Erwin J. Shustak

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...

John P. Cleary is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Corporate Law. John P., who practices law in San Diego, California, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which John P. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Sarah T. Schaffer, CFLS is a family law attorney and mediator, holding the prestigious Certified Family Law Specialist designation from the State Bar of California. Schaffer Family Law Group, APC is a full-service Mediation, Divorce, and Family Law firm dedicated to delivering practical & effective results to high net-worth clients. Ms. Schaffer builds her practice on a thorough knowledge of the law, excellent research skills, superior presentation to the court, and most of all calm, comp...

HFM Partner Mitch Dubick concentrates his practice in tax controversy matters, representing individuals and business entities before the IRS and all state taxing authorities, and his work also includes business, real estate, and tax planning. Mr. Dubick’s years of experience and cost-effective solutions have made him the choice of clients, accountants, and other lawyers to handle their tax disputes, including audits, overdue returns, offshore accounts, appeals, collection matters (inclu...

John Fiske is California’s leading public entity-as-plaintiff lawyer and a shareholder in the San Diego offices of Baron & Budd. Mr. Fiske has resolved more than $2.5 billion dollars for public entity clients since 2018. John Fiske was the 2020 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year in Environmental Litigation and is a ten-time consecutive Super Lawyer. John Fiske has been instrumental in the wildfire litigation in California. He has resolved approximately $1.6 billion for more than...

Deyan P. Spiridonov is a member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions practice. He is a member of the California State Bar Association. Deyan practices in the area of mergers and acquisitions and has represented public and private companies in the telecommunications, semiconductor, software, technology-related defense contracting, biotechnology and financial industries. Mr. Spiridonov has experience in structuring and negotiating all aspects of acquisition transactions, including sto...

Johanna Schiavoni is certified as a specialist in appellate law by the State Bar of California and has nearly two decades of appellate experience. She has argued more than 40 cases in the state and federal appellate courts, and has been the principal brief-writer in at least 100. Johanna is a leader of state and local legal associations. She was the 2020 President of the San Diego County Bar Association, which serves nearly 10,000 members of the San Diego legal community. In 2023, Johanna was...

Carolina Bravo-Karimi is a member of the firm's Employment Law group. Her practice is focused on representing employers in a variety of employment disputes, including wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation and wage and hour litigation. Representing both public and private entities, Carolina is an expert in handling complex matters and balancing the needs of several high-profile stakeholders. Carolina also serves as Practice Chair of our recently launched Diversity, Equi...

Known for being a clear thinker and articulate writer, HFM Partner John Morris uses his expertise to creatively negotiate compensation, representing plaintiffs and defendants as both appellants and respondents. Mr. Morris' practice is devoted exclusively to civil appeals, and during his nearly 38 years at HFM, he has served as lead appellate counsel in hundreds of cases in California Courts of Appeal and in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal. He has also appeared before the California Supreme ...

Mr. Rowles is Chair of the San Diego Corporate Group and former co-chair of the firm’s Emerging Company Venture Capital Group and Private Equity Fund Formation Group. He has practiced in San Diego for over 20 years and has a wealth of experience as corporate counsel to public and private companies, and the venture capital and private equity funds that invest in those companies. Mr. Rowles has extensive industry experience in telecommunications, software, internet, semiconductors, entert...