Stephen E. Taylor

Cliff Melnick is a Partner at Keystone Law Group, P.C. where his practice focuses on trust, estate and conservatorship litigation. With more than 23 years of litigation experience overall, including the last 18 years in probate, Cliff has successfully represented a broad range of clients state-wide including trustees, beneficiaries, executors, administrators, conservators, guardians, private professional fiduciaries, life insurance companies, and non-profit organizations. Prior to joining Key...

Spencer’s practice focuses on catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases involving defective products, vehicular collisions, dangerous conditions of public and private property, and medical malpractice. Outside of his practice at Walkup, he also teaches at the University of California-Berkeley Law School as a lecturer in trial advocacy. In addition to his teaching, he directs Berkeley Law’s external trial competition program and coaches multiple trial advocacy teams. Un...

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...

Poonam G. Kumar is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Criminal Defense: White-Collar. Poonam G., who practices law in Los Angeles, California, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Poonam G. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Dan Passage, Structured Finance Practice Co-Chair, has more than 25 years of experience advising issuers, underwriters, and financial institutions on complex financial transactions, with an emphasis on securitizations and structured finance. He has extensive experience structuring programs for the origination, financing, and securitization of novel asset classes, including Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Bonds, marketplace funded loans, divorce loans, life settlements, premium finance l...

Marc Bruner is a partner with the firm's Environment, Energy & Resources practice. Marc represents governmental entities and private companies in a wide variety of environmental, land use, and natural resource matters. He counsels clients on formulating long-term development strategies, preparing and processing environmental studies and land use plans, and obtaining the necessary federal, state and local permits and approvals for a broad range of private and public development projects &n...

Ellisen Turner is a partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Based in the Los Angeles office, his broad IP practice includes patent and trade secret litigation and intellectual property transactions. Ellisen is an IP strategist who combines business acumen with deep understanding of IP law to support his clients’ business goals and maximize the value of their technology. Ellisen represents and counsels clients in complex commercial and intellectua...

Ben D. Orlanski is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Corporate Law and Securities / Capital Markets Law. Ben D., who practices law in Los Angeles, California, has been recognized since 2022. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Ben D. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Wesley K. Polischuk is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs. Wesley K., who practices law in Newport Beach, California, has been recognized since 2020. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Wesley K. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Tim Murphy is a partner in the firm's San Francisco office. He has been a jury trial lawyer for more than 40 years, trying cases involving a wide variety of subjects. Since 1985, his practice has focused upon jury trial cases concerning sexual harassment, race discrimination, whistleblower allegations, retaliation, wrongful discharge, trade secret protection, and disability discrimination. His clients have included banks, public utilities, universities, manufacturers, public entities, law fir...