Elisha Harp joined Hahn Loeser & Parks as associate in San Diego.

Harp joined the firm's Trusts and Estates Practice practice. She will focus on wealth transfer planning, business succession planning, trust administration, and probate. Harp represents individuals and families in devising and implementing sophisticated estate planning and tax minimization strategies. She also represents business owners in connection with business formation and succession planning which frequently includes advising on buy-sell agreements and assisting clients plan for the transfer of the business to the next generation.

Harp graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 2006 and received an LL.M. in Taxation from University of San Diego School of Law in 2010.

"Elisha brings skills and experience that will immediately provide value to our team and clients," remarked Danielle C. Humphries, chair of the San Diego Trusts and Estates practice group. "Her tax background, combined with her estate planning and trust administration experience, make her an asset to our high net worth clients. Elisha's tax background positions her to deal with a wide array of tax issues that arise in wealth transfer and business succession planning, including income tax, gift and estate tax, and property tax."

David Pendergast joined Goodwin Procter LLP as partner in Santa Monica.

Pendergast handles venture capital financings, M&A transactions, IPO and deSPAC transactions and various general day-to-day corporate matters for his clients. In addition, he routinely advises Board of Directors on corporate governance matters. He has particular experience with companies in the industrial, technology and aerospace, and space and defense sectors.

Chris Shoff joined Goodwin Procter LLP as partner in Santa Monica.

Shoff's practice primarily focuses on serving as a strategic advisor to start-up and growth stage companies and to founders, operators and investors throughout the business life cycle, from formation to exit. He also advises venture capital funds, private equity firms, and strategic acquirers on their transactions.

David Ajalat joined Goodwin Procter LLP as partner in Santa Monica.

Ajalat's practice focuses on representing emerging companies, entrepreneurs and venture capital and private equity funds in a broad range of industries, including software, digital media and entertainment, sports, mobile, consumer Internet, e-commerce, virtual reality, gaming, cleantech and fintech.

Christopher R. Moore joined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP as partner in Palo Alto and San Francisco.

Moore's practice focuses on public and private company merger and acquisition transactions and activist defense. He has significant experience in both cross-border and domestic transactions, as well as carve-outs and LBOs. He also advises companies and their boards of directors on takeover defense and governance matters. He has advised a broad range of public and private clients across many industries, with a focus on the technology and life sciences sectors.

Adam K. Lloyd was promoted to counsel of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Los Angeles.

Lloyd represents a wide range of clients in complex civil litigation disputes in both trial and appellate courts at the federal and state level, including intellectual property litigation, antitrust matters and consumer class actions.

Ida K. Nowaid was promoted to counsel of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Los Angeles.

Nowaid represents public and private companies, private equity firms and financial institutions in a range of complex real estate matters across all asset classes. Nowaid's practice includes portfolio and single-asset acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, REIT formations, financings, developments, sale/leasebacks, distressed asset workouts, and reorganizations and leases. Her clients include institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, lenders, borrowers, buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants and developers.

Ryne C. Posey was promoted to counsel of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Los Angeles.

Posey advises clients across a broad range of industries on the full spectrum of labor and employment matters, including compliance and counseling, litigation and alternative dispute resolution, and transactional matters.

Colleen T. Lee was promoted to counsel of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Palo Alto.

Lee focuses her practice on mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and startup investments, spin-offs, carve-outs and other corporate matters. She represents public and private buyers, sellers and target companies, and private equity firms in a variety of U.S. and cross-border acquisitions and dispositions, restructurings and minority strategic investments.

Pramode Chiruvolu was promoted to counsel of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Palo Alto.

Chiruvolu represents clients in complex licensing, services, manufacturing, logistics, restructuring, financing and other IP, technology and commercial transactions, and advises on IP strategy, privacy and cybersecurity issues.

Ari S Friedman joined Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman, PC as shareholder in Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman, PC, Los Angeles.

Friedman's practice will focus on aviation accidents, aviation product liability, helicopter crash litigation, california wildfires, catastrophic injury, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injury, complex and multidistrict litigation, mass disaster litigation, personal injury law, product liability law, truck accidents, and wrongful death law.

Stephanie B. Sherman joined Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman, PC as shareholder in Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman, PC, Los Angeles.

Sherman's practice will focus on civil rights , consumer fraud litigation, defective medical devices, personal injury, prescription drug injuries, zantac cancer lawsuit, product liability law, toxic torts, toxic baby food lawsuit, wrongful death law.

Julie Treppa was promoted to fellow of Farella Braun + Martel LLP.

Treppa has been elected a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel (ACTC), the preeminent professional association of tax attorneys. She was one of 14 new fellows elected to the ACTC at its annual meeting on May 13.

Jennifer Trowbridge joined Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch LLP as senior counsel in San Diego.

Trowbridge has a broad corporate practice, including securities law, finance, mergers & acquisitions and Exchange Act reporting and compliance. She represents public and private companies, investment funds and underwriters in regards to federal and state securities laws and investment and capital-raising transactions such as PIPEs, private equity, debt and venture capital transactions & SPACs. Her services include public and private offerings (Regulation D, etc.), registration of securities (Forms S-1, S-8, etc.), and filing compliance with mergers, acquisitions, stock and asset purchases (Forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, etc.). She also assists clients such as investment advisers, broker-dealers and investment firms with registration and on-going SEC and state compliance.

Robert J. Moss joined Judicate West in Santa Ana.

Based in the Orange County office, Moss is available as a mediator, arbitrator and private judge for matters throughout the state. With nearly 50 years of legal experience, Moss recently retired after two decades on the Orange County Superior Court, serving as supervising judge of the civil panel and on the complex litigation panel, overseeing complex and general civil matters. He has presided over a wide variety of civil cases, including class actions, personal injury, business litigation, employment law, medical malpractice, and governmental entity cases.

Daniel G. Brown joined Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel as of counsel in San Mateo.

Brown represents individuals and businesses in estate planning, tax planning, and end of life planning decisions.

Lynn K. Cadwalader joined Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. as partner in San Francisco.

Cadwalader focuses her practice on providing creative and business-focused counsel to her clients. She has been a key player in many high-profile hospitality transactions, where her ability to creatively structure solutions that work for all participants has been invaluable.

Thomas F. Mazzucco was promoted to director of Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney P.C. in San Francisco.

Mazzucco concentrates his practice in the areas of white-collar defense and government investigations, intellectual property litigation, and business litigation.

Christopher R. Ulrich was promoted to director of Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney P.C. in San Francisco.

Ulrich provides his clients with invaluable insights on issues ranging from collection and use of data, breach and remediation, governmental investigations, and subpoenas, as well as the application of federal and state workplace and personal privacy laws.

Joseph S. Leveroni was promoted to director of Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney P.C. in San Francisco.

Leveroni's practice focuses on providing aggressive representation of individuals facing criminal prosecution, as well as individuals who have yet to be charged but who are under investigation.

Heidi Mayon joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP as partner in Palo Alto.

Mayon focuses her practice on corporate finance transactions, advising issuers and underwriters on a wide range of securities matters, including public company readiness, initial public offerings and complex follow-on equity and debt capital markets offerings. She has extensive experience across numerous industries, including technology, healthcare and life sciences, fintech and payments, marketplaces and retail, energy and clean technology.

Jesse Debban joined Allen & Overy LLP as partner in San Francisco.

Debban's practice focuses on a range of transactional matters such as M&A, joint ventures, securities offerings, and private equity and venture capital investments.

John M. Polson was promoted to chairman and managing partner of Fisher & Phillips LLP in Los Angeles and Irvine.

Polson leads the firm's Management Committee and is co-chair of the firm's PEO and Staffing Industry Team and co-leads the firm's Gig Economy Industry Team. His practice includes compliance, litigation, contracts, mergers and acquisitions, strategic planning, and startup representation. He is a trusted advisor to professional employer organizations and clients in the staffing and human resources outsourcing industries.

Cassandra Robinson joined Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP as attorney in San Diego.

Robinson's practice focuses on family law, personal injury, bankruptcy, probate, and real estate law. She clerked at the State Bar of California, where she gained incomparable experience evaluating complaints of attorney misconduct.

WIlliam O. Stein joined Fisher & Phillips LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Stein defends businesses in high-stakes employment lawsuits including those involving wrongful termination, harassment, disability, and trade secret claims.

Benjamin B. Buckwalter joined Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP as partner in Silicon Valley (Redwood City).

Buckwalter's practice will focus on regulatory and compliance support for companies and funds focused on the financial technology industry.

James Di Cesare joined Judicate West as neutral in Santa Ana.

Di Cesare is based in Orange County but available for mediations and arbitrations statewide. Appointed to the bench by Gov. Gray Davis in 2001, Di Cesare has nearly five decades of experience in law.

Ron B. Birnkrant joined Greenberg Traurig, LLP as shareholder in Los Angeles.

Birnkrant has a broad mergers and acquisitions practice, representing private and public companies on both buy- and sell-side transactions. He is experienced advising clients on a wide range of legal and business issues relating to acquisitions and divestitures, including advising on corporate restructurings and recommending and implementing remedial measures in advance of going to market, with the goal of reducing his clients' backend exposure. Ron's practice also extends to distressed mergers and acquisitions, where he works closely with the firm's restructuring and bankruptcy attorneys.

In addition, Birnkrant serves as outside general counsel to a number of clients, advising on corporate governance matters, day-to-day corporate matters, and commercial contracts. He has considerable experience with limited liability companies and regularly advises these clients on financing transactions and the issuance of equity incentives.

Birnkrant's experience extends across a broad array of industries, but, in particular, he has considerable experience advising on M&A transactions in the life sciences, technology, consumer products, apparel, defense, and logistics sectors.

Benjamin J. Mandel joined Miller Barondess LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Mandel is a civil litigator who represents clients in diverse matters including real estate, general liability, fraud, employment, sports and entertainment, and contract disputes.

Ariel E. Vento joined Knox Ricksen LLP as associate in Los Angeles.

Vento's litigation experience affords her a variety of perspectives on insurance and healthcare-fraud matters. She has handled a high-volume disability rights cases and has handled multiple jury trials and managed more than 100 pretrial cases simultaneously.

Maureen Linch joined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP as partner in Bay Area.

Linch's practice includes the tax aspects of M&A and other transactional matters, as well as structuring and planning, for companies ranging from start-ups to large multinationals at all stages of their life cycle. She also has expertise in the tax aspects of renewable energy investments and bankruptcies and restructurings.

Marcela Robledo joined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP as partner in Bay Area.

Robledo's practice focuses on technology transactions and advising public and private clients across industries on the IP, privacy and cybersecurity aspects of corporate matters. Robledo's experience includes advising leading technology companies and video game developers on licensing agreements, strategic partnerships and mergers and acquisitions.

John V. Berlinski joined Bird, Marella, Boxer, Wolpert, Nessim, Drooks, Lincenberg & Rhow, P.C. as principal in Los Angeles.

Berlinski is regarded as one of Hollywood's most respected lawyers, with a practice focused on representing top actors, producers, directors, talent agencies, guilds, independent studios, casinos, resorts, and recording artists in their most significant disputes. He has been at the forefront of some of the most hot-button legal issues facing the entertainment industry today, representing clients in high-stakes and high-profile licensing, distribution, intellectual property, residuals, and "backend" profit participation disputes. In a case that drew national attention, John represented the actor-producer Scarlett Johansson in her groundbreaking lawsuit alleging that The Walt Disney Co. improperly failed to release her film Black Widow as promised, opting instead for a "day-and-date" release on streaming service Disney+ that deprived Ms. Johansson of tens of millions of dollars in box office bonuses. Berlinski is also well renowned for his role in obtaining the largest award in the history of profit participation arbitration, on behalf of David Boreanaz, Emily Deschanel, and Kathy Reichs, the actors and author-producer behind the hit Fox television series Bones.