Melissa R. Karlsten

Fariba Faiz is a distinguished immigration law attorney, renowned for her unparalleled expertise in handling a diverse range of cases, including corporate H-1B, L-1, O-1, E-2 visas, as well as EB-1, NIW, and PERM cases. With a career spanning over two decades, her journey began when she became a member of the CA State Bar in June 1998, and since then, she has carved a niche for herself as a prominent figure in the field. Her exceptional achievements reached a zenith in 2024 when she was honor...

Michael W. Bien is a founding partner of Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP where he concentrates his litigation practice on complex commercial litigation, class actions, constitutional and civil rights law, antitrust, intellectual property, disability rights, and attorneys’ fees disputes. He was managing partner for 27 years, stepping down in January 2018. Mr. Bien was named a California Lawyer Attorney of the Year for 2010 by both California Lawyer magazine and The Recorder and was ...

Jill Dodd chairs the firm’s estate planning and personal representation practice, focusing on gift, estate and philanthropic planning for very-high-net-worth individuals and families. Jill counsels very-high-net-worth individuals in all aspects of gift, estate and philanthropic planning. She has extensive experience designing and implementing a variety of sophisticated structures, including family limited partnerships, grantor retained annuity trusts, insurance trusts, complex grantor t...

The Daily Journal describes Anna-Rose Mathieson as “one of the West Coast’s leading appellate litigators.” She’s been named one of the Top Women Attorneys in California three times, is certified as an appellate specialist by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California, and taught appellate writing at Stanford Law School. She served as a law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court. Anna-Rose draws from her broad experience to ...

Joseph C. Gratz is a lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice areas of Copyright Law, Litigation - Intellectual Property, Litigation - Patent and Trademark Law. Joseph C. practices law in San Francisco, California Best Lawyers has recognized Joseph C. Gratz since 2012. The Best Lawyers recognition is based on a peer-review survey of lawyers in the same geographic region and legal practice area. The recognition reflects the professional regard in which Joseph C. Gratz is held by other...

David Cheng is the chair and managing partner of Nixon Peabody’s China and Asia-Pacific practice. He is qualified in both the United States and Hong Kong. He focuses on cross-border transactions, litigations and investigations, advising on issues ranging from acquisitions, capital financing (initial public offering), intellectual property protection and disputes to fraud, FCPA and SEC investigations. He has a client portfolio from all over the world: United States, Middle East, Europe, ...

After leading BigLaw teams for years in high stakes and precedent setting cases in U.S. courts and international arbitration tribunals, Mr. Chao in May 2019 launched a boutique enabling him to sit as arbitrator, mediator, and special master, and to handle selected litigation matters. He was a partner for 29 years at a 1,000 lawyer global firm, where he founded and led the international litigation and arbitration practice; and for 6 years, he served as the U.S. head of the international arbitr...

Gregory C. Cheng is a lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice areas of Employment Law - Management and Litigation - Labor and Employment. Gregory C. practices law in San Francisco, California Best Lawyers has recognized Gregory C. Cheng since 2027. The Best Lawyers recognition is based on a peer-review survey of lawyers in the same geographic region and legal practice area. The recognition reflects the professional regard in which Gregory C. Cheng is held by other lawyers.

Scott Righthand is the principal of the Law Office of Scott Righthand, a San Francisco personal injury law firm exclusively representing plaintiffs. He did his undergraduate work at University of Colorado, Boulder and graduated from UC Hastings in San Francisco in 1979 becoming a member of the California Bar in that year. From 1979-1982 he was an associate at Furth, Fahrner and Wong, an antitrust/administrative law firm in San Francisco. From 1982-1992 he was employed as an associate and then...

Stephen C. Ryan is a lawyer recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area of Real Estate Law. Stephen C. practices law in San Francisco, California Best Lawyers has recognized Stephen C. Ryan since 2013. The Best Lawyers recognition is based on a peer-review survey of lawyers in the same geographic region and legal practice area. The recognition reflects the professional regard in which Stephen C. Ryan is held by other lawyers.