Speakers

Aimee Kirby is the managing attoney of the torts practice group at Dolan Law Firm PC. As a senior trial attorney, Aimee supervises significant and precedent-setting lawsuits for individuals who sufered grave injuries and for families whose loved ones have died. WIth more than 15 years of courtroom experience, Aimee Kirby has successfully tried 20 cases to verdict and has settled hundreds more, and was even nominated as a finalist [...]

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. [...]

Prior to opening the Reddock Law Group and becoming a full-time neutral in 2011, Angela was an employment and labor law litigator for 15 years. During this time, she represented clients in the full gamut of employment and labor law cases, including wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination, public policy and wage and hour claims. She also developed specialties in handling highly sensitive cases hazing and bullying cases involving [...]

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 [...]

Ashley Laiken received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola Marymount University in 2005. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Southwestern Law School in 2010. Ashley began her legal career as a medical malpractice defense attorney working for a premier medical malpractice firm.

Following this, Ashley left the medical malpractice field to volunteer for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office with the Trial Attorney Partnership program to gain the skills in the courtroom she knew she would need to represent her clients from intake to trial. [...]

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.[...]

Christa Ramey is a partner with Ramey Law PC. She is heavily involved in her professional community, serving as CAALA Secretary and was the CAALA Vegas chair of education from 2016-2017. Her specialties include school bullying cases, personal injury, civil rights and wrongful death. In her early career, when she worked in the district attorney’s office, the cases involving children affected her the most. Once she became a mother [...]

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.[...]

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.​ [...]​

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 [...]

Elizabeth A. Hernandez is an Associate Attorney at Dordick Law Corporation. Ms. Hernandez primarily handles catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death and premises liability cases. Elizabeth is deeply committed to charitable work, giving back to the community and helping others in need. Elizabeth began her charitable work during her college years at UCLA, starting with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, served as a board member of the Evelyn Grace Foundation for more than [...]

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 [...]

Genie Harrison is a top employment and women’s rights lawyer handling sexual harassment, equal pay, and other employment cases. With over thirty years of experience, she has obtained significant compensation for her clients and created systemic change to benefit thousands who will never know her name, but whose lives are better as a result of her work [...]

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.). [...]

Janet Rubin Fields is a full time neutral with Judicate West and has successfully mediated thousands of civil and commercial disputes which has earned her a reputation for being an active and empathetic listener who uses her knowledge and energy to entrench herself in every case.

Since 1999, Janet has mediated and resolved thousands of cases. Her view is that every dispute is different and while the law and the facts may be similar, it’s the parties who make each mediation unique [...]

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. [...]

Trial attorney Jennifer Fiore focuses on catastrophic personal injury, sexual abuse, elder abuse and neglect, product liability, public entity, railroad, maritime and other torts. Jennifer has spent her entire legal career fighting for the rights of injured victims and families who have lost loved ones due to the negligence or neglect of others. She is proud to be a shareholder of FIORE ACHERMANN in San Francisco and Oakland, where they handle cases throughout the state of California. [...]

Jennifer Gore-Cuthbert is an accomplished attorney and the founder of Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group, a reputable personal injury firm with multiple locations throughout the Atlanta Metro. Jennifer and her team specialize in representing clients injured in auto accidents, trucking crashes, slip-and-fall incidents, wrongful death cases, and more. With a strong focus on maximizing case values and streamlining the legal process using technology and efficient communication, Atlanta Personal Injury Law Group has become known for its exceptional client service and results-driven approach. [...]

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 [...]

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; [...]

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. [...]

Maria Monroy is the Co-founder and President of LawRank, a leading SEO company for law firms. Prior to founding LawRank, Maria developed a depth of knowledge and expertise in management, customer service, processes and procedures, and sales while working for industry leaders like AT&T.

Since 2013, Maria has been a passionate advocate for and ally to LawRank’s attorney clients, helping them grow their brands, reach new clients, and ultimately achieve SEO success. She’s known and respected in the legal SEO industry for her expertise in digital marketing, [...]

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, Esq. is an accomplished litigator and trial attorney with three decades of experience handling a wide range of civil matters, with expertise in the fields of catastrophic personal injury, including spinal cord injuries, vehicular accidents, premises liability, products liability, elder abuse and dependent adult care abuse, wrongful death, medical malpractice, employment discrimination, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), sexual harassment/abuse, family law and business disputes. [...]

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, [...]

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 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 former lawyer turned life coach for lawyers.

Now why’s that so important?

It means I get it. It means I intimately understand what your life is like. Because I lived it. Which is why I’m uniquely qualified to help you.

Listen, I am not your therapist. That’s why you’ll LOVE working with me. [...]

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 Boutté is of counsel to The Simon Law Group.
She was born and raised in San Pedro, California to Panamanian immigrant parents. She is fluent in Spanish. After graduating from the sixth grade she moved to Panama and attended the prestigious St. Mary’s School in the Canal Zone. She graduated as Valedictorian and Class Vice President and moved back to California. She attended El Camino College in Torrance, [...]

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 Dordick Law Firm in California. With a passion for helping individuals who have been injured due to the negligence of others, she has established herself as a trusted advocate for her clients.

Taylor received her J.D. from Loyola Law School and is licensed to practice law in California. Prior to working at the Dordick Law Firm, she gained valuable experience working at other personal injury firms, where she honed her skills in negotiating and litigating on behalf of her clients.[...]

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. [...]

The Law Office of Twila S. White stands ready to protect the rights and livelihood of workers across California. Attorney White is a prolific speaker on employment law and uses her extensive knowledge to passionately represent her clients’ interests. Her care and concern for California’s workers has resulted in being selected for inclusion in the Southern California Super Lawyers and Rising Stars list for multiple years.[...]

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 [...]