Driving Diversity in Law and Leadership: Los Angeles

Lara Shortz leads the Labor & Employment Practice Group at M&R and is the firm’s Employment Advice, Counsel & Executive Disputes Chair. Operating out of the Los Angeles office, Lara is also the Firm Recruiting Partner and, in that capacity, she is tasked with implementing M&R’s strategic plan to expand upon its roster of talented attorneys nationwide.

Named in 2022 as one of the most influential women attorneys in L.A. by the Los Angeles Business Journal (recognition she has earned multiple times), Lara handles the full spectrum of employment-related issues on behalf of management. That being said, she is particularly known for her work advising domestic and international companies on major growth and hiring initiatives as well as workforce reductions. In fact, Lara handled the coordinated, temporary and permanent layoffs of thousands of hotel and restaurant employees (among others) during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which involved state and federal WARN Act issues.

In addition, Lara is sought after to negotiate complex employment agreements, navigate restrictive covenant issues, and litigate executive disputes. Over the years, countless professionals in C-Suite positions have leaned upon her when transitioning to new companies.

In terms of her litigation prowess, Lara has compiled an extraordinary record of wins representing high-profile businesses facing state and federal gender-based claims, including claims of pay equity and #MeToo-related causes of action. Further, she has successfully defended scores of clients in the hospitality space, among other industries, in wage and hour class and collective actions (PAGA)—this on top of her many additional successes litigating single plaintiff discrimination, harassment and retaliation matters at both the state and federal levels.

Beyond the courtroom, a significant portion of Lara’s practice involves advice and counsel, as reflected in her chair designation. Not only does she provide guidance on a variety of legal and human resources issues (lawful hiring practices, leaves of absence, employee classification and wage and hour compliance), investigations (sexual harassment, discrimination and employee and executive misconduct), administrative and internal compliance audits, and supervisor and management trainings (including sexual harassment prevention), Lara also helps emerging companies establish their employment infrastructure in the form of policies, best practices and operational mechanisms to support growth and facilitate investment.

Karina B. Sterman, Partner in Greenberg Glusker’s Litigation and Employment Law Departments, is a creative and ardent advocate for her clients.  Her practice includes representing businesses in wage and hour class action and PAGA lawsuits as well as in discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, and other employment disputes.  While she regularly represents companies in administrative proceedings, she leverages her significant experience in “behind the scenes” counseling to avoid or resolve pending claims. Karina counsels on wage and hour and other employment law compliance, drafts employment-related documents, and engages in business-minded employment strategy. Karina is a published author, sought-after speaker, and has been consistently recognized by her peers in Southern California Super Lawyers. She is an active member in the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Diversity in the Profession Committee and hosts the HR Bites employment law webinar series.

Jonathan Kwong is the Vice President, General Counsel of the Americas for KARL STORZ, which is a leading global medical device company. There he is responsible for managing the legal affairs of the company and provides strategic legal advice to the business on a broad range of issues, including healthcare fraud and abuse laws, FDA regulations, M&A activities, commercial and IP matters, and products liability litigation. In his role, Jonathan has also led and driven transformational initiatives through the company in the areas of healthcare and regulatory compliance with an emphasis on creating a global culture of compliance, improving effectiveness and efficiency in execution, and remaining competitive in the marketplace. Additionally, he is the proud executive sponsor for the company’s first AAPI employee resource group and is intent on finding ways to not only build community amongst AAPI employees, but to raise up AAPI leaders and establish solidarity with other ERGs.

Prior to KARL STORZ, Jonathan was a senior attorney in the diabetes division of Medtronic and the cochlear implant division of Sonova AG (Advanced Bionics) before that. He received his Juris Doctorate from Boston College Law School and bachelor’s from UC Irvine. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, 5-year-old and 2-year-old sons.

Michelle Choe is Senior Counsel for Apple Media Services at Apple Inc., advising clients across various products and services, including Apple Music, Apple TV, and Apple Fitness+. Prior to joining Apple, Michelle was a technology transactions and copyright litigation associate at Covington & Burling LLP, representing clients on music, software, and entertainment deals, in mergers and acquisitions, and in general commercial, copyright infringement and constitutional rights litigation. She also was an inaugural Barbara A. Ringer Honors Fellow at the U.S. Copyright Office, advising Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice on complex copyright issues and conducting industry-wide policy studies and rulemaking proceedings. Michelle received her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law and her B.A. from Columbia University.

Thy represents employers in single-plaintiff and multi-plaintiff lawsuits in state and federal court.  She regularly defends employers in lawsuits alleging causes of action for discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wage and hour violations, and other statutory and common-law claims arising from the employment relationship.  In addition to her litigation practice, Thy also performs workplace investigations and provides day-to-day counseling advice to employers. She is exceptionally skilled in all facets of courtroom advocacy, fact gathering, discovery, law and motion practice, and legal research.  She is often able to resolve matters quickly and efficiently, through creative and sometimes unconventional case strategy. She has been recognized as one of the “Best Under 40” by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (2020), one of the “Top 50 Up-and-Coming Women” and “Top 100 Up-and-Coming” by Southern California Super Lawyers® (2020-2022).

Katelyn Sullivan focuses her practice on employment litigation and counseling, representing clients in a wide range of cases involving discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, the Americans with Disabilities Act and wage and hour issues. She has substantial experience litigating before California and federal courts up to and including trial. Katelyn handles all aspects of litigation matters, including managing discovery, oversight of expert witnesses, deposing witnesses, drafting summary judgment motions, participating in oral argument, and trial preparation. She also provides counseling to clients, working with them to draft employment handbooks and policies, and arbitration and separation agreements.

Prior to joining the firm’s Labor and Employment practice, Katelyn practiced commercial litigation, handling complex contractual and real estate disputes. She successfully prosecuted and defended a wide range of cases in court as well as in arbitration.

Strongly committed to pro bono work, Katelyn has represented two Salvadoran asylum seekers both in Los Angeles Immigration Court and in their United States Citizenship and Immigration Services proceedings. She also worked with the Anti-Defamation League addressing Texas voting rights issues.

Rachel Waranch is Managing Counsel for Chanel, Inc., where she partners with the business and advises on a wide array of matters, with a focus on media, digital, public relations, marketing, events, retail, and data privacy. She oversees, drafts, and negotiates a wide variety of contracts in these areas, and is deeply involved in the company’s charitable foundation, having helped set up the legal structure in the United States. She has also managed the protection of Chanel’s intellectual property rights in the United States.

Prior to joining Chanel as in-house counsel, Rachel was an associate at Kaufman, Borgeest & Ryan, and interned at Chanel and Kate Spade while in law school. Rachel graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with honors, majoring in English and minoring in business, and received her J.D. from Cardozo Law School where she received a Dean’s Merit Scholarship and served as Acquisitions Editor of the Arts & Entertainment Law Journal. Originally from Baltimore, Rachel lived in New York City for almost ten years, and now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.

Maria C. Rodriguez advises US and international corporations with regard to employment law compliance and mergers and acquisitions; and defends employment cases and class action litigation. She is a trusted advisor to clients helping them avoid or resolve disputes and protect resources through proactive and strategic planning. She is experienced working with clients in the sports, media and entertainment, technology, food and restaurant, airline, transportation and distribution, health care and fashion industries.

She advises on and defends against class, collective, representative and individual claims arising under state and federal employment laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), and the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). Her litigation experience includes wage-and-hour, harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, retaliation, breach of employment contract, unlawful business practices, non-solicitation, trade secrets and other employment-related cases. She has successfully litigated dismissals by way of, early motions to dismiss, summary judgment and leveraging cases early to produce nuisance value resolutions. At trial, she has produced wins in multiple-plaintiff wage-and-hour, retaliation, discrimination, and wrongful termination cases and achieved a defense verdict in a high-profile, eight-week jury trial involving UNRUH civil rights claims brought by 26 plaintiffs against eight defendants.

Maria has extensive knowledge in the complexities involved in doing business in California, across the United States, and abroad, and her fluency in Spanish supports her work with Spanish and Latin America based clients. She defends employers in proceedings before governmental agencies, such as the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, the California Labor Commissioner, the US Department of Labor, the Department of Justice, and city and state government agencies that enforce employment.

Marina Torres is a partner in Willkie’s Litigation Department, where she is a member of the White-Collar Defense and Investigations & Enforcement Practices. Marina focuses on government and corporate internal investigations, white collar criminal defense, congressional inquiries, and complex civil litigation. 

A former federal prosecutor who served as lead or co-lead in over 30 trials in federal and state courts, Marina is an experienced litigator whose trial practice includes civil litigation, criminal investigations and enforcement. She has broad experience with government enforcement actions, corporate internal investigations, and solving complex and sensitive legal, policy, and regulatory issues.  She has also briefed and argued numerous appeals before the U.S. Courts of Appeals.

Sophia S. Lau is an experienced litigator and Partner at Early Sullivan.  Ms. Lau’s practice spans a wide variety of commercial litigation matters for both individual and corporate clients.  Ms. Lau has successfully litigated and resolved cases involving complex business, intellectual property, employment and real estate issues.  Additionally, Ms. Lau has represented actors, musicians and writers in negotiating and drafting licensing, television and other entertainment transactional agreements.

Shagha is currently the Associate General Counsel at WestRock Company – a global provider of paper and packaging solutions for consumer and corrugated packaging markets.  Prior to joining WestRock, Shagha was a partner at a national law firm where she practiced for 12 years focused exclusively on employment defense work – both single plaintiff and class actions. Shagha attended UC Berkeley for her undergraduate degrees and attended UC Davis School of Law.

Theresa Conduah is a partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group in the Orange County office of Haynes and Boone, LLP. Her practice focuses on advising clients on trademark disputes, patent litigation and technology transactions, among other matters.

Theresa has broad-based experience helping companies protect their intellectual property on a global scale, including providing strategic counsel on trademark and copyright portfolios; design patents; brand protection, and anti-counterfeit programs. She has served as an in- housel IP counsel at United Airlines, Toyota Motor North America, Inc. and, most recently, at dosist, a health and wellness company. Previously, as a lawyer in private practice, Theresa counseled both Fortune 500 and startup clients in the technology, financial services, entertainment and sports industries about IP prosecution and enforcement matters.

Theresa is a frequent speaker on intellectual property, brand protection, and diversity in the law issues.

Teri Witteman is chief legal officer and secretary of Beyond Meat, Inc., a leader in plant-based meat. Ms. Witteman is an accomplished C-suite legal professional with demonstrated leadership negotiating and implementing complex commercial and business transactions on behalf of public and private companies. With more than 25 years of experience, including more than 20 years as both internal and external general counsel, and 10 years as a public company secretary, she serves as a trusted board advisor on business strategy, legal compliance, and corporate governance.

Ms. Witteman joined Beyond Meat as its general counsel and secretary in May 2019 and has served as its chief legal officer and secretary since April 2021. In this role, she oversees the company’s global legal operations, including developing and implementing enterprise legal strategy, advising on global expansion, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, commercial contracts, and SEC reporting. She also advises all business units, including Finance, Operations, Supply Chain, Quality/Regulatory, Innovation, Marketing, Brand, Creative, and Human Resources, on cross-functional execution of Beyond Meat’s global initiatives which include helping humans eat healthier, fighting climate change, preserving natural resources and helping animals live better lives. Ms. Witteman serves on the Policy Committee of the Plant Based Foods Association and on the Bord of Directors of the El Segundo Economic Development Corporation.

She started her career with Latham & Watkins LLP in Los Angeles, where she focused on representing media and retail companies in M&A transactions and securities offerings, and representing underwriters in public offerings of equity, debt, and sophisticated derivative securities by technology, media, and retail companies.

She received her Juris Doctor degree, Order of the Coif, from UCLA School of Law, and her B.A. degree in Economics, with honors and distinction, from the University of California, Berkeley.

Ms. Zavala is an associate and recent graduate from the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law. A first-generation college and graduate student, she received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. Ms. Zavala assists various partners and associates with business, litigation, and trust and estates matters.

Lacey advises her clients on a wide range of litigation matters involving technology, cyber threats, copyrights, trademarks, contracts, film and television production, and insurance coverage disputes. She has extensive experience litigating cases in federal and state courts and overseeing large-scale litigation and e-discovery projects on behalf of interactive media companies, gaming conventions, film producers, and movie studios. Lacey has also represented multinational insurers in high-exposure liability litigation and coverage matters.

Before pursuing her legal career, Lacey served as a project director and new media producer at Turner Classic Movies, which provided her with the foundation necessary to counsel on entertainment-related transactions, including negotiating and drafting film, television, and new media agreements. She is also often retained by gaming and social media companies to assist them on high-stakes copyright, trademark, and other IP matters.

Jiaxiao Zhang is an intellectual property partner in the Los Angeles office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Her practice primarily focuses on intellectual property litigation matters. Jiaxiao is an experienced patent attorney and former engineer.

Jiaxiao was in-house as a patent agent at Canon, U.S.A., Inc., a patent agent and technical advisor in boutique IP law firms, and a USPTO patent examiner. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering through studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Jiaxiao was a supplier quality engineer/component engineer at Guidant Corporation, Cardiac Rhythm Management (later acquired by Boston Scientific and Abbott Laboratories), and also has experience in design engineering, biotechnology laboratories, research and retail.

Jiaxiao maintains an active pro bono practice and leadership roles in various Firm and local/bar organizations.

Hih Song is Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at BlueTriton Brands, home of responsibly and sustainably sourced and packaged spring and purified water and beverages including Poland Spring®, Deer Park®, Ozarka®, Ice Mountain®, Zephyrhills®, Arrowhead®, Pure Life®, and Splash, and direct-to-consumer and office beverage delivery service, ReadyRefresh®. A member of the Executive team reporting to the CEO, Hih Song leads legal, regulatory, and government affairs and works closely with the Board overseeing corporate governance. She provides legal support and strategic direction for M&A, product innovation and incubation, intellectual property, corporate and regulatory compliance, legal and risk management, governmental and internal investigations, litigation, real estate, data privacy and security, general commercial matters, and sustainability.

Before Blue Triton, Hih Song served as SVP, General Counsel at Kaplan Test Prep, the largest subsidiary of Graham Holdings, Inc (NYSE:GHC). Prior to that, Hih Song was SVP, General Counsel for Stoli Group USA. Hih Song began her in-house career at Unilever, where she served as Assistant General Counsel – Marketing/Regulatory & Litigation and then served on Colgate-Palmolive’s global legal team as Global Oral Care Counsel and Chief Litigation Counsel. Hih Song began her legal career in private practice as a corporate and litigation associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and litigation associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. 

She is on the Board of Directors of Day One (nonprofit partnering with youth to end dating abuse and domestic violence) and previously served on the Board of Trustees for the North Carolina School of Science & Mathematics and the Board of Directors of The Door (nonprofit providing comprehensive youth development services), Legal Information for Families Today (LIFT), and Urban Bush Women (modern dance company). Hih Song received her AB from Harvard University and JD from Harvard Law School. She is originally from North Carolina and resides in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.

Shruti Arora is Counsel within the Alphabet Regulatory Response, Investigations and Strategy (ARRIS) group at Google. She is responsible for addressing matters that are high-risk, high profile and involve regulatory scrutiny, for example enforcement actions, internal investigations, shareholder litigation, data incidents and insider risk, as well as proactive strategic projects to mitigate other emerging risks relating to the workforce across all of Alphabet globally. In the decade prior to joining Google, Shruti was a trial attorney in the UK and represented the UK government in a number of high-profile public inquiries. She has a Masters degree from the University of Oxford and is dual qualified (UK and California). 

Saerin Cho is an experienced mission-driven attorney, a nonprofit executive, and a law professor.  Saerin is the General Counsel of Digital Green Foundation, a global development organization that provides technology solutions for rural farmers to build prosperous communities.  She also teaches at the University of San Diego School of Law and serves as the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for Public Interest Registry (PIR) that manages mission-driven domains including .ORG.  Saerin holds a J.D. and an LL.M. in Taxation, Magna Cum Laude, from University of San Diego School of Law, and two B.A.s, Magna Cum Laude, in International Studies and Cum Laude, in Criminology, Law and Society from University of California, Irvine.  Saerin was born and raised in South Korea, moved to the U.S. as a teenager, and is of the first generation in her family to attend a university and law school.

Sanjesh Sharma is Senior IP Counsel at Johnson & Johnson Vision, where she manages all aspects of intellectual property for the company’s Refractive Surgery and Laser Cataract Surgery product lines, including managing domestic and international patent portfolios, litigation support, opposition practice, product clearances, due diligence for asset acquisitions and licensing, as well as copyright and trademark compliance.  Before moving in-house, she worked at various national and global law firms, focusing mainly on patent and trademark litigation, licensing, due diligence, and counseling involving a wide range of technologies, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and consumer electronics.

Sanjesh received her undergraduate degree in Microbiology from University of California, San Diego, and her law degree from Loyola Law School.  She currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Patent Interest Group for the IP Section of the California State Bar.  She regularly speaks on patents and in-house practice, and has been named Rising Star in Intellectual Property by Super Lawyers.

Nicole Reyes is the Vice President of Business Affairs at Sony Pictures Entertainment. She is responsible for structuring, negotiating and managing deals for all facets of scripted and unscripted television development, production and acquisitions. Prior to that, she was a Business Affairs Executive of NBCUniversal. Nicole earned her J.D. from the UCLA School of Law and B.A. in Public Policy and Sociology.

Tiaunia N. Henry is a Litigation partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Los Angeles office with a diverse practice that focuses primarily on complex business litigation, including antitrust, breach of contract and transnational cases.  As an experienced litigator and trial attorney, she has represented clients in various industries including the oil and gas, medical device, media and entertainment, and technology industries.  Ms. Henry has extensive experience representing multinational corporations, both foreign and domestic, in disputes that involve litigation pending in multiple jurisdictions, including the development of legal strategies to avoid inconsistent rulings, preclusion of claims, and/or waiver of defenses in subsequent litigation.

Ms. Henry is co-chair of the firm’s Los Angeles-Area Diversity Committee (2012 to the present).

Erin Hennessy focuses her practice on trademark law, copyright law and internet and social media issues spanning many industries including media, publishing, technology, retail, fashion and financial services. Erin has been recognized for bringing “high-level in-house experience” to her work, which “gives her a massive competitive advantage in the form of refined business acumen” (WTR 1000, Globe Business Publishing, 2018).

Erin counsels clients on all aspects of intellectual property with an emphasis on supporting legal, business and marketing teams with branding issues facing their businesses. She handles worldwide trademark matters including trademark counseling, clearance, registration, protection and enforcement, domain name and internet issues, litigation, licensing and transactional matters. She has worked on various policy issues such as the launch of the new gTLDs, trademark dilution, and cybersquatting.

Erin currently serves as Counsel to the International Trademark Association (INTA) Board of Directors, as Vice Chair of the INTA Political Action Committee, is a member of the Miami University College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Board, and a member of the Corsearch Advisory Board. Erin previously served as chief trademark counsel for Time Warner, a Board member of INTA, and chair of her prior firm’s Trademark and Copyright Practice.

Michael Thomas is a principal in the Orange County, California, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. and a co-leader of the firm’s Diversity Counseling practice group. His experience includes conducting DEI audits and climate surveys to assist clients in developing and implementing DEI initiatives that meets their goals and are legally compliant. He also provides a broad range of DEI workplace trainings including unconscious bias and microaggression trainings, and trainings on psychological safety and inclusive leadership. Michael has also conducted customized in-house seminars and training for managers, supervisors, and employees concerning employment compliance, including trainings regarding workplace harassment, discrimination and retaliation, wage and hour issues and workplace violence. Michael’s experience also includes defending employers in state and federal wage and hour class actions, litigation brought under the Private Attorney General’s Act (PAGA), and single plaintiff cases. Michael has defended employers in a wide variety of industries, including manufacturing, retail, restaurant, hospitality, transportation, janitorial services, security services, and the gig economy. He has a record of success obtaining pre-trial dismissals, successful settlements, and defense verdicts. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Bucknell University, a JD from Boston College Law School and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of California at Berkley, Walter A. Haas School of Business. More importantly, Michael has a Diversity and Inclusion Certification from Cornell University and a yoga certification from the Niroga Institute in Berkeley where he studied yoga, mindfulness and meditation. His approach to DEI includes best practices, neuroscience, adult learning, experiential learning, dialogue, body awareness and mindfulness.

Leslie is Principal Corporate Counsel at Microsoft supporting cloud and AI transactional matters. Prior to joining Microsoft, Leslie was at American Express  where she focused on consumer and small business financial regulations. Leslie attended University of Miami for her undergraduate degree and University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Connie L. Chen is a principal in the Los Angeles, California, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. Connie’s practice focuses on representing employers in all types of employment-related litigation in state and federal courts and in arbitration. Connie has broad experience litigating single plaintiff and class action cases involving wage and hour, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, and related claims. She assists employers in a variety of industries, including restaurant, hospitality, retail, manufacturing, construction, health care, transportation, and nonprofit. In addition, Connie defends employers against wage and hour claims before the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), and charges of discrimination before the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB), the California Civil Rights Department, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). She also routinely provides preventative counseling to employers on policies and practices governing day-to-day workplace issues, including wage and hour compliance, employee handbooks, requests for leave, disability accommodation, employee discipline, layoffs, and terminations.

Pankit J. Doshi serves as the Office Managing Partner for the Firm’s San Francisco and Silicon Valley Office.

Pankit focuses his practice on preventative counseling and representing employers in both state and federal courts up through trial and appeal. Pankit serves as lead counsel on cases involving issues related to prosecution and defense of unfair business competition claims, including trade secret misappropriation and restrictive covenant enforcement, independent contractor misclassification, whistleblower complaints, wage and hour disputes and individual claims for wrongful termination, sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation and breach of contract claims. Pankit also regularly defends employers in complex wage and hour class action and representative actions around the country.

Mona Hanna is Managing Partner of M&R’s Orange County office and the firm’s National Complex & Class Action Trial Chair. A premiere trial lawyer who has been named one of the best in Southern California, Mona takes a unique approach to her caseload. Her focus, from the beginning of any given dispute to its conclusion, is always on the goals of her client, whether that be an early resolution at the pleading stage, a jury verdict, or an outcome somewhere in between. Indeed, Mona has been able to achieve a high percentage of successful case resolutions for those she represents by clearly defining their objectives and staying “on-goal.” What sets Mona apart from so many of her peers is her capacity to deliver innovative solutions in cases of first impression and in matters in which her clients face the potential for catastrophic exposure. This is oftentimes the circumstance in the insurance and consumer class action, labor, employment, and commercial lawsuits she handles. That Mona has become an authority in the insurance, advertising and digital media, and financial services industries over her long professional career also differentiates her.Whether defending against claims of unfair competition, unfair business practices, misappropriation of trade secrets, professional negligence, wrongful termination, harassment and discrimination, wage and hour violations, or any of the other matters that have crossed her desk, Mona’s results are noteworthy. She has secured countless favorable outcomes in state and federal courts and courts of appeal, many of which have been memorialized in landmark published decisions. Another of her strengths is the use of alternative dispute resolution – mediation and arbitration – to avoid costly litigation. Beyond her role as Office Managing Partner and head of M&R’s Litigation Department, Mona is former Chair of the firm’s Class Action Group, founder of the Women Attorneys of M&R, and a member of the Executive, Recruiting, and Diversity, Multiculturalism, and Inclusion Committees. Mona is active in Working Wardrobes, an organization helping thousands of individuals overcome obstacles to assimilate back into the workforce. In 2014, she was elected to the Orange County Bar Association’s Board of Directors.

Annie helps clients obtain, enforce, and leverage their valuable intellectual property assets, and represents a wide range of creative individuals and companies in the fields of arts & entertainment, social media, sports & digital gaming, cosmetics, fashion, and emerging technology. A former TV news producer and reporter, her practice covers both transactional and litigation IP legal services including trademark prosecution and enforcement, copyright clearance and registration, rights enforcement strategies, brand management, publicity rights issues, and licensing.

Judith Praitis counsels clients on environmental transactional issues and on air, water and waste management permitting, compliance, release reporting and enforcement issues under California and federal law. With decades of experience in environmental law, Judith is a trusted source of legal and business guidance for clients working to develop and implement environmental management systems, audit compliance protocols, and anticipate and adapt to emerging regulatory environments. Judith has particular experience managing complex environmental matters for distressed entities, or those with material legacy environmental liabilities, to orchestrate a controlled resolution of such obligations. She is also adept at crafting novel settlements with governmental regulators and prosecutors.

Tiffiny Fox, Esq. is a valued leader within the firm’s Personal Injury Defense Practice Group. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with her BA in history and was chosen as a UCLA Law Fellow. She received her Juris Doctor cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law, Florida. Over the span of her career, Ms. Fox has worked in small, mid-sized, for “Big Law,” as in-house for Liberty Mutual Group and as a sole practitioner. In 2019, Ms. -Fox joined EGHB’s Los Angeles office where her practice areas include complex business litigation, civil litigation, insurance defense, SIU claims, cannabis law, as well as transportation torts. In this capacity she has litigated a wide variety of general liability, premises liability, and personal injury cases in comprehensive civil ligation matters, including construction law, product liability, toxic tort, and trucking and auto casualty. Ms. Fox prides herself on having an open-door policy for all EGHB associates and enjoys being a mentor to undergraduate and law school students as they embark on their journey as legal professionals.

Kevin currently serves as Associate General Counsel, Patents for Meta, where he has pioneered new ways to increase patent submissions from underrepresented inventor groups at Meta. He also counsels on legal issues related to the development of augmented and virtual reality products, including the Meta Quest line of VR products. Kevin currently resides in Southern California. His hobbies include golf and teaching his four-year-old son how to surf.