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Dear Reader:
L.A. Times B2B Publishing is excited to present our second annual Business of Law magazine, covering trends and updates in the industry, spotlighting visionaries, and recapping the In-House Counsel Leadership Awards event.

ABA Study: Big Law Firms
WHILE LAW FIRM LEADERS ARE MOSTLY STILL WHITE MALE ATTORNEYS, THE NUMBER OF DIVERSE PARTNERS IS RISING

ABA Survey Finds Support for Election Holiday
MAJORITY ALSO SUPPORTS INCREASING THE NUMBER OF BALLOT DROP BOXES, DRIVE-THROUGH VOTING AND ELECTION DAY VOTER REGISTRATION

State Bar Board of Trustees
A BOARD-ESTABLISHED WORKING GROUP OFFERED RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NEW LEGAL ROLE TO ADDRESS THE STATE’S JUSTICE GAP

State Bar of California
THE STATE BAR ANNOUNCED THAT 34% OF APPLICANTS PASSED THE EXAM – THE FIRST IN-PERSON EXAM SINCE FEBRUARY 2020

New Lawyers Section Will Support and Promote
THE NEW FREE MEMBERSHIP, SPECIFICALLY FOR LAWYERS IN THEIR FIRST THREE YEARS OF PRACTICE, OFFERS EDUCATION, SPECIAL EVENTS, AND OTHER BENEFITS

Conversation with an Expert: Personal Injury Law
At one time or another, you may need to retain a personal injury lawyer, but often, people don’t know the steps they should take to protect their rights, let alone the latest trends and best practices in the realm of personal injury litigation.

New ABA Guidance on ‘Live Person’
THE 2018 AMENDMENT OF RULE 7.3(B) PROVIDES GUIDANCE ON WHAT IS AND WHAT IS NOT CONSIDERED IN-PERSON SOLICITATION

Fraud Poses Unique
RECENT EXAMPLES INCLUDE FAKE WEBSITES, DISBARRED ATTORNEYS, LAWYERS WITHOUT CERTIFICATION

New Laws Boost Paid Sick Leave
TAX CREDITS, GRANTS AND RELIEF ALSO AID THOSE IN NEED AS CALIFORNIA EMERGES FROM THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Family and Medical Leave Act
LAW ALLOWS LEAVE FOR MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT FOR INDIVIDUALS, FAMILY MEMBERS

Department of Labor Renews Multi-Year Initiative
INVESTIGATIONS LED TO RECOVERING MORE THAN $34.7 MILLION IN BACK WAGES FOR MORE THAN 29,000 WORKERS AND ASSESSING EMPLOYERS WITH $3.2 MILLION IN PENALTIES

California Lawyers Association Ethics Committee
THE OPINION PROMISES TO BE A VITAL RESOURCE FOR ANY LAW FIRM WISHING TO MINIMIZE THE RISK OF CONFLICTS

New Challenges Arise
Companies need to know where their employees are physically working in order to determine their payroll or income tax obligations.

IN-HOUSE COUNSEL AWARDS 2022
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IN-HOUSE COUNSEL AWARDS
The In-House Counsel Leadership Awards was held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on May 12, 2022.

Nicholas Sanchez
Prior to the In-House Counsel Awards presentation, Nicholas Sanchez, a partner at Miller Kaplan, led an engaging panel discussion that covered several trending issues in the field of law.

Private Company: 1-100 Employees
Czerwonka has worked directly with regulators and legislatures in multiple countries to enable commercial drone delivery at national scales,...

Private Company: 101-200 Employees
Bill Shafton has built Grindr’s large-scale, multifaceted legal and compliance initiatives, provides business-focused counsel,...

Private Company: 201-500 Employees
Keith Chapman is general counsel for Instawork, the leading flexible work platform for hourly workers across the country. His background includes a blend of practical, in-house savvy guiding of marketplace companies through hypergrowth, law firm training, and governmental enforcement experience.

Private Company: 501-1000 Employees
Patrick Monaghan is a creative, pragmatic problem solver who has dedicated his professional life to service to others, exploration of new frontiers and leveraging technology to solve human problems.

Private Company: Over 1000 Employees
Jeff Bleich is the chief legal officer at Cruise, an autonomous vehicle company that is now the first company approved to operate a driverless service for the public in a major city in America.

Public Company: 1-500 Employees
Carla Bedrosian is senior corporate counsel for SimplePractice, LLC (subsidiary), EngageSmart (parent), and an advocate for women’s and children’s rights in both her community in and around Los Angeles and her mother country of Armenia.

Public Company: 501-1000 Employees
Teri L. Witteman is an established C-suite legal professional with demonstrated leadership negotiating and implementing complex commercial and business transactions on behalf of public and private companies. With more than 25 years of experience, she serves as a trusted board advisor on business strategy, legal compliance, and corporate governance.

Public Company: 1001-5000 Employees
Manav Kumar is currently the senior vice president, deputy general counsel of AECOM, a leading infrastructure consulting firm delivering professional services throughout the project. In this role, he also serves as corporate secretary and oversees AECOM’s public affairs initiatives, including government relations and communications.

Public Company: Over 5000 Employees
Ashley Coleman currently serves as assistant general counsel of litigation & employment at Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., overseeing labor and employment compliance and litigation matters for nearly 100,000 employees.

Education/Non-Profit
Saerin Cho is chief eligibility counsel, deputy general counsel, and on the Senior Leadership team at TechSoup Global, a 501(c)(3) social enterprise with offices in the U.S., Poland, and the U.K.

Tamaraq Sue Brandt
Derek Huoth is a leader, coach, mentor, and a force within Tastemade. Beyond the work he does to lead all legal and business affairs at Tastemade, his experiences bring knowledge, perspective, and accountability to his environment.

Carter Goetz
Carter Goetz’s passion for corporate finance and strategy drove him to pursue a J.D./MBA at DePaul University in Chicago.

Tamaraq Sue Brandt
Tammy Brandt is a seasoned executive with extensive technology, brand and consumerfacing experience with a proven track record as a general counsel.

Kristin Aoun Weight
In a mere eight years, Kristin Aoun Weight has grown from a newly licensed attorney to the appointed chief legal officer of a real estate brokerage with over 150 employees, 2,600 real estate agents, and total sales volume over $10 billion annually.

Matthew Bedrossian
He is a member of the company’s operating committee and represents the company externally as a thought leader in the field of digital health.

David Muckley
David Muckley joined Secfi as general counsel in November 2021. Secfi’s platform empowers shareholders with the education to make informed financial decisions and, critically, provides the financing needed for individuals to build wealth for the future.

Ashley Johnson Good
Ashley Johnson Good serves as chief legal officer for Acorns Grow Incorporated, the leading saving and investing app, where she has led the company’s legal function since 2020.

Betsy Tucci
Betsy Tucci is general counsel and company secretary of InStride, where she oversees all legal affairs.

Michelle Fang
Michelle Fang is a technology executive with a proven track record of developing people, disrupting staid industries, scaling teams around the globe, collaborating across functions, and finding creative solutions to complex problems.

Michael Shuckerow
Mike Shuckerow is chief legal officer and chief compliance officer for Marina del Rey-based Aspiration Partners, Inc., the leader in “sustainability-as-a-service” services for consumers and businesses, having first joined as general counsel in 2019.

Shana Simmons
Shana Simmons is general counsel at Everlaw, where she advises the executive leadership team and board of directors on all strategic, cross-company matters.

Phil S. Voss
Phil Voss is the associate general counsel at United Talent Agency (UTA), where he helps support strategic initiatives including acquisitions, venture capital investments and client partnerships.

Thomas Wehinger
Thomas Wehinger serves as general counsel for Regent LP, a private equity firm in Beverly Hills, and is responsible for all legal matters at both the corporate level and within its 14 portfolio companies.

Gina Lindell
Gina Lindell has played an instrumental role in helping both VCA Animal Hospitals and Mars Veterinary Health respond to and adapt through the COVID-19 pandemic.

David Eisler
From 2003 through 2011, David Eisler was a corporate associate focused on mergers and acquisitions, securities, venture capital and general corporate matters at Dorsey & Whitney (2003–2005); and DLA Piper (2005–2011).

Christopher M. Norton
Chris Norton joined World Oil in 2017 as chief legal officer coming from a diverse legal background having served as General Counsel at Andell and Maguire Properties Trust.

Roy Hadavi
Roy Hadavi started his career as a solo attorney practicing general transactional business law; his mindset being that in order to advise businesses, you need to know how to run one.

Jonathan Feldman
Jonathan Feldman is general counsel and secretary of Therabody, the global pioneer in wellness technology.

Lisa Hatton Harrington
Lisa Hatton Harrington has been CLO/GC and corporate secretary of two prominent Southern California-based public companies (Viant, ChromaDex), as well as general counsel of Irvine-based ASICS Americas.

Anne Haley
Anne Haley was born into a family where civic duty was the expectation. Growing up hearing the story of how her father, George Haley, was selected to desegregate the University of Arkansas Law School in 1949 acted as impetus for her to pursue her own career in the law.

Blythe Holden
Newly appointed as the general counsel of ad tech company Taboola, Blythe Holden has oversight of all the company’s legal affairs both domestically and abroad.

Sabra-Anne Rachel Truesdale
In 2015, Sabra-Anne Truesdale came to Western Digital (WD) from a firm and had no full-time in-house experience – she suddenly had attorneys reporting to her who had been at the company far longer – but was able to seamlessly transition into WD by participating in various programs promoting female inventors and employee well-being.

Donald Yoo
Donald Yoo’s path to being an in-house lawyer has not been linear. Drawn to public service, he began his legal career as a prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Wade Ackerman
Through nearly two decades of experience in private practice and positions within the FDA and on the Hill, Wade Ackerman has acquired unique insights into the evolving legal and regulatory landscape facing companies marketing FDA-regulated products.

Clifton W. Albright
Based in downtown Los Angeles, Clifton Albright is the president of Albright, Yee & Schmit. Albright specializes in labor and employment law.

Adam C. Abrahms
Adam C. Abrahms is a member of the firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management and Health Care & Life Sciences practices in Epstein Becker Green’s (EBG’s) Los Angeles office.

LEGAL VISIONARIES
Southern California continues to maintain its status as a center for thought leaders and power brokers in the legal space.

Stephanie I. Blum
Acertified family law specialist who has practiced exclusively in the area of family law for 25 years, Stephanie Blum, a partner at Reuben Raucher & Blum, supports those who face the turmoil, uncertainty and challenges of divorce.

Ryan Baker
One of California’s elite trial and appellate lawyers, Waymaker LLP co-managing and founding partner Ryan Baker wins trial verdicts and appeals in high-profile and high-stakes cases.

Stephen L. Bradford
Stephen Bradford is a partner in the Musick, Peeler & Garrett’s Los Angeles office, and he leads the firm’s Corporate and Business Law Group. He is also a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.

Jonathan M. Deer
Jonathan M. Deer is one of those rare attorneys equipped to handle a client’s litigation and transactional needs simultaneously, with an emphasis on matters in real estate and business law.

Lara Compton
Mintz Member Lara Compton is a trusted advisor to clients ranging from traditional health care providers to disrupter digital health platforms as they navigate the practical and regulatory challenges of health care innovation.

Thomas Dover
Thomas Dover provides cutting-edge legal strategies focused in all areas of intellectual property, corporate transactions and advertising. His experience in the U.S.

Dennis M.P. Ehling
Blank Rome partner and gaming industry co-chair Dennis Ehling has worked with clients in the gaming and interactive entertainment industries for decades on a wide variety of issues, including regulatory and compliance,...

Morgan Chu
Morgan Chu has secured many of the world’s largest – and in some cases precedentsetting – verdicts, judgments and settlements, resulting in actual payments totaling more than $9 billion.

Mary Lynn K. Coffee
Mary Lynn Coffee has extensive experience providing legal and regulatory advice and counsel complying with and permitting under CEQA, NEPA and state and federal water quality, wetlands, endangered species and other natural resource protection laws.

Alison S. Flowers
Alison S. Flowers provides clients with extensive experience in state and federal court litigation, focusing on labor and employment and civil rights matters.

Deborah M. Festa
A recognized leader in her field, Deborah Festa is a highly regarded corporate partner in Akin Gump’s Los Angeles office with deep experience at the critical nexus of investment management and private credit.

Melvin Felton, II
Melvin Felton, II, is a partner at Sanders Roberts LLP. He represents corporations and individuals in a wide range of employment and business litigation matters.

Alan Friel
As co-chair of Squire Patton Boggs’ Global Data Privacy, Cybersecurity & Digital Assets Practice, Alan Friel is a thought leader in digital media, intellectual property, data privacy and protection, and consumer protection law, with three decades of relevant experience.

Michael G. Freedman
Michael Freedman is an experienced trial attorney and former federal prosecutor who represents individuals and companies against all types of criminal charges and government investigations in addition to high-stakes civil litigation and appeals.

Terri E. Hilliard
Terri E. Hilliard is the principal of Terri Hilliard, P.C. in Westlake Village. Her practice centers on advanced estate and business succession planning, asset protection, special needs trusts, and family protection planning for seniors.

Nicole Hoeksma Gordon
Nicole Hoeksma Gordon, a partner at The Sohagi Law Group, advises public agencies on complex environmental and land use matters at the administrative, trial, and appellate levels.

Keith Michael Gregory
Keith Gregory is a partner and leader at Snell & Wilmer, a full-service business law firm with more than 450 attorneys practicing in 16 locations throughout the United States and Mexico, including three offices in California.

Adam R. Fox
Adam Fox is an experienced trial lawyer, trailblazer and community leader. He has served as the managing partner of Squire Patton Boggs’ Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s 12-person Global Board, which oversees the strategic direction of the firm’s international practice.

Vassi Iliadis
Vassi Iliadis began her career in the Los Angeles office of Hogan Lovells. For almost a decade, she has sharpened her skills as a litigator and trusted advisor, focusing on the litigation issues that arise in privacy and cybersecurity incidents.

Eric P. Israel
Eric Israel leads Danning Gill, a Los Angeles bankruptcy boutique with roots dating back 68 years. He has been with the firm for his entire legal career.

Andrei Iancu
Before returning as a partner to Irell & Manella LLP in April 2021, Andrei Iancu served as the undersecretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), a position to which he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate.

Kayla K. Horacek
With 15 years in practice, Kayla Horacek has extensive experience handling divorce and family law matters, including business evaluations, complex property division, child custody issues, and litigation over contested matters.

Brian L. Holman
Brian Holman is a partner in Musick Peeler’s Los Angeles office. He advises and represents educational institutions and other parties in facility and working capital financing transactions and general corporate and operations matters.

Robert Hudock
Robert Hudock founded Hudock Employment Law Group in 2015 to deliver tailored legal services to companies that thrive in vibrant, creative work environments.

Richard D. Kaplan
Criminal defense attorney Richard D. Kaplan manages serious criminal charges that threaten livelihoods and reputations of white-collar clients, including high-net-worth individuals, entrepreneurs, entertainers, corporations, and their officers and executives.

Barry Kurtz
Barry Kurtz is the chair of the Franchise and Distribution Practice Group at Lewitt Hackman law corporation in Encino. His department is one of the largest of its kind in California.

Sarah Kelly-Kilgore
As the leader of Greenberg Gross LLP’s Los Angeles office, Sarah Kelly-Kilgore has built a reputation as a highly skilled and innovative trial and appellate lawyer with the ability to persuade judges and juries in cases with the highest stakes.

Robbin L. Itkin
Robbin Itkin is a partner in Sklar Kirsh’s Bankruptcy practice group. Her experience restructuring billions of dollars of debt includes insolvency resolutions in Chapter 11 cases and numerous restructurings outside the courtroom.

Christianne F. Kerns
Christianne F. Kerns is the first female managing partner of the prestigious 121-year-old Pasadena-based law firm, which has transitioned from a historic “old-line firm” into a majority woman and minority-owned firm.

Sharon R. Klein
Blank Rome partner and chair of the firm’s Privacy, Security & Data Protection practice, Sharon R. Klein, is committed to ensuring that her clients understand and mitigate the risks involved with use of data in their businesses.

Scott Malzahn
One of California’s leading litigators, Scott Malzahn is co-managing partner of Waymaker LLP, a cutting-edge trial and litigation boutique.

Pam Lee
Pam Lee is a partner with the public law firm Aleshire & Wynder and handles a wide variety of municipal law, land use and planning, affordable housing, and labor and employment matters.

Stephen G. Larson
Former U.S. District Judge and Larson LLP founding partner Stephen Larson has been a renowned trial lawyer for high-stakes civil, commercial, and white collar matters since returning to private practice in 2009.

Patrick M. Maloney
After beginning his career at a national law firm and spending a decade at a Los Angeles business litigation boutique, Patrick Maloney founded The Maloney Firm, APC in 2012.

Neal Ross Marder
Neal Marder, a partner at Akin Gump, is a highly accomplished trial lawyer and class action litigator in California and throughout the country, obtaining highly favorable outcomes for clients across myriad industries.

Randall S. Leff
Randy Leff is a co-managing partner of ECJ and a partner in the Litigation Department. For more than 30 years, he has tried and resolved “betthe-company” business disputes in both state and federal courts.

Marianne Susan Martin
Marianne S. Martin has led negotiations on financing transactions of collectively well over $500 million over the past two years, and throughout her career has been engaged in restructuring and financing transactions of collectively well over $1.5 billion.

Robert S. Marticello
Robert S. Marticello is a founding partner of Smiley Wang-Ekvall, LLP. He concentrates his practice on business bankruptcy matters and related litigation.

Nina Marino
Nina Marino oversees a complex litigation and white-collar crime practice that is both national and international. She negotiates with the U.S. Department of Justice, state attorneys general, district attorneys, and Interpol in her defense of individuals alleged to be involved with Medicare fraud, Foreign Corrupt Practice Act violations and tax, cyber and other crimes.

Sean D. Muntz
Sean D. Muntz manages RMO’s Orange County office and serves as co-managing partner and practice management chair.

Ann Marie Mortimer
Ann Marie Mortimer, co-head of Hunton Andrew Kurth’s commercial litigation practice and founder and managing partner of the firm’s Los Angeles office, is at the forefront of novel cybersecurity litigation threatening the fundamental business of...

Byron Z. Moldo
Byron Z. Moldo is a partner in the Bankruptcy, Receivership, and Creditors’ Rights Department at Ervin Cohen & Jessup. Moldo’s legal career has specialized in bankruptcy, receivership, assignments for the benefit of creditors, and all aspects of insolvency.

Janice L. Miller
Janice L. Miller is the managing partner of Miller Haga Law Group, LLP, a premier law firm based in the Los Angeles area that provides innovative general counsel services to both privately-held and Fortune 100 companies.

Stephen Morris
Steven Morris consistently achieves case-winning results for clients involved in complex commercial and business litigation, particularly when it comes to real estate matters and partnership disputes, the focus of his practice for nearly 40 years.

Michael Mortenson
Michael Mortenson’s litigation career began at Bingham McCutchen LLP (now Morgan Lewis) working in the business and securities litigation group. As his practice grew, he moved to K&L Gates, Baker Hostetler and then to Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, where he rejoined his former Bingham colleague, Craig Taggart.

Ariel A. Neuman
Ariel Neuman is a widely recognized white-collar attorney known for his tenacity and success in some of the country's most high-stakes and high-profile trials. Chambers USA ranks him in Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations as one of the top lawyers in the field.

Arameh Zargham O'Boyle
Arameh Zargham O’Boyle, member at Mintz, is a trailblazer and the first female partner in their growing L.A. office. In her 16 years of practice, O’Boyle has become one of the most sought-after attorneys that product innovators and manufacturers in the pharmaceutical, medical device, personal care and cosmetic sectors rely on when faced with potential or actual litigation.

Robyn R. Polashuk
Robyn Polashuk has more than 20 years of experience in network distribution and content licensing, both as a lawyer for Lifetime Television as well as in private practice, currently as co-chair of Covington’s Communications and Media Industry Group.

Jennifer Post
Jennifer Post is a skilled attorney, client relationship partner, leader and active member of the community. As an attorney, she leads corporate clients in sophisticated transactional work.

Sabrina C. Narain
Sabrina C. Narain is an ambitious Hispanic & Asian Indian attorney breaking barriers in Los Angeles’ auto manufacturing litigation space. She became the first female partner in March 2020 after only three years at the diverse boutique legal firm Sanders Roberts,...

Thomas P. O'Brien
Thomas P. O’Brien, a partner with Ellis George Cipollone O’Brien Annaguey LLP, was formerly a partner at an international law firm for nearly a decade, where he led the firm’s west coast white-collar litigation practice and served as chair of the Los Angeles Litigation Department.

Hilary Potashner
A fellow of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers and the twice-selected former Federal Public Defender for the Central District of California, Hilary Potashner is continually recognized throughout her over 25-year career as being among the top trial lawyers in California and the nation.

Stephen Raucher
Stephen Raucher’s practice emphasizes general business litigation, including real estate and contract disputes. He also has an impressive track record in helping clients resolve insurance coverage issues. Raucher has tried and arbitrated numerous cases to decision, and has extensive experience at the appellate level as well.

Elsa Ramo
Elsa Ramo represents over 100 films and 50 television scripted and unscripted series per year, providing comprehensive legal services to producers, financiers, creators and owners of film, television, and digital content and projects across a range of budgets and production levels.

Arjun P. Rao
Arjun Rao has built a national reputation for handling high-stakes consumer class actions and financial services litigation, including regulatory matters and government investigations, as well as defending companies in a wide range of actions.

Halbert Rasmussen
As killed litigator, Halbert Rasmussen has delivered wins for his clients for such matters as franchise disputes including terminations instituted by manufacturers, complex multi-party claims arising out of dealership buy-sell agreements, and breach of contract matters, among others.

Scott E. Rahn
California attorney Scott Rahn resolves contests, disputes, and litigation related to trusts, estates and conservatorships, creating a welcome peace of mind for clients. He represents heirs, beneficiaries, trustees, and executors.

Joseph Alan Reiter
At 34 years of age, Joseph Reiter is one of Hueston Hennigan’s “rising stars” and lead counsel on many of the firm’s highest-profile trials, including current leading roles in some of Kaiser Permanente’s most important matters.

Angela Reddock-Wright
Recently inducted into the prestigious College of Labor & Employment Lawyers, Angela Reddock-Wright is an employment mediator, arbitrator, workplace, and Title IX investigator. She has practiced as an employment and labor law attorney for 25 years.

Kevin Rising
With over two decades of complex litigation experience, Kevin Rising offers clients deep experience in multiple industries that range from entertainment, healthcare and manufacturing to financial services, technology and telecommunications, retail, and chemical compounds.

R. Tyson Sohagi
Tyson Sohagi’s practice focuses upon environmental law, land use and planning law, the Coastal Act, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Public Trust Doctrine, and Election Law.

Zev Schechtman
Zev Schechtman, who has spent his entire legal career at Danning Gill, represents debtors, creditors, creditors’ committees, trustees, shareholders, asset purchasers, and other parties in bankruptcy, restructuring, and insolvency matters.

Miwa Shoda
After passing the Japanese bar exam when the passing rate was only 2.5%, Miwa Shoda began her career at one of Japan’s premier law firms. With the blessing and support of that firm, she traveled to the U.S. to receive her LL.

Todd B. Scherwin
Fisher Phillips’ Todd Scherwin is a powerful and effective advocate for Los Angeles-area business clients facing thorny employment issues and perilous lawsuits.

Christian Joseph Scali
Christian Scali has a diverse automotive industry practice that includes advice and counsel and complex and high stakes litigation involving franchise disputes, lender liability, reinsurance, and flooring disputes, consumer finance, consumer and...

Rose Beatriz Sorensen
Rose B. Sorensen is a corporate and securities partner in Snell & Wilmer's Los Angeles office, whose practice includes mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, reorganizations, commercial finance, private placements, venture capital, corporate governance, telecommunications services, joint ventures, licensing and entity structure and formation.

Daron Tooch
Daron Tooch focuses on managed care litigation and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for healthcare providers in civil actions and arbitrations against health plans. He represents hospitals, medical groups, physicians, pharmacies, laboratories, surgery centers, and home health companies in arbitrations and in federal and state courts.

Timothy J. Toohey
Timothy Toohey, head of Greenberg Glusker’s Cybersecurity Practice, works to assure that his clients’ proprietary, personal, customer and employee information, and other sensitive data is fully protected and serves its intended purposes.

Kirsten Hicks Spira
Kirsten Spira represents the country’s largest law firms in their most pressing professional responsibility matters, including several mentioned in this nomination.

Julia B. Strickland
As chair of Stroock’s Financial Services Litigation, Regulation and Enforcement Group, a member of their national Executive Committee and managing partner of its Los Angeles office, Julia Strickland is often the first attorney called when a financial services company needs anything from practical guidance to the fierce defense of contentious and high-stakes litigation and regulatory enforcement matters.

Craig A. Taggart
Craig Taggart is a partner at Mortenson Taggart Adams LLP. Prior to starting his own firm, Taggart was an equity partner at Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth in Newport Beach. He is a trial attorney who has worked on high-profile litigation matters in California and throughout the country.

Daniel G. Stone
Dan Stone is a partner in the Litigation and Entertainment and Media groups of Greenberg Glusker. He helps plaintiffs and defendants navigate their disputes at all stages of litigation and dispute resolution, including at trial and on appeal.

Timothy B. Yoo
Timothy Yoo has already established himself as a go-to intellectual property trial lawyer in his young career, particularly for Asian companies seeking to traverse cross-border disputes and tech companies seeking to resolve their most complicated technical matters, especially those involving the Asia-Pacific region.

K. Luan Tran
K. Luan Tran is a trailblazer in Vietnam-related trade and legal issues. He previously co-founded the largest minority-owned disputes law firm in the U.S. (with over 35 attorneys) that was recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the top 10 litigation boutiques in the country.

Ivy A. Wang
Ivy A. Wang is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Ellis George Cipollone O’Brien Annaguey LLP. A former federal prosecutor, she practices white-collar criminal and regulatory defense, and litigates a wide variety of commercial disputes, including trade secrets, unfair business practices and contract disputes, in state and federal court.

Andrew K. Walsh
Andrew Walsh is a partner of Hueston Hennigan who represents clients in complex civil business disputes, high-stakes environmental and entertainment litigation, and white-collar criminal actions, in both state and federal court.

Jenifer C. Wallis
Munck Wilson Mandala partner Jenifer Wallis was recently promoted to co-managing partner of the Los Angeles office, making her the first woman at the firm to hold a managing partner title.

Emily BurkhardtVicente
Emily Burkhardt Vicente co-chairs Hunton Andrews Kurth’s national labor and employment team and diversity and inclusion committee. She was selected as co-chair of the national labor and employment practice of an American Lawyer 100 firm after only eight years as a partner.