Elizabeth S. Balfour

Ben Coughlan is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs and Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs. Ben, who practices law in San Diego, California, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Ben is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

William Smelko is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation - Bankruptcy. William, who practices law in San Diego, California, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which William is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Denise M. Visconti is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Employment Law - Management. Denise M., who practices law in San Diego, California, has been recognized since 2022. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Denise M. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Nancy L. Stagg is a partner with Foley & Lardner LLP and vice chair of the Litigation Department for the San Diego office. Her practice emphasizes the defense of consumer class actions, unfair competition and false advertising litigation, as well as a wide variety of business and intellectual property litigation, including trade secret litigation. Ms. Stagg also has a background in product liability litigation. She has represented numerous publicly-held and private companies in nationwide...

Mark A. Spiegler is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Real Estate Law. Mark A., who practices law in San Diego, California, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Mark A. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Christine De Santis is a Partner at HFM and is certified as a legal specialist in family law by the State Bar of California. Ms. De Santis specializes in handling dissolution of marriage and paternity cases, child custody and visitation, child support and spousal support, and division of assets and debts, and mediations. She also handles step-parent adoptions and child support cases through the San Diego County Department of Child Support Services. Ms. De Santis has been named a San Diego Sup...

Rebecca L. O'Toole is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Trusts and Estates. Rebecca L., who practices law in San Diego, California, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Rebecca L. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

This firm is devoted exclusively to the practice of family law. Mr. Cruse and his three support staff handle complex family law cases and child custody disputes. Mr. Cruse is in his 35th year of the practice of law. His clients are business professionals, business owners, military officers, those with professional practices and the financially independent. Mr. Cruse is a recognized expert in electronic discovery.

Eric Acker is a partner and trial lawyer in the firm’s Intellectual Property Group. Mr. Acker has tried more than 50 trials (including more than 47 jury trials) in courtrooms across the country. Mr. Acker’s recent trials have involved a variety of technologies and significant legal issues. In the high-profile SCO v. Novell case, following a three-week trial, the jury affirmed our client Novell’s ownership of the copyrights to the UNIX software code and rejected SCO’s c...

Kenneth M. Fitzgerald is a highly experienced trial lawyer, practicing business litigation with an emphasis on complex commercial cases and intellectual property disputes. Before joining the firm, Mr. Fitzgerald was a partner at Latham & Watkins, where he successfully tried numerous cases to verdict in state and federal courts throughout the country. Mr. Fitzgerald has handled a wide variety of commercial litigation matters involving contracts, business torts, trademarks, trade dress, cop...