Dana Levitt has taken a position with Foley & Lardner in the firm’s commercial litigation practice group.  Levitt was formerly a partner with McDermott Will & Emery.  She is to join the Los Angeles office.

Source:  www.metnews.com

Seyfarth Shaw has added a patent litigation team, all former Thelen people. The team is led by partner Breton A. Bocchieri, who brings along attorneys Brien B. Kirk and Nguyen Huu Nguyen.  All join the Los Angeles office.

Source:  www.marketwatch.com

Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps spent half a year creating a plan to improve reputation and increase numbers in their California offices – Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Orange County. This may seem like a typical aim for most law firms, and yet the intended magnitude will require that the firm’s managing partner concentrate solely on leading and no longer on practicing law. As of January 1^st, partner Kurt Kicklighter will lead the firm through the next five years. Currently, Luce, Forward focuses mainly on real estate, trusts and estates, and insurance. But, by 2011, the firm plans to makes its presence known in other practice areas, such as labor and employment and intellectual property litigation.

Source:  www.law.com

Winston & Strawn has added Maria Rodriguez to its Los Angeles office. Rodriguez, an labor and employment litigaiton, will join as partner. She joins from Seyfarth Shaw, where she was also partner.

Source:  www.losangeles.dbusinessnews.com

Renowned trusts and estates lawyer, Andrew Katenstein, has joined the law firm of Proskauer Rose LLP. Katenstein is now as Partner and member of the firm’s newly developed fiduciary Litigation practice group. He will work with the Personal Development Planning Department, which has been ranked as one of the nation’s best by Chambers USA. Katenstein was previously with Katten, Muchin, Rosenman LLP in their Los Angeles office.

Source: www.businesswire.com

Finally a L.A. Law firm is given first place of American Lawyer magazine’s A-List. For the past five years, since the beginning of A-List, New York had held the No. 1 spot. NY’s Debevoise & Plimpton has held the honor of being the best for four years. It’s finally Los Angeles’ turn, and more specifically, Munger, Tolles & Olson’s turn. The firm owes this win to its commitment to pro bono work (3,200 hours more than last year), its 11% increase of revenue per lawyer, associate satisfaction, diversity,

Source: www.latimes.com

Rebecca Winthrop is the latest addition to Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. She joins the Litigation Department and the Bankruptcy, Reorganization and Capital Recovery group as of Counsel. Rebecca will be joining the Los Angeles office.

Source: www.earthtimes.org

Goodwin Procter has announced the recent additions of four new parters to its Los Angeles office. These new partners include: Eric R. Reimer, Elliot D. Hinds, Q. Scott Kaye and Marc A. Jones. All four join in the corporate practice group.
Source: http://www.portfolio.com

Loeb & Loeb has announced their newly formed Emerging Media and Technology Practice Group. This national team will be served by 20 attorneys amongst the following three offices: New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Loeb & Loeb is already known for its counsel to the media and entertainment industry.
Source: www.lawfuel.com

Brette Simon joins Jones Day in the Los Angeles Office as a partner in the Private Equity Practice. Ms. Simon, a renowned transactional attorney, comes from the Los Angeles office of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP. Ms. Simon is the 4th transactional attorney to join as partner in the West Coast offices of Jones Day in the past three months.
Source: www.pehub.com