GRSM Elevates 44 to Partnership in Offices Nationwide

“These partners reflect GRSM’s growing presence across the country and reinforce our commitment to providing strong, reliable representation in important regional markets,” said Dion Cominos, Firmwide Managing Partner.

The GRSM partnership ranks now include:

Dalia Abdow is a Partner in the Detroit office and a member of the firm’s Commercial Litigation practice. She focuses her practice on the areas of real estate litigation, complex commercial and business litigation, and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) loan workouts, litigation, and enforcement actions. Abdow has handled numerous litigation matters throughout the Midwest for CMBS clients. She also represents residential loan servicers in litigation matters throughout the country.

Shawn Alves is a Partner in the Phoenix office and a member of the firm’s Insurance practice. He represents clients in commercial litigation, construction disputes, products and general liability, and environmental and toxic tort lawsuits. Prior to joining GRSM, Alves served nearly six years as a U.S. Air Force Officer and attorney in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG), gaining significant trial experience and earning the Joint Service Achievement Medal and Air Force Commendation Medal for his work as a Senior Prosecutor and his service overall.

Jamal Atiba is a Partner in the San Francisco office and a member of the firm’s Commercial Litigation practice. He has extensive experience representing insurance companies and their insureds in auto collision matters, with a focus on rideshare litigation. Atiba handles matters in all phases of civil litigation, from pre-litigation through post-trial motion practice. He leverages his knowledge of the civil litigation process to obtain early dismissals and respond to complex discovery issues. Atiba uses his experience to work closely with clients in developing efficient litigation strategies to expeditiously resolve matters based on his clients’ short- and long-term goals and needs.

Stephanie Bortnick is a Partner in the Alexandria office and a member of the firm’s Commercial Litigation practice. She focuses her practice on representing businesses and employers in commercial, government contracts, and employment litigation. She also represents government contractors in a range of disputes, including contractor claim appeals before federal and state administrative boards. Bortnick handles disputes at all stages, from pre-litigation counseling through discovery, dispositive motions, mediation, and trial.

Ryan Brackin is a Partner in the Minneapolis office and a member of the Product Liability and Environmental & Toxic Tort practices. He focuses his practice on complex litigation and strives to develop creative solutions to resolve his clients’ most critical issues. Brackin has extensive experience defending a wide variety of complex claims, including wrongful death, catastrophic injury, product liability, toxic tort, asbestos, and environmental matters. He has also served as national coordinating counsel, defending toxic tort claims in jurisdictions nationwide.

Terron Clark is a Partner in the Miami office and a member of the firm’s Employment practice. Clark has extensive experience defending employers in disputes involving discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour claims, non-competition agreements, and employment contracts. He counsels employers and their in-house legal teams on creating employee handbooks and developing policies to ensure compliance with complex employment laws. Clark also handles commercial litigation matters and defends contractors against negligence and faulty workmanship claims.

Mara Cohen Jackel is a Partner in the Philadelphia office and a member of the firm’s Commercial Litigation, Environmental Compliance, and Healthcare, Regulatory Transactions & Telehealth practices. She has experience handling a wide variety of matters, including complex litigation, real estate transactions with complicated environmental issues, and healthcare regulatory matters for providers. Cohen Jackel has also worked as part of a defense team in CERCLA matters to coordinate a joint defense and cleanup of contaminated properties. In her healthcare practice, she has successfully represented providers in audits by state Medicare and Medicaid programs and against state agencies in response to licensing inspections.

Mike Dillingham is a Partner in the Sacramento office and a member of the firm’s Employment practice.  He represents employers in class actions, representative actions, individual claims alleging wage and hour violations, PAGA violations, employment discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, and a wide range of related employment claims. His experience includes all aspects of litigation, arbitration, mediation, administrative proceedings, and pre-litigation dispute resolution. His practice leverages technical and programming experience to assess and analyze data sets, large volumes of documentary evidence, and litigation trends.

Donna Fazio is a Partner in the San Diego office and a member of the firm’s Environmental & Toxic Tort practice. Fazio focuses on the defense of environmental, chemical, asbestos, silica, cosmetic, and other toxic tort claims. Prior to joining GRSM, she served as in-house counsel to two San Diego-based software companies.

Alexa Foley is a Partner in the Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s Employment practice. Foley 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 has further defended clients in administrative hearings before the Labor Commission, the County of Los Angeles Civil Service Commission, and the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. She also has experience counseling clients on a wide range of employment matters, including workplace policies, compliance issues, and employee relations.

Desireé Goff is a Partner in the Nashville office and a member of the firm’s Commercial Litigation and Intellectual Property practices. Goff focuses her practice on commercial litigation, intellectual property, professional liability defense, and employment matters. She has experience with complex disputes involving real estate transactions, ADA and FHA defense, and litigation under Title VII, FLSA, FMLA, and ADEA, as well as claims of breach of fiduciary duty, interference with contracts, and corporate governance. A registered practitioner before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Goff guides clients through trademark and patent applications and advises on IP rights across various technical and scientific fields.

Adelle Greenfield is a Partner in the Seattle and San Francisco offices and a member of the firm’s Insurance practice. She represents insurers and employee benefit plans in life, health, and disability matters.  Her practice focuses on individual and group life and disability insurance disputes, including bad faith and ERISA claims. Greenfield also represents auto insurers in Medicare Secondary Payer Act litigation. She has experience handling class action litigation on behalf of her insurer clients and has successfully defended complex class actions in state and federal trial and appellate courts.

Mohammad Haque is a Partner in the New York office and a member of the firm’s Environmental & Toxic Tort and Appellate practices. He provides a range of services to his clients, including case management and drafting and arguing appeals and motions in front of the appellate and trial courts of New York. He focuses on asbestos and cosmetic talc litigation, with a recent notable win in New York’s Appellate Division, First Department, on an issue of first impression in which the appellate court reversed the trial court and considered the application of Texas law under New York’s choice-of-law analysis on the issue of causation, ultimately dismissing all claims against his client.

David Hiester is a Partner in the Philadelphia office and a member of the firm’s Employment and Labor practices. He concentrates his practice on labor and employment matters, representing employers in both federal and state courts, as well as before administrative agencies. His practice primarily focuses on traditional labor law, representing management and employers in collective bargaining negotiations, unfair labor practice charges, grievance and arbitration proceedings, and union election issues. Hiester represents employers in a host of industries, including but not limited to the healthcare industry, hospitality and hotel services, the automotive industry, the shipping and maritime industry, and food services.

Emma Horner is a Partner in the San Diego office and a member of the firm’s Employment practice. She focuses her practice on employment and labor disputes, including wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, breach of contract, and wage and hour matters. She also extends advice to employers, companies, and tribal governments on various employment matters and spends time working with and mentoring law clerks and case assistants who are just beginning their professional careers in the legal field.

Jennifer Jambor-Delgado is a Partner in the Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s Employment practice. She focuses her practice on wage and hour class actions and Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) lawsuits. Prior to focusing her practice on class and representative actions, she served as outside general counsel to businesses in the food and beverage industry and nonprofit sectors, where, among other matters, she advised companies regarding wage and hour compliance.

Dennis Kisyk is a Partner in the Austin office and a member of the firm’s Insurance practice. Kisyk has nearly 20 years of experience as a litigator, practicing in state and federal courts in Texas and New York, and is also admitted in Connecticut. He handles complex commercial litigation, toxic tort, construction defect and accident cases, catastrophic personal injury, and other matters related to insurance defense. He has extensive experience managing cases from inception to resolution, including taking and defending hundreds of depositions, drafting and arguing successful summary judgment motions, navigating complex discovery, and resolving cases through negotiation and mediation.

Lynn Abelson Liebman is a Partner in the Westchester office and a member of the firm’s Professional Liability Defense practice. She focuses her practice on construction accident labor law litigation and general liability, including premises, transportation, and product defect liability. She has extensive trial experience in liability matters, as well as in conducting depositions and writing appeals. During law school, she worked full-time in the New York County District Attorney’s Office as a law clerk to several assistant district attorneys.

Joseph Monahan is a Partner in the Philadelphia office and a member of the firm’s Commercial Litigation practice. He focuses his practice on contract disputes, insurance coverage, defamation, business torts, trade secrets, restrictive covenant litigation, and unfair competition matters, as well as class action defense. He has represented real estate developers, medical device manufacturers, venture capitalists, insurers, reinsurers, brokers, entertainment and film production companies, a documentary filmmaker, major universities, and professional practices, among others, in a wide range of complex commercial matters.

Caroline Mowrey is a Partner in the New Orleans office and a member of the firm’s Employment practice. Mowrey practices in the areas of insurance law, complex commercial litigation, maritime law, and civil law. She represents a variety of clients, from large corporations and national insurance companies to private individuals. Drawing on her extensive litigation experience, she advises and represents clients in insurance defense suits, contractual disputes, non-compete cases, POA/HOA conflicts, lease disputes, and numerous other litigation matters.

Todd Nelson is a Partner in the Chicago office and a member of the firm’s Environmental & Toxic Tort practice. Nelson represents employers, management-level executives, and businesses in areas including employment, hospitality, personal injury, real estate, restaurant, and environmental and toxic tort litigation. Additionally, he serves as local counsel for a Fortune 500 respiratory protection equipment manufacturer and is a member of the national coordinating counsel team for the largest full-line wheel-service equipment manufacturer in North America.

Michael Nesse is a Partner in the Livingston office and a member of the firm’s Employment and Commercial Litigation practices. He focuses his practice on representing employers in workplace law matters, including employment litigation, preventive advice, and counseling. He regularly represents clients from various industries in both state and federal courts, as well as before administrative agencies, such as the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, New York State Division of Human Rights, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and National Labor Relations Board. In addition to his employment practice, Nesse also handles commercial litigation and educational law matters.

Tasia Perkins is a Partner in the Hartford office and a member of the firm’s Construction practice. Perkins focuses her practice on construction and surety law, business litigation, and the negotiation of all types of construction contracts. Prior to joining the firm, her practice focused on intellectual property litigation, including patent, trademark, and copyright infringement matters, contract disputes, trade dress, unfair competition, false advertising, and complex commercial disputes. She has experience in all aspects of litigation from early case assessment through trial.

Mark Preiss is a Partner in the Boston office and a member of the firm’s Employment practice. His practice focuses on employers and includes a hybrid of counseling and litigation. This includes employer-side representation before state and federal courts and administrative agencies, defending against employment law claims involving discrimination, hostile work environment, retaliation, wrongful termination, and sexual harassment. He also handles complex litigation defense for claims covering contract, tort, commercial real estate, professional liability, and insurance issues.

Julia Rafferty is a Partner in the Philadelphia office and a member of the firm’s Insurance and Product Liability practices. Rafferty’s practice is focused on the areas of product liability and mass tort litigation, life sciences, and insurance defense and coverage. She defends high-stakes, complex product and general liability cases in both state and federal courts. She has extensive experience developing litigation strategies and negotiating, settling, mediating, and arbitrating cases, as well as trying cases to verdict. She also has in-depth experience defending clients in multi-district litigations.

Jennifer Ro is a Partner in the Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s Commercial Litigation practice. She represents and counsels clients in a broad array of complex litigation matters. She has experience in all phases of civil litigation, from pre-litigation to trial, in both state and federal court. Ro has handled a variety of matters, including copyright infringement and idea theft, statutory and common law trademark infringement, defamation and right of privacy, breach of contract and statutory and common law business torts, antitrust, unfair competition, labor and employment, profit participation and accounting claims, and First Amendment and civil rights claims.

James Saxton is a Partner in the Charleston office and a member of the firm’s Construction practice. Saxton focuses his practice on complex construction litigation, representing developers, general contractors, subcontractors, design professionals, and suppliers in residential and commercial construction disputes. Prior to joining GRSM, he worked with several boutique law firms in Charleston, litigating a wide variety of cases in both civil and criminal law, with a focus on insurance defense and complex construction litigation. His number one priority is to understand his clients’ unique needs and exceed their expectations.

Steve Selbe is a Partner in the Houston office and a member of the firm’s Product Liability practice. He defends serious personal injury cases and litigates complex commercial disputes. He is involved in oil and gas litigation, including surface damage cases, insurance disputes involving “pollution” damages, and serious personal injury matters. He has defended hundreds of cases involving governmental entities and has an extensive appellate practice in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and Texas state courts.

David Shiener is a Partner in the Detroit office and a member of the firm’s Commercial Litigation practice. He has focused his practice on civil litigation throughout his legal career, including in the areas of motor vehicle accidents, premises liability, governmental liability claims, and professional liability. He has also developed a concentration in handling appellate matters and has achieved success on behalf of clients in state and federal appellate courts.

Elizabeth Shuman is a Partner in the Tampa office and a member of the firm’s Insurance practice. Shuman focuses her practice on general liability, professional liability, and commercial litigation matters. She takes pride in counseling businesses on a wide variety of practice areas nationwide, including products liability, personal injury, professional liability, and employment matters. She has extensive experience litigating in both state and federal courts in Florida. Shuman enjoys fostering a relationship with each client to better understand their business or circumstances to ensure their individual goals are met and expectations exceeded throughout litigation.

Nicole Slaughter is a Partner in the Raleigh office and a member of the firm’s Construction practice. She provides strategic legal guidance to construction industry stakeholders, insurance claims professionals, and business and government leaders in the areas of commercial law, construction law, and product liability law. Slaughter has extensive experience helping clients navigate complex, multiparty commercial litigation, arbitration, and licensing claims. With her deep knowledge of construction law, she assists industry professionals with payment and performance bond claims, mechanics’ liens, and contract drafting and analysis.

Courtney Smith is a Partner in the Nashville office and a member of the firm’s Healthcare practice. She focuses her practice on general liability, trucking, transportation, medical malpractice, and trial work. Smith has vast experience representing national and regional transportation clients. She responds quickly to matters involving tractor-trailer and multiple vehicle accidents, handling these types of cases in both federal and state courts. Never afraid to take on a challenge, she works with clients to determine if early resolution is best or if proceeding to trial will ultimately represent the client’s best interest.

Tristan Smith is a Partner in the Westchester office and a member of the firm’s Casualty practice. He handles a variety of matters, including trucking, automobile, premises, products, labor law, and sexual abuse. Representative matters include traumatic brain injuries, wrongful death claims, amputations, and other serious personal injuries. He has defended dozens of jury trials in several venues and focuses on treating each case from day one as though it will go to trial, being mindful of what is needed to win and building it into the case. Smith also has experience in appellate matters, mediation, arbitration, and defending uninsured and underinsured motorist claims.

Tyler Smith is a Partner in the Des Moines office and a member of the firm’s Pharmaceutical & Medical Device practice. He has extensive experience representing civil defense clients in a diverse range of legal fields. Smith focuses his practice in the areas of products liability, personal injury, construction, and real estate litigation. As an advocate for licensed professionals, he has represented hundreds of clients in matters involving more than a dozen Iowa state agencies and has successfully helped clients navigate all phases of litigation from the initial complaint through final disposition.

John Soliman is a Partner in the Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s Employment practice. Soliman has substantive experience in labor, employment, professional liability, and general litigation. His work includes litigation involving wrongful termination, retaliation, employment discrimination, wage and hour, and harassment claims. He has handled numerous depositions, written and argued dispositive motions, participated in arbitrations, mediations, and settlement conferences for both plaintiffs and defendants, and briefed and argued matters before the state Court of Appeals.

Alexander Spellman is a Partner in the Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s Employment practice. Spellman is experienced in wage and hour representative actions, including class action lawsuits, multi-plaintiff lawsuits, and Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) lawsuits, and litigates all aspects of such matters. He also has experience in single-plaintiff matters, such as whistleblower and discrimination cases. He has handled complex civil litigation in different industries, such as hospitality and retail, and brings knowledge of additional matters, such as traditional labor law and bankruptcy law, to help wherever needed.

Jonathan Stuckel is a Partner in the South Jersey office and a member of the firm’s Professional Liability Defense practice. He focuses his practice on professional liability defense, employment, and correctional healthcare matters. Prior to joining GRSM, Stuckel represented clients in professional liability cases involving legal, accounting, realtor, real estate appraiser, architect, insurance broker, and medical malpractice claims. He has experience representing long-term care facilities and other medical entities in claims of malpractice. He also represented condominium associations and their boards of directors, defending claims of breach of fiduciary duty.

Angela Sullivan is a Partner in the Chicago office and a member of the firm’s Insurance practice. Her practice primarily focuses on complex commercial litigation, fidelity and crime insurance coverage, and cybersecurity. She handles a variety of litigation and pre-suit matters, locally and throughout the United States. She has experience in both state and federal courts. Sullivan earned her law degree from the John Marshall Law School, where she was the Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law and a participant in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot.

Samantha Swanson is a Partner in the Ventura County office and a member of the firm’s Employment practice. She focuses her practice on labor and employment law and is recognized for her comprehensive representation of employers across all sectors. With a career spanning extensive litigation and advisory roles, Swanson excels in providing strategic counsel and navigating complex legal landscapes from inception through trial. Her practice encompasses a wide array of labor and employment matters, where she adeptly advises on issues ranging from wrongful termination and discrimination to harassment, retaliation, whistleblower claims, and the Private Attorney General Act (PAGA).

Salina Tariq is a Partner in the Dallas office and a member of the firm’s Product Liability practice. Tariq’s practice includes defending corporations in a variety of areas, including product liability and toxic tort litigation. She has participated in all phases of litigation from inception through dismissal, settlement, or trial. Prior to joining GRSM, she gained extensive experience representing clients in a variety of legal matters, including complex commercial litigation, employment law, immigration, bankruptcy, and more.

Matthew Theriault is a Partner in the Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s Employment practice. He has experience representing employees and employers in all aspects of state and federal employment matters, including PAGA, class actions, and representative actions for wage and hour and consumer violations. He has litigated cases of all sizes, spanning a range of industries, including manufacturing, car dealerships, aerospace, healthcare, restaurants, security, and transportation. He also has experience litigating large-scale class actions through trial.

Sarah Thompson is a Partner in the Hartford office and a member of the firm’s Product Liability practice. Her work focuses on environmental law, product liability, consumer disputes, and toxic and mass torts. She has extensive experience representing clients in civil matters involving the solar industry, wetlands use and permitting, and workplace exposure litigation for energy companies. She has successfully litigated numerous cases through arbitration, securing several fully favorable defense awards. She previously served as an ORISE Research Fellow with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where she focused on environmental law and its impact on national public policy.

Luke Wolf is a Partner in the Detroit office and a member of the firm’s Commercial Litigation practice. His practice focuses on the areas of complex commercial and business litigation, real estate litigation, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) loan workouts, and products liability. Wolf represents large financial institutions, asset managers, mortgage servicers, title insurance underwriters, large corporations, real estate-related entities, and franchisors in the healthcare industry in all aspects of litigation throughout the country, both in state and federal courts. He also works with technology start-ups and other commercial clients in all aspects of commercial practice and litigation.

Taylor Yetter is a Partner in the Austin office and a member of the firm’s Product Liability practice. He focuses on defending product manufacturers, distributors, and premises owners in complex litigation involving product liability. He also represents businesses in commercial disputes over breach of warranty, contracts, and transactions. Further, Yetter represents businesses in all aspects of commercial real estate transactions. He is involved in all phases of litigation, including attending pretrial hearings, conducting written discovery and depositions, drafting motions, and participating in trials.