Kathleen Balatbat

Janice Walshok has experience primarily in the fields of personal injury, including wrongful death, product liability, and insurance bad faith. She had the distinct honor of serving as a judicial extern for the Honorable John A. Houston for the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Janice has successfully tried several jury trials, argued before the Second District Court of Appeal, and prevailed at the Ninth Circuit in upholding a corporate client’s defen...

Jim Krenn is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Mergers and Acquisitions Law. Jim, 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 Jim is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Dick Semerdjian is a founding partner of Schwartz Semerdjian and heads up the firm’s litigation department. Dick’s clients range from Fortune 100 and 500 publicly traded companies to small businesses and individuals. Dick is also experienced in both plaintiff and defense side work which lends to his unique ability to formulate creative and effective legal and resolution strategies in even the most complex of litigation matters. Over the span of his over 31 year career, Dick has be...

Louis Mezzullo’s principal areas of practice are Taxation, Estate and Business Succession Planning, and Employee Benefits. He was on the faculty of the University of Miami School of Law Graduate Program in Estate Planning from 2004 to 2007 and on the faculty of the University of San Diego School of Law in 2009. He was an adjunct professor of law at the University of Richmond Law School from 1978 until 2006. He is listed in Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who in Emerging Leaders and Who...

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

Ryan H. Nell is an employment attorney responsible for representing California employers statewide in both counseling and comprehensive litigation support. With the ever-changing landscape of California and federal employment law, Ryan prides himself on assisting clients in staying ahead of the curve in an effort to avoid legal trouble before it arises. He has extensive experience representing clients in harassment, retaliation, and discrimination matters, as well as large-scale wage and hour...

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...

Steven A. Goldfarb, a former longtime co-chair of Hahn Loeser’s national Litigation Practice Area , is a skilled and highly acclaimed trial lawyer practicing in California and Ohio with experience representing companies and individuals across the country in diverse business litigation matters. In addition to leading the firm’s well-recognized Class Action and Title Insurance Industry Teams, Steve has significant experience in unfair competition/trade secrets, insurance coverage/ba...

James Lance is an experienced trial attorney who has represented both plaintiffs and defendants for 38 years. He regularly represents defendants in bet-the-company litigation, and has obtained several 7 and 8 figure verdicts, judgments and settlements for personal injury and commercial plaintiffs. Lance obtained a judgment of $12,933,000 in 2024 for an individual plaintiff asserting an employment claim. In addition to commercial matters, Lance routinely represents individuals asserting seriou...

Frank L. Tobin is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Litigation - Labor and Employment. Frank L., who practices law in San Diego, California, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Frank L. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.