MoFo On The Bench

The Bench

MoFo On

Morrison Foerster is proud to showcase our alumni who have ascended to the esteemed positions of Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, District Court, and State Judges across the United States. Explore the influential reach of our notable alumni by navigating the map below.

• U.S. District Court, Northern District of California United States District Court Judge Rita Lin Senior United States District Judge William Alsup United States District Judge James Donato Chief District Judge Richard Seeborg District Judge Jon Tigar • U.S. Court of Appeals, the Ninth Circuit Senior Judge Atsushi Tashima • U.S. District Court, Central District of California Honorable Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong District Judge Josephine Staton • California Court of Appeal, First District, Division Two Honorable Marla Miller • California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Three Presiding Justice Alison Tucher • California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Three Associate Justice Richard Fybel • California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Seven Presiding Justice Dennis Perluss • Alameda County Superior Court Judge S. Raj Chatterjee Judge Andrew Steckler • Contra Costa County Superior Court Honorable Wade Rhyne • Fresno County Superior Court Presiding Judge David Kalemkarian • Marin County Superior Court Judge Stephen Freccero • Santa Clara County Superior Court Superior Court Judge Julia Alloggiamento Judge Vincent Chiarello Judge Frederick Chung Superior Court Judge Sunil Kulkarni

Northern California

• Los Angeles County Superior Court Superior Court Judge Maren Nelson Judge Drew Edward Superior Court Judge Bryant Yang • San Diego County Superior Court Judge Yvonne Campos • Superior Court of California, County of Orange Honorable Beatriz Gordon Superior Court Judge Craig Griffin Judge Adrianne Marshack Judge Sheila Recio

Southern California

• State of Alaska Administrative Law Judge Rebecca Kruse

Alaska

• Denver County District Court 2nd Judicial District Court Judge J. Eliff

Colorado

• Minnesota State Court District, 10th Judicial District, Anoka County Judge Daniel O’Fallon • State of Minnesota Judge Edward Wahl

Minnesota

• Kentucky 19th Judicial Circuit Court Chief Circuit Judge Stockton Wood

Kentucky

• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York United States District Court Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York United States Chief Magistrate Judge Debra Freeman • U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit Senior Judge Barrington Parker

New York

• Supreme Court of the United States Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Ketanji Jackson • District of Columbia Superior Court Associate Judge Robert Salerno • U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit Federal Circuit Judge Laurence Silberman

Washington, D.C.

Alumni

Akari Atoyama was promoted to Principal Counsel, Litigation, Compliance, Employment at Checkr, Inc. in April 2023. At MoFo, Akari was an Associate from 2013 to 2023 in the San Francisco office. Rick Ballinger was promoted to Associate General Counsel at John Deere in March 2023. At MoFo, Rick was a Litigation Associate from 2007 to 2011 in the Palo Alto office. John Blake was promoted to Director, Legal & Public Policy at Sony Interactive Entertainment in April of 2023. At MoFo, John was an Associate from 2011 to 2015 in the San Francisco office. Brian Fritzche was promoted to Vice President, Associate General Counsel at Consumer Bankers Association in July 2023. At MoFo, Brian was an Associate from 2019 to 2021 in the Washington, D.C. office. Adela Gotz was promoted to Corporate Counsel at Google in May 2023. At MoFo, Adela was a Litigation Associate from 2013 to 2016 in the Palo Alto office. Kelsey Harrison was promoted to Counsel - Marketing, Advertising & Content Review at Mattel, Inc. in May 2023. At MoFo, Kelsey was an Associate from 2019 to 2022 in the Los Angeles office. Jonathan Hatae was promoted to Associate General Counsel & Director at Amazon in April 2023. At MoFo, Jonathan was an Associate from 2007 to 2011 in the San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Orange County offices. Jeffie Kopczynski moved sectors into a role as Assistant General Counsel, IP Transactions at Johnson & Johnson in January 2023. At MoFo, Jeffie was an Associate from 2006 to 2011 in the Palo Alto office. Sam Lunier was promoted to Director, Privacy at T-Mobile in March 2023. At MoFo, Sam was an Associate from 2007 to 2015 in the San Francisco office. Suzy Marinkovich was promoted to Senior Lead Litigation Counsel at Zoom in May 2023. At MoFo, Suzy was an Associate from 2017 to 2020 in the San Diego office. Tyson Marshall was promoted to General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Alphatec in July 2023. At MoFo, Tyson was a Senior Associate from 2005 to 2013 in the San Diego office. Maggie Mayo was promoted to Senior Director, Head of Litigation at BlackBerry in February 2023. At MoFo, Maggie was a Litigation Associate from 2008 to 2020 in the San Francisco office. Katie Nolan-Stevaux was promoted to Senior Director, Associate General Counsel at Genentech in April 2023. At MoFo, Katie was an Associate from 2007 to 2011 in the Palo Alto office. Kristina Paszek was promoted to Lead Deputy County Attorney for the County of San Mateo in May 2023. At MoFo, Kristina was a Litigation Associate from 2004 to 2010 in the San Francisco office. Yan Qi was promoted to Director and Assistant General Counsel, Platforms and Discovery Technology IP Lead at Genentech in April 2023. At MoFo, Yan was a Patent Agent from 2014 to 2019 and an Associate from 2019 to 2022 in the Palo Alto office. Ryan Roemer was promoted to Chief Executive Office at Formidable (recently acquired by NearForm) in January 2023. At MoFo, Ryan was an Associate from 2003 to 2006 in the San Diego office. Yolanda Sanders was promoted to Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Gap, Inc. in April 2023. At MoFo, Yolanda was an Associate from 1993 to 2002 in the San Francisco office. Diamante Smith was promoted to Assistant Attorney General at the Texas Attorney General's Office in June 2023. At MoFo, Diamante was an Associate from 2019 to 2021 in the Washington, D.C. office. Brittany Turner was promoted to Director at SoftBank Investment Advisers in April 2023. At MoFo, Brittany was an Associate in 2019 in the Tokyo office.

MoFo

New

Alumni Updates

New alumni as of February 2023

MoFo Announcements

Alumni Updates

On The Bench

Pro Bono Spotlight

Firm Updates

Alumnus Spotlight

Letter From The Chair

Charles Tso joined the U.S. District Courts as a Law Clerk in August 2023. At MoFo, Charles was a Litigation Associate from 2022 to 2023 in the New York Office.

Adam Sorensen joined the Federal Communications Commission as an Attorney in May 2023. At MoFo, Adam was a Litigation Associate from 2019 to 2023 in the Washington, D.C. office.

Prabhjyot Singh joined Greystar as Director, Legal Services in April 2023. At MoFo, Prabhjyot was a Litigation Associate from 2019 to 2023 in the Los Angeles office.

Amber Pledge became a Co-Founder of Kabn Company in May 2023. At MoFo, Amber was a Debt Finance Associate from 2019 to 2023 in the London office.

Linnea Pittman joined the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York as a Law Clerk in June 2023. At MoFo, Linnea was a Litigation Associate in the Privacy + Data Security Group from 2021 to 2023 in the New York office.

Julie Nicholson joined Okta as Director, Compliance, and Investigations Counsel in May 2023. At MoFo, Julie was a Litigation Associate from 2012 to 2023 in the San Francisco office.

Erin Lupfer joined the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, as an Appellate Court Attorney in June 2023. At MoFo, Erin was a Litigation Associate from 2018 to 2023 in the San Diego office.

Mark Lightner joined CreditSights as Head of Special Situations Legal Research in March 2023. At MoFo, Mark was Of Counsel in the Finance Group from 2016 to 2023 in the New York office.

Bela Karmel joined Foursquare in March 2023 as Privacy Counsel. At MoFo, Bela was an Associate in the Privacy and Data Security Group from 2021 to 2023 in the San Francisco office.

Alex Iftimie joined OpenAI as Associate General Counsel, Investigations & Security in July 2023. At MoFo, Alex was a Partner and Co-Chair of the Global Risk and Crisis Management Practice from 2019 to 2023 in the San Francisco & Washington, D.C. offices.

Andrenna Hidalgo Berggren joined the U.S. Department of Labor as a Trial Attorney in March 2023. She was also recently appointed the Vice Chair of the Hispanic National Bar Association’s Section for Attorneys with Disabilities and their Allies. At MoFo, Andrenna was a Litigation Associate in the Washington, D.C. office from 2022 to 2023.

Nick Herrera joined Capcom as Senior Corporate Counsel in July 2023. At MoFo, Nick was an Associate in the IP Litigation group from 2019 to 2023 in the San Francisco office.

Lauren Gambier joined Wells Fargo as Lead Counsel, for Regulatory Enforcement, and Internal Investigations in July 2023. At MoFo, Lauren was a Litigation Associate from 2015 to 2023 in the New York office.

Looking back on your tenure as MoFo’s chair, is there a particular experience or period of time that is most memorable? I’d have to say my entire first year as Chair. In my first year, there was just so much to learn and every experience was a new experience for me and my team. Going through everything from my first fiscal year-end to the first partner meeting to running my first Executive Committee meeting. Everyone was looking at me for the answers, and it actually was my first rodeo. I had a great leadership team with me every step of the way, and they made it possible and made it fun. What was your proudest achievement while serving as chair of the firm? Honestly, I was proud of being the Chair every day. More specifically, I was extremely proud each time the firm was able to grow in a significant way—through opening our offices in Singapore, Berlin, Miami, and Austin, through the new partner classes we promoted internally, as well as through our lateral hires. I have a special place in my heart for each group that we promoted internally. I know what it means to work so hard for that promotion, and I know that as a leader the best thing I could do was plant seeds for the future success of the firm. What was your most significant takeaway, either personally or professionally, upon retiring from MoFo after serving as chair of the firm over the last decade? Serving as Chair of MoFo was the greatest professional honor of my life, and I am so glad to have the experience that I had and the chance to be a part of the history of such a great firm. My parents have sadly each passed away recently, and so I have been thinking a lot about what great parents they were to me and how lucky I have been. One element of how they raised me was how they emphasized and modeled the importance of serving others. That’s a mindset that they shared with the modern founders of MoFo. I strongly support serving others. Besides being the right thing to do, it also keeps your ego in the right place whether you are the chair of a law firm or supporting your wife’s campaign for school board. Wherever we are and whatever we are doing, we can try harder to serve others. How have you been enjoying your time in retirement? I’d love to tell everyone all about retired life, but it’s only been a few months. It’s been a whirlwind of change. Good change, but it’s still change. I have spent a lot more time with my wife and the boys. They all sacrificed a lot over my years as Chair, and I want to try to spend as much time with them as I can. I am doing a lot of walking—walking with family, walking with friends and enjoying being outdoors and active. We have also been going to a lot of concerts—we love live music and try to see a couple of shows a month. Traveling hasn’t really started in earnest, but we have plans to do more traveling in 2024. What do you miss the most about your time at MoFo? The people, the people, and the people. That was always the biggest draw for me. MoFo has such amazing, diverse, and fascinating people. The nice thing about retirement is that I have more time to see family and friends, and I will make the time to see my MoFo family and friends. What opportunities still lie ahead for you, and what do you look forward to? The future is wide open. I don’t have a long-term plan, other than to enjoy life with family and friends. There will be traveling, concerts, and being active and outdoors. We want to see more of America and the rest of the world. There are so many amazing places to see, both here and abroad. We can’t wait to explore.

Nashelsky

with Larren

Catch up

Alumni On The Move

Alumni Accomplishments

Cindy Abramson joined Spotify as Legal Counsel, Platform Liability & Enforcement in August 2023. At MoFo, Cindy was an Associate from 2009 to 2015 in the New York office. Kaela Colwell joined Grounded Capital as Associate General Counsel in May 2023. At MoFo, Kaela was an Associate from 2019 to 2021 in the San Francisco office. Gal Eschet joined Augury as Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel in May 2023. At MoFo, Gal was Of Counsel from 2012 to 2016 in the Palo Alto office and an Associate from 2004 to 2012 in the San Francisco and Palo Alto offices. From 2016 to 2023, Gal was a Partner at Herzog Fox & Neeman in Israel. Reid Gardner joined Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling as Corporate Counsel in February 2023. At MoFo, Reid was an Associate from 2017 to 2020 in the San Diego office. Jordan Hinkes joined Automattic as Associate General Counsel in 2023. At MoFo, Jordan was an Associate from 2007 to 2011 in the San Francisco office. Scott Hodgdon joined Shift Technologies as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary in February 2023. At MoFo, Scott was an Associate from 2006 to 2008 and 2011 to 2012 in the Washington, D.C. office. Matthew Janiga joined Trustly as Legal Counsel, Director of Regulatory and Public Affairs in March 2023. At MoFo, Matthew was an Associate from 2012 to 2014 in the Washington, D.C. office. Michael Klepich joined Dolby as Director, Licensing Counsel in September 2023. At MoFo, Michael was an Associate from 2012 to 2014 in the San Francisco office. Kana Matsumura joined MSD K.K. as Member of the Board, Executive Officer, Head of Legal & Compliance, Japan in July 2023. At MoFo, Kana was an Associate from 2005 to 2013 in the Tokyo office. Steven Mills joined the San Francisco City Attorney's Office as Deputy City Attorney in May 2023. At MoFo, Steven was a Litigation Associate from 2019 to 2021 in the San Francisco office. Laura O'Neil joined the School & College Legal Services of California as Of Counsel in May 2023. At MoFo, Laura was a Litigation Associate from 2008 to 2012 in the San Francisco office. Ji-Hyun Park joined Intercom as Global Head of Legal in May 2023. At MoFo, Ji-Hyun was a TTG Associate from 2005 to 2009 in the San Francisco office. Carolyn Plump joined Merck as Director, Legal in March 2023. At MoFo, Carolyn was an Associate from 1991 to 1994 in the Irvine and Washington, D.C. offices. Alex Shvartsman joined Pelago as General Counsel in June 2023. At MoFo, Alex was an Associate from 2006 to 2011 in the Los Angeles office. Miki Someya joined Hoya as Manager, Legal and Compliance in May 2023. At MoFo, Miki was a Corporate Associate from 2019 to 2021 in the Tokyo office. Raj Vaswani joined Reckitt as VP, Area Legal Director for Hygiene in March 2023, where he leads the legal function in North America. He joins Reckitt after having spent 15 years at Johnson & Johnson, where he led the legal teams in J&J's consumer, pharmaceutical, and medical technologies businesses. At MoFo, Raj was an Associate from 1997 to 2001 in the New York office. Fred von Lohmann joined OpenAI as Associate General Counsel, Copyright in August 2023. At MoFo, Fred was a Technology Transactions Associate from 1997 to 2000 in the San Francisco office. Andrew Walchuk joined the U.S. Department of Justice as Senior Counsel, Office for Access to Justice in April 2023. At MoFo, Andrew was a Litigation Associate from 2017 to 2019 in the San Francisco office. Leah Wilson joined Gametime as Vice President, Legal in April 2023. At MoFo, Leah was a Litigation Associate from 2008 to 2011 in the San Francisco office. Anna Catharina Wolschner joined CHERRY as General Counsel in May 2023. At MoFo, Anna was an Associate from 2013 to 2017 in the Berlin office. Christopher Yap joined Canaan Inc. as General Counsel in May 2023. At MoFo, Christopher was an Associate from 2017 to 2019 in the Palo Alto office. Y. Michelle Yan joined TikTok as Head of Risk Management, US E-Commerce in June 2023. At MoFo, Y. Michelle was an Associate from 2012 to 2013 in the Palo Alto office. Katherine Zeitlin joined the Harvard Club of Washington, D.C. as Vice President of Administration in July 2023. At MoFo, Katherine was Of Counsel from 2001 to 2008 in the Washington, D.C. office.

How have you been enjoying your time in retirement? I’d love to tell everyone all about retired life, but it’s only been a few months. It’s been a whirlwind of change. Good change, but it’s still change. I have spent a lot more time with my wife and the boys. They all sacrificed a lot over my years as Chair, and I want to try to spend as much time with them as I can. I am doing a lot of walking—walking with family, walking with friends, and enjoying being outdoors and active. We have also been going to a lot of concerts—we love live music and try to see a couple of shows a month. Traveling hasn’t really started in earnest, but we have plans to do more traveling in 2024. What do you miss the most about your time at MoFo? The people, the people, and the people. That was always the biggest draw for me. MoFo has such amazing, diverse, and fascinating people. The nice thing about retirement is that I have more time to see family and friends, and I will make the time to see my MoFo family and friends. What opportunities still lie ahead for you, and what do you look forward to? The future is wide open. I don’t have a long-term plan, other than to enjoy life with family and friends. There will be traveling, concerts, and being active and outdoors. We want to see more of America and the rest of the world. There are so many amazing places to see, both here and abroad. We can’t wait to explore.

We caught up with MoFo’s former chair, Larren Nashelsky, who recently retired after serving for a decade, concluding a 23-year tenure with MoFo. In this Q&A, Larren shares some of his most pivotal moments while serving as chair and provides a glimpse into how he is now enjoying retirement.