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Jackson Lewis added four new California partners, with Katessa M. Charles and John E. Exner IV in Los Angeles, Stacey M. Cooper in San Diego, and Patrick C. Stokes in Silicon Valley. Charles handles employment litigation and counseling. Cooper primarily focuses her employment law practice on wage-and-hour cases. Exner counsels clients on employment and labor law. Stokes represents businesses in employment-related immigration matters.

Jerome I. Braun, a founding partner of San Francisco-based Farella Braun + Martel, was awarded the second Bill Edlund Award for Professionalism in the Law. The Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society and the Northern District Historical Society are set to present Braun with the award at the Bill Edlund Award Celebration on Feb. 6 at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Braun's legal experience includes commercial litigation, securities regulation, antitrust and legal malpractice.

Farella Braun also announced that three of its senior associates were promoted to partnership at the start of the new year. Evan Abrams counsels clients on income tax planning, charitable giving and business succession planning; Lauren Galbraith focuses her practice on estate and tax planning, charitable giving, estate and trust administration, and business succession planning; and Alex Reese handles dispute resolution related to technology and unfair competition matters. Abrams and Reese are based in San Francisco, and Galbraith is based in St. Helena.

Former Dechert partner William Oxley joined Baker & Hostetler in the firm's Los Angeles office. He will lead the firm's litigation practice group, where he will handle cases related to products liability, breach of contract, trademark and business tort matters.

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton expanded its Century City office with the addition of Elliot Hinds. Hinds joins as a partner and member of the firm's energy, infrastructure and public finance team. Prior to the move, Hinds was with Crowell & Moring. He focuses his practice on project agreements within the energy sector.

A group of seven lawyers were promoted to partnership at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, including Palo Alto-based Jeffrey Smyth. Smyth focuses his practice on patent litigation in a range of fields, such as biotechnology and pharmaceutical, electrical, mechanical and computer technologies.

Judicate West brought on Angela Reddock-Wright as a neutral in its Los Angeles office, where she will provide mediation and arbitration services throughout California. Before becoming a full-time neutral in 2011, Reddock-Wright litigated employment and labor law cases. Before joining Judicate West, Reddock Write was a mediator at her boutique dispute resolution firm, the Reddock Law Group.

Taylor Rayfield and Molly McKibben, trial attorneys at Santa Monica-based Greene Broillet & Wheeler, were promoted to partner in the firm. Rayfield handles matters related to sex abuse, products liability, catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, business torts and legal malpractice. McKibben represents consumers in cases involving catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death and products liability.

Blank Rome brought on Jose Manalo as an associate in the firm's corporate, mergers and acquisitions and securities group. Manalo focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, securities transactions and commercial lending. He joins the firm's Los Angeles office from Akerman.