Gordon & Rees LLP

Andrew Cary is a partner in Gordon & Rees LLP's Drug & Medical Device Group. Mr. Cary's practice emphasizes product liability defense of manufacturers of prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, vaccines and medical devices. He has spent a significant time representing manufacturers in mass tort, coordinated litigation. Mr. Cary also has gained experience in the defense of attorneys in legal malpractice actions.

Mr. Schwartz is a member of the firm's Insurance Group and Appellate Practice Group. He specializes in insurance coverage and claims advice, litigation of insurance policy and bad faith litigation, insurance agent broker errors and omissions claims, litigation and appellate matters. He provides additional expertise in policy creation, policy drafting, and non-coverage insurance litigation. After receiving his undergraduate degree, Mr. Schwartz worked in the insurance industry in various claims positions advancing from the adjuster level to senior technical claims handling and administration. This experience, in which he worked directly with insurer claims and underwriting management, gives him a unique perspective on insurer problems and provides a practical approach to solving them. Mr. Schwartz has more than 30 years of insurance experience between his claims and legal careers.

Brian M. Ledger is a Partner working out of the Los Angeles and San Diego offices. His practice focuses on Environmental and Toxic Tort Law, and regulatory compliance. His experience encompasses a broad range of environmental laws, including hazardous substances laws (e.g., CERCLA), the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, Underground Storage Tank laws, Proposition 65, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, Occupational Safety and Health laws, Land Use law, and common law toxic tort actions. Mr. Ledger has also counseled clients in real estate transactions with environmental issues, and in various land use problems, including those requiring zoning variances. Mr. Ledger received a B.S. degree, magna cum laude, from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania in Environmental Science. Mr. Ledger then completed a Master's degree program in Environmental and Occupational Health Science at UCLA, where he received highest honors in Toxicology and Epidemiology. Prior to attending law school, he worked as an environmental consultant for Clayton Environmental and for the U.S. Department of Labor - Occupational Safety & Health Administration as an industrial hygiene compliance officer inspecting work places for potential chemical exposure violations. Mr. Ledger earned his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1991.

Calvin Davis is a litigation partner in the Los Angeles office of Gordon & Rees LLP. He is an experienced trial attorney in state and federal courts, having tried to verdict, cases in Southern California which include Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura Counties. He has tried cases ranging from trade secret misappropriation to wrongful employment discharge, and insurance bad faith to wrongful death. Mr. Davis has represented both individual and institutional clients in a variety of complex civil litigation matters - including intellectual property, employment, franchising, real estate, sports and entertainment, professional liability and insurance disputes. He has also served as lead counsel in a number of class actions. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees, Mr. Davis practiced both in large, well respected firms, and was the founder of a boutique litigation firm. He was also a trial attorney with the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. where he represented United States agencies and officials in a broad variety of litigation from injunctive proceedings to trials in districts throughout the country, involving constitutional, statutory and regulatory issues of first impression. Mr. Davis received his bachelor's degree from University of California at Los Angeles and his legal degree from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles, where he was Secretary of the St. Thomas More Honor Society, a National Moot Court competition finalist and Editor-in-Chief of the International and Comparative Law Journal.

Carol C. Copsey has specialized in all aspects of labor and employment law, representing management for over fifteen years. Ms. Copsey has litigated matters in federal and state courts and both jury and bench trials. She also has extensive experience in proceedings in alternative dispute resolution forums, including mediations and arbitrations. She has participated in group and individual training of management and employees in topics such as sexual harassment and equal employment opportunity policy. Ms. Copsey has also counseled in employment compliance and planning. Ms. Copsey has spoken in a variety of settings, and recently presented several programs, including "Elimination of Bias" for BASF and "Discovery and Document Production in California" Lorman Education Services. She is a co-author of both "Constitutional Challenges to the Punitive Damages Limitations of A.B. 307" (Journal of The State Bar of Nevada) and "Roles and Status of Women Lawyers in the United States" (Comparative Law Yearbook). She is active in women's bar organizations, is a Past President of both San Francisco Women Lawyers Alliance and California Women Lawyers, and currently serves on the Board of the National Conference of Women's Bar Associations. Ms. Copsey has her J.D., from McGeorge School of Law, With Distinction (1983) and received her undergraduate degree, B.A., in Liberal Arts (1979).

Christopher B. Cato is a partner in the San Diego office. He was admitted to practice in California in 1991, and before the United States District Court, Central District of California, in 1991, and the Southern District of California in 1994. His areas of practice include employment, professional liability, business, and general liability litigation. Mr. Cato received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Duke University in 1987. At Duke, he was on the Dean's List and received Class Honors. Mr. Cato received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Southern California Law Center in 1991. At USC, he received Highest Honors in Employment Law; High Honors in Constitutional Law II, Criminal Law, a Dissertation on the Regulation of Cable Television, and American Legal Theory; and Honors in 7 other courses.

Craig J. Mariam is a member of the Intellectual Property and Commercial Litigation groups at Gordon & Rees LLP. He is an experienced attorney having completed numerous jury trials to verdict in the areas of copyright, trademark, and patent infringement, consumer cybersquatting, unfair business practices and misappropriation of trade secrets, defamation, complex products liability, commercial tort and contractual claims, real estate, and construction litigation. Mr. Mariam graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, where he maintained an advanced curriculum in science and mathematics. He received his Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, with an emphasis in Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law. Having excelled in analytical and abstract academics, his expertise contributes to his ability to effectively strategize each case and to convey the sometimes-difficult language of expert witnesses for the benefit of his clients and the jury in the courtroom. Mr. Mariam is an active participant in courts throughout the United States. He is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, St. Louis County Bar Association, Travis County Bar Association, and San Diego County Bar Association.

Daniel D. Bodell is a partner at Gordon & Rees, working out of the Los Angeles and San Diego offices. As a member of the firm's Insurance, Toxic Tort and Environmental Practice Groups, his practice focuses on toxic tort, product liability and coverage litigation. Mr. Bodell represents a wide variety of entities in matters involving such issues as alleged exposures to toxic waste, chemicals and asbestos. His insurance coverage practice focuses on counseling clients on insurance coverage issues. Mr. Bodell received his B.A. from Villanova University in 1996. He received his J.D. in 2000 from the University of San Diego, where he was a member of the USD National Mock Trial Team and served as Honor Court Prosecutor. Mr. Bodell is a member of the State Bar of California, licensed to practice in all state and federal courts. He is also a member of the San Diego County Bar Association, the State Bar of California and the American Bar Association.

Daniel J. Herling, Esq., is a partner at Gordon & Rees, LLP, in San Francisco and specializes in premises liability, employment issues and defense of professionals, including security guard companies. He is a member of the State Bars of California and Pennsylvania, the Association of Defense Counsels of Northern California, and serves as Vice Chair of the Professional Liability Committee for the Defense Research Institute.

In addition to intellectual property disputes, Mr. Heckadon handles matters covering trademarks, copyrights, trade dress, trade secrets, licensing, technology transfer, and non-disclosure and non-compete agreements in global markets.

Diane Krebs is a Partner in the law firm of Gordon & Rees, LLP. As a member of the Employment Law Practice Group, she has extensive experience in civil rights, labor and employment matters, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, defamation, civil service, equal pay, and wage and hour claims. Ms. Krebs represents companies, large and small, public and private, in labor and employment litigation before federal, state and local courts, agencies, mediators and arbitrators. Her litigation practice involves extensive interactions with clients, in-house counsel and administrative agencies, including counsel for the NYSDHR and the EEOC. Ms. Krebs also provides comprehensive counseling and advice to corporate owners and human resource personnel on daily issues and personnel decisions that arise in the workplace, including litigation avoidance and/or minimization techniques. In that capacity, Ms. Krebs has prepared and reviewed a multitude of human resource-related documents, including employment applications, FMLA forms, disciplinary notices, performance reviews, termination letters and employee handbooks. She has also helped employers plan reductions-in-force and other cost-cutting measures, set up performance plans, and address emergency workplace situations. Ms. Krebs has authored and collaborated on articles on a variety of labor and employment issues. She is also a frequent lecturer to attorneys, supervisors and human resource professionals, not only in open seminars but also for in-house training, tailored to the employer's specifications. Ms. Krebs also conducts sensitivity and handbook training in house for all levels of employees, to reinforce the policies of the employer and ensure its discrimination and harassment protocols are publicized and understood a powerful tool in the defense of harassment lawsuits. In addition to her employment law practice, Ms. Krebs is also a member of the Commercial Litigation and Insurance Groups. Ms. Krebs has experience in class action defense and has handled a wide variety of commercial litigation. She also regularly analyzes insurance policies to determine scope of coverage and to prevent bad faith claims. In furtherance of those responsibilities, she drafts coverage letters and negotiates with insureds on behalf of the carrier. Moreover, at times she acts as monitoring counsel as a representative of an insurance company in complex and high profile litigation matters. Her in-depth knowledge of the in-house litigation policies at insurance companies provides her with unique insight into effective litigation techniques, which serves her well when acting in her capacity as defense counsel on other matters. Ms. Krebs graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Queens College of the City University of New York and cum laude with a Juris Doctorate from New York University School of Law. She is admitted to practice before the courts of the States of New York and New Jersey, the United States District Courts for the Western, Eastern and Southern Districts of New York and the District of New Jersey, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Ms. Krebs is a member of the American Bar Association and New York State Bar Association in their Labor and Employment Sections.

In addition to his trial and arbitration work, Mr. Cominos has also successfully handled appellate cases before the California Supreme Court, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and the California State Court of Appeal, and reported decisions include Winston Square Homeowner's Assn. v. Centex West, Inc. (1988) 213 Cal.App.3d 282 [261 Cal.Rptr. 605] and Wells v. One2One Learning Foundation [C042504] (Review Granted [Appeal pending before California Supreme Court]). Mr. Cominos also has extensive experience in all forms of alternative dispute resolution, including mediations both in California and abroad, has served as both a mediator and arbitrator, and has represented clients before administrative bodies such as planning commissions, city councils, boards of supervisors, health departments, OSHA, WCAB, HUD, DFEH, BAAQMD and various other disciplinary and professional boards.

Mr. Scullion is a partner in Gordon & Rees' Insurance, Commercial Litigation, and International Law practice groups. He has extensive litigation experience, both in the United States and Canada, and uses this experience to obtain successful and expedient resolutions of his clients' disputes. Mr. Scullion advises clients at all stages of litigation, including preventative counseling, negotiation, preliminary remedies, discovery, trial, and appeal. He is admitted to practice before all courts in the State of California as well as the United States District Courts (Northern and Eastern Districts) and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. As a member of the Insurance practice group, Mr. Scullion represents insurers in indemnity and contribution actions, complex coverage disputes, unfair competition claims, and bad faith suits. He also prepares coverage opinions evaluating first and third party coverage issues. In addition, Mr. Scullion has represented insurance brokers and agents in connection with errors and omissions claims, broker-dealers and life insurers in NASD arbitrations and in various litigated matters. Mr. Scullion is also a member of the Commercial Litigation and International Law practice groups. He advises and represents individual and corporate clients in a diverse range of business disputes. He also counsels California clients interested in conducting business abroad, as well as international clients seeking to conduct business in California. Originally from Canada, Mr. Scullion formerly practiced with Davis & Company in Vancouver, British Columbia. He successfully represented clients in a wide range of matters, including corporate disputes, trade secret claims, administrative hearings, and professional negligence suits. Mr. Scullion continues to develop his skills as a mediator. He has completed extensive training in Canada and the United States and, in 2003, became a Harry Sloan Fellow at the Center for Mediation In Law. Mr. Scullion also assists teaching mediation courses at Boalt Hall and Hastings Law School, and volunteers as a mediator with Berkeley Dispute Resolution Services.

Mr. Smith received his Juris Doctorate with honors from Loyola Law School in 1981 where he was named to the Loyola Los Angeles Law Review and to the St. Thomas More Law Society. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California in 1978. Mr. Smith is a member of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, the California State Bar Association, and the Orange County Bar Association, business litigation and trust and probate sections. Mr. Smith has received Martindale-Hubbell's highest rating (AV) for lawyering and professionalism.

Eduardo Guerini Bolt is a Partner in the Orange County office of Gordon & Rees. Working with both the Business Transactions and International practice groups, he specializes in Domestic Corporate and Transactional Law, as well as Latin American Law. Mr. Bolt also heads the Immigration Practice Group which focuses primarily on business-related immigration. His practice involves filing employment-based petitions on behalf of corporate clients looking to hire foreigh-born professionals, and advising these clients on how to properly comply with the continued immigration responsibilities of employers.

Elizabeth A. Burns is a partner in Gordon & Rees LLP's San Francisco-based Healthcare Practice Group. Ms. Burns has extensive experience in representing hospitals, nurses, physicians, and long term care companies including but not limited to acute and sub acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, home health companies, residential board and care homes, and group homes for the disabled. Although Ms. Burns has a specialized expertise in elder abuse, medical malpractice and healthcare law, her litigation experience has also involved a variety of other matters including employment, general liability and libel law. Ms. Burns has trial, arbitration and mediation experience throughout California. Ms. Burns also has extensive involvement in preventative risk management for long term care facilities and acute care hospitals. She is a member of the State Bar of California, American Health Lawyers, Defense Research Institute, and the San Francisco Bar Association.

Gilbert J. Garcia is partner in Gordon & Rees' Real Estate Practice Group. Mr. Garcia practices in the areas of commercial real estate leasing, property management, acquisitions and dispositions, development of real property, and other commercial real estate transactions. His current practice emphasizes office, retail, and industrial leasing transactions and consulting on various property management issues. Mr. Garcia also has extensive experience with all aspects of real estate acquisition, disposition and loan transactions. He has extensive experience working with developers, owners and commercial tenants of office buildings, office/retail projects, shopping centers, industrial parks, and other commercial properties. He has also represented various financial institutions and life insurance companies with respect to commercial real property loans. Mr. Garcia graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1988 with a B.B.A. in finance, with highest honors. He received his law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University

Glenn LeMay is a member of the Business Transactions, Commercial Litigation and Bankruptcy Groups of Gordon & Rees, and practices in the Houston office. He has practiced in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Insurance Defense, Commercial Transactions, Corporate Transactions, Securities Litigation and Bankruptcy. In practice for 18 years, Mr. LeMay has served the business and litigation needs of a broad range of commercial clients, in areas including the construction, manufacturing, industrial, healthcare and professional service industries, as well as numerous physician groups. Mr. LeMay has trial, appellate, mediation and arbitration experience, in state and federal court, defending and prosecuting claims on behalf of commercial clients in corporate, construction, and bankruptcy matters. In addition, Mr. LeMay is panel counsel for several major international insurers. Mr. LeMay also has significant experience handling securities disputes related to broker-dealers, including claims involving misrepresentations, unauthorized transactions, unsuitable investments, commission churning, and excessive mark-ups, in cases involving stocks, bonds, "penny" stocks, commodities, mutual funds, REITs, options, derivative securities, and other investments. Mr. LeMay has significant experience in securities arbitrations before the NASD, including representation in one of the longest-running NASD securities arbitrations, resulting in a successful multi-million dollar award for a large group of claimants. Prior to his legal practice, in the late 1970's, Mr. LeMay held the position of lead Municipal Bond Trader for the largest bank in Houston. Mr. LeMay earned a B.B.A. and M.B.A. in Finance, and a J.D., from the University of Houston. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, and is admitted to practice in the Northern, Western and Southern District of the U.S. District Court, Texas, the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Lenczowski is a partner in the San Francisco office. He has over 23 years experience as a corporate, real estate and business planning attorney with his practice areas emphasizing business entity planning, formation and financing; operations, including real estate; and mergers and acquisitions. He has extensive experience in structuring, negotiating and preparing agreements for the acquisition and sale of businesses, corporate shareholder agreements, limited liability company operating agreements, partnership agreements, private placement memoranda, license agreements, leases and real property purchase and sale agreements. Through his general corporate practice, Mr. Lenczowski has advised entrepreneurs in the formation and operation of businesses ranging from real estate development to the biotechnology and software industries. Mr. Lenczowski's experience with corporate mergers, acquisitions, management buy-outs and reorganization includes an expertise in asset acquisitions, with particular expertise in tax aspects of purchase price allocations. Mr. Lenczowski has been involved with such corporate transactions in a wide variety of industries: cold-storage warehousing, distribution, container depot, steel, appliance manufacturing, construction, chemical, software, biotech/diagnostic, rail transit, and environmental services businesses.

Dominic Campodonico's practice focuses on product liability, with a particular emphasis in drug and medical device litigation, defending pharmaceutical companies and pharmaceutical sales representatives. As a partner of Gordon & Rees' Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Practice Group, Mr. Campodonico's experience includes serving as national counsel for specific claims/cases in mass tort litigation. Additionally, he has extensive experience in alternative dispute resolution of national and California cases and claims. Mr. Campodonico is admitted to practice in all courts in the State of California and has been admitted, pro hac vice, in numerous states in order to oversee and coordinate causes across the country. Mr. Campodonico is also a member of the United States Supreme Court Bar. In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Campodonico served as the hiring partner for Gordon & Rees' Summer Associate Program for the San Francisco office and has been a member of the Summer Associate Hiring Committee for the past five years. Mr. Campodonico has also been active in the firm's Community Service Committee and is a current member of its Diversity Committee. Mr. Campodonico is a member of the board of directors of Under One Roof, a nonprofit organization that raises money for multiple AIDS Services Organizations. Additionally, he is a member of the board of directors of the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefits District, an organization that oversees expenditures to ensure the safety, cleanliness and beautification of the Upper Market and Castro neighborhoods in San Francisco. Mr. Campodonico served as a pro bono arbitrator for the Homeless Shelter Arbitration Program of the Department of Human Services of San Francisco from 2000 to 2005. He is a member of Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom where he has participated on its Judiciary, Dinner, and Amicus Committees. Additionally, he is a member of the Defense Research Institute, the International Association of Defense Counsel, and the Bar Association of San Francisco. In 2002, Mr. Campodonico completed the International Association of Defense Counsel's Trial Academy in Boulder, Colorado. Mr. Campodonico received his Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1996. Following law school, he served as a research attorney for three superior court judges in Los Angeles. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arizona in 1993.

After serving with the Texas Attorney General's office, in its civil section following graduation from law school, Mr. Wilson entered private practice and has focused on representation of large institutional clients and businesses in various high risk matters through litigation arbitration, transactions and counseling. He has extensive trial experience in Texas state and federal courts as well as courts throughout the country as chief trial attorney. Mr. Wilson has appeared before state and federal courts of appeals in Texas and other states. He has handled business transactions, including formation, real estate, asset acquisition and divestiture, financing, insurance and operations. Since 1986, he has been representing hospitality industry clients in virtually every aspect of the business. Mr. Wilson has been a speaker on risk avoidance, hospitality legal issues, accessibility and employment law at a number of venues. Mr. Wilson was an Assistant Attorney General of Texas from 1972-1977, and Director of the North Texas Region.

James G. Scadden is a Partner in the San Francisco and Los Angeles Environmental/Toxic Tort group at Gordon & Rees LLP. His practice focuses on defending asbestos personal injury, benzene personal injury and other toxic exposure cases. He has a vast amount of experience in environmental and toxic tort litigation, representing industry equipment manufacturers which include boiler and refinery manufacturers, automotive friction defendants, and premise owners. He has tried more than sixty cases to verdict, including living mesothelioma cases and other potential multi-million dollar asbestos personal injury actions against his clients. He is acquainted with most of the prominent plaintiff experts by way of examining them in depositions and trials and has also worked with notable defense experts in trial. In addition, Mr. Scadden has extensive experience in alternative dispute resolution, acting as an arbitrator and court-appointed settlement officer, and as a liaison with insurers, self-insureds, and corporate clientele. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees, Mr. Scadden was partner and chair of the Toxic Tort group of another San Francisco law firm, where he represented clients in all stages of litigation throughout California. He defended clients in diverse toxic tort actions, including asbestos and benzene exposure cases. Before his tenure as Chair of Toxic Tort, Mr. Scadden was the founder and managing partner of another California law firm where he handled all aspects of cases involving asbestos exposure, premises liability, and professional negligence. Mr. Scadden has been handling asbestos matters since 1989, which began with representing various member companies in the Center for Claims Resolution (CCR). Most recently, Mr. Scadden has defended through jury verdict several asbestos/mesothelioma cases in Los Angeles.

James M. Grady is a partner in the firm's San Diego office. Mr. Grady's practice focuses on complex civil litigation involving securities, construction defect and product liability disputes. Mr. Grady also has extensive experience in alternative dispute resolution processes, including time spent as a mediator for the EEOC in San Francisco, California. Mr. Grady earned a B.A. in Communications from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. After college, Mr. Grady played professional basketball in U.S. and European leagues before obtaining his J.D. from the University of San Francisco Law School in 1998. Mr. Grady is a member of the State Bar of California, admitted to practice in all state and federal courts.

Jeffrey Cawdrey is a partner in the San Diego office, and a member of the Bankruptcy and Commercial Litigation practice groups. He has extensive experience in business and bankruptcy law and litigation, including business reorganization and liquidation. His bankruptcy and commercial practice includes representation of individual and institutional creditors, representation of trustees, receivers and committees and representation of individual, corporate, and partnership debtors, both in and outside of bankruptcy court. His litigation practice includes general and complex business, corporate, commercial and civil litigation in State and Federal courts and in alternative dispute forums. Mr. Cawdrey's creditors' rights practice includes the collection of debts and enforcement of judgments and involves representing secured and unsecured lenders in informal and formal workouts and enforcement of security interests. Mr. Cawdrey is a former law clerk to the Honorable John J. Hargrove, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of California. He has served as director, vice-president and president of the San Diego Bankruptcy Forum (2004-2006), as co-chair of the Commercial Law Section of the San Diego County Bar Association, and as member and chair of the San Diego County Bar Auxiliary Loan and Scholarship Committee. He is a court appointed mediator for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of California and has served as judge pro tem for the San Diego Municipal and Superior Court (Small Claims Division) since 1992. Mr. Cawdrey earned his Juris Doctor from California Western School of Law where he was a member and editor of the Law Review, and his B.A. from the University of Washington. He is licensed in the State of California and admitted to practice in all four Federal Judicial Districts within the State of California and the Federal District of Arizona. He has also been admitted pro hac vice in Federal jurisdictions outside of California. He has received the highest rating available, A-V, from Martindale-Hubbell for ethics and legal ability.

As a senior partner in the Litigation Department at Gordon & Rees, Jewel Kolling Basse has extensive jury trial, arbitration and mediation experience. Her practice focuses on complex civil litigation, including high exposure product liability, employment, and personal injury matters. She has received Martindale-Hubbell's highest rating (AV) for professional excellence, and the highest level of integrity in the practice of law. Prior to coming to Gordon & Rees in 1990, Ms. Basse was with staff counsel for the American International Group where she handled a diverse mixture of complex and high-exposure cases primarily representing commercial defendants. Ms. Basse served as an Assistant District Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco from 1976 to 1980. She was appointed Assistant Chief of the Misdemeanor Division in 1977. She prosecuted a variety of misdemeanors and felonies, including narcotics and fraud cases, and was a member of the Assault-Robbery Felony Trial Team from 1978 to 1980. She was honored with the Champion of the People Award in 1980. Ms. Basse received her J.D. from Lincoln University, School of Law in 1972. She received her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Southern California in 1967. Ms. Basse is a member of firm's Diversity Committee. In addition to the Gordon & Rees Diversity Committee, Ms. Basse is also a member of various Bar organizations and is actively involved in the community. She is a member of the San Francisco, California and American Bar Associations, as well as Queen's Bench and Asian American Bar Association. Ms. Basse was appointed by the San Francisco Superior Court Judges to serve on the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Commission from 1981 to 1987. She has also served on the Bar Association of San Francisco's Judicial Evaluation Committee. She was General Counsel for the Professional Women's Network Association in 1985, and on the Board of Directors of the Bay Area Women's Resource Center from 1988 to 1990.

John F. Hughes is a litigation partner who joined Gordon & Rees in 1983, and is a member of the Environmental and Toxic Tort Practice Group.

John Theirl is a partner in the Hospitality and Real Estate Groups in Gordon & Rees' Dallas office. Mr. Theirl maintains a golf, hospitality and resort practice in which he has handled acquisition of golf facilities and the preparation of all documentation for the purchase, lease and management of golf facilities; the coordination of all due diligence items during acquisitions including the review of title and survey matters, operational contracts, zoning matters, membership materials, environmental site assessments and licensing matters. He represents developers of golf course/resort projects and multi-use land developments; and handled financing for golf course and resort projects acquisition and construction; documentation and negotiation of club equity conversions; preparation of conditions, covenants and restrictions; and formation of homeowners associations.

Jonathan D. Andrews is a partner with Gordon & Rees LLP. He is a member of the Employment Litigation Practice Group and focuses his practice on representing employers before state and federal courts and administrative agencies in discrimination, defamation, fraud, breach of contract, harassment, retaliation, wrongful discharge, family medical leave, and wage and hour class actions. Mr. Andrews is also experienced advising employers in EEO compliance, wage and hour law issues, hiring and firing issues, and reductions in force. Mr. Andrews has been an instructor of Personnel Law for the Greater San Diego Employers Association in its certification programs for working professionals in human resources. Mr. Andrews has also lectured on California trade secret law and practice at various legal seminars.

Laura L. Geist is a partner with Gordon & Rees. Ms. Geist joined Gordon & Rees in 1996, after first practicing intellectual property and insurance coverage litigation at another Bay Area firm. Ms. Geist is the Practice Group Leader of the Commercial Litigation Group in San Francisco. She specializes in class action defense, defense of Unfair Competition and Unfair Business Practices, and is active in life insurance and financial services litigation including market conduct and annuity sales practices, FINRA (formally NASD) arbitrations, broker-dealer disputes and defense of corporate directors and officers. In addition to financial services, as a member of the Insurance Practice Group, Ms. Geist is experienced in complex insurance coverage and litigation involving D&O, life products, environmental, commercial, property and employment claims. Ms. Geist also conducts in-house seminars for clients on coverage and bad faith issues as well as, helping clients develop insurance products.

Laurie Axford is a partner in the San Diego office of Gordon & Rees LLP, and chair of the firm's Intellectual Property group. Her practice focuses on all phases of patent prosecution, including forming initial patent strategies for new technologies and managing complex existing portfolios. She has written and prosecuted patents covering inventions relating to organic chemistry, biochemistry, biotechnology, nanotechnology, synthetic polymers, textiles, small molecules, assay devices, business methods, and drug delivery systems. Her industry focus includes a large cross-section of life science-related fields including diagnostics, therapeutics, medical devices and consumer goods. Additionally, Ms. Axford assists clients with highly complex patent issues including global licensing, litigation support, opinion work, post-prosecution proceedings (with a particular focus on reexaminations and international oppositions), business-related due diligence and other advanced-level matters for clients in the institutional, corporate and financial sectors. Prior to becoming an attorney, Ms. Axford had a successful career as a scientist in one of the first biotechnology companies in San Diego. She entered law school in 1989 and following her graduation in 1992, she became in-house patent counsel to a biotechnology company. She entered private practice in 1995, and most recently was a partner with Burns, Doane, Swecker & Mathis and managed their San Diego office. Ms. Axford received her J.D. from Western State University School of Law. She earned a B.S. degree in microbiology and an M.S. degree in molecular biology from San Diego State University. She is admitted to practice in California and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Recently, Ms. Axford was named by The Daily Transcript as one of "The Transcript's Ten" Top Attorneys in San Diego. Active in the community, she is a member of a number of organizations, both legal and scientific. She is the former director of the San Diego Nucleic Acid Conference, and has served on numerous organizing committees for other scientific and legal conferences. She is also past president of the San Diego Intellectual Property Law Association.

Lisa Perrott is a partner in the Construction and Professional Liability Groups in Gordon & Rees' San Francisco office. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees, she practiced in Los Angeles. Ms. Perrott represents and has represented developers, general contractors, various design professionals, and specialty subcontractors in all aspects of construction litigation including claims for defective construction, professional negligence, insurance coverage, contract disputes, toxic mold and personal injury. In connection with her construction practice, she also counsels clients on contract language and formation issues. Ms. Perrott has represented clients in state and federal trial courts, courts of appeal and alternative dispute resolution programs. She has experience successfully trying cases before juries in a variety of matters. Ms. Perrott received her undergraduate degree in English Literature from the University of Colorado - Boulder in 1994. She received her Juris Doctor from Whittier Law School in 1998 where she received oral advocacy awards and competed nationally as a member of the Moot Court Honors Board. She also had the unique experience of studying international comparative law at the University of Athens in Greece. Ms. Perrott is a member of the State Bar of California, the United States District Court for the Central District of California and the Bar Association of San Francisco.

Mr. Posard is Senior Counsel in the San Francisco and Sacramento offices of Gordon & Rees LLP. He specializes in employment law, including employment counseling and litigation for private and public entities. His employment litigation practice includes representation of employers involved in claims of employment discrimination, wrongful termination, work-place harassment, compensation issues, and other issues related to employment and labor law. His experience includes all phases of litigation in both state and federal courts, appellate courts and before administrative agencies. Mr. Posard also assists management with workplace investigations. Mr. Posard represents clients nationwide, and has considerable experience in business litigation and corporate transactions, tort and product liability defense, residential and commercial real estate matters, and many other areas of civil litigation. He has represented both small and large commercial clients for many years and has excelled at all phases of litigation, including appeals in both state and federal court. He obtained a dismissal in a case involving the former CEO of HBO Entertainment/Time-Warner Music and a defense award in an employment discrimination arbitration on behalf of a national healthcare company. Mr. Posard most recently co-chaired a high-profile two-month hearing in Hawaii on behalf of an international hospitality chain.

Matthew D. Murphey is a litigation and trial attorney handling intellectual property and commercial litigation matters. He also serves as the Managing Partner of the Dallas Office of Gordon & Rees. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees, Mr. Murphey was the Managing Shareholder of Murphey & Murphey, an intellectual property boutique law firm in San Diego. Mr. Murphey maintains an active intellectual property litigation practice. He has particular expertise in patent cases involving a range of technologies. These include mechanical disciplines related to the diving, transport and manufacturing industries, electrical and electronic disciplines related to the semiconductor, microcomputer and energy industries, chemical disciplines related to the food processing and water filtration industries, and molecular biology disciplines related to the biotechnology industry.

Mercedes Colwin is the Managing Partner of Gordon & Rees's New York office. She handles a wide variety of litigation including employment law, commercial litigation, products liability, civil rights violations and criminal law. Ms. Colwin regularly defends executives from Fortune 500 companies charged with allegations of wrongdoing, including claims of sexual misconduct. Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Colwin devoted several years in the public sector. In 1996, Governor George Pataki appointed Ms. Colwin as an Administrative Law Judge for the New York State Division of Human Rights, where she presided for nine years while at the same time serving as a partner in a major New York law firm. At the time of her appointment, Ms. Colwin was one of the youngest ALJ's in the agency's history. As a judge, Ms. Colwin presided over hearings and conferences in cases brought under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Human Rights Law. She remains a member of the Governor's Advisory Counsel for Women and is an active member of the Women's Presidents' Organization.

Michael D. Bruno is a litigation partner at Gordon & Rees LLP. Mr. Bruno represents both private and public entities in employment matters, focusing his practice on defending employers against discrimination and harassment claims. Mr. Bruno also litigates cases concerning alleged wage and hour violations, breach of contract, violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and advises employer clients on reasonable accommodations. Mr. Bruno has handled employment cases in both state and federal trial courts, as well as before administrative agencies. He has tried cases successfully before juries and has had considerable success in pretrial motion practice. Appearing in California's appellate courts, he has drafted and argued successful oppositions to appeals of his favorable decisions in the trial courts. In addition to employment discrimination cases, Mr. Bruno also represents businesses and individuals who have been accused of failing to conform their business policies and their business's facilities to state and federal disability laws. His practice includes consultation on appropriate modification of facilities that run afoul of the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), its California counterparts and implementing regulations. He also defends universities accused of failing to accommodate students' learning disabilities. Mr. Bruno graduated from the University of California Los Angeles in 1990 with a degree in political science. In 1993 he received his J.D. from the Santa Clara University School of Law, where he was the recipient of the Emery Law Scholarship. He joined Gordon & Rees that same year. Mr. Bruno is a member of the Labor and Employment Litigation Section of the California State Bar and the Labor and Employment Sections of the American Bar Association and the Bar Association of San Francisco. In 2001, he authored an article for California Litigation entitled, "How to Prepare the Bad Witness for Trial and Deposition" and presented a lecture on the interplay between the ADA and the FMLA for the Council on Education in Management. He recently wrote the California jurisdiction chapter for Multilaw's employment law manual: How to Hire and Fire in 76 Jurisdictions. Mr. Bruno was chosen as one of Northern California's "Super Lawyers" by his peers in the field of employment litigation for 2006.

Michael Welch is a partner in the Sacramento Office whose expertise is in complex commercial litigation. Mr. Welch was a senior partner at the well known San Francisco commercial litigation boutique, Bartko, Zankel, Tarrant and Miller prior to coming to Gordon & Rees. Mr. Welch is a graduate of McGeorge Law School in Sacramento and did his undergraduate work at U.C. Berkeley where he was active in student politics and a Varsity letterman in Crew. Mr. Welch started his legal career in Sacramento with the firm Diepenbrock, Wulff, Plant & Hannigan. Much of Mr. Welch's practice, although previously operated out of Bartko's San Francisco Office has concentrated in the Sacramento Valley Area. Mr. Welch serves as regional counsel for such nationally known clients as Motel 6, Red Roof Inns, and La Quinta Hotels. Representation of these clients include issues involving real estate, personal injury, premises liability, employment issues, and ADA. In addition, Mr. Welch represents one of the largest commercial computer manufacturers in the world and recently settled a multi-million dollar excess inventory dispute it had with one of its customers; a case involving a dispute and arbitration over the ownership interest of a group of foreign investors in the $80 million Cordevalle Hotel and Golf Course Project in Morgan Hill, California; as well as representation of the former Chairman of HBO. Mr. Welch has tried over 20 jury trials to verdict, in high stakes commercial litigation, personal injury, and construction defect litigation. He has been involved in many well publicized high stakes cases over the years, the American Savings Litigation, the Baker McKenzie sexual discrimination case, and most recently the DHL- Larry Hilbloom $600 million probate dispute in Saipan and the Philippines which was featured as the cover story in the American Lawyer and the California Lawyer.

As a partner at Gordon & Rees, Mike Pietrykowski has built an active litigation practice throughout the state. His practice focuses on toxic tort and environmental matters and he is chairperson of the Gordon & Rees Environmental and Toxic Tort Practice Group. He has experience with all major environmental statutes including the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (Superfund), and California's Proposition 65. He has also handled a wide variety of toxic tort cases including those involving chemicals, asbestos and mold exposures. He has spoken at numerous regional and national seminars on topics such as the mold litigation and the use of experts. He has also represented defendants in personal injury, products liability and professional liability cases. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees in 1984, Mr. Pietrykowski worked for several years as a sports attorney representing professional athletes. In that capacity, he acquired extensive contract negotiation experience. Mr. Pietrykowski received his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame in 1983, as well as Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from the same university. He is an active member of the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys (by invitation), the Defense Research Institute, Midwest Environmental Claims Association, and other insurance and trial practice organizations. He previously served as the California Liaison for the DRI's Environmental and Toxic Tort Subcommittee and as the co-chair of the Midwest Environmental Claims Association's Public Relations Committee. He has participated in various trial training programs including programs sponsored by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, and was named by The Bay Area Magazine as one of the "Best Lawyers" in the San Francisco Bay Area in Environmental and Toxic Tort Law. He is also a member of the American, Connecticut, California, and San Francisco Bar Associations.

Miles Scully is a partner and a member of the firm's executive committee. He practices in the San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange County offices. An award-winning trial attorney, Mr. Scully has tried numerous jury and non-jury cases, and has received Martindale-Hubbell's highest possible rating (AV) for his lawyering and professionalism. He has been named one of the Top Ten Business Trial Attorneys by The Daily Transcript, a Southern California business publication. Additionally, he was recently selected to the 2007 Southern California Super Lawyers list published by Law & Politics. These attorneys were selected by their peers, and Mr. Scully was in the Top 50 receiving the highest point totals in the balloting process. Mr. Scully is a former managing partner of the firm's three Southern California offices which have grown from 10 to nearly 150 attorneys in the last seven years. He now serves on the firm's executive committee with responsibilities for financial issues and strategic growth. He has helped the firm open offices in New York, Houston, Dallas, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Portland. Gordon & Rees is now one of the Top 200 firms in the country with more than 300 attorneys in eleven offices throughout the U.S. During the course of his career, Mr. Scully has successfully litigated complex commercial, professional liability, environmental, insurance, and employment cases that have involved hundreds of millions of dollars in controversy. Mr. Scully received his J.D. from The Ohio State University College of Law where he received awards for both his written and oral advocacy. He also was graduated, cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in both journalism and political science from Ohio University. He has served as a Federal District Court extern clerk, and is the recipient of the Quill & Scroll National writing award. Mr. Scully has served as a court-appointed arbitrator and mediator. He has also served as an editor and civil litigation columnist to the San Diego Bar Association publication, on the County Legislative and Superior Court Bar Association Committees, and on the Big Brothers Board of Directors. He is a member of the State Bar of California, licensed to practice in all state and federal courts. He is also a member of the Corporate Directors Forum, American Bar Association, American Inns of Court, the American Trial Lawyers Association, the Defense Research Institute, the Southern California Association of Defense Counsel and the San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Francisco Bar Associations.

Mordecai Boone is a partner in the Environmental and Toxic Tort Groups in Gordon & Rees's San Francisco office where his practice focuses on complex national product liability and national business litigation for various industries. Utilizing the latest legal technology, Mr. Boone has worked closely with in house counsel to develop comprehensive national strategies to effectively and efficiently respond to all phases of litigation and its impact on their respective businesses. Licensed in four states, Mr. Boone has appeared in trial and appellate courts all over the United States and has an established network of cost conscious local counsel. Industries defended include tobacco, pharmaceutical, fire suppression, occupational safety equipment, food manufacturing, and security systems. He has made numerous presentations on substantive areas of the law as well as professional ethics, and is a former Chair of the Products Liability Committee of the Barrister's Club of the Bar Association of San Francisco. Mr. Boone is also a member of the American Bar Association and Defense Research Institute. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees, Mr. Boone was a partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP, working in their San Francisco, Tampa and Kansas City offices to respond to his clients' varied needs. Immediately after law school, Mr. Boone was a trial lawyer, on active duty, in the JAG Corps of the United States Navy, trying hundreds of criminal and administrative cases, both as a lead prosecutor and defense counsel. Raised in rural western Kansas, Mr. Boone grew up in an agricultural community of just over 900 people and was educated in the public schools. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, graduating third in his class. Mr. Boone received his B.A., cum laude, from Fort Hays State University where he was voted the outstanding student of his graduating class by the faculty. Mr. Boone is admitted to practice before the state and federal courts of California, Florida, Missouri and Kansas, as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Mr. Wang provides services as a private mediator to resolve real estate related and other commercial controversies. For about six years, he has volunteered to serve as a Judge Pro-Tem presiding over settlement conferences in a variety of commercial litigation matters for the San Francisco and Santa Clara County Superior Courts. In his bankruptcy practice, Mr. Wang represents secured and unsecured creditors, financial institutions, trustees, receivers, committees and business debtors in nearly all aspects of business bankruptcy reorganization and liquidation cases under Chapters 7 and 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. He is a member of the Bay Area Bankruptcy Forum, the Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Section of the Bar Association of San Francisco, the Business (and Insolvency) Law Section of the State Bar of California, and the Turnaround Management Association. Mr. Wang received his A.B. in History from Princeton University with a Certificate in East Asian Studies and his J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law where he served as an Associate Editor for the Golden Gate University Law Review and was a Merit Scholarship recipient. He served as an extern for the Honorable Christopher M. Klein, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of California, and for the Honorable Joan Brennan, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California. Before entering private practice, Mr. Wang served as a Senior Staff Attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Wang is admitted to practice before all the state and federal courts in California. He is an active member of the firm's Diversity Committee, the California Minority Counsel Program, and the Asian American Bar Association. He has attained Martindale-Hubbell's highest rating (AV) for lawyering and professional excellence.

Bob Murphy is a partner in the San Diego office. He is a member of the Employment Practice Group and chairs the firm's Hospitality Practice Group. With over thirty years of experience as a specialist in employment law, he is considered to be one of the nation's most highly respected and creative labor lawyers. His practice is equally divided between employment litigation, labor-related matters such as union representation campaigns and negotiations, and advising buyers and developers of hotel and resort properties with respect to selection and training of employees and the creation of unique employment cultures. He has represented a wide variety of major hotels, resorts and restaurant companies as their principal labor and employment legal advisor and as a negotiator on union matters. Some of his representative clients include Interstate Hotels and Resorts, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Raffles Hotels, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, and Hualalai Resort on the big island of Hawaii.

Roger M. Mansukhani is a partner with trial experience, working out of the Los Angeles and San Diego offices. Mr. Mansukhani's practice is focused on employment litigation and counseling, defending clients against claims of discrimination, retaliation, FMLA, and harassment, as well as wage and hour issues. His practice necessarily involves a significant amount of counseling on hiring and firing issues and reductions in force. Mr. Mansukhani also has a significant Toxic Tort and Product Liability practice. He has represented Fortune 500 clients in complex, multi-plaintiff product liability and toxic exposure matters, and has tried numerous such cases. Mr. Mansukhani was recently named as one of the "Top 20 Attorneys Under 40" by the Los Angeles Daily Journal out of more than 50,000 eligible attorneys, with only eleven of the "Top 20" in private practice.. Additionally, he was recently selected to the 2007 Southern California ? Super Lawyers? list published by Law & Politics. These attorneys were selected by their peers, and represent the top 5% of all Southern California attorneys. He is a member of the State Bar of California, licensed to practice in all state and federal courts. He is a member of the Defense Research Institute, the Southern California Association of Defense Counsel, American Bar Association, American Inns of Court and the San Diego and Los Angeles County Bar Associations. Mr. Mansukhani received his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law and his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, graduating with honors. At Northwestern and Wisconsin, Mr. Mansukhani received awards for both his written and oral advocacy. At Northwestern Mr. Mansukhani's focus was on litigation and trial practices. He has also written on litigation practices in mass-tort litigation.

Ronald A. Giller is a Partner in the New York and New Jersey offices of Gordon & Rees, and is a member of the firm's Business Litigation and Intellectual Property practice groups. Mr. Giller has extensive litigation experience, both in the state and federal district courts throughout New York and New Jersey, handling cases from initial client consultation through trial and appeal. He also has extensive experience in handling commercial arbitrations. Mr. Giller has represented clients in a variety of complex civil litigation matters. He has extensive experience in intellectual property disputes, including trademark and copyright infringement, counterfeiting, trade dress and misappropriation of trade secrets. Over his career, Mr. Giller's practice has emphasis on contract disputes, partnership and joint venture issues, real property litigation, shareholder disputes, unfair competition and employment matters. His clients have included individual entrepreneurs, and small and large companies in numerous industries, including real estate, construction, entertainment, fashion and franchising. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees, Mr. Giller practiced in a large, well-respected firm in New York City. He also previously served as the Vice President of Litigation & Regulatory Affairs for a public company where he oversaw a large number of litigations and regulatory issues. Mr. Giller received his bachelor's degree from Tufts University and his legal degree from St. John's University, where he was a member of the Journal of Legal Commentary. He is admitted to practice in the State of New York, the State of New Jersey, and is a member of the bar of the United States District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the District of New Jersey.

Ronald K. Alberts is a partner in the Gordon & Rees Insurance & Coverage practice group. His practice includes federal and state litigation of life, health and disability group and individual insurance claims, employee benefit disputes and breach of fiduciary duty claims under ERISA well as an extensive health care practice focusing on litigation involving health care providers. In over 25 years of practice, he has handled numerous business litigation matters ranging from employment disputes to unfair competition claims for small and large businesses. Mr. Alberts has appeared before both state and federal appeals courts throughout California and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Scott Hazen is a partner in the Dallas and Houston offices of Gordon & Rees. Mr. Hazen has broad based litigation experience in a number of practice areas, including labor and employment, commercial litigation, creditors rights, lender liability, personal injury, medical malpractice and products liability. Mr. Hazen also handles appeals in both State and Federal Court. Mr. Hazen serves as the head of Gordon & Rees' Toxic Tort and Environmental Groups in Texas. Mr. Hazen has specialized experience in the field of asbestos products liability litigation, where he defends a number of clients in hundreds of cases statewide. Mr. Hazen has successfully defended product liability cases for companies that produce a wide variety of products ranging from tractor trailers to electrical components. Mr. Hazen is also experienced in the defense of mold, silica, benzene and chemical claims. Mr. Hazen is admitted to practice in the State of Texas, before all U.S. District Courts in Texas, and the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Scott Monson is a partner in the Orange County office and a member of the firm's Automotive Group. Mr. Monson's practice is focused on the defense and representation of U.S. and foreign product manufacturers, transportation enterprises, and other business interests. He has more than 20 years of experience representing clients in litigation involving property damage, serious injury and death, and also counsels clients in product and transportation regulatory matters. Since 1999, Mr. Monson has served as national coordinating counsel to Kia Motors, responsible for products liability litigation throughout the United States.

A partner at Gordon & Rees since 1998, Steven B. Bitter is a member of the firm's Insurance Coverage Group who specializes in advice to and litigation on behalf of insurers with regard to their varied business needs. Mr. Bitter is the co-head of the Insurance Coverage Group in the San Diego office of Gordon & Rees. The focus of Mr. Bitter's practice is handling complex insurance coverage and bad faith litigation on behalf of insurers. His experience ranges from dealing with property and casualty based coverage litigation, including related bad faith actions, to life, health, and disability matters. Mr. Bitter has trial, appellate, mediation and arbitration experience in both state and federal court, defending and prosecuting on behalf of insurance companies' most challenging and complex problems. Mr. Bitter routinely provides seminars for his insurance clients on issues ranging from California's independent counsel statute (Civil Code Section 2860), current trends in California insurance coverage law, and California's Fair Claims Handling Regulations. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees, Mr. Bitter was a member of the litigation department for a public utility company in San Diego, California. During that time, he handled a diverse caseload consisting primarily of personal injury, breach of contract and environmental litigation matters. Mr. Bitter also worked at a mid-sized law firm in San Diego where he litigated complex multi-party insurance coverage and environmental cases.

After law school, Mr. Devlin became a Deputy District Attorney at the Contra Costa District Attorney's Office. While there, he prosecuted more than 40 felony and misdemeanor trials. Mr. Devlin published an article in the February 2005 Issue of DRI Covered Events which discusses issues involving disqualification of policyholders' counsel in bad faith litigation. He also authored an article in the April 2005 Issue of DRI Covered Events summarizing the responsibility of insurer reimbursement of defense costs discussed in an Illinois case. Mr. Devlin served as the Chair for the Sports Law and Entertainment Section of the Bar Association of San Francisco and was a speaker at University of California, Davis Sports Law Conference in April 2005 discussing "Who Has The Power In Sports?" Mr. Devlin is an active member of the Bar Association of San Francisco.

William Rathbone is a partner in the San Diego office and a member of the Commercial Litigation and Bankruptcy & Creditors' Rights Groups. His practices focuses on bankruptcy and complex business litigation. He has been involved in hundreds of Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases, as counsel for debtors, trustees, committees and creditors. He has also represented plaintiffs and defendants in claims involving complex business litigation, real estate litigation, fraud litigation, employment litigation, complex trademark and copyright infringement litigation, and legal malpractice matters, some of which included extended jury trials.

Adam Sugarman is a litigator and counselor in the San Francisco office of Gordon & Rees LLP. Mr. Sugarman represents both private and public entities in employment matters and focuses his practice on advice and counseling on a variety of workplace issues, including disability accommodations, terminations, and equal opportunity concerns; with a particular emphasis on advising start-up companies and newly acquired businesses on a wide variety of human resources issues. As a litigator, Mr. Sugarman has handled cases in the state and federal courts, private arbitration, and before the National Labor Relations Board, the California Labor Commissioner, and the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board. In addition to his employment law practice, Mr. Sugarman represents management interests in labor disputes, and has counseled clients in the manufacturing, hospitality, retail, construction, real estate, and wine industries. Mr. Sugarman also has a growing sports law practice, which includes the representation of professional athletes and coaches in a broad spectrum of personal and business matters. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees LLP, Mr. Sugarman clerked for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League in the Office of the General Counsel. While in Detroit, Mr. Sugarman participated in several player contract negotiations and assisted in the administration of the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement. He also gained experience counseling The Detroit Lions, Inc. and subsidiary Ford Field LLC on a variety of employment and intellectual property matters. Mr. Sugarman earned his J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 2005. He was nominated for the Distinguished Bankruptcy Law Student Award by the American College of Bankruptcy in 2005. During law school, Mr. Sugarman was also a Certified Contract Advisor with the National Football League Players Association. Mr. Sugarman earned his B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley in 2001, where he was a quarterback and defensive back on the Golden Bears' football team. He played in 25 straight games for the Golden Bears, earning three varsity football letters. Mr. Sugarman also received the Dink Artal Award, the Cort Majors Award, and was elected team captain in 2001. Mr. Sugarman is a member of the State Bar of California and is admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern Districts of California. In addition, Mr. Sugarman is a member of the Employment Law Section of the State Bar of California, and a member of the Sports Lawyers Association.

Alan Lewis is Of Counsel in Gordon & Rees' San Francisco office with the Business Transactions Group. Mr. Lewis has been in practice for over thirteen years where he regularly advises executive management on all aspects of their businesses. His practice currently focuses primarily on (1) software licensing and related technology transactions; (2) corporate counseling and business transactions; and (3) commercial real estate transactions. Prior to Gordon & Rees, he served as an in-house consulting attorney to General Counsels at several technology companies with products and services that included semi-conductors and microprocessors, software for various vertical markets and storage area networking services. Mr. Lewis has also served as Corporate Counsel to Inktomi Corporation, one of the world's leading Internet infrastructure software companies. During his tenure at Inktomi, Mr. Lewis assisted senior management in all facets of Inktomi's business and was responsible for structuring, negotiating, and closing some of its largest and most strategic commercial transactions. He also structured, negotiated, documented and closed OEM, VAR, Portal Services and other transactions with leading Inktomi customers and business partners such as AOL, Microsoft, Lycos, Dell Computers, Hewlett-Packard Company, and Williams Communications. Prior to serving as Inktomi's in-house counsel, Mr. Lewis was a senior associate in an international law firm with an office in San Francisco where he served a number of privately held and publicly traded clients. His practice focused on general corporate counseling including the formation and dissolution of partnerships and limited liability companies, complex multi-million dollar project finance transactions, and commercial real estate transactions. He also successfully litigated several complex environmental cases, including cases that went to trial in both state and federal courts and resulted in very successful outcomes for the firm's clients. Mr. Lewis has also served as Assistant Regional Counsel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the agency's Chicago regional office. At the EPA, Mr. Lewis was responsible for a caseload that included Superfund enforcement and cost recovery actions, and administrative enforcement actions and permitting under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ("RCRA") and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act ("EPCRA"). Mr. Lewis received his J.D. from Vermont Law School and his Bachelor of Science at the University of California at Berkeley in Conservation and Resource Studies. He is admitted to practice in California, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He is also a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco.

Alyson Cabrera is an associate in the firm's labor and employment group. Ms. Cabrera represents private and public entities in employment matters and focuses her practice on the areas of employment litigation, pre-litigation employment counseling and workplace investigations. Ms. Cabrera defends employers in state and federal court, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and before administrative agencies. Ms. Cabrera enjoys the role of educator, and has provided CLE presentations and corporate trainings on various employment topics including sexual harassment prevention and family and medical leave issues. Ms. Cabrera is also a consultant to the UC Hastings College of the Law Moot Court program and is currently serving in her fifth year as the Alumni Coach for the College's National Appellate Advocacy team which competes annually in the American Bar Association's moot court competition. Ms. Cabrera served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Maria-Elena James, United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California, from 2002 to 2003. Ms. Cabrera received her J.D. from UC Hastings College of the Law in 2002, where she received the Witkin Award in Mediation and the CALI Award for Excellence in Mediation and Gender Discrimination. Ms. Cabrera holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to attending law school, Ms. Cabrera worked for one year in Ghana, West Africa, where she volunteered with the International Federation of Women Lawyers to provide free legal aid for the benefit of indigent women and children.

Amy Maclear is Senior Counsel practicing in Gordon & Rees' Commercial Litigation and Professional Liability groups. Her practice focuses on business and professional negligence litigation involving the defense of corporate directors and officers. Ms. Maclear is also an active participant in the Construction Litigation practice group in which she represents design professionals in negligence actions. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees, Ms. Maclear also developed considerable experience in real estate litigation and transactions. This includes drafting land use and purchase agreements; representation of both landlords and tenants in the negotiation of commercial leases including negotiation and drafting of letters of credit and letters of intent; assist with drafting construction contracts; assist clients through various stages of residential and commercial development including obtaining the necessary local and state approvals; business advice and document drafting related to entity formation. Ms. Maclear graduated magna cum laude from California State University, Sacramento, receiving a B.A. in Communications Studies. In 2001, she received her law degree, with honors, from McGeorge School of Law where her academic performance was rewarded with several scholarships and a research/teaching assistant position. Following graduation, she became a member of the California Bar and was admitted to practice in the district and appellate level federal courts. She is a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco, including the Queen's Bench chapter, and the Traynor Honor Society. Ms. Maclear coached the Lowell High School Mock Trial Team as part of the National Constitutional Rights Foundation. She also enjoys tracking pending and recently enacted legislation and local policies which impact her practice.

Ana Maria Legendre is a Foreign Law Attorney with the International and the Business Transactions practice groups, specializing in Business, Commercial, Maritime and Latin American law. Ms. Legendre is licensed to practice in Panama and has over 10 years of experience representing clients in Panama and Central America in matters related to shipping and port law, customs, distribution and international trade law and negotiations of transactions with governmental agencies in Latin America, including port privatizations, build, operate and transfers (BOT's) contracts and administrative concessions. Ms. Legendre headed the Legal Department of the Panama Maritime Authority for several years and was involved in several port projects and development regulations for the shipping and port industry. As Legal Director, Ms. Legendre participated with other agencies of the Government of Panama, including the Panama Canal Authority, Customs Department and the Colon Free Trade Zone in developing policies and regulations for the port and maritime industry. Ms. Legendre's experience in the private sector includes serving as in house counsel of an international shipping line and port operator (Evergreen) and consultant for the governments of Honduras and Dominican Republic in port and shipping matters. Ms. Legendre's private practice includes litigation in the admiralty court in Panama for matters related to in rem and in personam proceedings, cargo and labor claims. Ms. Legendre earned an LL.M. in Comparative Law from Duke University School of Law in 1996, and a Licentiate of Law and Political Science from the Universidad Santa Maria La Antigua in Panama (1995), graduating cum laude.

Barbara Ann Caulfield is senior counsel in Gordon & Rees LLP's Professional Liability Defense Practice Group. Ms. Caulfield has extensive litigation experience. Her practice areas include the defense of physicians, nurses, dentists, physical therapists and other individual health care providers; acute and sub acute care hospitals; as well as extended care, skilled nursing and residential care facilities. She also has experience with personal injury matters representing auto and trucking carriers, and general liability carriers in personal injury, product liability, and premises liability matters, including mold litigation. Ms. Caulfield has jury trial, arbitration and mediation experience. She also has extensive law and motion experience with several successful summary judgment motions. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees in 2003, Ms. Caulfield was the managing attorney for the San Francisco Staff Counsel office of Fireman's Fund Insurance Company. In addition to supervising the staff and attorneys, she actively litigated general and professional liability cases. Ms. Caulfield received her B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1988 and her J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1992 where she was President of the Student Bar Association. She is a member and Past President of Queen's Bench and a member of California Women Lawyers. She is a member of the California and San Francisco Bar Associations. She currently serves on the Gordon & Rees Diversity Committee. She is licensed to practice in California and the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California and has successfully argued before the California Court of Appeal, First District.

Mr. Saxon obtained his Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law where he served as an editor of the Water Law Review. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Economics from Boston College. As an undergraduate, he spent six months studying Economic Restructuring in South Africa. While in law school, Mr. Saxon served as a Judicial Extern to the Honorable John L. Kane, Senior Judge with the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Mr. Saxon was also successful in a number of Regional and National Moot Court Competitions in law school, and traveled to events throughout the United States while serving a two-year tenure on the Moot Court Board. Mr. Saxon was previously employed by the United States Department of Health & Human Services in the Office for Civil Rights. While there, he investigated alleged violations of various federal civil rights laws including Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Hill-Burton Act and HIPPA. Mr. Saxon is a member of the San Diego County Bar Association, the Louis M. Welch Inn of Court and is licensed to practice law in California. He is also active with the Surfrider Foundation where he volunteers with its Legal Issues Team.

Brooke A. Schneider is an associate in the New York Employment Law Group at Gordon & Rees. Ms. Schneider earned her Juris Doctor degree from Boston University School of Law. While in law school, she was a member of the American Journal of Law and Medicine, where she published the article "Child Welfare: Court May Determine Whether Life-Sustaining Treatment Should Be Withdrawn." 31 J.L. Med & Ethics 316 (2003). Ms. Schneider graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations. Ms. Schneider is admitted to practice law in the state of New York and the Southern District of New York.

Christina McCracken is a trial lawyer who practices in both state and federal courts in a number of areas, including Toxic Tort, Negligence, Defective Products, Premise Liability, Construction Defects, Directors and Officers Liability, Bad-Faith Litigation and Business and Transactional Disputes. Ms. McCracken has a broad base of civil litigation experience. Ms. McCracken's background includes handling several high profile catastrophic fire losses to successful resolution. She has co-managed Texas litigation for a multi-national corporation involved in toxic tort litigation and has a background representing individuals, corporate institutions and insurance companies as plaintiffs and defendants in negligence, tort, contract and business disputes. She has represented self-insured companies and was General Counsel to a regional franchise of a national corporation handling their business and contract litigation. Ms. McCracken graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.B.A. in International Business/Finance and received her J.D., cum laude, from St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas. She served in a judicial internship with the Federal Bankruptcy Court and was recipient of several American Jurisprudence Awards. Ms. McCracken speaks and writes on current legal topics and has argued the representative case of Runyan v. Mullins, 864 S.W.2d 785 (Tex. App.-Ft. Worth) 1993, reh.den. She serves in advisory capacity for several non-profit organizations and is a dedicated participant in the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program and an active volunteer with the Texas Department of Corrections assisting in the rehabilitation of women in incarceration. She is a committee chair with the Local Chapter of the National Association of Insurance Women, and is a member of the Dallas Bar Association, the Dallas Women Lawyers Association and the College of The State Bar of Texas.

Christopher Strunk is an associate in Gordon & Rees' Toxic Tort Group. He is an experienced litigation attorney who has defended numerous environmental and toxic injury claims involving benzene, PCE, mold, asbestos, sulfuric acid, and other airborne and water-borne contaminants. The entities Mr. Strunk has represented include multinational chemical and petrochemical companies, paint and coating manufacturers, automobile and automobile part manufacturers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and industrial suppliers. Mr. Strunk also has considerable experience in business litigation, including business torts, breach of contract claims, insurance coverage, and bankruptcy. Mr. Strunk received a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Boston College in 1995, where he double majored in English and Political Science and was an officer in BC's Fulton Debating Society. In 1998, Mr. Strunk earned his J.D. from Villanova University School of Law, where he wrote for the Villanova Environmental Law Journal and competed on the Niagara International Moot Court team. Additionally, Mr. Strunk is an adjunct instructor in City College of San Francisco's paralegal program, where he teaches civil litigation. Mr. Strunk has also led numerous seminars for the National Business Institute for Paralegal Education.

David Chasin is an associate in the San Diego office of Gordon & Rees LLP. He is a member of the Real Estate and Business Litigation practice groups, emphasizing the representation of commercial, industrial and retail property owners in civil litigation. Mr. Chasin earned his Bachelor of Arts from Pomona College and his Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Davis School of Law. While there, Mr. Chasin served as Chair of the Moot Court Board and was a member of the National Moot Court Competition Team. Mr. Chasin was also a Judicial Extern for the Honorable Jeremy Fogel, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of California. Mr. Chasin is licensed to practice before all courts in the State of California.

Ellen Tagtmeier is a member of the Commercial Litigation, Insurance, Construction and Appellate Groups, practicing from the Houston office. She has been practicing since 1989 and is experienced in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Construction and Surety Litigation and Civil Appeals in both state and federal courts in Texas, as well as toxic tort and product liability litigation and insurance coverage litigation. Ms. Tagtmeier's commercial litigation experience includes representing a variety of businesses and its owners, officers and directors and physicians and other professionals, as well as insurers, regarding breach of contract, warranty, DTPA, negligence, banking, employment, and business tax issues, as well as partnership, landlord/tenant and real estate related issues and construction defect and coverage litigation.

Mr. Coons is a senior counsel with Gordon & Rees' Toxic Tort Group. He is an experienced litigation attorney who has defended numerous environmental and toxic injury claims involving asbestos, silica, beryllium and other airborne and water-borne contaminants. The entities Mr. Coons has represented include multinational building materials companies, plant and related facility premises owners, automobile part manufacturers, and industrial suppliers. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees in 2004, Mr. Coons was employed at a small toxic tort defense firm in San Francisco for four years. He started his career after law school as a legislative analyst and later as a consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. During his years as a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mr. Coons developed considerable experience advising human resources departments at Fortune 500 companies on employment-related issues such as: applicant interviewing and hiring; performance evaluations; employee benefits; employee manuals; as well as managed lay-offs and termination policies. Mr. Coons received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Policy from Occidental College in 1991. In 1995, Mr. Coons earned his J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law. Mr. Coons is a member of the State Bar of California and the Bar Association of San Francisco.

Gary Collis is Senior Counsel in Gordon & Rees' Los Angeles office. Mr. Collis' practice includes representing clients in insurance matters and business and employment disputes in both state and federal courts. Mr. Collis also has extensive experience defending clients in other tort and contact disputes in matters concerning premises liability, personal injury, professional liability, construction defect, intentional tort and employment. Mr. Collis received his Juris Doctorate from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. While in law school, Mr. Collis served as Associate Editor of the Pepperdine Law Review and participated in several moot court competitions. Prior to law school, Mr. Collis earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Before joining Gordon & Rees, Mr. Collis worked for several years at a well respected Los Angeles defense firm handling cases at both the trial and appellate levels. Mr. Collis is admitted to practice in California and Illinois.

Gina Haggerty is an associate in Gordon & Rees' Los Angeles and San Diego offices. Her practice focuses on litigation, which includes defending employers in a variety of legal claims including wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, wage and hour matters, employee classifications issues, retaliation, breach of contract and other related employment matters. Ms. Haggerty also provides counseling to employers on a variety of personnel issues, including hiring, termination, leaves, overtime compensation and disability. Ms. Haggerty received her J.D. from Southwestern, School of Law in 2001. In 1998, Ms. Haggerty graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. Ms. Haggerty is admitted to the State Bar of California and the United States District Court for California. She is also a member of the State Bar of California and the San Diego County Bar Association. Ms. Haggerty served as an Associate in the Louis M. Welsh Chapter, American Inns of Court, in 2003-2004.

Guillermo Escobedo is an associate in the San Diego office. His practice focuses on employment litigation, including wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour claims, breach of contract, defamation and other related issues. Mr. Escobedo also practices in the areas of maritime law, personal injury defense, housing discrimination claims and general liability matters. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees, Mr. Escobedo practiced general civil litigation, including areas of professional liability, landlord-tenant, construction defect, and construction-related accidents. Mr. Escobedo also served as staff attorney and assistant project director for a national housing discrimination research study sponsored by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Escobedo received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1999. While in law school, Mr. Escobedo was the vice president of La Raza Law Student Association and recipient of the Sabor Es Poder scholarship. He graduated from the University of California, San Diego, in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. Mr. Escobedo is admitted to the State Bar of California, and the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. He is a member of the State Bar of California, the San Diego County Bar Association, La Raza Lawyers Association and San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Escobedo also performs services for the San Diego Legal Aid Society.

J. Todd Konold is a member of the San Diego Construction and Environmental/Toxic Tort practice groups at Gordon & Rees LLP. In addition to general civil litigation, he has extensive practice experience in construction litigation and toxic environmental claims. Mr. Konold has represented contractors of various fields in matters involving alleged construction defects, breach of contract claims, and alleged errors in design and workmanship claims. Mr. Konold also has experience in the representation of commercial and residential real estate brokers in both litigated and pre-litigated claims. Mr. Konold obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego School of Law in 2002. He graduated magna cum laude from San Diego State University in 1999, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with a minor in Portuguese. Mr. Konold is a member of the California State Bar and the San Diego County Bar Association. He is admitted to practice in all courts of the State of California and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Central Districts of California.

Jacqueline Mai is an associate in the San Diego office. As a member of the firm's Toxic Tort and Environmental Practice Group her practice focuses on products liability, toxic torts and environmental litigation. Ms. Mai represents a variety of clients including corporations and individuals, against claims of personal injury from alleged occupational and para-occupational exposure to chemicals, toxic waste, asbestos, silica, and other substances. Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Mai was a law clerk for The Honorable Stephen G. Larson in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. She also worked as a Writ, Appeals and Trial Law Clerk at the California Attorney General, Division of Criminal Law. While at the Attorney General's Office she handled post-conviction proceedings and successfully argued in the Fourth District of the California Court of Appeal. During law school she was a Preliminary Hearings Law Clerk for the San Francisco District Attorney's office. Ms. Mai received her J.D. in 2004 from the University of California, HastingsCollege of the Law. In 2000, she earned a B.A. in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Ms. Mai is currently a member of the State Bar of California, licensed to practice before all the courts of California. She is also a member of the State Bar of California, the American Bar Association, and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.

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Jeffrey E. Bilanko is a litigation associate at Gordon & Rees in the Environmental and Toxic Tort practice group. Mr. Bilanko's work focuses on products liability and toxic tort litigation, including defending manufacturers, suppliers and contractors in asbestos-related personal injury and wrongful death actions. In his environmental litigation practice, Mr. Bilanko focuses on issues of complex property damage and product liability. Mr. Bilanko earned his J.D. at Santa Clara University School of Law in 2000 and graduated from the University of Washington in 1997 with a BA in English. He is a member of the State Bar of California as well as the Bar Association of San Francisco.

Jennifer L. Denkins is an associate in the Employment, Environmental/Toxic Tort, and Insurance Groups at Gordon & Rees LLP. Ms. Denkins' employment practice focuses on defense of class actions regarding wage and hour violations. Her employment experience also includes defense of employers for wrongful termination, retaliation, breach of contract, compensation issues, and related claims. In the Environmental/Toxic Tort practice, Ms. Denkins defends a wide variety of entities, including corporations, property owners, management companies and environmental abatement companies regarding issues such as mold contamination and occupational exposure to chemicals. In addition, Ms. Denkins counsels insurance companies on coverage issues, with a focus on environmental claims. She also defends insurance companies in bad faith litigation.

Joan Foy is an associate in the Health Care Practice Group in Gordon & Rees's Las Vegas office. Prior to entering the legal field, Ms. Foy had significant experience in the field of long term care health services administration as a social worker, assisted living facility director, and skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility administrator. She is a licensed nursing home administrator in New York and Florida, and a licensed assisted living facility director in Florida. Ms. Foy graduated with a B.A. in Political Science from New York University, and received her Masters in Health Services Administration from Florida International University. She received her J.D. from St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami, Florida. While attending law school, Ms. Foy served as judicial clerk to the Honorable Thomas S. Wilson, Jr., in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida. Ms. Foy spent a summer in Spain during law school studying international health and human rights and immigration law at The Escorial-Maria Cristina Royal University Centre.

Jordan Altura is an associate in the Insurance Group in Gordon & Rees's San Francisco office. He has experience in a range of civil litigation matters, including complex coverage actions, broker and agent disputes, and sophisticated contractual disputes. Mr. Altura also has experience in the prosecution and defense of civil litigation involving business torts, labor and employment, and intellectual property matters. Mr. Altura received his B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Mr. Altura then obtained his J.D., magna cum laude, from Gonzaga University School of Law, where he was an associate editor of the Law Review and a member of the National Moot Court Team. At the National Moot Court competition, his team won first place for submitting the best brief in the Northwest region. Mr. Altura also received the Best Oralist award in the Gonzaga University School of Law Moot Court Competition. Mr. Altura is a member of the State Bar of California and the Bar Association of San Francisco.

Juan Walker is a senior litigation associate at Gordon & Rees. As a member of the firm's Drug & Medical Device practice group, Mr. Walker's practice focuses on the product liability defense of Fortune 500 companies manufacturing prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, vaccines and medical devices. Additionally, a member of the firm's Commercial Litigation practice group, Mr. Walker has represented large institutional and mid-sized clients in a variety of matters involving complex commercial and business litigation, contract disputes, consumer fraud cases, unfair business practices, employment litigation, tort defense, insurance defense and construction defect cases. His experience includes all phases of litigation in both state and federal courts as well as alternative dispute resolution. Mr. Walker served for over four years as an officer in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps. During his time in the JAG Corps, he acquired extensive trial experience in over 30 trials as a prosecutor, and later, as a defense attorney. As a former JAG, he appeared on the CNN programs of both Greta Van Susteren and Wolf Blitzer, as well as on local television news programs, providing expert legal commentary on subjects ranging from Iraqi violations of the Geneva Conventions and the Law of Armed Conflict to the use of Military Commissions to try suspected terrorists. Mr. Walker is active on the firm's Diversity Committee and was a speaker at the 47th Annual Meeting of the Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California and Nevada on a panel entitled, "Diversity is Good for Your Business". He is an active member of the San Francisco Bar Association serving on its Barrister's Diversity Issues Committee. In addition, Mr. Walker is an active member of the Charles Houston Bar Association, San Francisco's African-American Bar Association. Mr. Walker earned his Bachelors of Arts degree at the University of Michigan and his Juris Doctorate degree at Southern Methodist University Law School. While at SMU, he was a member of the Law Review, a Sarah T. Hughes Scholar and the President of the Black Law Students Association. Mr. Walker is a licensed to practice law in both California and Texas.

Justin Lewis is an associate attorney in the firm's San Diego office. He practices in the Commercial Litigation group, handling a wide array of business litigation matters with particular emphases on unfair competition, false advertising, business torts, and franchising disputes. He is licensed to practice before all courts of the state of California, as well as the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Mr. Lewis is a cum laude graduate of the College of Law at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was honored for his skills in legal research and writing. Mr. Lewis also earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois, graduating with highest honors in political science. Mr. Lewis has been commended as an effective public speaker. At Illinois, a panel of judges and attorneys designated him the best oral advocate in the law school's most competitive moot court competition. Mr. Lewis taught an undergraduate course on principles of oratory for the University of Illinois Department of Speech Communication. He is also a member of the Hon. J. Clifford Wallace Inn of Court.

Keasara M. Williams is an associate in the Drug & Medical Device and Tort/Product Liability Groups. Ms. Williams received her J.D. from University of California, Hastings in 2008. She spent both of her summers as a Summer Associate at Gordon & Rees. While at Hastings, she participated in the Criminal Practice Clinic and also volunteered with the San Francisco Family Law Self Help Center and participated in USF's Street Law Program. As a part of the Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal, she served as co-editor for the Journal's 2007 Symposium, "So Goes the Nation: How California Reflects National Trends in Issues of Race and Poverty." Ms. Williams was also an active member of Hastings' Black Law Students Association, serving as Secretary 2007-2008. Ms. Williams earned her B.A. from UC Berkeley in Sociology in 2004. She also received a M.A. from the UC Berkeley's School of Education in 2005, focusing on Athletics & Academic Achievement. She played on the Women's Basketball team at Cal, earning four varsity letters and was elected team captain in 2005.

Matthew Kleiner is an associate and a member of the firm's Appellate, Insurance Coverage, Bad Faith and Business Litigation teams. His practice emphasizes complex civil litigation in the areas of insurance coverage, bad faith, and business. He has also handled employment, medical malpractice, commercial and general business litigation, personal injury disputes and other complicated litigation. Mr. Kleiner attended Santa Clara University School of Law, receiving his Juris Doctor in May, 2000. He served as technical editor for the Santa Clara Law Review and graduated cum laude. The summer before his second year, he studied international human rights at Oxford University. A native of Arizona, he received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Arizona where he graduated magna cum laude. Mr. Kleiner is admitted to practice before all of the Courts of the State of California, the State of Arizona, and all of the United States District Courts for California (Northern, Central, Southern and Eastern). He is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Meagen Leary is an associate in the San Francisco office of Gordon & Rees. Ms. Leary's practice focuses on construction litigation. Her practice includes representing design professionals and general contractors in a variety of actions. She also drafts and negotiates contracts on behalf of her clients. Ms. Leary received her undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. She received her juris doctor, graduating cum laude, from Tulane Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana. While at Tulane, Ms. Leary was a thrice-published member of the Tulane Martime Law Journal. Ms. Leary is a member of the San Francisco and California Bar Associations.

Michael Wilson, Jr. is an associate in the Construction Practice Group of Gordon & Rees. His practice focuses on the representation of general contractors, developers and design professionals in a variety of construction-related matters. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees, Mr. Wilson practiced in Oakland, specializing in complex construction litigation and representing developers and subcontractors in the areas of construction defect, general liability, insurance coverage and asbestos/silica litigation. Mr. Wilson received his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. While in law school, Mr. Wilson was a member of the Hastings Communication & Entertainment Law Journal. He also worked as a Teaching Assistant for Contracts and Constitutional Law courses. Prior to law school, Mr. Wilson received undergraduate degrees in Sociology, History and a Specialization in African-Area Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles. During his undergraduate years, Mr. Wilson was a member of the UCLA Gospel Choir which had the honor of singing the national anthem during the celebration of Jackie Robinson Day at Dodger's Stadium. Mr. Wilson is admitted to practice before all California State Courts. He is also actively involved with the Columbia Park Boys & Girls Club and its efforts to increase college enrollment of youth from the Mission Community.

Mr. Plocki is an associate in Gordon & Rees' Environmental Toxic Tort Practice Group. His practice focuses on products liability and toxic tort litigation, with an emphasis in defending asbestos-related lawsuits. He has over eight years of litigation experience defending a broad variety of employers and insurance companies in the defense of workers' compensation cases.

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Nicole C. Harvat is a senior associate in the Employment Law Group at Gordon & Rees LLP. Ms. Harvat's practice focuses primarily on representing employers in discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful termination, and retaliation litigation. Her experience includes defending race, national origin, gender, age, disability, and sexual orientation discrimination claims and hostile work environment sexual harassment claims pending before state or federal courts, as well as administrative agencies, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Department of Fair Employment and Housing, and Workers Compensation Appeals Board. In the course of her practice, Ms. Harvat has also counseled employers on a variety of employment-related issues, which include pre-employment screenings, progressive disciplinary policies, employee terminations, employment agreements, creating and revising employee handbooks, leave laws, reductions-in-force, and disability accommodations. She has also conducted seminars to attorneys, human resources specialists and other management-level employees on employment-related topics, such as preventing sexual harassment in the workplace and avoiding wrongful termination lawsuits through performance management and progressive discipline. Ms. Harvat was awarded her J.D. from Loyola University and her B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine. She is an active member of the San Francisco and California Bar Associations and actively participates in the Labor and Employment section. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees, Ms. Harvat served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Lee J. Romero, Jr., an administrative law judge with the United States Department of Labor in New Orleans, LA. In 2004, Ms. Harvat traded her suits for safety lines when Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin empire, selected her as a contestant for his Apprentice-like reality series called The Rebel Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best. While she did not win the grand prize, she did get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel around the world, meet interesting people and do some extreme challenges. Ms. Harvat is one of the very few people who can add to her resume that she successfully crossed between two hot air balloons hovering at 8,000 feet above the English countryside.

Ms. Goodman has practiced at Gordon & Rees since 1992 and serves as Senior Counsel in the Insurance and Appellate Practice Groups. Her practice includes insurance contract analysis and evaluation, work on complex commercial issues, professional liability, insurance coverage and bad faith, as well as a variety of appellate work. Ms. Goodman also has extensive litigation experience, including dozens of mediations and arbitrations. Recent reported decisions in which Ms. Goodman was counsel of record include Acceptance Ins, Co. v. Syufy Enterprises (1999) 69 Cal. App. 4th 321; Montgomery Ward v. Imperial Casualty Co. (2000) 81 Cal. App.4th 356.

Scott Sokol is an associate with the Construction Group, Business & Technology Group and Hospitality Industry Group in the San Diego and Phoenix offices of Gordon & Rees. Mr. Sokol's practice focuses primarily on products liability defense, construction litigation, and toxic environmental contamination actions. He has extensive experience representing national and international product manufacturers in the coatings and construction industries, real estate development corporations, general contractors and subcontractors, and petroleum distribution corporations.

Ms. Colabianchi is admitted to practice in all California state courts and before the United States District Court for the Southern, Northern, Central and Eastern districts of California. Ms. Colabianchi has been admitted pro hac vice in federal bankruptcy court matters in New York. Ms. Colabianchi graduated from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1997. While in law school, Ms. Colabianchi was an Articles Editor for the Santa Clara Computer and High Technology Law Journal. Following law school, Ms. Colabianchi served as a law clerk to the Honorable Marilyn Morgan, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of California. Ms. Colabianchi is a member of the Bay Area Bankruptcy Forum and the Bar Association of San Francisco.

Shadi Hosseinioun is an associate in the Orange County office and a member of the Tort and Product Liability Group. Her practice includes product liability litigation and general civil litigation. Ms. Hosseinioun earned her B.A. from the University of California at Irvine where she was named to the Dean's Honor List. She received her J.D. cum laude from Chapman University School of Law where she graduated with an emphasis in advocacy and dispute resolution and was contributing editor of Nexus, a Journal of Opinion. While in law school, she was a member of the mock trial team and a national semifinalist in the Texas Young Lawyers of America National Trial Competition. Additionally, she was the recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award and the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Trial Practice. Ms. Hosseinioun is admitted to practice in the State of California, United States District Court, Central District California, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of California. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Orange County Bar Association, Orange County Women Lawyers Association, and Delta Theta Phi Legal Fraternity. Ms. Hosseinioun is fluent in Farsi.

Shane Maguire is an associate in the San Diego office with the Employment Law practice group. His practice focuses on defending corporations and organizations in a variety of legal claims, including wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and wage and hour matters. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees, Mr. Maguire worked in the general counsel's office of a Fortune 200 company where he participated in all phases of litigation regarding tort liability and land use matters. In addition, he advised personnel on OSHA matters and defended the company in administrative proceedings. Mr. Maguire received his J.D. from Notre Dame Law School in 2005. In 2001, he obtained a B.S. in Management Science and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego.

Stephanie P. Alexander is an associate in the Orange County office and a member of the Tort & Product Liability Group. Her practice includes defense of class action litigation matters relating to automobile defect claims. Ms. Alexander's experience includes all aspects of civil litigation from pleading through appeal, with specific emphasis on business litigation, personal injury, wrongful death, professional malpractice and civil rights issues. Ms. Alexander earned a B.S. in Business Administration, cum laude, from San Francisco State University, and her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Seattle University School of Law, graduating in the top ten percent of her class. She was admitted to practice law in both California and Hawaii in 1999. In addition, she was formerly a judicial clerk with the Washington State Court of Appeals, Div. 2.

Stephen Lawniczak joined Gordon & Rees in 2003 and is a litigation associate with the pharmaceutical and medical device group. Mr. Lawniczak also practices with the professional liability defense litigation group. Mr. Lawniczak has extensive pretrial experience including arbitrations and mediations, and has practiced in numerous state counties and federal districts throughout California. He is admitted to the California Bar, and the Northern and Southern Districts of California. He is a member of the San Francisco and California Bar Associations. Mr. Lawniczak received his J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law in 2000 and his B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1997.

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Tanja Martini is an associate and member of the Commercial Litigation, Healthcare, and Intellectual Property Groups at Gordon & Rees. With the Commercial Litigation Group, Ms. Martini's practice includes litigation regarding breach of contract, general commercial law, unfair competition, and trade secrets. Ms. Martini has extensive experience in representing healthcare companies, long-term care companies, including but not limited to skilled nursing facilities and residential care facilities, as well as hospitals, physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals. Ms. Martini's practice also involves representing clients in intellectual property disputes, including patent, trademark, and copyright infringement. Ms. Martini has broad experience in matters involving general liability, premises liability, toxic torts, and pharmaceutical litigation. Ms. Martini graduated with a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. She received her J.D. from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law and earned Dean's List Academic Honors. Ms. Martini is admitted to practice in Texas, the United States Court of Federal Claims, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, and United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Ms. Martini is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Dallas Bar Association, and the Defense Research Institute.

Tara Gillman is an associate in the San Diego office with the Employment Law practice group. Her practice focuses on defending corporations and other employers from a variety of legal claims, including wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and wage and hour matters. Prior to joining Gordon & Rees, Ms. Gillman worked in the general counsel's office of a Fortune 200 company where she engaged in all phases of civil litigation involving tort liability and employment matters. She also gained substantial experience advising human resources personnel concerning OSHA matters. Ms. Gillman earned her J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York in 2005. While at Cardozo, Ms. Gillman served as the Notes and Comments Editor of the Art and Entertainment Law Journal and was published. She also served as a Judicial Intern for the Honorable Marsha Steinhardt, New York State Supreme Court Judge. In 2002, Ms. Gillman graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, where she received a B.A. in Political Science. She also studied in Washington D.C. and worked as a White House intern for the Clinton administration in the Office of Environmental Initiatives. Ms. Gillman is admitted to the California State Bar.

Tiffany Welch Klein, Esq., is an associate at the law firm of Gordon & Rees in San Francisco. She has litigation experience with emphasis on products liability, toxic tort liability, premises liability and personal injury/tort defense. She received her J.D. from the Santa Clara School of Law.

Van T. Nguyen is Senior Counsel in the San Francisco Employment group at Gordon & Rees LLP. He has extensive experience in a wide variety of labor and employment issues. He focuses his efforts on employment discrimination and harassment law including race, disability, and gender cases. Mr. Nguyen has represented clients in the petroleum and chemical manufacturing and shipping industries. His practice includes counseling and advising clients ranging from international corporations to small partnerships and individuals on both labor and contract issues. Mr. Nguyen has handled all aspects of mediation, arbitration, and complex litigation in both state and federal venues. His complex litigation experience includes serving as a member of the steering committee of a joint defense group to coordinate the efforts of more than a dozen law firms representing more than twenty defendants. Mr. Nguyen received his Juris Doctor degree in 1998 from the University of California, Davis where he was a member of the Jessup International Moot Court Team, placing as a regional champion. He graduated from the University of California, Davis, with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric and Communication, and was also honored as a Regents Scholar. Outside his professional legal career, Mr. Nguyen was formerly a professional tennis instructor and also a competitive ballroom dancer. His other interests include developing strategic board games.

Vincent Maeder is senior counsel in the Health Care Group at Gordon & Rees. He is a board-certified civil trial lawyer with 15 years of experience in complex litigation matters. Mr. Maeder currently focuses on medical malpractice and elder care cases. In addition, he has defended claims ranging from commercial liability, construction defect liability, aviation liability, products liability, premises liability, personal injury, nursing home negligence, and general healthcare litigation. Mr. Maeder's successful defenses range from state medical board reviews to institution-wide claims, from superior court to state supreme court, and from U.S. District Court to U.S. Court of Appeals. Mr. Maeder received his J.D. from Marquette University and his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Yvonne Dalton is an Associate in the Orange County office and a member of the Tort and Product Liability group. Her practice focuses on product liability litigation, governmental regulations and governmental safety. Her experience includes civil litigation in professional liability, elder law, and products liability. She received her B.A. from Loyola Marymount University, graduating cum laude. Her Juris Doctorate was earned at Chapman University School of Law where she was Symposium Editor of Law Review and graduated fifth in her class. During her second year of law school, she was an extern for Justice Thomas F. Crosby, Jr.