FWHB - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- PARTNER
- Senior Counsel
- Senior Counsel at the Long Beach
Alyssa Caputo is a Senior Counsel at the Long Beach office. Her practice focuses on insurance defense, civil litigation with an emphasis in personal injury matters involving automobile accidents and premises liability.
Anika Singh is an associate at the firm's Orange County office. Her practice focuses on insurance defense and civil litigation with an emphasis on personal injury matters involving automobile accidents and premises liability.
Mr. Livesay, Senior Counsel at the firm, focuses his practice on complex litigation. Practice areas include construction defect and injury matters, insurance bad faith, premises liability and professional liability. Mr. Livesay has defended and prosecuted claims on behalf of individuals, corporate entities, real estate developers, homeowners' associations, general contractors and subcontractors. He has been an active litigator for over two decades. Mr. Livesay passionately represents clients' interests by analyzing case merits, minimizing risk and driving claims to positive resolutions.
Mr. Livesay has extensive courtroom and field experience. He has mediated over 200 matters to successful resolution. Mr. Livesay has written construction defect and insurance bad faith Continuing Legal Education workbooks and practical manuals and has lectured on construction defect law before legal associations. In addition, Mr. Livesay was the recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award for expertise in legal analysis and legal writing skills.
Armen A. Avakian is a partner who joined the firm in 2006. He specializes in all aspects of civil litigation involving automobile claims and claims against homeowners, including but not limited to, premises liability, dog bites, landslide/earth movement, breach of contract, and general negligence throughout Southern California. While at FWHB, Mr. Avakian has mediated well over 150 cases, and has successfully tried several cases to verdict. He is a member of the Los Angeles and Orange County Bar Associations and the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel (ASCDC).
Arthur J. Casey is a Partner at the firm's Silicon Valley office. He began his legal career at Robinson & Wood, Inc. in San Jose, and was a shareholder in the firm until opening his own office in October, 2017. After growing that practice, he merged with Ford, Walker, Haggerty & Behar in July, 2021. Mr. Casey's defense practice emphasizes transportation litigation, defense of manufacturers and distributors in products
Mr. Casey has been an author and lecturer for California Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) for several years, including Chapter Author for CEB Publication, California Civil Discovery Practice, 4th Ed. (2006). He also has been teaching business law and employment law in the School of Management at San Jose State University for 15-years.
Job Titles:
- ASSOCIATE
- General Dentist
Arthur Schultz is an associate who specializes in dental liability defense. Dr. Schultz is also a general dentist, practicing in Manhattan Beach and lectures to various Southern California dental schools. He is skilled in the evaluation of both the dental and legal aspects of malpractice cases. As a professional in both fields, he is able to value and analyze for exposure, as well as communicate effectively with both lawyer and dentists. Dr. Schultz has served as President of the Western Los Angeles Dental Society and presently serves on the RDAEF Examining Committee.
Ashley Loeb is a Senior Counsel in the firm's Appellate and Law & Motion departments. After almost a decade as a trial attorney, she now specializes exclusively in law and motion, writs, and appeals.
Mrs. Loeb has secured rare victories at the trial court level and on appeal. In addition to obtaining extraordinary relief via writ of mandate, she also has protected defense verdicts and summary judgments on appeal. Furthermore, she has prevailed in countless motions in both state and federal court, including demurrers, motions to dismiss, motions to strike punitive damages, motions for summary judgment, motions in limine, motions to compel, motions to quash, motions for new trial, and more. Trial attorneys regularly consult with her for case strategy due to her specialized knowledge and expertise in these areas.
Ben G. Gage is a Senior Counsel in the firm's Long Beach office. His current practices include insurance defense, personal injury, and premises liability. Mr. Gage has previously represented creditors in bankruptcy cases and in business litigation. Mr. Gage is admitted to practice in all California State and Federal courts.
Mr. Gage has experience in handling complex, multi-party litigation including representing owners and managers in mobile home park litigation and representing developers and general contractors in construction defect cases. Mr. Gage has defended businesses in tort and contract actions. Mr. Gage previously practiced in bankruptcy law for several years before turning to litigation and insurance defense work. During his bankruptcy practice Mr. Gage protected the rights and claims of creditors and aided his clients in asset recovery.
Mr. Gage graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor in Political Science and a Minor in Economics. After completing his Bachelor's degree, Mr. Gage earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of San Diego School of Law.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- PARTNER
- Associate at Ford Walker Haggerty & Behar 's Long Beach
Brandon Matamoros is a litigation associate at Ford Walker Haggerty & Behar's Long Beach office. Prior to joining FWHB, Mr. Matamoros worked for a civil litigation defense firm which specialized in high exposure motor vehicle accidents and personal injury defense for a major insurance company.
While attending Whittier Law School, Mr. Matamoros worked as a clerk for the Orange County District Attorney's Consumer Protection Unit where he helped the District Attorney prosecute businesses engaging in deceptive and unfair business practices. Additionally, Mr. Matamoros assisted low-income families with custody and divorce proceedings in the Los Angeles Superior Court Family Law Workshop. He also was a member of the Trial Advocacy Honors Board and received the CALI "Excellence for the Future" Award for achieving the highest grade in his Constitutional Law course. Mr. Matamoros received his undergraduate bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California, Irvine.
Job Titles:
- PARTNER
- Senior Counsel
- Senior Counsel at the Long Beach
Bryan Pyles is a Senior Counsel at the Long Beach office. His practice focuses on insurance defense, civil litigation with an emphasis in personal injury matters involving automobile accidents and premises liability.
Charlie Schmitt, a partner and litigator, focuses on landslide litigation, common homeowners liability, premises liability, construction defect, municipal liability including inverse condemnation actions throughout California involving municipal water and drainage facilities, road related construction and slope construction and maintenance practices. He has litigated Elder Abuse cases.
He represents commercial and private property owners, small businesses and small construction subcontractors. His successes for clients include defense trial verdicts in civil assault and battery cases, product liability actions, as well as defense verdicts for common carriers. He also has experience in mediation of multi-party, multi-insurance carrier litigation.
Mr. Schmitt's professional memberships include the American Bar Association, the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, and the Defense Research Institute..
Job Titles:
- Associate
- PARTNER
- Associate at the Long Beach
Christiana S. Carter is an associate at the Long Beach office. Her practice focuses on insurance defense, civil litigation with an emphasis in personal injury matters involving automobile accidents and premises liability.
Job Titles:
- PARTNER
- Senior Counsel
- Senior Counsel at the Silicon Valley
Christine A. Kingston is a Senior Counsel at the Silicon Valley office specializing in automobile and common carrier liability, premises liability, general liability, and personal injury defense. She has more than 15 years of experience handling litigation matters.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- PARTNER
- Litigation Associate
Christopher E. Phelps is a litigation associate at Ford, Walker, Haggerty, & Behar's Long Beach firm, focusing on automobile liability and personal injury defense. During law school, Mr. Phelps externed at the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office with the Preliminary Hearing Unit and the Pomona Branch office. Mr. Phelps also clerked at Southwestern Law School's Immigration Law Clinic where gained he practical experience filing multiple petitions for his clients.
Partner Daniel N. Stein's practice focuses on defense in motor vehicle and premises liability cases. Prior to joining Ford, Walker, Haggerty & Behar, Mr. Stein worked in house for Farmers Insurance, 2000-2015.
David J. Mendoza is an associate in the firm's Law & Motion department. He has represented clients in malpractice cases, auto accidents, and premises liability. Mr. Mendoza is a part of the Catastrophic Injury Trial Teams and works with multiple insurance carriers to ensure fairness to all insureds at the time of trial. He has had much success with motions preventing improper trial tactics such as the "Reptile Theory" and excluding witnesses and evidence at trial. Mr. Mendoza works collaboratively with trial attorneys to develop case strategies.
Mr. Mendoza has had success with motions for summary judgment in cases involving premises liability, medical malpractice, and wrongful death. Prior to joining the firm, he defended public entities against cases involving dangerous conditions of public property and inverse condemnation, obtaining dismissal through summary judgment and demurrer. Mr. Mendoza had a demurrer sustained without leave to amend in a major injury case involving jurisdiction over a state highway.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- PARTNER
- Litigation Associate
David Y. Hua is a litigation associate, specializing in automobile and common carrier liability, general liability, and personal injury defense. Before joining the firm, Mr. Hua handled complex business, commercial and personal real estate, and probate matters for both Plaintiffs and Defendants, focusing mainly on litigation and trial. Mr. Hua also spent several years as a Workers' Compensation defense attorney, advocating on behalf of insurance carriers and businesses.
Donna Rogers Kirby is counsel with the firm with experience in all areas of insurance law. She heads the firm's insurance coverage department, handling declaratory relief actions, coverage opinions and insurance contract interpretation. She also practices in the area of insurance bad faith litigation. Insurance industry clients have relied upon Ms. Kirby to draft policy language for their contracts of insurance.
Ms. Kirby was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1983. In addition to all California State courts, Ms. Kirby is admitted to practice before the United States District Court, Central District, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal.
She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel and the Defense Research Institute, where she is an active member of the Insurance Law Committee. She has been a speaker for the California Education of the Bar, the Defense Research Institute and speaks frequently to groups of insurance professionals on insurance coverage and insurance bad faith issues.
Emily T. Zinn is a Senior Counsel and trial attorney at Ford Walker Haggerty & Behar's Long Beach firm, focusing in automobile liability and personal injury defense. Prior to joining FWHB, Ms. Zinn worked in Family Law litigating contested divorces and child custody disputes.
During law school, Ms. Zinn gained practical experience externing at the Loyola Center for Conflict Resolution and in Dependency Court, where she received a Mediation Certificate satisfying the CA Dispute Resolution Programs Act. Ms. Zinn has mediated court and community cases, including landlord-tenant, consumer-debt and spousal disputes.
Job Titles:
- PARTNER
- Senior Counsel
- Senior Counsel at the Long Beach
Enny Van Wang is a senior counsel at the Long Beach office. Her practice focuses on insurance defense, civil litigation with an emphasis in personal injury matters involving automobile accidents and premises liability.
Job Titles:
- ASSOCIATE
- Litigation Associate
Eran Forster is a litigation associate in the Las Vegas office. His practice areas include personal injury defense in automobile and aviation cases, premise liability, product liability, disability, discrimination, employment and risk management. Mr. Forster also has extensive experience in litigating civil procedure issues regarding choice of law, venue and jurisdiction. Secondary areas of practice include contracts, restrictive covenants, real estate, business litigation and alternative dispute resolution.
Mr. Forster is licensed in California and Nevada. He is also licensed in the United States District Court, District for Nevada. He has over 13 years' experience litigating multi-jurisdictional cases. His federal experience includes Title VII, Family Medical Leave Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act, the Truth and Lending Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, and state law claims under supplemental and diversity jurisdiction.
Mr. Forster's experience has provided him with familiarity litigating cases in most of the superior courts in southern California including the California Superior Courts for the counties of San Diego, Orange, Riverside, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Ventura. He also litigated matters in the Second and Eighth Judicial District Courts in Nevada, the Las Vegas Justice Court and Henderson Justice Court.
During law school, Mr. Forster clerked for the United States Attorney's Office District of Nevada where he conducted numerous parole revocation hearings, misdemeanor plea negotiations, and drafted appellate briefs. In addition, Mr. Forster clerked for the California Public Employment Relations Board where he was responsible for investigating Unfair Practice Charges and determining whether a complaint or dismissal should be issued based on his evaluation of whether the claimant could make a prima facie showing that a collective bargaining violation occurred.
Job Titles:
- ASSOCIATE
- Associate at Our Inland Empire
Ernie Figueroa is an associate at our Inland Empire office. His practice focuses on insurance defense, civil litigation with an emphasis in personal injury matters involving automobile accidents and premises liability.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- PARTNER
- Associate at Our Orange County
Erwin Anthony Nepomuceno is an associate at our Orange County office. His practice focuses on personal injury and complex construction litigation with an emphasis on automotive accidents and premises liability.
Prior to becoming an attorney, Erwin was a Workers' Compensation adjuster where he gained invaluable experience in the claims handling side of insurance that complements his abilities to evaluate medical records, work efficiently, and communicate with adjusters and clients.
In his free time, Erwin volunteers to tutor children through School on Wheels, Inc. and volunteers as a coach for Brea Olinda High School's mock trial team.
G. Richard Ford, Timothy L. Walker, William C. Haggerty and Jeffrey S. Behar founded our firm in 1991. Prior to founding Ford, Walker, Haggerty & Behar, they were senior partners at Shield & Smith, a large Los Angeles insurance defense law firm. The founding partners selected a group of talented attorneys with experience in defending general casualty litigation claims to form the basis of Ford, Walker, Haggerty & Behar. From the original nucleus of eight partners and sixteen associates, we have steadily grown to more than one hundred attorneys to service our expanding client base in the entire state of California and Nevada.
Job Titles:
- PARTNER
- Senior Counsel
- Senior Counsel at the Inland Empire Corona
Gabriela Marquez is a Senior Counsel at the Inland Empire Corona office, where she works primarily on personal injury cases. Ms. Marquez is a civil litigator with over 20 years of insurance defense experience.
She also has experience with handling fraudulent suspect claims, as well as professional liability and construction defect matters.
While in law school, Ms. Marquez served as law review articles editor.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- PARTNER
- Associate at Ford Walker Haggerty & Behar 's Long Beach
Giuliana is a litigation associate at Ford Walker Haggerty & Behar's Long Beach firm, focusing in automobile liability and personal injury defense. Prior to joining FWHB, during her third year of law school Ms. Regina was a research assistant of for Loyola Law School's Youth Justice Education Clinic where she researched foster students' rights to Individualized Education Programs. Ms. Regina was also a compliance legal extern with Central Health Plan of California where she conducted legal research on compliance-related assignments, and audited policies, procedures, and providers. During her second year at Loyola she clerked for Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carol Rose in Bellflower. She graduated from Loyola Law School in May of 2020.
Prior to attending Loyola, Ms. Regina was a summer intern at the Riverside District Attorney's Office. She graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 2016 where she double majored in Criminology, Law, and Society, and Psychology and Social Behavior.
Job Titles:
- PARTNER
- Senior Counsel
- Senior Counsel in the Long Beach Office of Ford
Glenn Goldby is a Senior Counsel in the Long Beach office of Ford, Walker, Haggerty & Behar. He has significant experience in many areas of civil litigation, primarily focusing on the defense of individuals and public and private entities in cases involving serious and catastrophic injury and wrongful death. His practice includes general casualty, premises and product liability, public entity liability, and motor vehicle negligence. He also represents clients in complex business litigation. Since 1985, he has maintained the highest individual peer-review rating ("A-V") by Martindale Hubbell Legal Directory. He is involved in all phases of litigation, from inception through trial and appeal, and has three published appellate decisions.
Mr. Goldby is an experienced trial attorney and a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He has successfully obtained favorable verdicts in courts throughout California. He has also arbitrated and mediated hundreds of cases to successful resolution and has presented seminars to lawyers and other professionals on a variety of litigation related topics.
He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Orange County Bar Association, the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers. He resides in Orange County with his wife, and enjoys fishing, skiing and playing guitar.
Gwynneth Thomas is an associate at the firm's Silicon Valley office. Her practice focuses on insurance defense and civil litigation with an emphasis on personal injury matters involving automobile accidents and premises liability.
Job Titles:
- PARTNER
- Senior Equity Partner
James D. Savage is a Senior Equity Partner and a trial lawyer who practices in the areas of professional, product, premises, automobile, employment and common carrier liability. His clients include insurance companies, health care professionals, corporations, and other self-insureds. Mr. Savage also defends dentists in administrative actions and handles cases involving the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Mr. Savage first became a partner with Ford, Walker, Haggerty & Behar in 1997. Associated with the firm since its founding in 1991, he began his career at its predecessor firm, Shield & Smith.
Mr. Savage received his J.D. in 1989 from the University of San Diego. He obtained his B.A. in political science in 1986 from the University of Arizona. He remains active in alumni functions of his undergraduate alma mater.
Mr. Savage has tried numerous cases to verdict and is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He has extensive experience in arbitrating and mediating cases. Mr. Savage has volunteered his services as a settlement officer for the Los Angeles County Superior Court Special Civil Settlement Program. Mr. Savage frequently lectures to dentists and dental assistants in the field of dental malpractice.
Mr. Savage joined the State Bar of California in 1989. He is admitted to practice in the United States Court of Appeal, Ninth Circuit (1989) and U.S. District Court, Central District (1989). He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, and the Defense Research Institute. He has served as the Chair of the Law Practice Management Committee of the Defense Research Institute, and also serves on its Trial Tactics and Techniques Committee. He has served in the past as a Committee Chair with the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel.
When away from work, Mr. Savage can be found attending sporting events and playing golf. A native of San Luis Obispo and raised in Southern Arizona, Mr. Savage resides in Huntington Beach with his wife Tracy, son Calvin and daughter Tana.
Job Titles:
- PARTNER
- Senior Counsel
- Senior Counsel at the Long Beach
Jeanette Lawrence is a Senior Counsel at the Long Beach office. Her practice focuses on insurance defense, civil litigation with an emphasis in personal injury matters involving automobile accidents and premises liability.
Job Titles:
- PARTNER
- Co - Chairman for the Annual ABOTA Masters
- Founding Partner of Ford
- President of the Association of Southern California Defense
Jeffrey S. Behar is a founding partner of Ford, Walker, Haggerty & Behar and an experienced trial attorney. He concentrates his practice on aviation, premises, products, municipality defense, professional liability, employment, construction defect, and mass tort litigation.
Mr. Behar was one of the original founders of the law firm in 1991 and currently oversees its business development and management. His clients include many prestigious insurance firms, Fortune 500 companies and nationally recognized corporations.
Mr. Behar received a Bachelor of Arts from UCLA in 1974, graduating Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. In 1978 he was awarded a J.D. and graduated with honors from Loyola Law School, where he was a recipient of the school's American Jurisprudence Award.
In 1978, he began his legal career as an associate at the firm of Shield & Smith in Los Angeles. Joining the State Bar of California in 1978, Mr. Behar is also admitted to practice in the United States District Court. In 1982, he became a partner of the firm and eventually served as a member of the management committee.
In 1982, after only four years of practice, Mr. Behar was inducted into the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), which requires a minimum of 20 trials to jury verdict. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the California Defense Counsel (CDC) and is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC), the International Society of Barristers (ISB), the Defense Research Institute (DRI), the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA), and the American Bar Association (ABA).
In 2000, Mr. Behar became the President of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel (ASCDC).
In 2004 and continuing to the present, Mr. Behar was elected and named as a Southern California Super Lawyer. Also in 2004 to the present, Mr. Behar has been named by Los Angeles Magazine as one of Southern California's top attorneys.
In 2007, Mr. Behar was elected a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL).
In 2011, Mr. Behar became a co-chairman for the annual ABOTA Masters in Trial program. He has spoken on litigation-related matters to the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers, the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel and the American Society for Industrial Security. His presentations addressed such topics as settlement/mediation/arbitration, mock jury trials, construction defect litigation, shoplifting prevention for retail businesses, security practices/probable cause/detention arrest, and wrongful death damages.
In 2016 and in 2018, Mr. Behar was named "Lawyer of the Year" Personal Injury Litigation Defense - Orange County by Best Lawyers in America .
In 2018, Mr. Behar was elected to "America's Top 100 Civil Defense Litigators."
In 2023, Mr. Behar's jury trial defense verdict in a highly publicized case on behalf of Fortune 500 Company was voted "TOP VERDICTS" for the year by the Los Angeles Daily Journal.
In 2024, Mr. Behar received the Martindale-Hubbell Award as AV Preeminent for Highest Level of Professional Excellence.
Mr. Behar has been featured in the Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of the top business rainmakers in Southern California. Newspaper and legal magazine articles featuring Mr. Behar include:
• Verdict magazine with respect to his presidency of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel (2000) [PDF]
Job Titles:
- PARTNER
- Senior Litigation Partner
Jennifer L. Russell is a senior litigation partner and lead trial attorney with the firm. She has successfully tried many cases with significant exposure. Her practice area is defending personal injury cases involving automobile and common carrier liability, premises liability, public liability, and general liability for insurance companies, public agencies and private businesses. Ms. Russell has handled hundreds of cases to successful conclusion through mediations, arbitrations and trials.
In 2015, she was inducted into the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and the majority of her trials have ended in defense verdicts in which our clients were awarded costs. In 2019, she tried and prevailed in 7 trials including a defense verdict in a very contentious wrongful death case in which plaintiff demanded 100 million dollars. Ms. Russell was also nominated and selected as a Fellow to The Litigation Counsel of America (LCA), an honorary society composed of less than one percent of American Lawyers.
In addition to complex cases involving catastrophic injuries and wrongful death, she has extensive experience in handling fraudulent suspect claims. She has worked closely with specialized organizations and experts and spoken at seminars regarding the defense of suspect claims to other attorneys and claims personnel.
Ms. Russell is also vested in mentoring new attorneys and women in the legal profession. She has been invited to speak at the Association of Southern California Defense Council (ASCDC) seminars and to help teach other attorneys critical trial skills in the ABOTA "Masters of Trial" program".
Ms. Russell's professional memberships include the American Bar Association, the Orange County Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute and the ASCDC. Prior legal experience includes working at the Orange County District Attorney's Office. While in law school Ms. Russell served as a law review editor and received several American Jurisprudence Awards and a CALI Excellence Awards.
In 2021, Ms. Russell was invited to join the Orange County Executive Committee Board of ABOTA and she will eventually go on to be president of the chapter. She was named Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2022 for the OC chapter of ABOTA.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- PARTNER
- Litigation Associate
Jim Mikhail is a litigation associate at Ford, Walker, Haggerty, and Behar's Long Beach firm, where he specializes in insurance defense and civil litigation involving injury. Before joining Ford Walker Haggerty & Behar, Mr. Mikhail worked for a nonprofit advocating for housing rights by defending tenants in eviction proceedings.
Mr. Mikhail is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach, where he received his B.A. in Anthropology. Mr. Mikhail then went on to obtain his Juris Doctorate from Western State College of Law. During law school Mr. Mikhail represented clients in the immigration clinic and successfully was able to get the immigration court to grant asylum to one of his clients. Mr. Mikhail also completed an externship at an employment law firm.
When Mr. Mikhail is not working on cases, he enjoys watching the Los Angeles Clippers. As well as spending time outdoors and exploring new places.
Mr. Paulson, an Equity Partner and a lead trial attorney at the firm, has defended and tried to verdict numerous 7 and 8 figure valued cases.Specializing in catastrophic injuries, including spinal and brain injuries, Mr. Paulson oversees every aspect of litigation through to trial.After passing the bar in 1996, Mr. Paulson started with FWHB in 2000 focusing his litigation skills on defending cases and understanding the current trends in personal injury cases, including unnecessary injection therapy (pain management), spinal surgeries (counterfeit surgical hardware), inflated lien procedure costs, and allegations of mild traumatic brain injuries.
Although Mr. Paulson is ready to try any case, he understands the careful balance between risk analysis and cost effective litigation in defending high exposure cases.
Job Titles:
- PARTNER
- Senior Counsel
- Senior Counsel at the Silicon Valley
John R. Waterman is a Senior Counsel at the Silicon Valley office specializing in automobile and common carrier liability, premises liability, general liability, and personal injury defense. He has over 20 years of experience handling litigation matters.
Job Titles:
- of Counsel
- PARTNER
- Counsel at the Silicon Valley
John W. Ranucci has the position of Of Counsel at the Silicon Valley office. He has over 25 years of litigation experience in areas that include product liability, general liability defense, insurance coverage, railroad and transportation litigation. Mr. Ranucci's product liability experience has focused on heavy equipment, commercial food service products, commercial vehicles, automobiles and asbestos. He dedicates a significant part of his practice to representing equipment and vehicle leasing entities.
Job Titles:
- PARTNER
- Senior Counsel
- Member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association
Johnny Parseghian is a Senior Counsel and trial attorney at the Long Beach office. His practice focuses on insurance defense, civil litigation with an emphasis in personal injury matters involving automobile accidents and premises liability.
During law school, Mr. Parseghian gained practical experience working at the Loyola Center for Conflict Resolution where he earned a mediation certificate satisfying the California Dispute Resolution Program Act. In 2016, he served as a judicial extern to Hon. Martin R. Barash, United States Bankruptcy Court, for the Central District of California. A year later, he clerked at a firm specialized in workers' compensation.
Mr. Parseghian is an active member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and the San Fernando Valley Bar Association.
Job Titles:
- PARTNER
- Member of the Firm
- Member of the Mediation Panel for San Diego Superior Court
Jon A. Hammerbeck has been a member of the firm since October of 2000, and has been a partner since 2006.His practice includes construction, tort, real property, and mediation matters.
Mr. Hammerbeck is a member of the mediation panel for San Diego Superior Court, an active member of the Defense Research Institute (DRI) Construction Law committee and DRI Construction Law Steering Committee.He is also chair of the Construction Community Group.He has published multiple articles in DRI publications, including articles on expert witness practice, trends in construction law, green building litigation and elder abuse arbitration issues. He has been a presenter at conferences and seminars held by Associated Defense Counsel of Southern California, Beverly Hills Bar Association, Associated Claims Conference, and DRI.
Mr. Hammerbeck has a variety of cited appellate cases where he was appellate counsel of record which include: Nally v. Grace Community Church - 47 Cal.3d 278 (1988), Stein-Brief Group, Inc. v. Home Indemnity Co. - 65 Cal.App.4th 364 (1998), Aero-Crete, Inc. v. Superior Court - 21 Cal.App.4th 203 (1993), Avila v. Standard Oil Co. - 167 Cal.App.3d 441 (1985), and Bolamperti v. Larco Manufacturing - 164 Cal.App.3d 249 (1985).
Joshua Dixon is a Senior Counsel at the firm. He is experienced in defending clients in high exposure professional liability, general liability, catastrophic injury, medical malpractice, dental malpractice, elder abuse, wrongful death, premises liability, and general real estate and business litigation. Joshua has represented clients in various State and Federal courts, arbitrations, and administrative hearings.
In addition to Joshua's civilian practice, he serves as an officer in the Judge Advocate Corps of the California State Guard representing the interests of service members on various issues, including landlord/tenant, real estate, contract, employment, and administrative actions.
Juan C. Delgado is a Partner and a trial attorney at Ford, Walker, Haggerty & Behar. He has been in practice since 1987 exclusively handling insurance defense cases and has handled every type of case that gets insurance coverage under automobile, homeowners, professional negligence, contractor's, homeowner's association, and business policies. He has tried over 125 cases in Los Angeles County and Orange County and over 100 of them were to a jury verdict. He has tried automobile, premises liability, land movement, optometry malpractice, assault and battery/self-defense, traumatic brain injuries, catastrophic injuries, and wrongful death cases.
Since 1998 he has been a member of the Orange County Chapter of the American Board Trial Advocates ("ABOTA"). In 2022 he reached the rank of Diplomate in ABOTA, which meant he had tried 100 cases to a jury verdict. Very few attorneys have reached this rank in the United States. In 2014 he was selected as the Orange County Chapter ABOTA Trial Lawyer of the Year. In 2020 he was invited to join the Executive Committee of the Orange County Chapter of ABOTA and will be President of the Chapter in 2025.
In 2023 he became a Committee Chair for one of the Practice Groups and Committee Vice-Chair for one of the Committees of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel ("ASCDC"), the largest regional organizations in the country devoted to the interests of civil defense attorneys. largest
He has presented MCLE presentations on Trials for the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel and Orange County Bar Association. He served as part of the defense team in the Orange County ABOTA Chapter's 2021 Master in Trial. In 2021 he was part of the defense team for the mock trial presentation at the CAALA Seminar in Las Vegas. He has taught trial practice courses for attorneys.
He served as a Temporary Judge for the Orange County Superior Court since 2005.
Ms. Harwood is a highly sought after successful and versatile trial attorney. As a respected litigator, she provides legal counsel to publicly and privately held companies and individuals across a broad range of industries. Her clients include Fortune 500 companies, major studios, high profile entertainers, large and small businesses, municipalities, sporting arenas, health care professionals and healthcare facilities. Clients seek her counsel on large exposure toxic tort, products liability, personal injury, employment, professional liability, and general liability cases.
Whether working with a Fortune 500 company or a small business, Ms. Harwood's clients have come to rely on her keen litigation experience and strategic counsel in effectively evaluating their legal matters. Knowing that each case has an optimal result, whether through summary judgment, reasonable settlement, or trial, Ms. Harwood focuses on her clients' needs to rapidly assess and efficiently achieve that result. Passionate about her work, Ms. Harwood is dedicated to meeting her clients' needs.
Ms. Harwood received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, graduating with Honors. During her undergraduate studies, Ms. Harwood received the distinguished honor of being selected from an elite pool of applicants nationwide to work as an intern at the White House in Washington, DC. Thereafter, she earned her Juris Doctorate degree from Loyola Law School, earning First Honors in Trial Advocacy.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- PARTNER
- Associate at the Long Beach Office
Naijia (Jessica) Yin is an associate at the Long Beach Office. Her practice focuses on civil litigation and insurance defense. Prior to joining FWHB, Ms. Yin worked for a Plaintiff Personal Injury law firm where she has experience in Motor Vehicle Liability, Medical Malpractice, Premises Liability, and Dog Bites.
Ms.Yin graduated from the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law with a certificate in transactional law and Business. She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.