Akerman brought on Jeffrey Horton Thomas in the Los Angeles office as a partner. Horton Thomas is the founder of Thomas Employment Law. The firm also hired associates Zoe Bekas and Steven Gallagher in the labor and employment group.

Nathan Cohen joined Peckar & Abramson as senior counsel in the firm's Los Angeles office. Cohen focuses his practice on construction law, commercial litigation, real estate, corporate compliance and internal investigations. Previously, he was chief legal officer at L&A Group of Companies.

Munger, Tolles & Olson brought on George Fatheree as a partner in the Los Angeles office. Fatheree focuses his practice on commercial real estate transactions and will be part of the real estate group. Previously, he was a counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

John Booher and Eric Newsom joined Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton as partners. Booher focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic transactions in the health care industry, private equity and emerging growth/venture capital. He previously was a partner at Hogan Lovells and will be based in the firm's Palo Alto office. Newsom focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, private equity investment transactions, securities offerings, complex joint ventures and corporate governance and compliance matters. He will be based in the San Francisco office. Previously, he was co-chairman of the corporate and finance practice group at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.

Holland & Knight brought on Seth Stodder as a partner in its Los Angeles office. Stodder represents clients on international trade and customs issues, and previously was assistant secretary for border, immigration and trade policy and assistant secretary for threat prevention and security at the Department of Homeland Security.

Stephen Antion and Daniel Peters joined Winston & Strawn as partners in the firm's Los Angeles office. Antion represents private equity firms, entrepreneurial businesses, and family offices and Peters represents corporate and private equity clients. Both attorneys previously were partners at Katten Muchin Rosenman.

Blank Rome hired Brock Seraphin as an associated in its Los Angeles office. Seraphin represents employers on matters including employee discipline and terminations. Previously, Seraphin was at Olivarez Madruga Lemieux O'Neill.

Maggie Watkins joined Womble Bond Dickinson as senior client service director. She will work with attorneys in the Los Angeles, Orange County, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale offices. Previously, she was chief marketing officer at Sedgwick.