Jessica C. McElfresh

Matthew C. Smith has extensive experience in all aspects of civil litigation, including trials, arbitrations, and mediations. Matt represents individuals and business clients on a wide variety of professional and business litigation matters. He has served as lead counsel or co-counsel in more than a dozen trials and arbitrations. Matt also handled several successful appeals and has argued before the Fourth District Court of Appeal. Matt earned his Juris Doctor from Washington & Lee Univer...

John Rice, a former federal prosecutor, represents both individuals and corporations in a wide range of complex white collar matters, including SEC enforcement actions, anti-money laundering and bank secrecy act compliance matters, and foreign corrupt practices act investigations. Mr. Rice is an experienced litigator who has tried numerous cases to verdict, including dozens of federal jury trials, and argued cases before federal appellate courts. His practice focuses on white-collar criminal ...

A National Practice Devoted To Complex Federal Criminal Defense, Federal and State Habeas Litigation And Other Federal Matters. Ezekiel E. Cortez is a Board Certified Criminal Law Specialist, California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization after passing the federal specialist examination. As a devoted career criminal defense attorney, Mr. Cortez has unwaveringly devoted his practice to the defense of federal criminal cases and other federal matters since 1984. Since 1988 Mr. Cortez has als...

Mike (Mohammad) Kazerouni is one of the founding partners at Kazerouni Law Group APC. For over a decade Mike has dedicated his legal career to the representation of personal injury victims and consumer protection from dangerous and defective products. Mike has successfully represented thousands of clients and litigated hundreds of personal injury and consumer protection cases including wrongful death, traumatic brain injury, burn injuries, defective products litigation, lemon law, among other...

At Withers Bergman LLP, Steven focuses his practice on estate planning, trust and estate administration, charitable giving and representing tax-exempt organizations. He has designed and used computer modeling to show the economic consequences of various estate planning and charitable giving techniques. Steven is also experienced in the area of executive compensation, focusing on compensation and intermediate sanctions issues for tax-exempt organizations. Steven has represented exempt organiza...

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...

Adam B. Levine is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs and Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs. Adam B., 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 Adam B. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Rebecca Fortune is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Litigation - Real Estate and Real Estate Law. Rebecca, 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 Rebecca is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Noel Gillespie is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Patent Law and Trademark Law. Noel, 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 Noel is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Michael Neil, a trial lawyer and senior partner of the firm, specializes in civil litigation with emphasis in personal injury, professional liability, products liability, as well as business litigation. Mr. Neil has tried over 140 Superior Court cases to jury verdict. He is a past Secretary/Treasurer and the current President of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel. Mr. Neil is a past President of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel and holds the rank of Diplomat...