McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP (MLA) is pleased to welcome Stephen M. Nichols to MLA’s Litigation practice.  Nichols will be located in the firm’s Los Angeles office where he will focus on complex product liability and toxic tort lawsuits.

The international law firm of McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP (MLA) and the California-based law firm of Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP (Luce Forward) have set a target merger date of March 1, 2012, following a recent vote by the firms’ partners. This combination will enhance the legal services provided to clients in litigation, real estate, insurance, government contracts, government affairs and corporate law. The merger will also strengthen MLA’s California foothold and increase Luce Forward’s national and international presence.

Latham & Watkins LLP is pleased to announce that Kevin Ehrhart has joined the firm’s Los Angeles office as a partner in the Finance Department. Ehrhart has a highly regarded transactional real estate practice focused on the acquisition and disposition of commercial office and industrial portfolios, as well as the development and financing of hotels and resorts, golf courses, retail and industrial centers, and residential communities located throughout the United States and Asia. He joins from Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis in Los Angeles, where he was a partner since 2005.

Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP (JMBM) is pleased to announce the Firm’s most recent lateral addition, promotions, as well as new associates.

Loeb & Loeb LLP announced today that Bernard (Barney) R. Given II has joined the firm’s Los Angeles office as a partner in the Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Creditor’s Rights Practice. He joins from the Los Angeles office of Frandzel Robins Bloom & Csato, L.C., where he was a shareholder specializing in bankruptcy and commercial litigation.

Barnes & Thornburg LLP announced today that Howard D. Fabrick has joined the firm’s Los Angeles office as a partner in the Labor and Employment Law Department and Entertainment and Music Practice Group. Fabrick was previously a partner in the Los Angeles office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP (MLA) is pleased to announce that Raymond O. Aghaian has joined the law firm as a partner in its Los Angeles office.  Aghaian will focus on white collar crime, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act compliance, internal investigations, civil litigation and cyber security crimes.

Jill M. Pietrini has joined Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP as a partner in the firm’s 70 attorney Intellectual Property practice group, based in the firm’s Los Angeles/Century City office.  Pietrini joins from Manatt in Los Angeles, where she chaired the firm’s Intellectual Property and Intellectual Property Litigation practice group.  In October, partner and co-chair of the IP practice group Nick Setty joined Sheppard Mullin from Fish & Richardson, where he founded and was managing principal of its Atlanta office and resided part-time in its Silicon Valley office.

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. (Ogletree Deakins), one of the nation’s largest labor and employment law firms, welcomes Alexandra Bodnar as a shareholder to the firm’s Los Angeles office. Bodnar joins Ogletree Deakins from the Los Angeles office of Squire Sanders where she was a partner and head of the office’s labor and employment group.

SNR Denton announced today that it represented Nefsis Corporation in the sale of the company to the Brother Group, a leading manufacturer and distributor of high-quality printing devices for home office and commercial environments.