Latham & Watkins LLP1 is pleased to announce that John M. Pierce has joined the firm’s Los Angeles office as a partner in the Litigation Department. Pierce has represented individuals and companies in cases across a broad range of complex business disputes, with a particular focus on trial work. Pierce joins Latham from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan in Los Angeles, where he had been a partner since 2010.

While at Quinn, Pierce has obtained verdicts, pre-trial judgments and settlements for institutional clients and individuals amounting to more than $292 million. He has also successfully defended cases through trial against plaintiffs collectively seeking more than a billion dollars. His clients include financial institutions, private equity investors, hedge funds, technology companies and insurance companies.

“John is widely recognized as one of the brightest young trial lawyers in Los Angeles, and we’re thrilled to have him join us. We think there is an enormous opportunity both for John and for us in plugging him into our global platform and client base,” said Jim Beaubien, Office Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins in Los Angeles. (more…)

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The global law firm Jones Day has announced that S. Christian Platt has joined the Firm’s San Diego Office as a partner in its Intellectual Property Practice. Mr. Platt comes to Jones Day from the San Diego office of Paul Hastings, where he was a partner in that firm’s Intellectual Property Practice. (more…)

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Foley & Lardner LLP announced today that Kamran Mirrafati has joined the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice as a partner in the San Francisco and Los Angeles offices.

Mirrafati has extensive experience in labor and employment law with a focus on management-side labor relations, including labor arbitrations, unfair labor practice charges, representation proceedings and Section 301 cases. Mirrafati provides counsel on a wide range of labor issues such as union organizing, employee discipline, and contract interpretation and administration, among others. He also regularly conducts collective bargaining negotiations on behalf of clients and is often called upon to advise on the interpretation or application of collective bargaining agreements. (more…)

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Dentons announced today that Russell Tonkovich, MD has joined the Firm’s Intellectual Property and Technology practice as a partner in the San Francisco and Silicon Valley offices. He brings extensive technical experience in the medical and biological sciences and a long history of representing high-profile clients in patent infringement cases in both district courts and the International Trade Commission. Tonkovich’s move to Dentons enhances the Firm’s formidable Intellectual Property and Technology group, a top-tier practice consisting of more than 100 lawyers and technically trained professionals. (more…)

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Seyfarth Shaw LLP announced today the arrival of partner Michael T. Clark to the firm’s Corporate department in Los Angeles. Clark joins Seyfarth from Norton Rose Fulbright, where he was a partner in the Corporation, Banking and Business department. (more…)

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In a noteworthy addition to its national team of first-chair trial lawyers – and to its growing San Francisco office – Venable LLP announced that Jessica L. Grant, a prominent litigator who has won some of the biggest product liability decisions in recent years, has joined as a partner in the firm’s San Francisco office.

Ms. Grant joins the firm from Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass, where she was a partner. (more…)

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Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today that David Hernand, a prominent lawyer for technology, media and entertainment companies, has joined the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions practice in Los Angeles as a partner. He joins from Cooley LLP. (more…)

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O’Melveny & Myers LLP is pleased to announce that Heather Meeker, a leading intellectual property transactions lawyer, is joining the Firm’s Silicon Valley office as a partner and member of the Technology Transactions Group.

Meeker focuses on intellectual property and technology transactions with a specialty in open source licensing requirements. She has represented clients ranging from some of the world’s largest software and technology companies to innovative, venture-backed start-ups in the software, communications, computer equipment, and medical device industries. Her wide-ranging experience includes advising clients on acquisitions, dispositions, and licensing of critical intellectual property assets; handling intellectual property aspects of M&A transactions; and counseling on strategic issues relating to open source business models, software copyrights and patents, and IP litigation. (more…)

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Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is pleased to announce that Robert Klyman is joining the firm as a partner. Klyman joins the firm’s Business Restructuring and Reorganization Practice Group. He will be based in the Los Angeles office and will spend substantial time in the New York office. He was formerly a partner with Latham & Watkins. (more…)