MICHELMAN & ROBINSON - Key Persons
Adam Z. Solomon is Of Counsel in M&R's New York office, where he represents clients in all aspects of advertising, digital marketing, promotions and compliance. Adam advises digital agencies and advertisers regarding transactions for online and interactive advertising, programmatic media buying, mobile marketing, affiliate marketing, lead generation, data collection and usage, and behavioral advertising. He also counsels clients on social media and emerging products and technologies. Adam has substantial experience in negotiating and drafting complex online marketing, Internet and licensing agreements. He works closely with his clients on how to minimize the legal risks associated with online advertising and marketing.
He frequently counsels marketers and agencies on the structuring of sweepstakes, games and contests. Adam routinely drafts official rules, reviews and advises on advertising copy, handles applicable state registrations and drafts winner affidavits and participant releases. He has extensive experience in the area of international promotions.
Adam reviews advertising and promotional materials to help ensure compliance with substantiation requirements. Additionally, he carefully evaluates marketing campaigns and sales practices to ensure compliance with relevant state and federal law. He advises clients on developments in consumer protection laws and guidelines, and performs compliance reviews for companies involved in social media marketing, negative option marketing, telemarketing, direct mail solicitations, testimonials and endorsements, email marketing, and other marketing strategies.
Adam regularly represents marketers in connection with federal and state regulatory inquiries, investigations, and actions. He both initiates, and defends, challenges to advertising claims before the Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division (NAD). He also handles consumer and business litigation involving false and deceptive advertising issues, unfair competition, and intellectual property.
Agnes Shin is an associate in M&R's Orange County office and member of the firm's Commercial & Business Litigation Practice Group. In that capacity, she is responsible for all phases of litigation, including legal research, law and motion, the drafting of pleadings and discovery, and trial preparation.
The matters Agnes works on include breach of contract and other complex business disputes. In every case that crosses her desk, she is results-driven and client focused.
Agnes was the Managing Editor of the Journal of Gender and Law while a law student at UCLA. She also served as co-chair of the Asian and Pacific Islander Law Students Association (APILSA) and was an extern for the Honorable David O. Carter, Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Alexandra Miller is an associate in M&R's Los Angeles office and a member of the firm's Labor & Employment Practice Group. She provides advice and counsel to and litigates on behalf of a range of clients - primarily management - relative to wage and hour, discrimination, wrongful termination and other employment-related disputes.
Amanda K. Monroe is a senior associate in M&R's Los Angeles office and member of the firm's Labor & Employment Practice Group.
A seasoned litigator, Amanda is best known for her work defending single plaintiff and collective actions (class action and PAGA claims) involving alleged wage and hour violations. In these cases-venued in state and federal courts across the U.S., as well as at mediation and arbitration-Amanda has compiled an extraordinary record of victories. In addition, she litigates a range of other employment-related disputes and handles administrative matters before the California Labor Commissioner, Department of Fair Employment and Housing, Department of Labor, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Outside of litigation, Amanda is sought after for her advice and counsel on a range of operational items of importance to employers. These include:
Employee handbooks
Wage and hour audits and compliance
Lawful hiring practices
Leaves of absence
Investigations (sexual harassment, discrimination and employee and executive misconduct)
Workforce reductions (including mass layoffs under the WARN Act)
Terminations
Supervisor and management trainings (including sexual harassment training)
Incentive compensation issues
Before joining M&R, Amanda served as a clerk for the Honorable Thomas B. Donovan in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California. Thereafter, she was associated with an international law firm, and then Amanda focused her practice on complex litigation, labor & employment, and class action defense at Crone Hawxhurst LLP-a spinoff of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. All the while, Amanda cultivated her passion for pro bono work, and she continues to donate her time to legal causes throughout Los Angeles. Of note, Amanda was labeled a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Magazine in 2020 and 2021.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Office Managing Partner
- Office Managing Partner / Dallas
Bradley Mindlin is a member of M&R's Corporate & Securities and Real Estate Departments, specializing in the ownership, leasing, and management of commercial real estate assets, with a focus on the repositioning of distressed assets in secondary markets.
Brad has extensive expertise in the real estate industry, having worked on deals involving over 10 million square feet of real estate.
Additionally, his experience includes real estate finance, fund formation, representation of public companies and trusts, workouts, oil and gas issues, environmental matters, and multi-state purchases and sales.
Bryan Johnson is a partner in M&R's Chicago office. He maintains a practice that focuses on employment advice and counseling and related litigation and transactional matters, as well as complex commercial, real estate and construction disputes. Bryan does so for businesses in the advertising, cannabis, hospitality, marketing, real estate, construction and technology industries. He also leads the firm's standalone COVID-19 Practice Group made up of an interdisciplinary team of M&R attorneys-all subject matter pros- singularly focused on piloting clients through the laundry list of challenges stemming from the novel coronavirus and what is sure to be its troubling aftermath. For his part, Bryan is an authority who has written and spoken extensively on the Paycheck Protection Program.
Having successfully resolved matters involving breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty claims, restrictive covenants, wrongful termination, discrimination and harassment, trade secrets, partnership disputes, business torts, defamation, fraud and a variety of real estate- and construction-related litigation, Bryan's caseload brings him to state and federal courtrooms nationwide. Beyond his work as a litigator, Bryan counsels corporate clients regarding a broad range of employment issues, including executive compensation, employment agreements, non-compete and nonsolicitation agreements, severance negotiations and agreements, and general employee relations.
In 2022, Bryan was designated as a Super Lawyer by Illinois Super Lawyers. Every year prior to that (since 2015), he was recognized by the publication as a Rising Star in Business Litigation (representing the top 2.5% of Illinois attorneys under the age of 40). He has been named an Illinois "Emerging Lawyer" by The Leading Lawyers Network for five years running as well.
Bryan is an active member of the Chicago Bar Association. He sits on the CBA's Judicial Evaluation Committee, and formerly served as Chair of its Commercial Litigation Committee. In addition, Bryan maintains a robust pro bono practice, including work on behalf of elderly and disabled tenants seeking reasonable accommodations under the Fair Housing Act. Likewise, he volunteers his services to the Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Firm Managing Partner / Los Angeles
David Hauge is a partner in M&R's Los Angeles office and member of the firm's Regulatory Practice Group. He is an insurance regulatory law specialist, and brings to his insurance company, broker and agent clientele more than three decades of industry know-how.
Before entering private practice, David was general counsel and then Vice President, Commercial Lines, for a major insurer. The operational experience afforded by these positions enables him to advise clients in a way that sets David apart from his peers. Indeed, by virtue of his first-hand understanding of the insurance business - from ratemaking and claims to production and underwriting - David applies a solution-based approach to insurance-related legal issues that is pragmatic, decidedly focused on clients' operational concerns and cost-effective.
David frequently provides advice in connection with insurance regulatory and compliance matters, the defense of unfair business practice and class action lawsuits (typically alleging excessive premiums), market conduct and financial examinations, rate filings and broker/agent licensing. Regarding the latter categories, his familiarity interacting and negotiating with any number of Departments of Insurance and fluency in the administrative process have proven to be an invaluable asset for many clients. In addition, David handles complex insurance company and brokerage mergers and acquisitions, reinsurance arbitrations and mediations as well as a litigation involving policies of business owners' liability, workers compensation and surplus lines insurance.
A veteran expert witness, arbitrator and mediator himself, David has also served as outside general counsel for several insurers.
David Pentlow is counsel in M&R's New York office and member of the firm's Corporate & Securities Practice Group. In that capacity, he represents private equity, real estate and hedge funds and other investors, financial institutions and issuers (from start-ups to established public companies). David does so in connection with a host of matters-securities offerings, mergers & acquisitions, lending transactions, regulatory compliance and fund launches, among them.
Boasting a particular expertise in fund formation and securities work, David's portfolio of representative matters also includes structuring special purpose acquisition companies (SPACS) and new onshore and offshore investment products; handling real estate joint ventures and transactions involving REIT's and operating partnership units; and M&As. Likewise, he advises clients concerning reorganizations and debt restructurings and a range of general corporate matters and agreements.
Harpreet Walia is a partner in M&R's Los Angeles office and the firm's Emerging Companies & Venture Capital Chair. A seasoned corporate and securities attorney who also maintains a significant presence in the Bay Area, Harpreet handles a breadth of corporate law issues, corporate formation and commercial transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate divestitures, joint ventures and equity and debt financing. In addition, Harpreet has extensive experience in technology, licensing, commercial leasing and commercial lending matters.
A consummate deal strategist, Harpreet works regularly with start-up and emerging growth clients - especially those in the technology space in Silicon Valley, Silicon Beach and beyond. Separately, he is skilled in managing cross-border transactions and assists multinationals in their U.S. dealings. In terms of the latter, Harpreet counsels U.S.-based companies in their India-related matters, including joint ventures, licensing, offshore development, outsourcing and M&As.
Among other positions prior to joining M&R, Harpreet served as general counsel to a mid-market company and as counsel at a Silicon Valley corporate and tax boutique.
Jane Kutepova is a senior associate in M&R's Orange County office and member of the firm's Commercial & Business Litigation Practice Group. She is a fierce litigator with broad experience in all aspects of general business litigation and complex, multi-party disputes venued in state and federal courts. More particularly, Jane is sought after for her work handling high-stakes construction-related cases, including construction defect, project delay and bond claims.
Prior to joining M&R, Jane honed her skills at civil litigation firms across Orange County, where she gained trial experience and worked on real estate and bankruptcy cases, among others. Before that, Jane was a law clerk for Rebecca Connelly, Honorable Chief Bankruptcy Judge of the Western District of Virginia.
Jason Blackstone is a partner in M&R's Dallas office and member of the firm's Cybersecurity & Privacy and Intellectual Property Practice Groups.
A registered patent attorney, Jason has been involved with patent assertion and portfolio evaluation from inception of patent mining efforts through litigation of asserted, non-licensed patents (this includes the evaluation of patents against products and standards and the creation of negotiation and presentation materials). Jason's patent work-and IP practice, more generally-is enhanced by his expertise in multiple technology areas, including wireless technologies, medical devices, telecommunications, computer hardware, oil and gas, computer and device software and computer networking.
Jason's IP practice also includes performance of legal analysis on the scope and content of patent claims and related art. Likewise, he has experience with coordinated settlement efforts, including monetization strategies, portfolio evaluations and cross-licensing efforts, copyright material review and registration, and all aspects of trademark registration and litigation.
Of note, Jason has been one of the leading advocates for treating data as an emerging asset class and species of IP. This interdisciplinary approach has led clients to seek out his advice and counsel regarding not only IP, but also contracts, bankruptcy and regulatory compliance. Companies have retained him to serve as outside general counsel in the areas of IP and commercial operations as well. And startups frequently hire Jason to provide detailed and decisive legal advice, as well as business savvy counsel.
By virtue of his stellar work and scope of experience, Jason has been invited to present at a variety of startup and technology-themed events, including J.P. Morgan Health Care Week, Dallas Startup Week, The Dallas Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel and at numerous private equity and family office events.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Administrative Leadership Team
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Chief Operating Officer / Los Angeles
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Partner
Jennifer Mauri is a senior associate in M&R's Orange County office. A member of the firm's Intellectual Property Practice Group, she focuses her practice on patent and trademark litigation, handling matters from pre-suit evaluation and patent portfolio analysis through discovery, law and motion practice, trial and appeals-this in cases venued in federal courts, including the Northern and Central Districts of California and the Federal and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals. Jennifer litigates complex cases involving science and technology in state courts as well.
At M&R, Jennifer manages and handles the firm's trademark prosecution and counseling practice. In that capacity, she has compiled an impressive track record of wins on behalf of a diverse clientele, having litigated cases involving a wide range of technologies. These include medical devices, pharmaceuticals, computer hardware and software, and electronic devices.
Prior to joining M&R in 2016, Jennifer was an associate at one of the largest law firms in the U.S., where she honed her skills as a complex patent litigator and helped counsel clients on their IP-related issues. Then-as is still the case-she was admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Today, Jennifer leans on her deep background in IP law to advise companies on issues concerning IP enforcement strategies, portfolio management, due diligence, and other commercial matters.
Within M&R, Jennifer is the former Chair of the firm's Electronically Stored Information (ESI) committee. She leverages that position to consult with clients on e-discovery issues, most notably, the utilization of ESI/e-discovery as a tool in litigation. She was also Chair of WAMR (Women Attorneys of M&R), which has as its primary objective the development of the firm's female lawyers.
Prior to becoming an attorney, Jennifer enjoyed a career in microbiology at Baxter International, the global pharmaceutical company, where she gained insights into the life sciences industry that help her better understand the issues that companies face when developing IP.
Jesse Contreras is counsel in M&R's Los Angeles office. A member of the firm's Commercial & Business Litigation and Appellate Practice Groups, he focuses his practice on business, contractual and ownership disputes, trade secret cases, professional liability and government tort claims. His expertise also includes representing clients in the construction, health care, manufacturing and insurance sectors, at both the trial and appellate levels.
Notably, Jesse successfully litigated on behalf of an engineering consortium in a $100M matter, and has represented medical associations in various regulatory disputes throughout the country. He has also been involved in several high profile insurance regulatory cases, including appellate work that involved a host of constitutional issues, resulting in reported decisions in the 9 th Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. In addition, Jesse works on matters involving public entities, as well as intellectual property and trade secret litigation. In one IP case, he represented retail and apparel clients in ownership disputes and worked to protect their designs.
Jon-Jamison Hill is a partner in M&R's Los Angeles office and the firm's Commercial & Business Litigation Practice Leader. Over the past two-plus decades, he has compiled an extraordinary record of success litigating cases no matter the venue-federal and state courts nationwide, as well as at arbitration and mediation.
Having handled single-party and class action cases across industries-banking and financial services, entertainment and sports, technology, and construction, to name a few-Jon's experience spans the breadth of commercial and business litigation. Among his areas of expertise are disputes arising out of contracts, construction defects, intellectual property, real estate, trade secrets, groundwater contamination, professional responsibility, and complex public works construction projects. Jon's work extends to the appellate court level as well, and some clients seek his counsel in major transactions, specifically, to provide the guidance necessary to help them avoid litigation and resulting financial exposure in the event a given deal fails or otherwise falls through.
Kelly Hagemann is a partner in M&R's Orange County office with broad litigation experience and a focus on the behavioral healthcare industry.
Kevin Kim is a partner in M&R's Orange County office and a member of the firm's Commercial & Business Litigation Practice Group. Having compiled an impressive record of success at both the trial and appellate court levels (state and federal), Kevin is a sought-after litigator who applies a practical, problem-solving approach to help his clients achieve their business and litigation goals.
Kevin primarily focuses his practice representing individual and institutional clients in a wide-array of general and complex business disputes, including matters involving breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, trade secret misappropriation, and unfair competition. As a seasoned litigator, Kevin has represented and counseled the nation's top financial institutions in consumer financial services litigation, including claims brought under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). He also regularly advises and defends employers in all areas of labor and employment law, including claims involving wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, and wage and hour disputes.
In addition to his vast skill set and expertise obtained through his extensive litigation experience, Kevin's clients benefit from his unique insight into the inner workings of the judicial system acquired while serving as a judicial extern in the United State District Court for the Southern District of California, an intern in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, and law clerk for the Major Frauds Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Office Managing Partner
- Office Managing Partner / Houston
Marc Jacobs is a partner in M&R's Los Angeles office. He handles sophisticated and complex litigation matters.
With a practice primarily focused on the financial services, insurance and real estate industries, Marc has litigated numerous cases (class actions included) involving trade secret misappropriation and conversion, wage and hour, wrongful termination and discrimination claims. He has done so for nearly two decades, working on behalf of a range of clients, such as major insurance companies, agents and brokers, as well as real estate developers, a variety of employers, owners of commercial and industrial properties and individuals in matters involving title, use and ownership rights, easements, adverse possession, commercial trespass, preservation of title and other property-related claims.
A member of the firm's Advertising & Digital Media Industry Group, Marc also advises marketing and advertising companies, and other businesses, regarding emerging technologies and associated litigation risk. Likewise, he has successfully defended several complex class action lawsuits brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), and he routinely counsels businesses on TCPA rights and obligations, as well as a broad range of other compliance issues and best practices relevant to the advertising and digital media space.
Marc is heavily involved with USA and British Gymnastics as well, and has represented some of the largest gymnastics clubs in these countries, many of which turn out Olympic athletes. Additionally, he advises health and athletic clubs and organizations in a number of areas, including risk management, contracts, privacy and social media rights, waiver documentation, employment practices, benefits analysis and risk management compliance issues.
A talented illustrator, Marc's legal cartoons have been seen online, in a variety of newsletters and in bar association publications in more than 30 states.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Co - Founding Partner / Los Angeles
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Office Managing Partner
- Partner - in - Charge
- Partner - in - Charge / New York
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Office Managing Partner
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Office Managing Partner
- Office Managing Partner / Los Angeles
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Co - Founding Partner / Los Angeles
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Office Managing Partner
- Office Managing Partner / Class Action & Complex Practice Leader / Chicago
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Partner
Job Titles:
- Member of the Administrative Leadership Team
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Chief Financial Officer / Los Angeles