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Gordon & Rees Welcomes Twenty-One New Attorneys in June 2021

In June, Gordon & Rees welcomed twenty-one new attorneys to our Alexandria, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Portland, Raleigh, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, and San Francisco offices. They join us as members of the Business Taxation, Business Transactions, Commercial Litigation, Construction, Drug & Medical Device, Employment Law, Environmental/Toxic Tort, Health Care, Product & General Liability, Real Estate, and Retail & Hospitality Practice Groups.

Angele Cicala, Senior Counsel
David Corneil, Senior Counsel
Fabio Gomez, Associate
Richard Gray, Senior Counsel
Alexa Halloran, Associate
Matthew Hyman, Associate
Jason Kalkirtz, Senior Counsel
Ashley Kim, Associate
Elizabeth Lobaugh, Associate
James Minogue, Associate
Zulma Munoz, Associate

Ulla Pajala, Partner
Jasmine Peele, Associate
Franchezka Reichard-Labault, Associate
Jeffrey Schagren, Of Counsel
Sarah Skinner, Of Counsel
Kyle Smith, Senior Counsel
Omeed Tabiei, Associate
Paige Thomas, Associate
Alex Tsiavos, Associate
Reese Wade, Associate

Angele Cicala, Senior Counsel
Sacramento, Health Care / Product & General Liability

Angele joins the Sacramento office as a member of the Health Care and Product & General Liability practice groups. She has experience in all aspects of health care litigation matters, investigations and counseling through trial. Angele counsels and represents clients on matters relating to elder/dependent adult neglect and abuse, medical malpractice, wrongful death, violation of patient rights, fraud, breach of contract, Proposition 65 and other claims under the Code of Federal Regulations and California Code of Regulations. She also provides counseling and representation related to investigations by the California Department of Public Health Services. Angele earned her J.D. from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law and her A.B. from Mt. Holyoke College.

David Corneil, Senior Counsel
Portland, Product & General Liability / Drug & Medical Device

David joins the Portland office as a member of the Product & General Liability and Drug & Medical Device practice groups. His practice focuses on the defense of drug, medical device, and consumer product manufacturers in products liability claims. He also has extensive experience litigating business and contract disputes, class actions, toxic tort and environmental actions, trade secrets claims, and consumer warranty matters. He navigates corporate clients of all sizes through every aspect of litigation from pre-litigation claims through trial. David earned his J.D. from California Western School of Law and his B.A. from the University of Washington.

Fabio Gomez, Associate
New York, Commercial Litigation

Fabio joins the New York office as a member of the Commercial Litigation practice group. Prior to joining the firm, Fabio worked at an insurance defense firm primarily focused on general liability and labor law. While there, in addition to handling all stages of litigation, Fabio also appeared before judges in courts in New York City and Long Island and handled conferences and oral argument of motions. He also drafted, defended, and argued appeals in the New York State Appellate Division. Fabio earned his J.D. from New York Law School and his B.A. from the University of California, Riverside.

Richard Gray, Senior Counsel
Salt Lake City, Commercial Litigation

Richard joins the Salt Lake City office as a member of the Commercial Litigation practice group. He represents individuals and corporate clients in resolving a variety of business related disputes, including matters involving breach of contract, professional negligence and malpractice, personal injury and other tort claims. Richard earned his J.D. from Western New England University and his B.S. from Brigham Young University.

Alexa Halloran, Associate
Los Angeles, Employment Law

Alexa joins the Los Angeles office as a member of the Employment Law practice group. She has experience defending private clients and public entities in state and federal court against claims of discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wrongful termination, and other employment related claims. She also has experience defending clients in administrative hearings before the Labor Commission, the County of Los Angeles Civil Service Commission, and the California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control. Alexa earned her J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law and her B.A. from the University of Washington, Seattle.

Matthew Hyman, Associate
San Francisco, Construction

Matthew joins the San Francisco office as a member of the Construction practice group. While in law school, he clerked at the Marin County District Attorney’s office, and at Cleveland Scott York in London. Matthew earned his J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law and his B.A. from West Virginia University.

Jason Kalkirtz, Senior Counsel
Alexandria, Business Transactions

Jason joins the Alexandria office as a member of the Business Transactions practice group. He focuses his practice on regulatory, transactional, litigation, and compliance matters involving a variety of consumer products, including food, beverage, dietary supplement, medical food, drug, medical device, and cosmetic products. He has in-depth experience navigating the evolving regulatory landscape at both the federal and state level. In particular, he counsels clients with regulatory compliance matters relating to FDA, FTC, USDA, U.S. Customs, EPA, TTB, and Consumer Product Safety Commission regulations. Jason earned his LL.M from the University of Illinois Chicago – John Marshall Law School and his B.S. from the University of Illinois Chicago.

Ashley Kim, Associate
San Francisco, Construction

Ashley joins the San Francisco office as a member of the Construction practice group. She began her practice by working for a personal injury law firm where she was exposed to various practice areas such as tort; breach of contract; premises liability; and personal injury. Ashley also has extensive experience in Intellectual Property, specifically in trademark. Ashley earned her J.D. from the University of San Francisco and her B.A. from the University of British Columbia.

Elizabeth Lobaugh, Associate
Sacramento, Employment Law

Elizabeth joins the Sacramento office as a member of the Employment Law practice group. Elizabeth earned her J.D. from the University of Kansas, School of Law and her B.A. from Ashford University.

James Minogue, Associate
Chicago, Commercial Litigation / Real Estate

James joins the Chicago office as a member of the Commercial Litigation and Real Estate practice groups. Prior to joining the firm, James gained extensive experience representing clients, including Fortune 1000 companies, in complex commercial litigation cases before federal and state courts. He also gained experience representing national carrier trucking companies in cases with verdict potentials in the tens of millions. James earned his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law and his B.A. from DePaul University.

Zulma Munoz, Associate
San Francisco, Employment Law

Zulma joins the San Francisco office as a member of the Employment Law practice group. Zulma earned her J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law and her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Ulla Pajala, Partner
Oakland, Environmental/Toxic Tort

Ulla joins the Oakland office as a member of the Environmental/Toxic Tort practice group. She is experienced in all aspects of civil litigation in California state and Federal courts. She represents and counsels clients in risk management and litigation matters. Ulla earned her J.D. from Golden Gate University and her B.A. from Humboldt State University.

Jasmine Peele, Associate
Atlanta, Commercial Litigation

Jasmine joins the Atlanta office as a member of the Commercial Litigation practice group. Her practice focuses on representing individuals and corporations in civil disputes, including general tort liability, premises liability, trucking litigation, negligent security, and contract disputes. She has received favorable results through settlement, mediation, ADR, and judicial hearings. Jasmine earned her J.D. from Temple University Beasley School of Law and her B.A. from Howard University.

Franchezka Reichard-Labault, Associate
Chicago, Environmental/Toxic Tort

Franchezka joins the Chicago office as a member of the Environmental/Toxic Tort practice group. Her practice focuses on cases involving asbestos litigation. She has successfully represented clients in a number of challenging disputes in the states of New York and New Jersey, and more recently expanded her practice into the state of Illinois. Prior to joining the firm, Franchezka received extensive litigation experience from prestigious law firms in the state of New York which allowed her to secure a strong foundation to ensure effective defense strategies on behalf of organizations in matters of toxic tort. Franchezka earned her J.D. from New England Law | Boston and her B.A. from Marquette University.

Jeffrey Schagren, Of Counsel
Dallas, Retail & Hospitality / Commercial Litigation / Employment Law

Jeffrey joins the Dallas office as a member of the Retail & Hospitality, Commercial Litigation, and Employment Law practice groups. Jeffrey is skilled counsel with experience working in Fortune 500 and industry leading public and private companies, government and Am Law 200 international law firms. He focuses his practice in complex contract negotiations, major business transaction agreements, negotiation and drafting, litigation and crisis management, corporate governance, real estate development and franchising, regulatory compliance, employee and labor relations, collective bargaining, and strategic planning. Jeffrey earned his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School and his B.A. from New York University.

Sarah Skinner, Of Counsel
Raleigh, Business Transactions / Business Taxation

Sarah joins the Raleigh office as a member of the Business Transactions and Business Taxation practice groups. She brings together her accounting and legal background to help solve client problems. Prior to joining the firm, Sarah practiced civil litigation. Sarah earned her LL.M from Nottingham Trent University (UK) and her B.S. from Meredith College.

Kyle Smith, Senior Counsel
Houston, Commercial Litigation

Kyle joins the Houston office as a member of the Commercial Litigation practice group. Kyle earned his J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center and his B.A. from Baylor University.

Omeed Tabiei, Associate
San Diego, Employment Law

Omeed joins the San Diego office as a member of the Employment Law practice group. Omeed has focused his practice on working with entrepreneurs and business owners of various sizes and stages for nearly a decade. He is passionate about working with entrepreneurs and business owners. The key to his success is understanding the challenges that business owners face in running their businesses. He not only zealously advocates for and represents the businesses he works with, but also, he fundamentally understands the businesses themselves. Omeed earned his J.D. from David A. Clarke School of Law and his B.A. from the University of Cincinnati.

Paige Thomas, Associate
Pittsburgh, Commercial Litigation

Paige joins the Pittsburgh office as a member of the Commercial Litigation practice group. She handles a wide variety of commercial and civil litigation disputes. She works with large corporate entitles to resolve complex issues. Before joining the firm, Paige worked at a small firm in downtown Pittsburgh handling family law and estate matters. Paige earned her J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law and her B.S. from The Pennsylvania State University.

Alex Tsiavos, Associate
Portland, Commercial Litigation

Alex joins the Portland office as a member of the Commercial Litigation practice group. He focuses his practice on tort liability matters, commercial litigation, and business disputes. Prior to joining the firm, Alex was an attorney at a large regional firm in Portland where he handled various types of civil litigation matters including products liability cases, premises liability, FELA litigation, and inter-company commercial disputes. Alex earned his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law and his A.B. from the University of Michigan.

Reese Wade, Associate
Dallas, Commercial Litigation

Reese joins the Dallas office as a member of the Commercial Litigation practice group. He handles matters for outside general business counsel clients relating to entity formation and governance; preparation of non-competition, confidentiality, non-disclosure, and various other employment agreements; and efficient resolution of pre-litigation business disputes. He also handles insurance defense matters defending individuals and businesses against negligence and premises liability claims as well as property damage claims. Reese earned his J.D. from South Texas College of Law and his B.A. from Furman University.