Our latest featured speaker is Michelle West from Robinson Calcagnie!

Michelle will be speaking at our upcoming 14th Annual Superior Court Boot Camp in Los Angeles on November 8th. We’re glad to have you with us, Michelle!

Michelle West joined Robinson Calcagnie, Inc. in 2008 and has devoted her practice to obtaining recovery for individuals who are catastrophically injured due to defective products including vehicles, tires, skylights, machinery, and pharmaceuticals, among others. In addition to her work in product liability, Ms. West also handles cases involving premises liability, government claims, dangerous condition of public and private property, industrial or construction accidents, wrongful death, traumatic brain injury, amputation, carbon monoxide poisoning, injuries on cruise ships and excursions, and accidents involving big-rig trucks and other commercial vehicles.

Ms. West has recovered numerous seven figure results for her clients at both settlement and trial. Ms. West has also prepared appellate briefs for the California Court of Appeal, including the California Supreme Court, and has argued in front of the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles.

Ms. West has an AV rating‚ the highest rating for legal ability and ethical standards under the peer review system of Martindale-Hubbell. Ms. West was also recognized as a Southern California Rising Star in 2010 and 2011 (an honor given to no more than 2.5 percent of attorneys under the age of 40 or practicing less than 10 years) and has also been selected as a 2016 Southern California Superlawyer. In 2014 Ms. West became a Fellow of the ABOTA National Trial College. Ms. West is admitted to the California Bar and the United States District Court‚ Central District. She is a member of the Consumer Attorneys of California‚ Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles‚ Orange County Bar Association‚ Orange County Trial Lawyers Association‚ Los Angeles County Bar Association‚ and Women’s Lawyers Association of Los Angeles. Ms. West also serves on the Orange County Bar Association’s Administration of Justice Committee, a “blue ribbon” committee which reviews and comments on rules of court and other subject provided for public comment by the Judicial Council, Superior Court and the California State Bar, upon approval by the Executive Committee.

Michelle West graduated cum laude from Pepperdine University School of Law where she graduated in the top 10 percent of the class. Ms. West was an editor of the Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal‚ a member of the Moot Court Board, and a research assistant to Professor Kristine S. Knaplund. Ms. West received several awards for achievement during law school including the Witkin/West Group award for Academic Excellence for the highest grade in several courses and the CALI Excellence for the Future Award. Ms. West was also on the Dean’s Honor List. She received her undergraduate degree cum laude from the California State University at Long Beach.

In her free time‚ Ms. West enjoys marathons, ultra-distance running events and triathlons (completing 10 full Ironman® triathlons and achieving All World Athlete status). Ms. West has completed more than 50 marathons, several 50-85 mile runs, several 100 mile runs (finishing 1st place female twice), and the 135 mile Badwater® ultramarathon. Ms. West has finished in the top 100 women in the Los Angeles Marathon‚ has run the Boston Marathon twice‚ and raised money for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital for the Marine Corps Marathon. Ms. West has also completed numerous ultra-distance cycling events, including over 50 century and double century rides, and raised money for cancer research with the Orange County Livestrong® Century Ride.

As part of her charity work, Ms. West serves as a Silver Level Honorary Board Member of the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Charities (LATLC), an organization that makes a positive difference in the lives of needy persons and groups in the greater Los Angeles area.

It’s an exciting time in L.A. with the new Rams stadium being built and Faith Pincus’ niece is handling corporate and individual sales. Since she is Faith’s niece, we get to pass on the info everywhere and encourage you to call her if your firm or company would like some type of corporate subscription or if you’d like early access to seats as an individual.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to get and utilize seats, call or email Faith’s niece, Sydney Pincus, at (424) 396-6855 or spincus@lased.com. Get a sneak peak of the new stadium here!

Our latest featured speaker is John Ruskusky from Nixon Peabody!

John will be speaking at our upcoming 9th Annual Circuit Court Boot Camp in Chicago on December 6th. We’re looking forward to your presentation, John!

John Ruskusky, a partner in Nixon Peabody’s Commercial Litigation practice group, is a trial attorney who represents companies and individuals in their business disputes.

John has more than twenty years of trial, arbitration and counseling experience involving the management of complex business disputes and disputes involving law firms. He counsels businesses and their executives, members and owners in a wide range of disputes, including large business transactions (such as distribution and purchase agreements), medical devices, fiduciary duty claims and dissolution and valuation.

He also represents business clients with pre-litigation resolution of claims against their former professionals, including a recent case that settled with a multimillion-dollar payment to the client relating to faulty tax and transactional advice.

John represents corporate clients in a variety of False Claims Act cases, including those at the pre-intervention stage. His experience includes Department of Defense, Department of Education and General Services Administration matters. Additionally, he represents clients in government investigations and proceedings, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service.

John also represents corporate clients in a variety of construction and real estate disputes, including construction defect and delay, property management, general contract, indemnity, Fair Housing Act and zoning matters.

Our very own Faith Pincus recently sat down with Power of Public Speaking to discuss her years of experience with public speaking in and out of the courtroom. Check out the episode here!

Our latest featured speaker is Ryan McNamara from Call & Jensen!

Ryan will be speaking at our upcoming 14th Annual Superior Court Boot Camp in Los Angeles on November 8th. We’re looking forward to it, Ryan!

Ryan McNamara is a shareholder who practices in the areas of general business litigation, ADA litigation, employment litigation, product liability, and class actions.

Prior to joining Call & Jensen in January of 2007, Mr. McNamara enjoyed four years as an associate at the renowned plaintiffs’ litigation firm Girardi & Keese. While at Girardi & Keese, Mr. McNamara gained valuable experience in the areas of mass torts, premises liability, and product liability. In 2002, Mr. McNamara was awarded a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Pepperdine University School of Law. As a graduate student at Pepperdine Law, Mr. McNamara excelled in the art and science of trial advocacy. As a leading member of Pepperdine’s Honors Trial Advocacy Team, Mr. McNamara received the International Academy of Trial Lawyers’ Student Advocacy Award and was admitted to the Order of the Barristers. In 2001, he was certified in Alternative Dispute Resolution by the top-ranked Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. Mr. McNamara earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin in 1996.

For nine years, Mr. McNamara has been featured by Los Angeles Magazine as a “Rising Star” – a distinction reserved for just two and one-half percent of the attorneys in Los Angeles and Orange County. Rising Stars are lawyers who are under 40, or who have been practicing ten years or less, selected for excellence in the practice of law.

Our latest featured speaker is Evangeline Burbidge from Lewis & Llewellyn!

Evangeline (Evan) will be speaking at our upcoming 14th Annual Superior Court Boot Camp in San Francisco on November 1st. She has spoken at our previous Superior Court Boot Camps, and we’re so glad to have her with us again!

Evan is a leader in the legal community, a trusted counselor, and a skilled advocate. Whether litigating a case or advising a client, Evan understands the importance of the big picture. She also knows that being an effective litigator means not only fighting hard, but also being a proactive problem solver. She is a straight-shooter respected by both colleagues and opposing counsel.

Evan litigates and advises on a broad array of matters, including complex commercial cases, trade secret theft, fraud, breach of contract, and other business disputes. Since joining Lewis & Llewellyn, she has worked for Fortune 100 companies, individuals, and Silicon Valley start-ups, both litigating and conducting internal investigations. Evan has worked on both the defense and plaintiff’s side, successfully representing a billion-dollar company against allegations of wrongdoing and, more recently, securing her client a victory in connection with allegations of trade secret theft. Outside of the business context, Evan has also represented survivors of childhood sexual abuse, helping them achieve justice through the legal system.

Evan is also active in the legal community. She has served on the Executive Committee of the BASF Barristers’ Litigation Section for the past four years and was elected chair from 2016 – 2018 and is also a member of the Edward J. McFetridge Inn of Court. She also spearheaded efforts to increase the profile of female leaders in the field and is an active mentor. Evan has been selected as a Northern California Rising Star by Super Lawyers Magazine for the past four years, an honor reserved for 2.5% of U.S. lawyers, and has been profiled by the Bar Association of San Francisco and the Justice & Diversity Center. Most recently, she was named to Benchmark Litigation’s 40 & Under Hot List, which honors partners 40 or younger who have been deemed the most promising emerging talent in their litigation communities by peers and clients.

A Utah native, Evan loves skiing and trying to teach her children to do the same. She also enjoys learning about clean tech, supporting local theater, and demonstrating her uncanny ability to recognize obscure celebrities.

Our latest featured speaker is Daniel Herbert from Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester!

Daniel will be speaking at our upcoming Probate Litigation 101 program in Los Angeles on September 20th. We’re looking forward to your presentation, Daniel!

Daniel Herbert joined Manning & Kass as a partner in 2005. He currently leads the firm’s Trusts and Estates Team. Mr. Herbert graduated cum laude from Whittier College School of Law in 1990 with numerous honors and distinctions: Law Review, Dean’s List, Honor Roll, Dean’s Merit Scholarship, and several American Jurisprudence Awards. He is admitted to practice law in the state and federal courts of California, Illinois, and New York, and before the Seventh and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal.

Mr. Herbert has considerable experience prosecuting and defending trust and estate litigation matters through trial and appeal, including actions to remove fiduciaries for malfeasance; actions to recover property and damages from fiduciaries, beneficiaries, and third parties; will and trust contests; and contested conservatorships.

Previously, Mr. Herbert was a partner with a boutique Century City litigation firm, where he supervised all of that firm’s trust and estate work, and represented a diverse clientele in complex and sophisticated real property, business, and securities suits in state and federal courts.

Mr. Herbert is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Trust and Estate Section and Trust Litigation Subcommittee; California State Bar’s Trust and Estates Section; Illinois State Bar Association’s Section on Trusts and Estates; American Bar Association’s Real Property, Probate and Trust Section; and Estate and Trust Litigation Committee. He is also a licensed real estate broker.

Our latest featured speaker is Carl Shusterman!

Carl will be speaking at our upcoming Immigration Law Certified Legal Specialist Exam Prep course in Los Angeles on September 12th and 13th. We’re looking forward to your presentation, Carl!

Immigration Attorney Carl Shusterman has over 40 years of experience practicing immigration law. He served as a Trial Attorney for U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) from 1976 until 1982 when he entered the private practice of law. He is one of the very limited number of attorneys who have been designated as Certified Specialists in Immigration and Naturalization Law by the California State Bar. For more than 10 years, he has been voted as one of the Best Lawyers in America and as a Super Lawyer by his colleagues in the bar.

Carl Shusterman was featured in the February 2018 issue of SuperLawyers Magazine.

He has been named as one of the top 15 corporate immigration attorneys in the U.S. by Human Resource Executive magazine. His hard work and dedication to immigration law have earned him the highest rating (“AV”) in legal ability and ethics from the prestigious Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directory. He has also served as a member of the Immigration and Nationality Law Advisory Commission for the State Bar. He is also listed in The International Who’s Who of Corporate Immigration Lawyers and the Chamber’s USA Guide for Leading Business Lawyers.

Carl Shusterman has testified as an expert witness before the Senate Immigration Subcommittee in Washington, D.C.

Immigration law is very personal for Carl. His wife was born in the Philippines and later became an INS officer. Carl’s son was born in Canada and his daughter-in-law’s parents are Indian immigrants. His office staff speaks Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog and a variety of other languages.

Carl is a former Chairman of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Southern California Chapter and served as a member of AILA’s national Board of Governors (1988-97). He has chaired numerous AILA Committees, spoken at dozens of AILA Conferences and has contributed a number of scholarly articles to AILA’s publications.

Carl volunteered together with Attorney Cheryl Gertler in assisting women and children incarcerated by our government in Dilley, Texas after fleeing from violence in Central America.

Carl is a frequent writer and lecturer on immigration law. His articles, letters to the editor and quotes have appeared in prestigious publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Canada’s Globe and Mail, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, National Law Journal, California Lawyer, Los Angeles Lawyer, Journal of the American Medical Association, Christian Science Monitor, Atlantic Monthly, Computer World, Information Week, Issues in Science and Technology, Variety, and numerous other publications. He has written for, and been quoted extensively in, leading periodicals specializing in immigration law including Interpreter Releases, Immigration Law and Procedure, Immigration Briefings, Inside Immigration, Immigration Journal and U.S. Immigrant Magazine. In addition, he has appeared on various television programs including NBC’s Today Show, CNN’s Headline News, the Nightly News with Peter Jennings, and on a wide variety of nationally syndicated radio shows.

Our latest featured speaker is Gregory Zbylut from Singer Burke Zimmer!

Greg will be speaking at our upcoming Tax Law Certified Legal Specialist Exam Prep course in Los Angeles on August 22nd and 23rd. He has spoken for us several times, and we’re so glad to have him back!

Gregory Zbylut has been a tax manager with Singer Burke Zimmer, LLP since 2018. He is a Certified Public Accountant (IL) and Attorney at Law (IL & CA) with a Certification in Taxation Law (CA). He is a Martindale-Hubbell® AV-Preeminent®-rated attorney who focuses his practice on tax controversy, business transactions (including formations and dissolutions) and business litigation.

Greg’s work has repeatedly been recognized by his peers. He has been listed as a “Rising Star” (a peer-nominated distinction awarded to less than 2% of attorneys nationwide) every year since 2012, and a SuperLawyer in 2018 and 2019. He was also a Pasadena Top Attorney from 2013 to 2016, and then again in 2018. Greg is a member of the Los Angeles County and Beverly Hills Bar Association Tax Sections, both of which he previously co-chaired.

Greg also participates in Bar delegations to Sacramento and Washington D.C., where he works with government officials to discuss current law from a practitioner’s perspective. Legislators have taken notice: in 2014, assembly bill 2244 (AB2244) was introduced in response to his presentation as part of the State Bar of California’s first Sacramento delegation in February 2013 (later published in the July 10, 2013 issue of State Tax Notes magazine, a Tax Analysts® publication). That presentation also led to his being invited to participate in the State Bar’s annual Eagle’s Lodge retreat, an invite-only event consisting of high-level state tax officials and private practitioners whose purpose is find solutions to tax issues affecting California taxpayers. On the federal tax side, he has traveled to Washington D.C. annually since 2012, presenting proposals on the Marketplace Fairness Act, late ‘S’ elections, and cancellation of debt.

One of Greg’s strengths is his ability to help business owners understand complex legal issues, a skill which comes from his extensive accounting background. In addition to being licensed in Illinois as a Certified Public Accountant, he spent 15 years in a variety of accounting positions for companies large and small, including Fortune 500 members Exelon and General Motors. His experience includes developing accounting structures for small companies, migration of the accounting software for a major corporation, cost reduction initiatives, budgeting and forecasting, and financial analysis. He holds an M.B.A. with an emphasis in International Business and Finance from Loyola University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. Greg enjoys international travel and, in another life, trained at Second City in Chicago.

Our latest featured speaker is Todd Taylor from Michael Sullivan & Associates!

Todd will be speaking at our upcoming Workers’ Compensation Law Certified Legal Specialist Exam Prep course in Los Angeles on September 19th and 20th. We’re looking forward to your presentation, Todd!

Mr. Taylor represents insurance carriers, self-insured employers and public entities in all aspects of workers’ compensation. Before joining Michael Sullivan & Associates, Mr. Taylor was an Associate Attorney at Chaves & Breault in Torrance, where he represented self-insured employers in all aspects of workers’ compensation defense before all Southern California WCABs.

He was also an Associate Attorney at Grancell, Stander, Reubens, Thomas & Kinsey in El Segundo, where he handled more than 100 workers’ comp cases from inception to trial or settlement. Much of that time, he served as Lead Attorney for American Building Maintenance.

Mr. Taylor also served as Associate Attorney at Hayford & Felchlin in Los Angeles, and Domingo, Elias & Vu in Brea. There, too, he practiced exclusively worker’s compensation defense, representing employers and public entities including school districts. He was a Paralegal at Samuelsen, Gonzalez, Valenzuela & Brown in Irvine, assisting the firm’s attorneys in workers’ compensation defense.

Before embarking on a legal career, Mr. Taylor was a Work Care Technician at Northbay Healthcare in Vacaville, performing pre-employment tests and occupational health screenings, and managing medical records. He served several years as Security Forces Officer for the U.S. Air Force at Beale Air Force Base in California. His military duties included routine and emergency law enforcement, some of which required top-secret clearance. He also supervised and trained troops in investigation and surveillance.

Mr. Taylor received his Juris Doctor degree from Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, where he served as the campus chapter’s President of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and was a member of the Trial Advocacy Honors Board. He received his undergraduate degree from Minnesota State University in Moorhead, graduating magna cum laude.