Paul Hastings Adds Five-Partner Real Estate Team in Los Angeles
In a move that brings together one of the most highly regarded land use teams in California and Paul Hastings' elite real estate group, the firm announced the addition of partners DJ Moore, Beth Gordie, Winston Stromberg, Benjamin Hanelin and Lauren Paull in Los Angeles. The team joins from Latham & Watkins, uniting two top-ranked Chambers practices. The group has extensive experience advising landowners, developers, project sponsors, institutions and utilities throughout California on securing the full range of local, regional, state and federal approvals necessary to permit and construct development and infrastructure projects, as well as compliance with all associated environmental laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, California Environmental Quality Act, California Coastal Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and many others.
Thompson Coburn Names Wage & Hour Practice Team
Thompson Coburn LLP has announced a significant expansion of its Labor & Employment practice in Los Angeles with the addition of three partners: Michael S. Kun, Kevin D. Sullivan and Benjamin T. Runge; and two associates, Catherine Kang and Emilie Ho. Kun will co-chair the Labor & Employment practice group with Hope Abramov and Laura Jordan and lead the firm’s Wage & Hour practice, which focuses on representing employers in class, collective and representative actions dealing with pay practices and related disputes. The five attorneys joining Thompson Coburn were previously with Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., where Kun had served as the chair or co-chair of the national wage-hour practice group for more than 15 years.
Mercury Insurance Names Steve Bennett Climate Science Team Leader
Mercury Insurance, a leading provider of property and casualty insurance, has appointed Steve Bennett as its senior director of climate and catastrophe science. In this new position, he will build and lead a team dedicated to helping identify ways Mercury and its policyholders can work together to better prepare for – and be more resilient – in the face of increasingly severe climate-driven weather events. Bennett joins Mercury with over three decades of leadership at the nexus of extreme weather, climate risk and effective risk management.
Ron Meraz to Join Citi as Wealth Regional Director
David Poole, the head of U.S. wealth management at Citi, has shared that Ron Meraz will be joining the Citi leadership team as wealth regional director of California/Nevada. Meraz joins from Merrill Lynch and is a well-known, seasoned industry leader who started his three-decade career as a financial advisor, quickly reaching the management ranks. He brings a reputation for outstanding client and industry connections with broad experience across the Southwestern United States. He will oversee Citi’s local wealth teams across more than 275 branches and help accelerate its growth strategy by optimizing productivity, driving investments and maximizing referral opportunities. Meraz will officially join Citi in August while Frank Consalo, head of national sales, will continue to oversee Citi’s California market in the interim.
-Paul Williams
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