The National Law Journal's L.A. Legal Pad

Taylor rejoins Wilson Sonsini in Palo Alto

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has announced that Barry Taylor has rejoined the firm as a partner in the corporate and securities practice. He will be based in their Palo Alto office.

Prior to joining Warburg Pincus, he had been a senior corporate partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. As a managing director in the technology, media, and telecom group at Warburg Pincus, Taylor participated in the investment process for new deals and supported existing portfolio companies in Silicon Valley. He also managed the Menlo Park office for eight years and worked with Warburg's professionals in India and China on cross-border investments and servicing India- and China-based portfolio companies active in the United States.

In his prior 16-year tenure as a partner in Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati's corporate and securities practice, Taylor represented public and private companies in a wide range of matters, including private financings of preferred stock, convertible debt, and bridge loans with warrants, as well as both issuers and underwriters in public offerings. He also advised clients on public company governance and disclosure, reporting, and proxy matters, and negotiated and structured merger and acquisition transactions.

Taylor was a member of the New York Stock Exchange's Legal Advisory Board for three years and the National Association of Securities Dealers' Legal Advisory Board for six years. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1975, and a B.A. in political science from Dickinson College in 1970.

Former WSGR of counsel now General Counsel of CODA Automotive

CODA Automotive, a company that manufactures all-electric vehicles and transportation-related battery systems, has announced the hiring of Christopher Rose as its General Counsel.

Prior to joining CODA, Mr. Rose was Of Counsel with the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto.  Prior to that, he was a Senior Vice President, and the Associate General Counsel of Fidelity National Financial, in Jacksonville, Florida.

Mr. Rose started his legal career at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, where he worked for seven years and spent time in the firm's Los Angeles, San Francisco, Palo Alto and Boston offices.

He received his J.D. from the UCLA School of Law with coursework concentrations in corporate and tax law. He received his M.B.A. with Distinction from the Harvard Business School with coursework concentration in finance and accounting, and earned an A.B. with Highest Honors in Economics from UC Berkeley.

Sacks Glazier partner is new Chair of CA State Bar Trusts & Estates Section

Margaret Lodise, a partner with the trusts and estates litigation firm Sacks Glazier Franklin & Lodise LLP, was recently installed as Chair of the California State Bar Trusts & Estates Section Executive Committee at the State Bar’s 83rd Annual Meeting in Monterey, CA on September 26, 2010. Ms. Lodise previously served as Vice-Chair.

As Chair, Ms. Lodise will oversee the activities of the section subcommittees. Those subcommittees are charged with providing education to the section’s members, monitoring, drafting, and critiquing legislation affecting those areas of the law which have an impact on the trusts and estates field, and providing services to clients and the general public, such as the educating seniors program which provides valuable education to seniors to help them to find proper estate planning vehicles and avoid scams. Section membership includes more than 6,000 attorneys with interests and expertise in Estate Planning, Income and Transfer Taxes, Trust and Estate Administration, Trust and Estate Litigation, Incapacity (including Conservatorship, Guardianship, and Elder Law), and Ethics.

Ms. Lodise is also a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, past Chair of the Trusts and Estates Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and is a former President of the Women Lawyers' Association of Los Angeles. She serves on the Board of Trustees of Pomona College and on the Board of Governors for the City Club of Los Angeles.

Nahai joins Lewis Brisbois in L.A.

Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith has announced that H. David Nahai will be joining the firm as a partner in their Los Angeles office. He will co-chair the firm’s energy, environmental and water practice and real estate practice.

A well-recognized environmental leader, David Nahai has three decades of experience representing public and private companies in complex real estate, energy, water and environmental matters. He is the former Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the former President of the LADWP Board of Commissioners, and the former Chair of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board). Mr. Nahai was appointed by Mayor Villaraigosa to the LADWP and served in the administrations of Governors Wilson, Davis, and Schwarzenegger while on the Regional Board.

Mr. Nahai led the overall transformation of the LADWP including the unprecedented expansion of the utility's renewable energy portfolio; the origination and execution of the City's groundbreaking Water Supply Plan; the attainment of historic reductions in water consumption in the City; the realization of record-breaking energy efficiency levels; and the launch and implementation of water and power infrastructure improvement programs. Under his leadership, the LADWP increased its renewable energy portfolio from 3 percent in 2005 to around 15 percent by the end of 2009.

Mr. Nahai is also widely recognized as a leading expert on water issues. He served for over 10 years on the Regional Board, including an unprecedented four terms as its chairman. He is credited with reinvigorating the effectiveness of the Regional Board and spearheading some of its most aggressive programs, especially in the area of coastal protection.

He holds graduate and post-graduate degrees in law from the London School of Economics and the University of California at Berkeley, and was a Visiting Scholar at Berkeley. He will continue to maintain his consulting practice under his company, David Nahai Consulting Services, LLC, and will remain a Senior Advisor to the Clinton Climate Initiative.

Ritchey joins Hopkins & Carley in San Jose

Hopkins & Carley has announced the addition of Gary H. Ritchey to its San Jose office as a Shareholder in the Litigation department.

Ritchey's particular emphasis is patent litigation, although he has represented clients on a variety of intellectual property and business litigation matters. In his patent cases he has represented both plaintiffs and defendants on matters concerning a variety of different technologies, including wireless LANs, business intelligence software, orthodontic devices, angular rate sensors, wound healing agents, computer graphics and plasmid vectors. He has done work for such diverse clients as the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Australia's national science agency), Amgen, NVIDIA and eBay.

Ritchey received his Juris Doctor degree from U.C. Berkeley School of Law, Boalt Hall. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Santa Clara University and a Doctorate in Experimental Psychology from U.C. San Diego. He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1988. Prior to joining Hopkins & Carley, Dr. Ritchey worked as a Litigation Partner with Townsend and Townsend and Crew in Palo Alto and with Cooley Godward Kronish in Palo Alto.

Rogers joins Seyfarth Shaw as of counsel in L.A.

Seyfarth Shaw LLP announced the addition of trusts & estates lawyer John T. Rogers, Jr. to its Los Angeles office as of counsel.

Rogers specializes in trust, estate, and conservatorship administration and litigation. He also helps clients with estate planning, alternative dispute resolution and professional responsibility in trust and estate administration. He has served as an expert witness in a number of cases involving such issues as breach of fiduciary duty and attorney ethics and malpractice. He was previously a partner with Luce Forward. Rogers is certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization for estate planning, trust and probate law.

Rogers has participated in over three dozen seminars and conferences on trusts & estates law ranging in topics from ethics to fiduciary responsibility as well as litigation. He has also authored a number of articles on these topics. He is former chair of the Los Angeles Bar Association Trusts & Estates Section and past president of the Los Angeles Estate Planning Council.

Rogers received his law degree from UCLA School of Law and his B.S., with distinction, from Stanford University. He is admitted to the California Bar and the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

New associate at Levene Neale in Century City

Levene, Neale, Bender, Yoo & Brill L.L.P. has announced the appointment of Gwendolen D. Long as an associate in its Century City office.

Long joined Levene Neale from the New York office of Brown Rudnick LLP, where she represented individual creditors as well as ad hoc and official creditors’ committees in out-of-court and Chapter 11 restructurings involving such cases as Lehman Brothers Holding, Inc., Visteon, Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc. and Herbst Gaming, Inc.

She also has experience with debtor-in-possession financing, contested confirmations and complex litigation arising out of bond indentures.

Prior to attending Georgetown University Law Center where she earned her Juris Doctor in 2007, she worked as a paralegal for the U.S. Department of Justice. She also has a Masters degree in elementary education from Boston College and a Bachelor degree in sociology from California State University at Sacramento.

Holden joins Lewis Brisbois in L.A.

Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith has announced the addition of Craig Holden as a partner in the Intellectual Property, Entertainment, and Commercial Litigation practice groups. He will be based in the Los Angeles office.

Holden has first-chair jury trial experience in federal and state court, and has served as lead appellate counsel before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He has been involved in some of the most notable and high-profile copyright, patent, trademark and rights of publicity cases in recent history, including In re Napster Copyright Litigation (representing the successful major record labels), Intergraph v. Intel et al. (representing Intergraph in its recovery of over $500 million in computer patent infringement litigation), trademark litigation involving world famous brands of Fortune 500 companies, and rights of privacy litigation involving famous celebrities. Mr. Holden was a member of the 2004 American Lawyer’s "Intellectual Property Litigation Department of the Year," and has been honored by local and national organizations.

He has served as Faculty for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, and is Co-Chair of the IP Litigation Committee, for the California State Bar’s IP Section. Craig is also the Chair-Elect of the State Bar’s Council on Access & Fairness, a “think tank” on diversifying the legal profession.

Allen Matkins gains Piazza in Del Mar Heights

Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP has announced that Ethna M.S. Piazza has joined its corporate practice group in the firm's Del Mar Heights office.

For more than 25 years Piazza has advised entrepreneurs, investors, family-owned businesses and companies ranging from start-ups, to mid-market (both public and private), to multi-national corporations in a significant number of mergers and acquisitions, business and international contracts, and technology and intellectual property matters. She represents a broad range of clients, including golf and sporting goods companies, security companies, aerospace and defense companies, medical device manufacturers, apparel companies, and entrepreneurs. Her principal areas of practice are business transactions, mergers and acquisitions, technology transactions, corporate finance (including venture capital and equity fund financings), international contracts, manufacturing, distribution, licensing and joint ventures. She also advises clients on Internet law issues such as privacy, electronic signatures, and website development, hosting and product fulfillment.

Prior to joining Allen Matkins, Piazza was a shareholder with Houston-based Chamberlain Hrdlicka. Prior thereto she was a partner in the Del Mar Heights office of Sheppard Mullin. She was also in-house counsel at Exxon, where she handled M&A activities in refining, shipping and pipeline, as well as natural resource damage issues.

In 1985, Piazza received her J.D. from the University of Texas. In 1982, she received her B.S. from the University of Houston. She is admitted to practice in California and Texas.

Levin and Loui join Winston & Strawn in L.A.

Winston & Strawn LLP has announced that C. James Levin and Warren Loui have joined the firm’s Los Angeles office as partners. Levin joins Winston from O’Melveny & Myers LLP, where he was a partner in and former co-chair of the firm’s M&A/Private Equity practices. Loui comes to Winston from Mayer Brown LLP, where he was a partner in its banking and finance department, and the Los Angeles Finance practice leader.

Levin has represented numerous Fortune 500 companies as well as private companies in their acquisitions and business dispositions, and has advised many prominent investment banking firms. Loui’s representation of lenders and issuers includes acquisition financings of up to $3.7 billion, and structured financings and other securitizations in transactions valued up to $6 billion, including some of the first securitizations of non-performing loans and life settlements, the first securitization of electronic automobile receivables, and the first securitization under the Federal Reserve’s Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility.

Levin earned his J.D. from Northwestern University, cum laude, where he was a member of the Northwestern Law Review. He also earned an M.M. from Northwestern University, and a B.A. from DePauw University. Loui earned his J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he was an associate editor of the Stanford Law Review. He also has an M.B.A. from Stanford University, and a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.