CLASS NOTES

John Arguelles ’54 was honored by the UCLA School of Law with a celebration of his career, an exhibition of his photographs outside the law library, and a new scholarship in his name. Justice Arguelles was the first UCLA Law School graduate and the second Hispanic justice to serve on the California Supreme Court. Arguelles passed away shortly after his career tribute.

Ralph Shapiro ’58 and his wife, Shirley, endowed the Shapiro Family Chair in Piano Performance with their $1 million gift. The gift primarily supports a UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music faculty member and students in piano performance.

Jim Spitser ’64 was featured in an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune about his March Madness memories. Spitser, now retired, has been to the Final Four 25 times and has watched the Bruins take the crown five times.

Arnold York ’65 has served as the publisher of the Malibu Times since 1987. Recently, he and his wife, Karen, sold the 75-year-old institution. He remarked that his greatest accomplishment over the past 35 years as publisher was never missing an issue.

Gil Garcetti ’67 was appointed to the Milton Marks “Little Hoover” Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy.

Barry Fisher ’68 was named the 2021 Warren M. Christopher International Lawyer of the Year. Fisher, a named partner at Fleishman & Fisher, focuses his practice on human rights and constitutional law on behalf of ethnic, racial, and religious minorities worldwide, including Kurds and Roma. Fisher has assisted in the drafting of constitutions and legislation for countries including Romania, Moldova, Albania, Bosnia, Sierra Leone, and Belarus and has consulted on legal matters in Russia, Mexico, Spain, Cambodia, Slovakia, Argentina, Canada, Germany, and England.

Tom Stindt ’70 retired after 42 years of practicing law in Los Angeles. He has spent much of the past seven years as a specialist volunteer with the Detectives Division of the Los Angeles Police Department. He has supported detectives of the Van Nuys Community Station’s Theft Table, the Crimes Against Persons Table, the Major Assault Crimes unit and the Cold Case unit of the Valley Bureau’s homicide detectives.

Paul S. Meyer ’71 was appointed to the Newport Beach Civil Service Board for 2021. He continues to be active in the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Society of Barristers.

David Carter ’72, U.S. District Court judge, was featured in an article in the Orange County Register regarding his recent ruling and conclusions concerning a dispute over emails and their connection to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

John Branca ’75 donated generously toward the new practice field at Jackie Robinson Stadium. It’s named the Branca Family Field in honor of the three-time All-Star legend Ralph Branca—the Dodger who stood next to Jackie Robinson on April 15, 1947, the most remembered opening day in Major League Baseball history.

Wilma Pinder ’76 was honored at the USC Black Alumni Association 46th Annual Scholarship Dinner with the BAA Kilgore Service Award for her selfless leadership among Black students and alumni—and service that has touched the greater USC community.

Dorothy Wolpert ’76 was honored by UCLA School of Law with a U. Serve L.A. award and the establishing of the Dorothy and Stanley Wolpert Public Interest Law Fellowship to provide financial support to UCLA Law students who work for the Inner City Law Center. David W. Evans ’77 joined the West Los Angeles–based accounting firm Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt as a partner and the firm’s first general counsel. He left the law firm Haight Brown & Bonesteel after 26 years during which he served as managing partner of the firm’s San Francisco office and acted as the firm’s general counsel. He will continue to reside in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Helen Jacobs-Lepor ’77 was presented with an honorary fellowship from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She serves on the Board of Managers for U.S. Medical Innovations, a privately held FDA-registered biomedical device company focusing on the fields of plasma electrosurgical devices, robotic mini-invasive technology, and the eradication of cancer using cold plasma.

Daniel Hedigan ’78 joined Five Point Holdings as its new chief executive. Previously, he was president of home building at the Irvine Company.

Dean Kitchens ’78 has been appointed as a judge in the Los Angeles County Superior Court by Governor Gavin Newsom. Kitchens has been a partner at Gibson Dunn since 1986 and has served in several positions there since 1978, including general counsel.

Bernard Resser ’79 joined the Barton law firm as partner.

Michael Gendler ’80 was listed in The Hollywood Reporter’s “Power Lawyers 2022: Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys.” He is a founding partner at Gendler & Kelly.

Laurie Levenson ’80 was the featured guest on an episode of the podcast B.S.: Beyond Stereotypes. Levenson talked about growing up white in Inglewood, other pivotal personal experiences, and why we all need to look in the mirror and face our stereotypes. She is a legal commentator for high-profile televised criminal cases. In 2019 she cofounded Girl Scout Troop 1085, a troop for girls experiencing homelessness. At Loyola Marymount Law School, Levenson is the founding director of the Loyola Project for the Innocent, the Loyola Center for Ethical Advocacy and the Fidler Institute on Criminal Justice, and a member of the senior faculty of Loyola’s Journalist Law School.

Marcy Morris ’81 was inducted into The Hollywood Reporter’s “Legal Legends.” The list is a “Power Lawyers” special feature dedicated to honoring entertainment industry attorneys whose career achievements “are extraordinary.” Morris, an attorney at Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein, takes pride in being a mentor in the firm, helping to increase the number of female employees to nearly 40 percent over the past seven years.

Daniel Mayeda ‘82 was quoted in the Daily Star, the Guardian, Newsmax and the Daily Wire regarding Mickey Mouse leaving Disney. Mayeda is the associate director of the Documentary Film Legal Clinic at UCLA School of Law. Before this appointment, he specialized in litigation involving the media and entertainment industries. He was a shareholder at Leopold, Petrich and Smith and is now an attorney with Ballard Spahr.

Jocelyn Thompson ’82 has been appointed to the Board of Directors of Apollo Silver Corporation, bringing California Resource Department expertise to the Apollo team. In addition to her project permitting experience, she will provide legal and governance support to the board and executive team. Most recently, Thompson was a partner at Alston and Bird. James Baca ’83 is serving as managing partner at Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo, where he has been for more than 30 years, serving in many leadership positions, including chair of the firm’s largest practice group, the Southern California Education Law Practice Group, for more than 10 years; as a member of the executive committee; and most recently, as chief operating officer.

Terry White ’83 authored a book with his brother, Kerry, entitled For the People: A True Story of the Los Angeles Criminal Justice System by Two African American Prosecutors. In it, the brothers recount the high-profile cases they’ve encountered over their 30-year careers, including such infamous cases as the O.J. Simpson trial and the UCLA body parts scandal, as well as other dramatic and notable cases involving celebrities, human trafficking, drug mafias and serial killers.

Leslie Gilbert-Lurie ‘84 has been appointed to the California State University Board of Trustees. The self-employed author is a member of the UCLA Foundation Board, the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Board, and the UCLA School of Law Board of Advisors. She is co-founder and member of the board of directors of the Alliance for Children’s Rights. She is also a member of the international board of directors of Human Rights Watch, the Pacific Council on International Policy and the Writers Guild of America.

Louis Gutierrez ‘84 was made the chief human capital and equity officer at Los Angeles World Airports.

Ann McMillan ‘84 was named president of the law firm Caplin & Drysdale.

Betsy Rosenthal ’84 published a new children’s book—When Lightnin’ Struck. Set in Texas in 1928, it’s a story of hidden family history, friendship, and a boy’s journey of self-discovery. Stephen Cooke ’85 has been elected to the board of directors of the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach. He is currently Of Counsel in the Securities and Capital Markets practice group of Paul Hastings in Orange County, where he has been advising clients in a wide variety of complex matters for more than 30 years and where he was a partner for 27 years. He will join the bank’s Risk and Compliance Committee and the Nominations and Corporate Governance Committee.

V. James DeSimone ’85 and his firm have filed a landmark COVID-related wrongful death suit in California, according to Lawyer News. The lawsuit centers on a man’s death from COVID-19 and places the onus directly on an employer for refusing to make reasonable workplace accommodations for someone with known underlying health problems. DeSimone’s practice is focused on seeking justice in a variety of workplace disputes.

Joanne Moore ’85 was named dean of the School of Film and Television at Loyola Marymount University. She is an educator, university administrator, and film industry executive who most recently served as associate professor and chair of the Producing Department in the School of Filmmaking at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Ann Park ‘87 became president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and its first-ever Asian American leader. Park is a litigator and partner at Foley & Mansfield who specializes in toxic tort, asbestos products liability, and premises liability cases. She is also a past president of the Korean American Bar Association of Southern California.

Gary L. Bradus ’87 has been recognized as a “2022 Most Admired CEO” by the Sacramento Business Journal. He is a shareholder in the Corporate group at Weintraub Tobin.

Alan Epstein ’87 was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s “Power Lawyers 2022: Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys.” A partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, Epstein is in the Corporate & Financial Services Department and is chair of the firm’s Entertainment Transactions Practice.

Kenneth Kimmell ’87 was named vice president for Offshore Wind Development at Avangrid Renewables.

was named new board chair of the UCLA Foundation Board of Directors and assumed her new post on July 1. Miñana de Lovelace has been a member of the foundation’s board of directors since 2015. She also chaired the UCLA School of Law Board of Advisors and has spent the past 30 years as a transactional attorney in Los Angeles.

Chuck Geerhart ‘88 was sworn in as the 2022 President of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, a consumer-side organization dedicated to providing trial skills education to the bar and preserving the right to a jury trial.

Carlos Goodman ’88 was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s “Power Lawyers 2022” list of Hollywood’s Top 100 attorneys. Goodman is a founding Partner at Goodman Genow Schenkman Smelkinson & Christopher.

Scott Lenga ’88, with his father, Harry, has published a new book—The Watchmakers. It tells the true story of Harry’s upbringing in a Hasidic family of watchmakers in the 1920s and ‘30s in Poland and how their watchmaking skills and an oath made by Harry and his two brothers enabled the three to survive the ghettos and camps in German-occupied Poland during the war. Set against the dark background of that period, The Watchmakers is an uplifting saga of brotherhood, optimism, and the resilience of the human spirit. Sandy Pooler ’88 was appointed town manager of Arlington, Massachusetts. Pooler, currently Arlington’s deputy town manager/ finance director, will serve as interim town manager for the balance of the unexpired term of the previous town manager. Pooler is in talks to stay in the post until 2025, but he has plans to retire before then and is negotiating an end date.

Jason Sloane ’88 was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s “Power Lawyers 2022: Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys.” Sloane is a founding partner at Sloane Offer Weber & Dern.

David Gabor ’89 has been named to the 2022 Southern California Super Lawyers list, an honor given to no more than 5% of California lawyers each year. Gabor is a shareholder at Weintraub Tobin and chair of the firm’s Litigation group.

John Fukunaga ’89 was named to Variety’s list “Dealmakers Impact Report 2021: Top Negotiator Behind Mega Deals.” Fukunaga is executive vice president and deputy general counsel at Sony Pictures.

Anna McLean ’89 was named a member to Law360’s newly formed 2022 Consumer Protection Editorial Advisory Board. The board provides feedback on Law360’s coverage and expert insight on how best to shape future coverage. McLean is a partner in the business trial practice at Sheppard Mullin’s San Francisco office.

administered the State Bar oath to UCLA Law grads at the UCLA School of Law Bar Admission Ceremony in December 2021.

Leslie Ryland ’89 was elevated to principal attorney at Schaffer Family Law Group. Ryland was certified as a legal specialist in Family Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. Susan Shields ’89 earned a Band 1 top ranking in the Private Wealth Law category in the 2022 edition of Chambers High Net Worth. Shields is a tax and family wealth attorney with McAfee & Taft in Oklahoma. She focuses on wealth transfer tax planning for high-net-worth families and individuals, business planning for closely held family businesses, and estate and trust administration. Shields is an elected Fellow of the prestigious American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and a past president of the Oklahoma Bar Association.

Phillip Talbert ’89 was sworn in as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California. He was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden and confirmed by the Senate. Last year, Talbert assumed leadership of the office as acting U.S. attorney. He has served as an assistant U.S. attorney in this district for 19 years. Previously, Talbert was a trial attorney in the Justice Department’s criminal division. He also worked at a Seattle law firm and as a law clerk to Judge David R. Thompson of the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Brian Brookey ’90 was named chair of the Tucker Ellis Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Committee. He is an Intellectual Property partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Brookey’s commitment to national and community EDI efforts and initiatives includes his involvement with the National LGBT Bar Association and the District of Columbia LGBT Bar Association.

Angel Juarez Navarro ’90 of the Central District of California was elected court commissioner by judges of the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Lisa Pai ’90 was appointed to the board of directors of Hope Bancorp, Inc., and the Bank of Hope, the first and only super regional Korean American bank in the United States. Pai will serve as a member of the board’s Risk Committee.

Jeff Frankel ’91 was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s “Power Lawyers 2022: Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys.” He is a partner at McKuin Frankel Whitehead.

Richard Hasen ’91 joined UCLA School of Law as a professor and will direct the new Safeguarding Democracy Project to focus on ensuring that elections in the U.S. remain free and fair. Hasen is a nationally recognized expert in election law and campaign finance regulation. He recently wrote a guest essay in The New York Times entitled “No One Is Above the Law, and That Starts with Donald Trump.” He is the author of Cheap Speech: How Disinformation Poisons Our Politics—and How to Cure It. He co-founded the Election Law Listserv in 1995 and founded the Election Law Blog in 2003 to share news and analysis of election law issues. In 2020, he proposed a 28th Amendment to the Constitution to defend and expand voting rights and served as a CNN election law analyst.

Chris Mosley ’91 joined Foley Hoag as a partner and will work remotely from Denver. Mosley will specialize in representing policyholders in disputes with insurers and will join the firm’s insurance recovery practice within its litigation department.

administered the oath of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to UCLA Law grads at the UCLA School of Law Bar Admission Ceremony in December 2021.

launched The Portia Project, a weekly podcast in which she will interview high-achieving women in the field of law in hopes of inspiring the next generation. The four initial podcasts feature conversations with Christine Durham, retired chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court; Karen Scott, U.S. magistrate judge for the Central District of California; Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michelle Williams and West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth D. Walker. Sungaila is the head of Buchalter’s appellate practice group and a shareholder in the firm’s Orange County office. Greg Zipes ‘91 recently published the book Justice and Faith: The Frank Murphy Story, a biography of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy. It has won a Michigan State History Prize. Justice Murphy was most famous for condemning as racist the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

’92 was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a U.S. District Court judge. She was nominated by President Joseph Biden and confirmed to a lifetime appointment to the San Diego federal bench. Magistrate Judge Montenegro is the second Latina among the 61 District Court judges in the state of California.

Bob Offer ’92 was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s “Power Lawyers 2022: Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys.” Offer is a founding partner at Sloane Offer Weber & Dern.

Eugene Volokh ’92 celebrated the 20-year anniversary of his blog The Volokh Conspiracy. Hosted by Reason Magazine, the blog chiefly features law professors and one political science professor. Volokh is the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law.

David Byrnes ’93 was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s list “Top Music Lawyers of 2022.” Byrnes is a partner at Ziffren Brittenham.

Toby Dorsey ’93 was promoted to deputy general counsel in the Office of Administration, Executive Office of the President at the White House. Dorsey is a national and international expert on making policy, legislation and rules, having solved legal problems for the White House, Congress and the federal courts.

David Eisman ’93 was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s “Power Lawyers 2022: Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys.” Eisman, a partner at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, is head of the firm’s Entertainment Group and leader of the Mergers and Acquisitions/Corporate Group in the Los Angeles office. Jeffrey Freedman ‘93 was appointed chief administration officer at Creative Artists Agency (CAA). He will maintain oversight of CAA’s global legal, human resources, information technology and real estate areas. Freedman will also continue to serve as general counsel. He joined CAA from Paramount Pictures, where he served as executive vice president of business affairs and operations.

Scott Burton ’94 joined Norton Rose Fulbright as a partner in its Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., offices. Burton’s practice focuses on environmental regulation and government affairs. Joining from Hunton Andrews Kurth, Burton leverages his extensive environmental, energy and natural resources experience to advise clients in the national and international public policy arenas on a range of high-profile and high-risk issues.

Kevin Davis ’94 was named to the board of directors of Adai (Active Design Advisors, Inc.), an affiliate of the Center for Active Design (CfAD). Adai is a new business unit of CfAD, which operates the Fitwel healthy building certification system. Davis is the CEO of JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, Americas, where his responsibilities include investment sales, debt and equity placement, and asset management. He was also named to the advisory board of the Cornell Center for Real Estate and Finance in 2021.

Elia Gallardo ’94 was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom as deputy director of Legislative and Governmental Affairs at the California Department of Health Care Access and Information. Gallardo has been director of Government Affairs at the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California since 2019.

Michael Kalt ‘94 was selected for inclusion on the 2022 San Diego Super Lawyers list. Kalt, a partner in the Employment Law Practice Group of Wilson Turner Kosmo, was acknowledged for his employment litigation practice.

Adaora Udoji ’94 was named vice president of Programming & Operations at PBS.

Patrick Brown ’95 was appointed to Law360’s newly formed 2022 Banking Editorial Advisory Board. Brown, the managing partner at Sullivan & Cromwell’s Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s General Practice Group, is also an advisory board member at the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law.

Kelly Cunningham ’95 joined Ervin Cohen & Jessup as a partner in its Intellectual Property and Technology Department. He specializes in patent, trademarks and copyright infringement litigation. Previously, Cunningham practiced at Cislo & Thomas.

Josh Meyer ’95 was promoted to executive vice president, head of Business Affairs at DreamWorks Animation. A six-year DreamWorks veteran, Meyer has a strong background in global film and television production, acquisition and distribution; consumer products licensing; and digital/ home entertainment production and distribution. Prior to DreamWorks Animation, Meyer served as general counsel and senior vice president of Business & Legal Affairs at Discovery/Hasbro’s joint venture cable television Hub Network.

Willie Hernández ‘96 has joined the Coca-Cola Company as general counsel, international. His new responsibilities will include providing legal support for multiple billion-dollar brands and beverage products in more than 200 countries and territories. Hernández was also elected to the board of directors of the Ronald McDonald House Charities Bay Area. Previously, Hernández was the head of legal for the Messenger division at Meta (Facebook), following executive positions with IBM, Amazon and Hewlett Packard. Andrei Iancu ‘96 was named a Legal Visionary by the Los Angeles Times. The recognition honors attorneys in California who have demonstrated noteworthy success and exemplary leadership during the past two years. The publication containing his profile is entitled ”Business of Law: Trends, Updates, Visionaries & In-House Counsel Leadership Awards.”

Janai Nelson ’96 was named the eighth president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF). Nelson has also helped steward some of LDF’s most pivotal developments in the past seven years, including guiding the design and launching of one of the most far-reaching efforts to create the next generation of civil rights leaders—the Marshall-Motley Scholars Program.

Nedy Warren ‘96 has been promoted to vice president and chief operating officer at the Commerce Casino & Hotel. Previously, she served as Commerce Casino’s general counsel. Before working in the gaming industry, Warren represented small and large companies, assisting them with setting up their infrastructure, conducting training and investigations, providing advice and counsel, and litigating labor and employment-related matters.

John Yslas ’96 joined Wilshire Law Firm as a senior partner. He joins the growing Employment Class Actions and Complex Litigation Group and will handle select single plaintiff matters. Yslas was a partner for many years and held leadership roles at Foley & Lardner, Norton Rose Fulbright and Seyfarth Shaw.

Magdalena Reyes Bordeaux ’97 was sworn in as a bankruptcy judge in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Halim Dhanidina ’97 joined Werksman Jackson & Quinn as a partner. The former appellate justice spent six years as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge and three years as a state appellate justice. Dhanidina was the first Muslim ever appointed appellate court judge in California. He retired from the bench in 2021 and will work out of the law firm’s downtown Los Angeles office.

Ilene Eskenazi ’97 was appointed to the board of directors of a.k.a. Brands Holding Corp., a brand accelerator of direct-to-consumer fashion brands. Eskenazi currently serves as chief legal officer and corporate secretary for Petco Health and Wellness Company, where she oversees all legal, corporate governance and regulatory affairs in support of the company’s strategic plans and growth objectives.

Salvador Mendoza Jr. ’97 was confirmed by the Senate to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Judge Mendoza has served as a U.S. District Court judge for the Eastern District of Washington since 2014 and is the first Hispanic judge to serve on the 9th Circuit from Washington State.

Gretchen Rush ’97 was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s “Power Lawyers 2022: Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys.” Rush is a named partner at Hansen Jacobson Teller Hoberman Newman Warren Richman Rush Kaller Gellman Meigs & Fox.

Cheryl Snow ’97 was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s “Power Lawyers 2022: Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys.” Snow is a partner at Gang Tyre Ramer Brown & Passman.

Lorena Gonzalez ‘98 left the California Assembly to lead the California Labor Federation.

Mark Lamb ’98 joined Carney Badley Spellman, P.S., as a principal. His legal practice centers on three primary areas: real estate and land use, business transactions and litigation, and government affairs, campaign finance and election law. Lamb was mayor of Bothell, Washington, for four terms and served on the Bothell City Council from 2004 to 2015.

Minh Merchant ’98 joined Aspira Women’s Health as general counsel and corporate secretary.

Felicia Chang ’99 joined Westmount Asset Management as director of Wealth Strategy. She joins Westmount from Wells Fargo Private Bank and has more than 20 years of experience in trust and estate planning.

was named to the 2022 “Women of Influence: Attorneys” list by the Los Angeles Business Journal. Nakamura is a Product Liability and Mass Tort partner at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer. Her practice focuses on the management of complex, multiparty litigation, including class actions and multidistrict litigation.

Jason Pu ’99 was appointed the regional administrator of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Region 9, by President Joseph Biden.

Fred Slaughter ‘99 was confirmed as a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He was nominated to fill the seat vacated by retired Judge Andrew Guilford ’75. His chambers will be in Santa Ana, and he will be the first Black federal judge in Orange County history.

Lilit Asadourian ’00 joined Barnes & Thornburg’s Los Angeles office as a partner in the Litigation Department, where she will practice in the firm’s Insurance Recovery and Counseling group. She has more than two decades of litigation experience and previously served as legal counsel for Fifth Third Bank and Bank of America.

Loan Dang ’00 was made a named partner at Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb & Dang.

Chris M. Kwok ’00 served on Alvin Bragg’s transition committee as Bragg prepared to become Manhattan discrict attorney in New York.

Andrew Merickel ‘00 was named head of Knobbe Martens’ San Francisco office. The managing partner specializes in patents, including building patent portfolios and navigating patent issues in the technology field.

Camille Carey ‘01 has been named dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law.

Ana Damonte ’01 joined Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., as assistant general counsel.

Jeff Diener ’01 joined BakerHostetler as a partner in its Business Practice Group. Based in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Diener will be a member of the Real Estate team and will co-lead the national Hospitality Industry team.

Chad Fitzgerald ’01 was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s “Power Lawyers 2022: Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys.” Fitzgerald, a partner at Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump Holley, specializes in complex entertainment industry disputes, as well as business and intellectual property litigation. Cara Horowitz ’01 was quoted in a Los Angeles Times article entitled “Supreme Court Rules for Coal-Producing States, Limits EPA’s Power to Fight Climate Change.” She was also quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle, Fortune, and The Washington Post. Horowitz is the coexecutive director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law and the co-director of UCLA’s Environmental Law Clinic.

Allen Seto ‘01 was appointed chief legal officer of FinancialForce.

Betsy Tucci ’01 joined Minerva Project as general counsel and chief administrative officer. She will oversee all legal, finance and people functions. Tucci was previously general counsel and company secretary of InStride.

Bijan Esfandiari ’02 has been promoted to the board of directors of Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman. He has also risen from firm shareholder to senior shareholder. Esfandiari works as a pharmaceutical product liability attorney at Baum Hedlund.

Lev Ginsburg ’02 was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s “Power Lawyers 2022: Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys.” Ginsburg is a founding partner at Ginsburg Daniels Kallis.

Johanna Schiavoni ’02 was honored with a Bernard E. Witkin Award for Excellence in the Practice of Law and was recognized as a Community Changemaker by the San Diego Law Library Foundation. The award recognized Schiavoni’s achievements in appellate practice, as well as her extensive community service, including a term in 2021 as chair of the board of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, and as the 2020 president of the San Diego County Bar Association.

Waiyi Tse ’02 was selected for inclusion in the “Outstanding Women in Business” list by the Triad Business Journal. Tse is the chief of staff at her alma mater, the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. She was recognized for her work during the pandemic and for numerous contributions to the university.

Diego Cartagena ’03 was appointed to the California Access to Justice Commission.

Hailyn Chen ’03, a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson, will take the lead in an external investigation into allegations that women’s swim head coach Teri McKeever at the University of California, Berkeley, bullied and verbally abused more than 20 current and former Golden Bears athletes. Chen was one of the first female coxswains for the Yale varsity crew team and was named the program’s MVP in 1996.

Andrew Kendall ’03 was appointed to serve as a judge on the Kern County Superior Court.

Susan Schalla ’03 has been elected to the board of directors and she was made director of associates at Carney Badley Spellman, P.S., in Seattle.

Daniel A. Dingerson ‘04 was promoted to counsel at Davis+Gilbert.

Michael Kurzer ’04 joined Vinson & Elkins as a partner in its New York office. He will add his experience to the firm’s Technology Transactions and Intellectual Property practice. Before becoming an attorney, Kurzer worked as a product engineer for Hewlett-Packard.

Marc Lewis ’04, who founded Lewis & Llewellyn in 2012 with Paul Llewellyn, celebrated his firm’s 10th anniversary. The Northern California firm now has 16 attorneys and has recently expanded into Southern California. It was selected by The National Law Journal (NLJ) to its 2022 list of Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Trailblazers. The NLJ selected 50 plaintiffs’ attorneys across the United States whom it characterized as “truly agents of change.” In selecting the firm for this honor, the NLJ recognized the firm’s groundbreaking work in bringing civil lawsuits on behalf of survivors of sexual abuse.

Cheryl Lott ’04 joined the UCLA Foundation Board of Directors and assumed her new post on July 1. She is a former president of the UCLA Alumni Association and alumni regent to the UC Board of Regents and serves on the UCLA Foundation’s audit and nominations and governance committees. Lott is a member of the UCLA School of Law alumni board and is a founding member of the board of UCLA Law Women LEAD. She is a shareholder at Buchalter, and her practice focuses on general business and commercial litigation, as well as labor and employment litigation.

Kamran Mirrafati ’04 rejoined Seyfarth Shaw as a partner.

Shawn Westrick ’04 became in-house counsel for crypto company Stakefish, the leading staking service provider for blockchain projects.

David Ambroz ’05 was appointed to the Equality California and Equality California Institute Board of Directors. Ambroz is the head of External Affairs and Community Engagement for the West and Inland Empire at Amazon.com. He previously served as the executive director, Corporate Social Responsibility, for Walt Disney Television.

Michael A. Brown ’05 has been recognized by The American Lawyer as Dealmaker of the Year for his work representing Coinbase in its pioneering direct listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. This award honors practitioners across the U.S. who have played a pivotal role in the year’s most notable and innovative transactions. Brown is a partner in the corporate practice group at Fenwick & West. Julie Goldstein ‘05 was named president of the Bucks County Bar Association in Pennsylvania.

Nathan Jackson ’05 was promoted to associate general counsel at Amazon.com.

Ahmand Johnson ’05 joined Greenspoon Marder as a partner in the Entertainment & Sports practice group in the firm’s Miami office. Johnson represents entertainers, athletes and companies in transactional matters, as well as both companies and individuals in high-stakes commercial litigation. He also represents artists, record companies, songwriters, producers and production companies regarding copyrights, licensing, financing, content acquisition, production, digital distribution and music. Previously, he was at Diaz Reus and Shutts & Bowen.

Rory Miller ’05 joined Locke Lorde as a partner and will serve as head of Private Equity Litigation for California.

Danny Passman ’05 was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s “Power Lawyers 2022: Hollywood’s Top 100 Attorneys.” Passman is a partner at Gang Tyre Ramer Brown & Passman.

Eric Scarazzo ‘05 became a partner at Gibson Dunn.

Joshua Schneiderman ’05 was selected for inclusion in the Los Angeles Business Journal’s “2021 Leaders of Influence: Thriving in Their 40s.” This list recognizes leading professionals in Los Angeles in their 40s, along with some details about their careers, attributes, and accomplishments.

Jerry Yang ’05 was appointed to serve as a judge in the Riverside County Superior Court by Governor Gavin Newsom. Previously, Yang served as chief of the Riverside Office at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, as a deputy chief of the Riverside Office, and as an assistant U.S. attorney.

Nathaniel Bach ’06 joined Manatt, Phelps & Phillips in the firm’s Century City office as an Entertainment Litigation partner.

Nikki Buffa ’06 has been promoted to partner at Latham & Watkins. She is a member of the Environment, Land & Resources Practice in the Corporate Department.

Jennifer Grock ’06 joined Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo as a partner.

joined Willkie Farr & Gallagher as a partner in its Los Angeles office. Hurdle Jr., who spent 12 years at Loeb & Loeb, joins the Willkie corporate and financial services department and the entertainment transactions practice. He specializes in sophisticated transactions for clients in media, entertainment and technology.

Robbie Hurwitz ’06 has been hired as the general counsel of Hermeus, a venture-backed startup with the long-term vision of transforming the global human transportation network with Mach 5 aircrafts.

Neil Peretz ’06 was interviewed on Law360 Pulse. He is the chief legal officer at Sawa Credit Inc. in San Francisco, which aims to help the disadvantaged build toward homeownership. Peretz is also the managing partner at Enumero Law, where he advises financial technology companies.

Michael Pulos ’06 was appointed as a judge on the San Diego County Superior Court. Gabrielle Rabinovitch ’06 was appointed as interim CFO of PayPal. Before she took on the position, she was PayPal’s senior vice president of corporate finance and investor relations. Previously, she spent four years as vice president of the corporate financial planning and analysis team for Williams-Sonoma and led its investor relations program.

Jason Breen ’07 joined Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati as a partner in its Los Angeles office. He is a mergers and acquisitions expert and primarily handles M&A deals for clients in the life sciences sector; he also works with technology companies in areas including software, media, and consumer products. Breen was previously at Goodwin Procter.

Andrew Brunsden ‘07 was named general counsel and deputy commissioner of Legal Affairs at the New York City Department of Investigation, the city’s independent anti-corruption and oversight agency.

Rebecca Cohen ’07 was appointed general counsel at Centre Consortium. She will oversee and advise Centre on legal strategy as the consortium continues to set standards for the blockchain industry. Previously, Cohen served as general counsel for the values-driven public safety platform Mark43 and associate general counsel for digital currency protocol Worldcoin.

Briana Hill ‘07 was listed in Variety’s “Dealmakers Impact Report 2021: Top Negotiators Behind Mega Deals.” Hill is a partner and Entertainment Group co-chair at Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard.

Taisuke Kimoto ’07 joined Covington & Burling as a partner and co-head of the firm’s Japan Initiative.

Adrianne Marshack ‘07 has been appointed to serve as a judge in the Orange County Superior Court by Governor Gavin Newsom. Marshack has been a partner at both Goodwin Procter and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. Kristin Peer ‘07 was appointed to the Klamath River Renewal Corporation Board of Directors by Governor Gavin Newsom. Peer has specialized in water law and policy at Bartkiewicz Kronick & Shanahan since early 2022. She was deputy secretary and special counsel for Water Policy at the California Environmental Protection Agency from 2019 to 2022 and assistant general counsel there from 2015 to 2019.

Paul Seeley ’07 was promoted to partner at Sheppard Mullin. He is a member of the firm’s business trial practice group and is based in the Los Angeles office.

Jennifer Yoo ’07 joined Fenwick & West as a partner in the corporate regulatory practice group in the firm’s Santa Monica office. Previously, Yoo spent more than 14 years at Latham & Watkins.

Liza Brereton ‘08 became a partner at Turner Dhillon.

Christopher Moore ’08 joined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton as a partner. Moore, who works with technology and life sciences companies, represented business software maker Oracle Corp. in its $28.3 billion acquisition of health care IT company Cerner Corp. Previously, he served as managing partner of the Silicon Valley office of Hogan Lovells.

Tim Reed ‘08 rejoined Ogletree Deakins in its San Francisco office as a shareholder. Reed was previously a member of Ogletree Deakins’s San Francisco office, from 2013 to 2016. Most recently, he was at FordHarrison, where he was the office’s managing partner and co-founder of FordHarrison’s San Francisco Bay Area office. Reed was featured in the “2021 Black Leaders Worth Watching” issue of Profiles in Diversity Journal.

Almuhtada Smith ‘08 was featured in an article in Ebony entitled “6 Tips for Black Entrepreneurs Looking for Startup Funding.” Smith is the founder and principal at ARS IP Law Firm.

Moises Ceja ’09 was nominated by Oregon governor Kate Brown and confirmed by the state’s Senate to serve as a board member of the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Board. Ceja will serve as a legal reviewer of administrative law judge workers’ compensation orders that are appealed.

Eunice Chay ’09 was featured in and interviewed for “Leading the Way Forward: Women in Secured Finance Profiles.” Chay is a corporate associate in the Los Angeles office of Winston & Strawn and a member of the Community Outreach Committee of the Women in Securitization initiative of the Structured Finance Association.

Ryan Erickson ’09 was selected by The National Law Journal (NLJ) to its 2022 list of 50 “Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Trailblazers.” The NLJ selected attorneys across the United States whom it characterized as “truly agents of change.” Erickson is a partner at Lewis & Llewellyn in its San Francisco office.

Leah Goodridge ’09 was featured on Law360 about her new role on the New York City Planning Commission. Goodridge was appointed to the commission in 2021 and is its only tenant lawyer. She is also a managing attorney at Mobilization for Justice.

Chris Kolosov ’09 joined Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton as a partner on the Energy, Infrastructure and Project Finance industry team. Kolosov will be based in the Los Angeles office. She joins with three other partners from Winston & Strawn.

Jesse Levin ’09 was promoted to partner at Glaser Weil Fink Howard Avchen & Shapiro.

Katie Viggiani ‘09 has been elected a partner at Morrison Foerster.

Ran Ben-Tzur ’10 has been recognized by The American Lawyer as “Dealmaker of the Year” for his work representing Coinbase in its pioneering direct listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. This award honors practitioners across the U.S. who have played a pivotal role in the year’s most notable and innovative transactions. Ben-Tzur is a partner in the corporate practice group at Fenwick & West.

Sarah-Eve Pelletier ’10 was named the first sports integrity commissioner by the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada. As the first head of Canada’s safe sport program, Pelletier and her office will field complaints about violations within Canadian sports. Pelletier currently works as the Canadian Olympic Committee’s director of Sport Business and Sustainability. Previously, she was on Canada’s national team in artistic swimming.

Kate Sheets ’10 was promoted to the newly formed position of senior vice president of Strategy and Business Affairs at AEG Global Partnerships. Most recently, she served as vice president, legal counsel, for AEG. Sheets will lead efforts to identify, cultivate and refine key partnerships and strategic initiatives, ensuring that they contribute to the overall growth targets and priorities of AEG Global Partnerships.

Cindy Villanueva ’10 was elected vice president of the 2022 Los Abogados Board of Directors. Los Abogados is Arizona’s Hispanic Bar Association.

Az Virji ’10 was promoted to general counsel of Marlin Equity Partners.

Matthew DellaBetta ’11 joined Kelley | Uustal as a trial attorney. DellaBetta, a former federal and state prosecutor, served as the deputy chief of the Violent Crimes and Gangs section for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Maryland.

‘11 was made a partner at Gibson Dunn.

Kendall Johnson ‘11 was named one of “Hollywood’s New Leaders of 2021” by Variety.

Antonio Kizzie ’11 joined Snell & Wilmer as an associate in its Los Angeles office. He is a litigation, trial and appellate attorney and was selected to join the American Board of Trial Advocates. Previously, he served as a volunteer deputy city attorney prosecuting DUIs for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, Metropolitan Branch.

Jason Lyon ’11 was elected to the Pasadena City Council. Lyon, who is a partner at Hahn & Hahn, will represent the city’s 7th District. Lyon is the first openly LGBTQ elected official in Pasadena history.

Jason Lueddeke ’11 was named to Billboard’s 2022 class of Top Music Lawyers. Lueddeke is an associate at DLA Piper; his practice focuses on entertainment and media, sports, and technology.

Molly Madden ’11 was promoted to partner at Sklar Kirsh.

Harsh Parikh ’11 was promoted to partner at Nixon Peabody. Parikh focuses on health care and works in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Michael Seiden ‘11 joined AHV Communities as general counsel and chief legal officer.

Nora Stilestein ’11 was promoted to partner at Sheppard Mullin. Stilestein is a member of the firm’s Labor and Employment practice group and is based in its Los Angeles office.

Scott Timpe ‘11 joined Sheppard Mullin as a partner. He is a member of the firm’s real estate, land use and environmental practice group as well as its health care industry team. Previously, Timpe was at Polsinelli.

Jessamyn Vedro ’11 was promoted to partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.

Alicia Virani ’11 co-authored an article in the Los Angeles Times entitled “The Monster of Incarceration Quietly Expands Through Ankle Monitors.” Virani is the Gilbert Foundation director of the Criminal Justice Program at UCLA School of Law. She is leading a new project: Overcoming (Claimed) Legal Barriers to Defunding the Police.

Josh Escovedo ‘12 has been named the No. 1 Trademarks author in JD Supra’s “2022 Readers’ Choice Awards.” He is an intellectual property, litigation and sports attorney at Weintraub Tobin and a shareholder and the leader of the firm’s Sports Law group.

Brad Greenberg ’12 joined National Public Radio’s policy team as legislative counsel after previously serving as assistant general counsel for the U.S. Copyright Office.

Linda Igarashi ’12 was promoted to partner at Sheppard Mullin. She is a member of the firm’s Corporate Practice Group and is based in its Orange County office.

Nathan Jackson ’12 was selected to Northern California Super Lawyers magazine’s 2022 “Rising Stars” list for his continued work on behalf of his clients and his dedication to the practice of law. Jackson is an associate at Liebert Cassidy Whitmore’s Sacramento office, where he provides counsel in labor and employment law.

Mike LaPlante ’12 joined Morrison & Foerster as a partner. Tim Shimizu ’12 has been promoted to assistant city attorney for the City of Palo Alto.

was quoted in an Axios article entitled “Indigenous Tribes Push Back on Calls to Open Abortion Clinics on Federal Lands.” She was also quoted by CNN, High Country News, Kaiser Health News, the Seattle Medium and the Salt Lake Tribune.

Ryan Krueger ’13 was promoted to partner at Sheppard Mullin. Krueger is a member of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group and is based in its Los Angeles office.

Abby Meyer ’13 was promoted to partner at Sheppard Mullin. Meyer is a member of the firm’s Business Trial Practice Group and the co-lead of the Food and Beverage Team. She is based in the firm’s Orange County office.

John Alexander ’14 joined Snell & Wilmer as a corporate and securities associate in its Orange County office. His practice is focused on advising clients on general corporate and litigation matters, as well as the formation, structuring and ongoing management of private and registered funds and regulatory and compliance-related matters.

John De La Merced ’14 was promoted to senior counsel at Stubbs Alderton & Markiles.

John Haney ‘14 shares stories of his Indigenous heritage in his podcast Beyond Stereotypes —B.S.ing. He is a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and is an associate in Holland & Knight’s Labor, Employment and Benefits Group. He is also a member of the firm’s Native American Law Team and chair of its Native American Affinity Group. David Hansen ’14 became a partner at Snell & Wilmer. Hansen concentrates his practice on defending companies against product liability, negligence, and general liability claims in state and federal courts that involve catastrophic injuries and wrongful death allegations.

Youdi Andy Pan ’14 was recognized as a Next Generation Partner in the Regulatory/ Compliance category of the Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2022 edition. Pan is a partner at YuandaWinston China Law Office in Shanghai.

Christopher Pasich ’14 was promoted to partner at Pasich, at its Los Angeles office. This is the first partner elevation since the firm’s founding.

David Crane ’15 joined the employment law firm Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete as an associate in its Los Angeles office. Previously, Crane was an associate at LTL Attorneys.

Katy Alimohammadi Crown ’15 was promoted to partner at Donaldson Callif Perez, an entertainment law firm based in Los Angeles. Crown specializes in representing filmmakers in all stages of their projects, including production legal services, rights clearance, and distribution.

Ivan Lu ’15 has been recognized as a Rising Leader in the 2022 Private Client Global Elite. Lu is an attorney in Butler Snow’s Singapore office in its Business Services Practice Group, with a focus on international tax and trust and estates.

Kelly Orians ‘15 joined the University of Virginia School of Law faculty as the director of the school’s new decarceration clinic.

Lindsey Shi ’15 was promoted to partner at Kirkland & Ellis.

Aurore Boussemard ’16 joined Franklin Templeton as corporate counsel.

Lee Kaplan ‘16 joined Crosbie Gliner Schiffman Southard & Swanson as an associate.

Cyrus Moshiri ’16 joined Fisher Phillips as an associate in its Irvine office.

Nick Warshaw ’16 is working for former California governor Gray Davis at Loeb and Loeb. Nick assists Governor Davis in providing strategic counsel to companies, nonprofits, research institutes and universities.

Lorien Giles ’18 joined the litigation team at Miller Nash’s Seattle office. Giles will provide creative and strategic guidance to the firm’s clients in all stages of litigation, from prelitigation guidance, discovery, depositions and decisive motions practice.

Caleb Jackson ’18 joined the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law as public counsel. The organization was formed at the request of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 to combat racial discrimination. Jackson will work primarily on voting rights issues.

Beth Kent ’18 co-authored a piece on the Legal Planet blog entitled “California Legislators Call for More Stringent Requirements for Oil and Gas.” She also provided testimony to the California Senate’s Labor, Public Employment & Retirement Committee to get Assembly Bill 2243 approved and sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee. Kent is an Emmett/Frankel Fellow in Environmental Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law.

Kabita Parajuli ’18 was featured in an article entitled “Here’s why moving to Beijing to work as an in-house legal associate at AIIB is a career move worth taking” on the eFinancial Careers website that explained the particulars of being a legal associate for the Beijingbased Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Angela Reid ’18 joined Gibson Dunn & Crutcher as a commercial and employment litigation associate. Ayan Jacobs ’19 joined employment law firm Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete as an associate in its Los Angeles office. Previously, Jacobs was an associate at Sanders Roberts.

Meha Raja ’19 joined Lewis & Llewellyn as an associate. Previously, Raja practiced at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. She primarily represents technology and financial services companies, in high-stakes, high-profile litigation.

Sarah Abeson ’20 joined Barnes & Thornburg in its Los Angeles office as an associate.

Jessica Griffith ‘20 authored a piece on copyright protections in the National Law Review. Griffith is an associate at Proskauer Rose in the Litigation Department.

joined Barnes & Thornburg as a corporate associate in its New York office.

Roz Sedaghat ’20 was named head of Legal and Business Affairs at Wavelength Film Production Company.

Alyson Tocicki ’20 authored a piece in the National Law Review entitled “Supreme Court Excuses Inadvertent Legal Errors in Copyright Applications.” Tocicki is an associate in the Litigation Department at Proskauer Rose.

Heather Dadashi ’21 authored a piece for the Legal Planet blog regarding NOx pollution. Dadashi is currently an Emmett/Frankel Fellow in Environmental Law and Policy at UCLA Law for 2021–2023. Sam Gillen ’21 joined Taft Stettinius & Hollister as an associate in the firm’s intellectual property practice group. Before joining Taft, Gillen served as a law clerk for the office of the Indiana attorney general in the Asset Recovery and Bankruptcy Litigation section.

Nikki Mahmoudi ’21 joined Weintraub Tobin as an associate in the Labor & Employment practice group.

Dana Ontiveros ’21 joined Snell & Wilmer as a corporate and securities associate in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Austin Pegues ’21 joined Structure Law Group on its transactional team in its Los Angeles office.

Grace Carson ’22 was featured in an article on Targeted News Service about her goal to bring systems of restorative justice to tribal communities. Through the Skadden Foundation Fellowship, she will work with Native American tribes to develop restorative justice systems as an alternative to incarceration and punishment.

Michelle Edgar ’22 wrote an article for C-Suite Quarterly (CSQ)—“Creating a New Blueprint for Life—at Any Age.” It related how taking up running UCLA track and finishing UCLA Law at 40 gave her an empowering perspective. Before pursuing her master’s in legal studies, Edgar was an agent, recording executive, and manager at ICM Partners and Epic Records. Currently, she serves as head of Strategic Partnerships at LiveXLive Media.

Alton Wang ‘22 was elected to the governing board of the Pasadena Area Community College District. He represents Trustee Area 7, which includes parts of Temple City and Arcadia. Currently, Wang is a legal advocate for expanding voting rights and working toward fairer representation to guarantee that all Americans have equal access to their right to vote. Previously, he served as a policy adviser in Congress.