Speakers

Alice Chen Smith is the Managing Partner of Yoka | Smith and is an experienced trial lawyer who has successfully tried many cases to verdict. Her primary focus is litigating catastrophic personal injury cases, products liability and business litigation matters. She practices throughout the State of California in trial and appellate courts. Her results-oriented work and civility has led to her selection as a Super Lawyers – Southern California Rising Star since 2012 and a Super Lawyer since 2022. She has also been recognized as a Leader of Influence: Minority Attorneys by the Los Angeles Business Journal. [...]

Allison advocates for employees in sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, and wage-and-hour cases. She also represents individuals who have been harmed in civil rights, landlord-tenant, and personal injury cases. Allison has taken many cases to trial including disability discrimination, wrongful termination, retaliation, sexual harassment, wage-and-hour, and personal injury cases.

Allison received her J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis. During law school, she had clerkships with the ACLU and with the workers’ rights project of the Public Justice Center in Baltimore. [...]

Angela Belty is a litigation associate at Omega Law Group. She has over a decade of litigation experience dedicated exclusively to plaintiff’s personal injury and wrongful death matters. Angela is deeply committed to achieving justice for those who have been injured due to the negligence of another. In her practice, she has focused on understanding and getting to know each client to truly understand each client’s loss and gather the framework to tell their stories. [...]

Anne L. Thompson is the Chief Claims Officer for Lawyers’ Mutual Insurance Company. Lawyers’ Mutual Insurance Company has been providing professional liability insurance to California lawyers since 1978. The company primarily insures sole practitioners and lawyers in small firms, as well as bar associations throughout California. In the 1970s, legal malpractice claims of all types were escalating. As a result, legal malpractice insurance premiums were increasing rapidly, making liability insurance too expensive for many [...]

After serving as a defense lawyer for over a decade Ariella now leverages her considerable experience to represent plaintiffs, fighting for their rights and interests. A veteran of over 30 civil jury trials, The American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) accepted Ariella with the honorary rank of Associate in recognition of her work. As an active member of the ABOTA Foundation, Ariella attends chapter, National, and International Board Meetings, giving her [...]

Beth is a trial attorney at Stalwart Law Group where her practice focuses on medical malpractice, birth injuries, and dependent adult abuse. In 2019, Beth helped her brain-injured client obtain a verdict against the County of San Diego for over $12.6 million, one of the largest recorded verdicts at the time against the county for jail-related injuries. In 2022, Beth helped her 9-year-old brain-injured client obtain a $25.6 million arbitration award as a result of medical malpractice from the care he received as an infant. [...]

Ms. Engelman is the Founder of Engelman Law, where she practices primarily in the areas of Personal Injury, including high profile wrongful death cases, catastrophic injury, auto accidents, premises liability, brain injury, civil rights; and Employment Litigation, including wrongful termination based on all facets of discrimination and retaliation. Prior to founding Engelman Law, Ms. Engelman worked as a Senior Associate at The Cochran Firm (the Los Angeles-based offices of late esteemed attorney, Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr.) for 5 years. Prior to joining The Cochran Firm, Ms. Engelman worked as a defense attorney—giving her the unique ability to be able to see every case from both the defense and plaintiff’s perspective. [...]

Chandra is a partner at Elder & Spencer, LLP. For nearly 10 years prior to forming her own law firm, Chandra was a defense attorney for California cities in code enforcement, tort liability and police misconduct matters. In 2007, Chandra formed her own law practice to provide quality legal representation to improve housing and public safety for tenants. In 2013, she formed Elder & Spencer, LLP, in partnership with Margaret Elder, to further expand this practice throughout California.[...]

Christina M. Coleman launched her solo practice of the Law Offices of Christina M. Coleman, APC in April 2017. With over 25 years of experience representing consumers, businesses and employees in enforcement and protection of their rights, her practice areas include: employment litigation, including harassment, discrimination, retaliation & wrongful termination, wage and hour and consumer individual and class actions, other civil rights litigation, including civil assault & battery, rape, and sexual harassment, and some personal injury and appellate work. Ms. Coleman was selected as a Super Lawyer [...]

Cindy Hickox is an attorney specializing in employment law, breach of contract disputes, legal malpractice, and business and commercial litigation.

Since joining Stalwart Law Group in 2018, Cindy Hickox has cultivated a diverse and dynamic legal practice. Her expertise spans employment matters, breach of contract disputes, legal malpractice, and a wide range of business and commercial litigation. Cindy takes pride in her ability to navigate complex cases across multiple legal domains.[...]

Cristina Garcia is a dedicated trial attorney in our Los Angeles Office. She is a forceful, passionate, and skilled advocate for the injured. She specializes in cases involving car accidents, motorcycle accidents, wrongful death, premises liability, elder abuse, burn injuries, dog bites, and medical malpractice. She also focuses on cases involving sexual abuse and neglect in schools.

Cristina is skilled in all phases of litigation, including case evaluation, investigation, pre-litigation, [...]

Attorney Cynthia Santiago, is the daughter of immigrant parents from Oaxaca, Mexico and Guatemala. From an early age her family experienced injustice with the criminal justice system. From that point the seed was formed that developed her passion to defend the rights of her community.

Throughout her life, Cynthia has been driven to succeed. She was awarded a full scholarship to Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where she graduated with honors.​ [...]​

Dawn Smith was born in Tucson, Arizona, and raised by a single mom with the help of loving grandparents. Growing up, Dawn’s family instilled in her a belief that those who work hard and dream big can accomplish anything — no matter what the odds. With this foundation, Dawn turned her sights on a career in law. She hoped to make a difference in the lives of people like her mother and grandparents, who worked hard their entire lives through adversity, always striving to make a difference in the smallest ways. [...]

Deborah Chang, one of the founding members of Athea Trial Lawyers, has won record-breaking verdicts and settlements in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases across the country. As if this wasn’t enough, she’s also a partner at Los Angeles firm Chang | Klein LLP. As a trusted advocate at two powerhouse firms, Deborah has made a name for herself as an attorney capable of fighting complex and high-profile cases. Her professional accolades [...]

Debra Bogaards, Esq. has served as a private mediator for over six years, as well as a mandatory settlement conference officer in San Francisco for over five years and in Marin County for almost 30 years. Her extensive career highlights a remarkable track record of successfully mediating hundreds of cases, achieving a consistent settlement rate above 98%. Ms. Bogaards brings a distinct advantage to her role, offering a clear and balanced perspective derived from having represented both plaintiffs and defendants throughout her 40-year career. [...]

Denisse O. Gastélum; Founder/Trial Lawyer, Gastélum Law, APC
Denisse is a civil rights attorney, who specializes in police shootings and in-custody death cases, representing plaintiffs in state and federal courts throughout the State of California. She previously worked as a public entity defense attorney [...]

Ebony H. Griffin-Guerrier serves as Counsel in the Denver office of Singleton Schreiber and is a member of our Environmental Litigation, Civil Rights, Toxic Tort, Mass Tort, and Personal Injury practice groups. Ms. Guerrier has extensive environmental law experience and will continue her passionate work at Singleton Schreiber on environmental toxic tort litigation. Specifically, she will work on issues of environmental racism and injustice, the impacts of climate change on disadvantaged communities, and other cases fighting for and protecting the rights of all people. [...]

Elizabeth A. Hernandez is a Litigation Attorney with BD&J, PC in Los Angeles. She primarily handles catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death and premises liability cases. She is the President-Elect of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA), which means she will be President of CAALA in 2026 and the first Latina to serve in that role.
She is the Immediate Past-President of the Mexican American Bar Association of Los Angeles County (MABA). [...]

Attorney Erin Joyce has extensive experience in State Bar investigations and disciplinary proceedings, plus over twenty-five years of civil litigation practice. Erin was admitted in 1990 and practiced for nearly eight years in an intellectual property boutique before joining the Office of Chief Trial Counsel as a prosecutor for the State Bar, from 1997 through 2016. Erin has over twenty years of experience handling all aspects of discipline cases against attorneys in State Bar Court, from the filing of the complaint through trial and review. She has personally tried dozens of State Bar trials and several appeals. [...]

Fran Campbell, based in Los Angeles, CA, US, is currently a Partner at Campbell & Farahani, LLP, bringing experience from previous roles at Law Office of Frances M. Campbell, a Professional Corporation, Eviction Defense Network, Randolph and Associates and The Rossbacher Firm. Fran Campbell holds a 1997 - 2000 J.D. @ University of Southern California Law School. With a robust skill set that includes Civil Litigation, Personal Injury, Litigation, Civil Rights [...]

I was seven years old when I decided I wanted to be a lawyer.

A first-generation immigrant, raised by my father, who is an adventurer at heart. I inherited his spirit for adventure. I don’t sit still. I also learned to work hard. Really hard.

It was in childhood that I began to experiment with storytelling. I wrote poetry and short stories and read novels. My adventures unfolded in my mind, taking me to magical places.[...]

Gila is a former Chief Legal Officer turned AI mindset and mastery mentor. With 25 years of experience advising companies on compliance, strategy, and leadership, she now helps professionals unlock the power of AI with clarity, creativity, and conscious integration. Through her company, Glowbal AI, [...]

After serving 18 years on the bench in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Hon. Dalila Corral Lyons (Ret.) is bringing her exceptional skillset to Signature Resolution. During her last three years on the bench, Judge Lyons was a highly regarded full-time settlement judge conducting mandatory settlement conferences, where she has proven success in resolving complex and challenging disputes.
Known for her persistence, innovative skills, empathy, and preparedness, [...]

Judge Vasquez served for two decades on the Sacramento County Superior Court, including two years on its appellate panel, presiding over hundreds of civil and complex civil litigation matters, including PAGA & class actions, law and motion, and settlement conferences resolving disputes in a variety of civil matters, ranging from commercial contract disputes to labor and employment, personal injury, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and sexual assault cases. During her tenure on the Court, she issued decisions on hundreds of cases involving a wide range of constitutional, statutory, and other legal questions, including presiding over close to 400 jury trials in civil and criminal law. [...]

Judge Jessica Kronstadt received her B.A. from Yale University, where she was a member of the Varsity Women’s Volleyball Team. She received her J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, where she received a Distinguished Young Alumni Award. After graduating from law school, Judge Kronstadt worked as a litigation associate at Latham & Watkins and as a staff attorney at Bet Tzedek Legal Services.[...]

Judge Judy Holzer Hersher, Ret., has two decades of experience on the Sacramento County bench, presiding over hundreds of jury and court trials. She has published numerous articles and books, taught at law school programs and the California Judicial College, and served on critical statewide trial committees. She has training in national and global mediation and three-plus years of mediation, arbitration, and private judging. [...]

Judge Bachner has garnered an outstanding reputation over the course of her impressive four-decade legal career. As a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge for over 20 years, she sat in criminal and civil departments, during which she presided over a civil unlimited independent calendar and trial court for the last seven years.

Prior to her appointment, she was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, where she served in a variety of managerial positions, including as chief prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Orange County office.[...]

The Hon. Ruth Ann Kwan is a judge for the Los Angeles County Superior Court in California. She assumed the Municipal Court bench in 1995 and was subsequently appointed to the Superior Court in 1998 by former governor Pete Wilson. At the time of her appointment to the Superior Court, Kwan filled the vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. Abby Soven (Ret.). [...]

Judge Sanchez-Gordon has had a distinguished and impactful legal career, marked by her leadership in presiding over complex litigation and unlimited civil cases. With over 25 years of experience as both a judge and settlement officer, she has earned a reputation for her expertise and commitment to the fair administration of justice. Her service to the Los Angeles community extends beyond the courtroom; in 2024, she was appointed as a commissioner for the Los Angeles Police Department, further solidifying her dedication to public service and community well-being [...]

Janet Gusdorff is a California Certified Appellate Law Specialist with over 18 years of experience in navigating complex legal challenges on appeal, successfully representing clients in a wide range of appellate cases and contributing to the advancement of employee protections through landmark cases such as Ross v. County of Riverside and Lin v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals. [...]

Jennifer Kramer is the co-managing partner at Hennig Kramer LLP. Her practice focuses on complex employment litigation in state and federal courts. She has served as lead counsel on class and multiple plaintiff actions, as well as regularly representing [...]

Jessica Markham practices all aspects of family law in Maryland and Washington, D.C. She has trial experience in multiple local Maryland counties and in Washington D.C. courts and is also trained in Collaborative Law. Ms. Markham also handles guardianship matters and is frequently appointed by the Court as an attorney for Allegedly Disabled Adults and as Guardian of the Property. Ms. Markham has also been trained as a Guardianship Mediator through the Maryland Judiciary. [...]

Ji-In is a fierce litigator and trial attorney. She has first and second chaired jury and bench trials to verdict in state and federal court and in arbitration. [...]

Kim Lyons is a seasoned legal marketing executive with more than a decade of experience handling all manner of marketing and communications roles for some of the most prestigious firms in the nation. Ms. Lyons has worked across multiple areas of law, from large corporate defense firms to boutique family law practices, handling various high-level responsibilities, including: managing CRM processes; overseeing client intake; responding to RFPs; directing digital marketing campaigns; [...]

As the Founder and President of Berger HR Solutions, Kristyn Berger provides law firms and other professional service organizations with strategic human resources and organizational development solutions that enhance employee performance, improve firm culture, and mitigate employment risks.
Before launching Berger HR Solutions, Kristyn spent almost a decade as an HR leader in the financial services industry. As Vice President and Senior Human Resources Business Partner for M&T Bank’s Greater Washington Retail Market, [...]

Letitia S. Johnson is the managing partner of our Southeastern Region offices and a leader in our Civil Rights, Environmental Litigation, and Wildfire Litigation practice groups. An accomplished attorney with deep ties and a history of service to the communities of Mississippi, Ms. Johnson’s primary focus is combatting environmental racism seeking damages and remediation from corporations who place such harmful facilities as chemical plants, factory farms, public landfills, and hazardous waste disposal sites in minority communities. Ms. Johnson is also a lead attorney in the firm’s Hair Relaxer litigation against L’Oreal, Revlon and similar defendants. [...]

Lexlee Overton is not just a lawyer—she’s a testimony to the power of resilience, reinvention, and purpose. A fierce advocate for women in the legal profession, Lexlee spent 30 years in the courtroom, mastering the art of advocacy before stepping into her true purpose: transforming how lawyers define success. After experiencing firsthand the burnout, pressure, and impossible standards placed on women in law, she made it her mission to help women lawyers reclaim their power, confidence, and joy. [...]

Lora Smiley is an equity partner and Chief Communications Officer at Outlier Creative Agency (OCA), where she ensures seamless internal operations and keeps communication flowing in all the right ways. With a background in Business, Lora approaches marketing through a unique lens—blending strategic business insight with creative storytelling to help clients achieve their content marketing goals.[...]

Lori Dobrin is a 38-year litigator recognized for her preparation, authenticity, empathetic demeanor and knack for building rapport and trustworthiness. After years of being a daily fixture at the Ventura County Courthouse through her court appearance work, she was asked to assist as a settlement officer and that is when she discovered her passion of facilitating resolution through the mediation process. Her completion of the intensive “Mediating the Litigated Case” offered by Pepperdine’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution was transformative and she thereafter joined ARC’s panel of neutrals. [...]

Lourdes DeArmas advocates for equality in and out of the courtroom and coined the motto “There are no women trial attorneys. We are trial attorneys that happen to be women.”

Lourdes is a California partner and Lead Trial Attorney at Omega Law Group. She has dedicated her trial practice to representing plaintiffs in catastrophic personal injury, premises liability, sexual abuse, and wrongful death cases. [...]

Ms. Mary Caruso is a distinguished Partner at the Wilshire Law Firm with more than 24 years of experience in the field of Civil Litigation, specializing in personal injury cases. Her unwavering dedication to seeking justice for individuals who have suffered harm due to the negligence of others has earned her widespread recognition and numerous awards.

Mary earned her law degree from the esteemed Abraham Lincoln University[...]

Mayra Fornos is a professional Mediator with ADR Services Inc. and is a legal educator and strategist with over thirty years of experience as a distinguished trial attorney and litigator. She has extensive experience in working closely with plaintiff and defense counsel to facilitate optimal outcomes for all stakeholders over a broad range of legal disputes for individuals as well as Fortune 500 companies. Her experience in the courtroom has equipped her with a deep understanding of the trial process and of jury behavior… [...]individuals as well as Fortune 500 companies. Her experience in the courtroom has equipped her with a deep understanding of the trial process and of jury behavior… [...]

Melanie Carpenter is Special Counsel for ChartSquad, a patient Personal Health Record (PHR) for patients nationwide. Melanie started her career with a focus on corporate litigation and contract law, then shifted to civil litigation where she spent over 10 years representing patients in injury cases. One of the obvious and primary obstacles she identified in civil litigation was the pain of delays, costs, and the struggle to obtain medical records.[...]

Melissa draws upon more than 35 years of legal experience to resolve a variety of civil litigation matters, including construction defects, all types of personal injury, landlord-tenant, and habitability matters. A part-time private mediator, arbitrator, and special master since 2010, she made the decision in 2016 to follow her passion and transitioned to full-time neutral work. She volunteered as an arbitrator, mediator, and settlement judge for local courts before embarking on her private mediation practice and has served as a judge pro tem and settlement officer for the Sacramento County Superior Court for over two decades.[...]

Micah Brill currently serves as the Director of Marketing & Sales at Expert MRI, a leading Diagnostic Imaging Center in southern California. With a robust background spanning over 25 years in the healthcare industry, patient advocacy has always been her primary focus.
Throughout her extensive healthcare career, Micah has contributed her expertise to various areas, including Medical Billing, Insurance Contracting, Oncology Clinical Trials, [...]

Michelle Meyers is a member of our Fire Litigation, Public Entity Law, Personal Injury and Wrongful Death, and Insurance Recovery and Bad Faith practice groups. A seasoned trial attorney, she has spent her career litigating complex civil matters involving personal injury, mass torts, civil rights, and insurance coverage in federal and state courts.

Ms. Meyers has extensive trial experience in insurance litigation.[...]

Nalini Prasad has worked alongside Seth Price — Managing Partner of Price Benowitz, LLP and Founder of BluShark Digital — to create a digital marketing agency focused on helping law firms build their business and stand out online.

As Chief Strategy Officer at BluShark Digital, Nalini designs and implements cutting-edge strategies across the four fundamentals of digital marketing – sophisticated content creation, innovative link-building, savvy technical optimization, and dynamic local SEO. [...]

Nicole Meyers is an employment attorney dedicated to advocating for workers’ rights. She represents victims of all types of workplace discrimination, including race, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy, and national origin, as well as victims of sexual harassment and discrimination-based retaliation. Nicole also represents whistleblowers. Her clients face discrimination in various workplaces, including schools, hospitals, medical facilities, factories, retail stores, restaurants, and various state and federal agencies. [...]

Nicole Whyte is the Founder and CEO of Bremer, Whyte, Brown, and O’Meara, LLP, a 215-plus attorney full-service law firm with nine full offices in the Western US, specializing in family law and complex civil litigation.

Born, raised, and educated in South Africa, Nicole practiced as an attorney in Johannesburg before embarking on her American legal career in 1997, when she partnered with Keith Bremer and founded Bremer Whyte. Nicole is licensed in multiple states, has a two-decade-plus AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, and is a Certified Family Law Specialist in California. [...]

A partner with the firm since 2021, Ms. Hensley has represented celebrities and athletes, and has extensive experience in trial and litigation. She firmly believes in a personalized approach and unwavering dedication to each one of her clients. Always results-oriented, Ms. Hensley strives to provide her clients with the most professional representation. She has obtained outstanding results and has appeared in courthouses all over the State of California and in the Court of Appeals. She is currently working on a California Supreme Court matter. [...]

Sara has litigated a variety of cases across the State of Alabama, including premises liability, motor vehicle negligence, wrongful death and trucking cases. Sara began her legal career as a civil defense attorney and has worked for some of the preeminent litigation firms of the State. She is now excited to have the opportunity to utilize her litigation skills to help those who have been injured and their families.[...]

Siannah Collado is a distinguished trial attorney who joined Stalwart Law Group in January 2024. She specializes in a wide range of personal injury cases, including motor vehicle accidents, catastrophic injuries, complex spinal injuries, sexual assault, school bullying, and wrongful death.

Born and raised in San Pedro, California, to Panamanian immigrant parents, [...]

In 2009, I began helping small businesses navigate a rapidly evolving digital space. I churned through hundreds of ideas and projects (iWeb, anyone?) and found that SEO was the best avenue to operate creatively but with predictable results. It offers original answers to an established set of questions, can attract new clients and users, and generates powerful new leads. And that’s really what I am interested in—how to use Google to make you money. [...]

Stacie Hausner, Esq. has been a full-time mediator with ADR Services, Inc. for the last 8 years. She has an exceptionally high settlement rate and has mediated thousands of disputes in the areas of personal injury, employment, real estate, business, entertainment, insurance coverage, and construction defect. Ms. Hausner has an LL.M. in Dispute Resolution from the Straus Institute at Pepperdine University School of Law, and when she is not mediating, she has taught [...]

Taly Goody is the founder of Goody Law Group, LLP (GLG) is a boutique law firm based in Los Angeles, California serving clients all over southern California and beyond. She is known for her stellar marketing skills and is lovingly referred to as "The TikTok Queen." Taly Goody, Esq. founded GLG, and brings a refreshing twist to old school law firm techniques and outdated methods. Taly has a network of medical [...]

Tamara S. Freeze is a founding shareholder of Workplace Justice Advocates, Professional Law Corporation, where she exclusively represents employees in employment-related matters, such as discrimination, harassment, disability accommodation, wage and hour disputes, whistleblower retaliation, employment litigation and appeals.

After earning her undergraduate degree from UCLA, Ms. Freeze attended University of California Berkeley School of Law, where she focused mainly on employment law and litigation [...]

Taylor Dordick is a personal injury attorney at the Dordick Law Firm in California. Taylor received her J.D. from Loyola Law School. She handles mostly catastrophic injury and sexual assault cases. In addition to her legal work, she is board member of the New Lawyers Division for Consumer Attorneys of California. [...]

Passionate about protecting consumers from unsafe products and unfair business practices, Tracy specializes in products liability and mass tort cases. She joined Robinson Calcagnie in 2022 from the Los Angeles County Counsel’s Affirmative Litigation and Consumer Protection Division, where she was the Consumer Protection Team Leader, and co-lead of the LACC People v. Juul Labs, Inc. and People v. Purdue Pharma et al litigation teams. As a Senior Deputy County Counsel, she coordinated two successful legislative initiatives to strengthen consumer protection enforcement in California. [...]

Twila S. White has been handling labor and employment cases for over two decades. She has tried several jury trials and arbitrations, and has handled numerous matters at the appellate level. Twila is a well sought after and prolific speaker. In 2021, one of Twila's trials was named to Courtroom View Network's Top Ten Most Impressive Plaintiff Verdicts of 2021. She has been honored by the Daily Journal, Superlawyers, and Lawdragon for her achievements. [...]

Whitney Betts is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Betts Law Group, a dynamic boutique firm in San Diego specializing in civil litigation for survivors of sexual assault, abuse, harassment, and discrimination, as well as professional athlete workers’ compensation claims. Partnering with her husband Tom Betts, who leads the workers’ compensation team, Whitney has propelled the firm’s rapid growth by leveraging their extensive defense experience [...]