Stefan Bernhard

Ken Deutsch is Global Co-Chair of the Entertainment and Media practice of Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s Century City office. He represents a broad array of operating entities in the entertainment and media industries, including film and television studios, streaming platforms, and independent media companies, advising on their most significant corporate transactions as well as on a variety of film, television, and other commercial ventures. Mr. Deutsch also routinely represen...

Senior partner and Best Lawyers® honoree Lisa Reilly Payton focuses her law practice on estate planning, tax planning, and federal and state tax controversy. Lisa is a popular speaker and has appeared multiple times on the Emmy Award-winning talk show The List. Lisa's estate planning experience includes helping individuals, couples, and business owners identify their planning options and tailoring their choices to their unique situations and goals. In guiding her clients through the plann...

Sean Clancy is the team leader of Nixon Peabody’s Tax practice, and a member of the firm’s Public Company Transactions team. He assists clients with a broad range of tax and business planning matters and related tax policy matters. My focus Tax Planning I advise clients on federal tax planning, including assistance in structuring mergers and acquisitions and other transactions. In addition, I counsel private equity funds on domestic and cross-border taxation and corporate finance ...

Steve Goodson is the leader of the firm's Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group . His practice is concentrated in employee benefits, ERISA and related tax matters. He has extensive experience with qualified retirement plans, executive compensation matters, health and welfare benefit plans and related tax matters. Steve has substantial experience with the negotiation and structuring of employee benefit matters in connection with acquisitions and mergers. He assists clients regul...

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...

Wade Fricke has practiced management-side labor and employment law since 1989. He was one of three attorneys who founded the Cleveland office of the firm. Prior to joining the firm, Wade was a partner in Cleveland’s oldest law firm, and before that, he worked for the Cleveland office of a national full-service law firm.Wade represents companies of all sizes across the country in virtually all aspects of employee relations in union and non-union settings. In both settings, Wade’s p...

Nate Johnson is a Shareholder and Co-Chair of the General Litigation Section. His practice focuses on insurance defense claims, product liability, toxic tort, strategic risk and crisis management. Nate has successfully tried numerous cases to verdict throughout Wisconsin. Nate has significant experience litigating cases in the following areas: Products liability Insurance coverage Business/Commercial disputes Construction Personal injury Wrongful Death Premise liability Professional liability

John Baron is the lead partner of the Charlotte office’s Federal and International Tax Group, partner-in-charge of the Charlotte office and chair of the partners committee. His practice is principally transactional in nature, and his clients include both domestic and foreign companies and financial institutions, as well as private equity firms, CDOs and hedge funds. He regularly provides tax structuring advice and renders tax opinions with respect to mergers and acquisitions, structured...

Mr. Zackin joined the firm in 1975, and has, for many years, engaged in general commercial litigation with a concentrated practice of employment law in the areas of litigation and client counseling. He has been particularly active in discrimination and wrongful discharge matters and has focused extensively on reduction in force, and other employment termination related issues. He has also handled a wide variety of ERISA and wage and hour issues both in terms of litigation and counseling. In a...

William R. Fahey is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. William R., who practices law in Chicago, Illinois, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which William R. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.