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Class Note Summer 2026

Elena Vespoli was elected partner at Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP. She practices in the public companies group in the firm’s New York City office.

Class Note Summer 2026

Zachary LeVasseur joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP in Atlanta as franchise litigation counsel and member of the firm’s litigation practice group and franchise and distribution team. His practice focuses on franchise compliance, disclosure, and litigation work.

Class Note Summer 2026

Nicholas Stamates co-authored “The Legacy of the Ken Penders Legal Cases and Possible Copyright Infringement Lingering Over Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog Series” with Ken Penders, a comic book writer and artist. It was published in the Berkeley Journal of Entertainment and Sports Law in May.

Class Note Summer 2026

Justin Montis was promoted to partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in the firm’s Santa Monica, California, office. He is a member of Orrick's mergers and acquisitions and private equity group and its corporate business unit. Montis advises private equity funds and their portfolio companies, as well as other public and private companies, on a broad range of strategic transactions.

Class Note Summer 2026

Caitlin Dean was promoted to principal at Fish & Richardson PC. Her practice focuses on complex intellectual property disputes, with an emphasis on the life sciences and pharmaceutical fields.

Class Note Summer 2026

Lara Finkbeiner joined Democracy Forward as a deputy managing attorney. Previously, she served in several positions at the International Refugee Assistance Project, including as deputy legal director and director of global pro bono.

Class Note Summer 2026

Yuan Xia was elected partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP. She is a member of the executive compensation and benefits group in the firm’s Palo Alto, California, transactions department. Xia’s practice focuses on the transactional aspects of a variety of executive compensation matters. She advises emerging companies, venture capital-backed clients, and publicly traded companies.

Class Note Summer 2026

Jesse Kirchner was appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to the Michigan Tax Tribunal. At the time of his appointment, Kirchner was a senior tax counsel and tribal liaison at the Michigan Department of Treasury’s Bureau of Tax Policy. Before that, he clerked at the Michigan Supreme Court for Justices Stephen Markman, Joan Larsen, and Elizabeth Clement.

Class Note Summer 2026

Scott Bays joined Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP as an associate in the firm’s Denver-based intellectual property practice group.

Class Note Summer 2026

Karima Tawfik Thompson was named partner at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC. Thompson is based in Buchanan's Washington, DC, office and handles commercial and white collar litigation in the Eastern District of Virginia and the District of Columbia. Her focus is on litigating cross-border disputes, including for foreign corporate clients.