Barnes & Thornburg brought on Eric Beste and Charles La Bella as members of its litigation department and white-collar and investigations practice. Beste joined as a partner and was previously senior litigation counsel in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California. La Bella joined as of counsel and previously was at Bartko Zankel Bunzel & Miller. They are both based in San Diego.

Marc Brainich joined the litigation practice group at Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean. His experience includes cases regarding mass toxic torts, personal injuries and product and premises liability issues. Previously, he was at the firm Buty & Curliano. He is based in Oakland.

Erin Clarke joined Owen, Wickersham & Erickson as of counsel in San Francisco. She focuses her practice on trademark and copyright law. Previously, she was on the faculty at UC Hastings and Berkeley Law.

Daniel Kanter and Jason Fischbein joined Fisher & Phillips in the firm's San Diego office. Kanter joined the firm as of counsel, and previously was at Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart. Fischbein joined the firm as an associate and previously was at Paul Plevin Sullivan & Connaughton.

Michael Flynn joined Buchalter as a member of the corporate practice group. Flynn previously served as acting general counsel for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He is based in Los Angeles.

Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck brought on partners A. Jeanne Grove and Ashley Klein to its real estate practice. Also joining the firm is associate Laura Campbell. All three attorneys were previously at Goldstein, Gellman, Melbostad, Harris & McSparran. Morgan Cahill-Marsland also joined as an associate from MCM Law. Klein is based in San Francisco and Grove, Campbell and Cahill-Marsland will be in the Sonoma office.

Liebert Cassidy Whitmore relocated its San Diego office to the First National Bank Center at 401 West A Street, Suite 1675. The new office is 4,700 square feet with nine offices and two conference rooms to accommodate the growing firm, which brought on 18 attorneys and 12 staff members in the last year.

Allen Matkins elected Jeffrey Patterson as its next managing partner. He succeeds David Osias, who had served as managing partner for seven years. Previously, Patterson was the operating partner in the firm's San Diego office.

Former Judge Risë Jones Pichon joined JAMS as a mediator, arbitrator and special master in the Silicon Valley office. Pichon was a superior court judge for Santa Clara County for more than two decades.

Blank Rome hired Amanda Pickens-Ewell as an associate in the labor and employment group. She focuses her practice on advising employers on policies, contract disputes, wage-and-hour issues and union-related claims. Pickens-Ewell is based in Los Angeles.

Rimon Law brought on Sam Miller as a partner in the corporate finance practice. Previously, Miller was part of the corporate finance team at Arent Fox. He is based in Los Angeles.

Sidley Austin brought on partners Samuel Newman to its global restructuring group and Josh DuClos and Eric Kauffman to its private equity practice. Newman was previously a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. DuClos and Kauffman will be part of the private equity team led by Mehdi Khodadad. DuClos and Kauffman are based in Century City and were previously at Cooley.

Hogan Lovells brought on David Simonds as a partner in the business restructuring and insolvency practice. Previously, Simonds was a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. He is based in Los Angeles.

Wilson Turner Kosmo hired Jennifer Arnold, Valerie Phan and Melissa Rose as associates in the San Diego office. Arnold is part of the business litigation practice group, Phan joins the business, class action and employment law groups and Rose joins the product liability and warranty groups.