investments, joint developments and licenses. He also assists clients with IP aspects of their business activities, including their IP portfolios, policies and practices.

Drew Simon-Rooke was promoted to partner of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in Silicon Valley.

Simon-Rooke focuses on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, startups, venture capital, capital markets, public company reporting and corporate governance in the technology, financial and health care sectors. He represents public and private companies in buy-side and sell-side M&A, PIPE transactions and de-SPACs, emerging companies and venture funds in connection with financings and issuers with equity and debt offerings.

Robyn C. Crowther was promoted to regional managing partner of Steptoe & Johnson LLP in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Crowther was previously managing partner of Steptoe's Los Angeles office, a role she has had since 2019 and which she has used to grow the talent and clients in Los Angeles. She currently serves as a member of Steptoe's Executive Committee and its Lateral Committee. She is a partner in the firm's Commercial Litigation group and has been recognized repeatedly by the California Daily Journal as one of the Top 100 Lawyers and Top Women Lawyers.

Kristen L. Chic was promoted to counsel of Tucker Ellis LLP in Los Angeles.

Chic focuses on complex business litigation, contract disputes, employment/ERISA matters, and real estate litigation. She has successfully represented some of the largest retailers worldwide, as well as title insurers, contractors, and fiduciaries in hotly disputed matters.

Josh Heideman was promoted to partner of Vinson & Elkins LLP in Los Angeles.

Heideman's practice focuses on renewable energy asset finance, acquisitions and the energy transition. He has represented clients in numerous renewable energy transactions in solar, wind, storage, geothermal, and biomass, with a particular emphasis on tax equity financing.

Christopher W. James was promoted to partner of Vinson & Elkins LLP in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

James' principal areas of practice include anti-corruption, antitrust, securities law, shareholder derivative suits, data privacy, and corporate risk and compliance. He represents clients in state and federal court, in arbitration, and in pre-litigation matters involving the United States Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other federal and state agencies. He also conducts compliance risk assessments and provides counseling on internal controls, employee and third-party training, and transactional diligence.

Amy Schuller Hitchcock was promoted to partner of King & Spalding LLP in Sacramento.

Hitchcock's practice focuses on internal investigations, government investigations, compliance counseling, and complex white-collar criminal defense. A former AUSA in the Eastern District of California, Hitchcock uses her experience to help clients across sectors successfully navigate, resolve, and prevent criminal matters. She also has extensive experience conducting cross-border internal investigations and compliance counseling for multinational corporations.

Samuel R Diamant was promoted to partner of King & Spalding LLP in San Francisco.

Diamant's practice focuses on representing companies in commercial disputes, including matters involving licensing disputes, false advertising, misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duty and various other business torts. He has represented Fortune 500 and emerging companies alike in the technology, pharmaceutical, medical device, and financial services industries.

Jennifer Taylor Stewart was promoted to partner of King & Spalding LLP in San Francisco.

Stewart defends Fortune 100 and other large companies in a wide range of complex litigation matters, including pharmaceutical and other product liability, toxic tort and commercial cases. She also has significant deposition, motion, case management and trial experience.

Arielle Tolman joined Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP as associate in San Francisco.

Tolman works on complex litigation and prelitigation matters with an emphasis on civil rights in federal and state court.

Ginger Jackson-Gleich joined Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP as associate in San Francisco.

Jackson-Gleich works on complex litigation and prelitigation matters in federal and state court.

Ben Hattem joined Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP as associate in San Francisco.

Hattem works on complex litigation and prelitigation matters in federal and state court.

Mei Dan was promoted to partner of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in Silicon Valley.

Dan's practice focuses on the representation of financial and strategic clients in various acquisition transactions, including public and private mergers and acquisitions, venture capital investments and cross-border matters. She also has been involved in advising on general corporate and transactional matters.

Pamela R. Miller joined Leech Tishman Fuscaldo & Lampl LLC as counsel in Los Angeles and New York.

Miller's practice focuses on Television Entertainment. She has held senior-level television business and legal affairs roles at major media companies including ABC, CBS, and Discovery for dramatic and non-fiction programs, sports, and news. In those roles, she oversaw, structured, and negotiated deals for broadcast network, syndication, digital platforms and cable. Her expertise covers programming for unscripted, animation, children's programming, events, format sales, international production and distribution, and sponsorship, marketing, and promotion of events and programming. She has also advised clients on risk assessment, intellectual property matters, litigation, and employment matters.

Jeremy S. Smith was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Los Angeles.

Smith represents clients in complex litigation and class actions in both trial and appellate courts across numerous areas of law, including privacy, consumer fraud, constitutional law, and insurance law

Benjamin Saltsman was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Los Angeles.

Saltsman focuses his practice on land use and real estate matters, with an emphasis on successfully obtaining land use entitlements for major real estate development projects in California.

Joseph R. Rose was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in San Francisco.

Rose focuses his practice on high-stakes employment disputes, commercial litigation, class actions, antitrust matters, and law firm defense.

Casey J. McCracken was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Orange County.

McCracken focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, with particular experience in technology litigation, including patent litigation, software copyright, contract disputes, and licensing.

Daniel Landy was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Los Angeles.

Landy represents real estate funds, lenders, and institutional and non-institutional investors in all areas of real estate.

Angelique Kaounis was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Century City.

Kaounis represents clients in a range of commercial litigation, with a focus on trade secret misappropriation cases, business torts, and contract disputes.

Tiaunia Henry was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Los Angeles.

Henry is an experienced trial attorney who focuses primarily on complex high-stakes business litigation, including antitrust, breach of contract and transnational cases.

Taylor Hathaway-Zepeda was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Los Angeles.

Hathaway-Zepeda focuses her practice on public and private company mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, equity investments, restructuring transactions and general corporate governance.

Sarah L. Graham was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Los Angeles.

Graham represents strategic and financial buyers, sellers and investors in public and private M&A, joint ventures, investments, and other business transactions, with a focus on the media and entertainment, private equity, technology, and gaming industries.

Martie Kutscher Clark was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Palo Alto.

Clark represents Silicon Valley technology companies in all stages of litigation, with a focus on high-stakes, bet-the-company matters, including founders’ disputes, consumer class actions, data privacy actions, securities actions, and trade secret disputes.

Jaysen S. Chung was promoted to partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in San Francisco.

Chung focuses on patent and appellate litigation and has extensive experience in a diverse range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and virtualization technologies.

J. Randall Toch was promoted to of counsel of Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel in San Jose.

Toch's practice centers on acquisitions, financing, development, and leasing of commercial real property, property ownership disputes, lien claims, and related title insurance coverage issues. He has represented high-level real estate developers and property owners in connection with all aspects of real property development and property tax issues.

Laura L. McDaniels joined Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP as partner in Silicon Valley.

McDaniels has a uniquely broad executive compensation and benefits practice, advising large public corporations, emerging growth companies and private equity and other investors. Her experience spans the full spectrum of general compensation and benefits issues, including executive and equity compensation plan design and tax structuring, employment and separation contracts, public company disclosures, and corporate governance issues and best practices. She has vast experience guiding companies through mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, de-SPAC transactions, spin-offs, joint ventures, and other transactions.

Stephen Yeh was promoted to of counsel of Mayer Brown in Los Angeles.

Yeh represents financial institutions, corporate investors, project sponsors, developers, and corporate borrowers in connection with a wide variety of complex project financings, including tax equity investments, back-leverage financings, reserve-based financings, acquisition financings and other types of secured and unsecured financings, with particular emphasis on renewable and clean energy.

Tricia L. Greenlee was promoted to partner of Mayer Brown in Los Angeles.

Greenlee’s practice focuses on commercial real estate transactions including acquisitions and dispositions, commercial leasing, and finance transactions.

Graham M. Buccigross was promoted to partner of Mayer Brown in San Francisco.

Buccigross’ practice largely focuses on patent litigation involving high technology, but also includes medical devices and life sciences. The high technology cases frequently involve standards essential telecommunications patents, and semiconductor, light emitting diode and computer hardware and software patents.

John Lu joined Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Lu’s practice focuses on patents, trade secrets, and life sciences litigation. He has represented clients in matters involving patent infringement, U.S.-China trade secret misappropriation, biosimilars, ANDA litigation, and licensing disputes. He also represents clients in connection with proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. His clients have included Genentech, Tris Pharma, Rosenberger, Natera, and Gilead.

Lauren Drake joined Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Drake handles complex patent litigation and patent post-grant proceedings and has represented clients in connection with a broad spectrum of technologies, ranging from central nervous system stimulants to immunotherapies and monoclonal antibody medications to anti-angiogenesis drugs in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Gary N. Frischling joined Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Frischling focuses his practice on intellectual property, including both litigation and counseling. He represents a wide range of clients, from startups to large multinational corporations, in a variety of industries with a focus on the life sciences and technology sectors.

David I. Gindler joined Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Gindler’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and licensing, with a strong emphasis on trials of high-stakes patent and trade secret disputes.

Ryan W. Nolan was promoted to shareholder of Polsinelli LLP in Los Angeles.

Nolan's practice focuses on representing private investors and lenders in connection with preferred equity and senior and subordinate debt real estate transactions. He has experience closing various commercial real estate construction loans, loan modifications and permanent loans on behalf of both owners and lenders, including condominium regimes, mezzanine debt, revolving lines of credit and preferred equity.

Ashley N. Osak was promoted to shareholder of Polsinelli LLP in Los Angeles.

Osak provides innovative and strategic legal solutions that are unique to each client’s needs. Her practice regularly includes working with large health care systems, hospitals and surgery centers to identify and effectuate mergers, acquisitions, affiliations and other strategic relationships.

Brian B. Yeretzian was promoted to shareholder of Polsinelli LLP in Los Angeles.

Yeretzian advises financial institutions and borrowers in structuring, documenting, and securitizing commercial lending transactions; he also counsels owners, developers, and investors in all aspects of real estate transactions, including the acquisition, financing, development, leasing, monetization, and disposition of real estate assets.

Joanna Y. Chen was promoted to shareholder of Polsinelli LLP in San Francisco.

Chen counsels domestic and foreign clients in a wide variety of intellectual property matters, with an emphasis in electrical engineering and computer science and patent prosecution. She has represented clients in a variety of fields, including content management systems, streaming media, 3D modeling and therapeutic predictions software, 5G technology, semiconductor devices, autonomous vehicles, biomedical devices, computer technologies, 3-D dental modeling applications, bioMEMS bionsensors, text animation software, and prosthetic devices.

Nadia A. Sarkis joined Miller Barondess, LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

With a broad-based appellate practice, Sarkis has successfully briefed and argued appeals on a wide range of subject matters, including product liability, employment, punitive damages, civil rights, anti-SLAPP, and a myriad of commercial matters. She has appeared as amicus curiae in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. She secured a per curiam reversal in the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2021 term in Rivas-Villegas v. Cortesluna and obtained reversal of a $15 million punitive damages award in a case involving managing-agent liability. Sarkis also has years of experience litigating complex cases in trial courts.

Sayeh Dayen joined Goldberg Segalla as associate in Los Angeles.

Dayen concentrates her practice on counseling and defending clients in a variety of civil litigation matters with a particular focus on the transportation and trucking industry. She has experience with general liability, transportation, catastrophic injuries/wrongful deaths, and premises liability matters.

James T. Spratt joined Goldberg Segalla as partner in Los Angeles.

Spratt has decades of experience as a senior litigator in a wide range of areas, running the gamut from professional and commercial liability to personal injury, construction-defect disputes, real-property litigation and tort defense.

Julian Zou joined Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP as partner in Silicon Valley.

Zou counsels corporate clients from startups to multinational corporations on venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, foreign direct investment, both inbound into and outbound from China, finance and banking. His clients include innovative life sciences and technology entrepreneurs. Julian has also represented investors and portfolio companies in private equity and venture investments.

Steve Casselberry joined Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP as senior counsel in Irvine.

Casselberry represents clients in the financial services, real estate and title insurance industries. His financial services clients include community and regional banks, as well as mortgage bankers, brokers, lenders and investors. His legal services include mitigation, litigation, bankruptcy, foreclosure, and loan and fraud investigation matters as well as business venture formations, problem loan workouts and acquisition of loans in bulk.

Andrew S Wong joined Reed Smith LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Wong represents leading international and domestic companies in the financial, technology, oil and gas, food and beverage, manufacturing and transportation industries in a variety of complex commercial litigation and employment law matters. He focuses his practice on general commercial litigation, cross-border litigation and arbitration, product liability, business torts, trade secrets and unfair trade practices disputes, as well as employment discrimination matters.

Shawn S. Ledingham was promoted to partner of Proskauer Rose LLP in Los Angeles.

Ledingham is a litigator in the firm's Trial Strategies practice, successful in obtaining early victories through motion practice and defending client interests at trial. He has represented over thirty Fortune 500 companies and subsidiaries in litigation, as well as many other businesses, sports leagues, law firms, and public entities

Bharat K. Moudgil was promoted to partner of Proskauer Rose LLP in Los Angeles.

Moudgil focuses his practice on corporate finance transactions and represents a wide array of credit providers, including private debt funds, BDCs, banks, and other investors in connection with acquisition financings, restructurings, recapitalizations and other financings.

Elise Edlin was promoted to partner of Perkins Coie LLP in San Francisco.

Edlin focuses on complex intellectual property (IP) litigation in federal courts, the International Trade Commission (ITC), and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). She partners with a variety of clients across a range of technology areas--from technology to life sciences--including networking, semiconductors, telephony, medical devices, drug treatments, and fluorescent proteins.

Sarah E. Fowler was promoted to partner of Perkins Coie LLP in Palo Alto.

Fowler focuses her practice on cases involving digital rights management, device authentication, streaming media, video game technology, network security, and enterprise data warehousing. She has significant trial experience and a track record of securing early victories for her clients.

Andrew T. Pettit was promoted to partner of Perkins Coie LLP in Palo Alto and Austin.

Pettit practices in all areas of intellectual property with an emphasis on patent and trademark procurement, strategic analysis, including infringement analysis, enforcement analysis and portfolio valuation, and counseling. He has experience in drafting and prosecuting domestic and international patent applications, conducting disclosure meetings, and analyzing portfolios as due diligence for corporate transactions.

Dr. Courtney M. Prochnow was promoted to partner of Perkins Coie LLP in Los Angeles.

Prochnow focuses her practice on biotechnology. She has represented clients in patent litigation cases in district court, and inter partes review, reexamination, and interference proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Elizabeth Mireles joined Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP as associate in San Diego.

Mireles brings a variety of experience to the firm, and her background includes work on subrogation and recovery, advising clients on subrogation viability, supervising forensic examinations, and assisting on property loss cases.

Bobby Malhotra joined Winston & Strawn LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Malhotra develops innovative, cost-effective, and defensible strategies for the preservation, collection, review, and production of electronically stored information. He advises clients on issues related to eDiscovery preparedness, planning, and execution as well as information privacy and data security.