Christine E Ellice was promoted to partner of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP in Los Angeles.

Having worked at the firm since graduating from law school 15 years ago, attorney Christine E. Ellice has been promoted to partner at the Los Angeles office of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP.
"I've dedicated my legal career to Stroock, and I obviously believe in the firm and am appreciative of the culture," Ellice said in an interview.
"Christine is a true Stroock success story," said a statement from co-managing partner Alan M. Klinger. "Her career with us began as a summer associate in the New York office, and she joined us there as a firstyear after graduating from law school. Christine later transferred to our LA office as a third-year associate and now has made partner based on her fine legal work, commitment to clients and firm citizenship."
Ellice has developed a strong reputation in trial litigation, thanks in part to a forward-looking approach to her work.
"I approach every case as if it is going to trial," she said. "I'm always working backwards from the assumption that I'm going to eventually have to prove the case to a jury, a judge or, as is often the case, an arbitrator."
Among the many cases Ellice has tried, the class action TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, 141 S. Ct. 2190 stands out as exemplifying her no-stone-unturned approach.
"What's interesting about that case is it actually went up all the way to the Supreme Court," she said. "While Stroock didn't handle the appeal, many of the arguments we had raised leading up to trial, that we had made and preserved, were the ones that we ultimately prevailed on at the Supreme Court."
"That was a great experience because those cases so rarely go to trial, and a class action is such a different beast that having that experience is so rare," she added. "It was very valuable to me to be able to work up a class action case for trial as opposed to an individual case."
Some of the work Ellice has been most proud of has been litigating pro bono cases in immigration law, which she said she's always been passionate about.
"One of the things that really drew me to Stroock was that it has this amazing pro bono platform called the Public Service Project," she said.
Ellice worked pro bono cases from her first summer at the New York office, and since then has dedicated herself to immigration cases involving asylum.
"It's been one of the most rewarding aspects of my legal career," she said. "It's something I feel passionately about, and it gives me an opportunity to make an actual real world impact on a family's life."
As a newly-minted partner at Stroock, Ellice says she looks forward to continuing to work with what she calls the firm's "extremely talented legal minds."
"Two maternity leaves, moving cross-country and all the ups and downs of life -- it's all happened at Stroock. So I'm just very excited to be promoted to partner and to be able to hopefully do more in that position at the firm," she added.

Elizabeth M Bock was promoted to partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Los Angeles.

Representing prominent health care companies, Bock is also on the board of governors and the Foundation Board of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles.

Brian M Cook was promoted to partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Los Angeles.

A nuclear physicist and former Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer in addition to his litigation work, Cook represents clients in patent, trade secret and licensing matters throughout the consumer electronics, broadcasting, software and wireless communication industries, among others.

J. Jorge deNeve was promoted to partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Los Angeles.

Specializing in SEC enforcement, deNeve has represented issuers, executives and investment advisers in investigations involving accounting, disclosure and internal control issues.

Megan K Smith was promoted to partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Century City.

Smith has represented fashion houses, hoteliers, automobile manufacturers, real estate companies and financial institutions, and once helped a prominent homebuilder defeat a nine-figure suit in a case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

Wenting Yu was promoted to partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Silicon Valley.

Yu specializes in venture financing, mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt offerings and joint ventures. She also has experience working with Cayman Islands based entities operating in the U.S. and China.

Ronald L Cheng joined Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP as litigation partner in Los Angeles.

Following a distinguished career that has taken him across the Pacific and back, former government attorney Ronald L. Cheng has joined Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP as a litigation partner in Los Angeles, where he will handle cases for Chinese clients in the U.S.
"I've already been able to start working on client matters and I see a lot of potential to develop this area, which has been an interest of mine ever since I did my time in China at the U.S. Embassy on behalf of the Department of Justice in the mid- 2000s," Cheng said in an interview.
Cheng worked as the DOJ's resident adviser at the embassy in Beijing from 2005 to 2007, trying to promote rule-of-law development in criminal matters.
"My assignment was to develop relationships within and outside the Chinese government with all parties involved in the criminal process," Cheng said. "That involved the public security bureaus and ministry as well as the prosecutors, courts, defense lawyers and academics doing research and proposing reforms
in this area."
Traveling through about 25 of China's provinces and self-governing cities, Cheng's work included a high profile embezzlement case that reached all the way to federal court in Las Vegas.
"That involved corrupt officials from a Chinese bank who had embezzled $482 million from the bank and then absconded to the United States to avoid prosecution," he said.
Continuing his work in the U.S. attorney's office in Nevada as chief of the criminal division, Cheng guided 40 up-and-coming federal prosecutors during the uncertain early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
"We had to deal with keeping the criminal system running during this period when trials were not taking place, when it was even difficult to have initial appearances, charge cases and make sure the defendants were guaranteed their right to indictment by grand jury," Cheng said. "Some of these basic things we took for granted were very difficult to implement, but we got it up and running and I think we kept the dislocation to a minimum."
Cheng also oversaw cases involving civil unrest, including an alleged plot to commit violence in Las Vegas by the Boogaloo movement, as well as narcotic and firearms trafficking by the MS13 gang.
"There was quite a bit that we were able to accomplish during that time," he said. "Of course, that's against the backdrop of bringing in a large number of new AUSAs, getting them trained and making sure that they got responsibility and were in a position to handle it in the office and in court."
"I'm ecstatic to have Ron join our team," Geoffrey Sant, co-chair of Pillsbury's China practice, said in a news release. "Just in the last year, we won judgments totaling nine figures for our clients in U.S.-China litigation matters, and we are busier than ever. Adding one of the most experienced and accomplished trial litigators in the United States is a tremendous coup. Ron has a skill set and track record of success in China-related trials and litigations that is unrivaled."

Jennifer L. Bryant was promoted to partner of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP in Los Angeles.

Jennifer L. Bryant, based in Los Angeles, focuses on high-stakes complex commercial litigation with an emphasis on legal challenges faced by the entertainment and technology industries, including trade secret, copyright and privacy issues. She has experience litigating cases at all stages, from providing pre-suit counseling to writing dispositive motions, and from taking and defending depositions to examining witnesses at trial. A former clerk to Chief Judge George H. King of the Central District of California, Bryant was named one of The LGBT Bar's "Best LGBTQ+ Lawyers Under 40" in 2021.

Wesley T.L. Burrell was promoted to partner of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP in Los Angeles.

Wesley T.L. Burrell’s practice spans a broad range of high-profile litigation matters concerning complex, often novel, finance, intellectual property and corporate governance issues on behalf of clients ranging from financial institutions and major corporations to start-ups. A Los Angeles litigator, Burrell also maintains an active pro bono practice, representing asylum seekers and domestic trafficking victims. Before joining the firm, he clerked for Judge Ferdinand F. Fernandez of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He also served as a judicial extern to Judge Consuelo M. Callahan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Nicholas D. Fram was promoted to partner of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP in San Francisco.

Nicholas D. Fram is a litigator in the San Francisco office whose practice focuses on high-stakes complex commercial litigation, internal investigations and mass torts. He is active in the community and with local bar associations. Prior to joining the firm, Fram clerked for Judge Michael A. Chagares of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Judge George B. Daniels of the Southern District of New York.

Tyler Hilton was promoted to partner of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP in Los Angeles.

Tyler Hilton, a Los Angeles lawyer, advises buyers and sellers in public and private M&A transactions. He also represents companies and investors in a variety of equity financing and commercial transactions, as well as corporate governance matters. He was part of the team that advised Intel Corp. in the $9 billion sale of its NAND memory chip business to SK Hynix Inc. Hilton maintains a pro bono practice representing immigrants before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and in asylum proceedings.

Craig Jennings Lavoie was promoted to partner of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP in Los Angeles.

Craig Jennings Lavoie handles high-stakes civil litigation from Munger Tolles’ Los Angeles office. His major representations include the owners of the LA Clippers in litigation related to the team’s new arena in Inglewood, and Kobe Bryant’s widow in litigation against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s and Fire Departments regarding the improper taking and sharing of photos of human remains, which is scheduled for trial in February. He is a former law clerk to Judge Michelle T. Friedland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Vincent Y. Ling was promoted to partner of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP in Los Angeles.

Vincent Y. Ling, based in Los Angeles, focuses on intellectual property litigation and counseling, including patent infringement and trade secret matters. He has represented clients across a range of industries, spanning biopharmaceuticals, wireless communications and computer technologies. Ling joined the firm after clerking for Judge Sharon Prost of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He also clerked for Judge Kent A. Jordan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Judge Sue L. Robinson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

Jonathan S. Meltzer was promoted to partner of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP in Washington, D.C..

Jonathan S. Meltzer handles appellate and complex civil litigation from Munger Tolles’ Washington, D.C., office. He frequently briefs cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and federal and state appellate courts, including as a member of the team that defended before the Supreme Court the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act on behalf of the U.S. House of Representatives. He also regularly represents a range of clients in complex civil litigation. Prior to joining the firm, Meltzer served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General in the U.S. Department of Justice.

Jennifer L Mitchell joined Baker & Hostetler LLP as partner in Los Angeles.

Mitchell has litigated privacy matters in the health care and entertainment industries, having served as vice president of privacy and legal compliance at Sony Pictures and as a global privacy officer at Abbott Laboratories.
"I think in some ways, even though the industries are very different, the challenges relating to privacy compliance and grappling with new laws as they're enacted have really been similar in more ways than I expected," Mitchell said in an interview.

April E Isaacson was promoted to managing partner of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP in San Francisco.

With a legal career beginning in the U.S. military before crossing over into civilian law, April A. Isaacson has been a mainstay at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP since the firm's earliest days and will now serve as managing partner in San Francisco.
Isaacson was an associate at the firm's predecessor, Townsend Townsend & Crew, starting in 2002 before making partner in 2004. Before that she had worked as a Navy JAG officer from 1995 to 1999 litigating complex criminal jury trial proceedings.
In this position, Isaacson said in an interview, she received leadership training that was "really outstanding,
as well as world class training in terms of the legal training." When she decided to go into private practice, she was able to put that training to use in a civilian setting.
"It's definitely a transition from doing the criminal trial work to doing the civil litigation," Isaacson said. "But it was great for me to have the trial experience that I'd gotten when I was in the Navy and be able to translate that into the courtroom in a civil proceedings context."
After departing from Kilpatrick's predecessor in 2007, Isaacson rejoined the firm in its revamped form last year. She ... has since been an integral part of our San Francisco office," Roger D. Wylie, managing partner in Seattle, said in a news release. "April will do an outstanding job leading our second largest office."