Attorneys

A native of Staten Island, New York, Bob Tyson is the strategic managing partner of the firm. Mr. Tyson is a trial lawyer and author of the #1 best-selling, first book written for the defense to limit exposure at trial, Nuclear Verdicts: Defending Justice for All.  In this groundbreaking book, Mr. Tyson sets forth the specific methods to beat plaintiff lawyers and achieve justice.  It is the culmination of an over 30-year legal career, during which he has successfully resolved a variety of cases involving complex products liability, commercial and general civil litigation, professional malpractice, environmental, and employment law – representing individuals, corporations, public entities, professionals, and many other different types of businesses.

A San Diego native, Pat Mendes is a Founding Partner of Tyson & Mendes and works from the firm’s San Diego headquarters. Previously a partner with Gordon & Rees – where he served as director of the construction and insurance groups – he joined forces with Robert Tyson in 2002 to form Tyson & Mendes, which has since evolved into one of the region’s leading defense firms with offices throughout the nation.

Lynn Allen is the Managing Partner of Tyson & Mendes’ Phoenix office. Ms. Allen is an experienced trial lawyer who represents her clients in a wide variety of complex cases, including insurance coverage disputes, insurance bad faith, defense of personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits, intellectual property, employment law, and appeals. Ms. Allen has extensive appellate experience in both the Arizona state and federal courts. She has been lead counsel in many successful jury trials, arbitrations, summary judgment motions, and appeals. She is a frequent lecturer on insurance bad faith and coverage issues in Arizona.

Sitar Bhatt is a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Phoenix office. His practice focuses primarily on general liability, personal injury, premises liability, professional liability, employment, and bad faith litigation. Mr. Bhatt has successfully represented individuals and businesses in Arizona state and federal district courts as well as arbitrations. Mr. Bhatt also chairs the Tyson & Mendes Young Professionals Group.

Kristi Blackwell is the Managing Partner of Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office and leads the firm’s Retail, Restaurant, and Hospitality practice group. Her practice focuses primarily on general liability, professional liability, personal injury, premises liability, coverage, and complex litigation. Ms. Blackwell has wide-ranging litigation experience representing a diverse group of individuals and businesses in California state and federal district courts.

Morgan Van Buren is a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office and a member of the firm’s Complex Trial Team. His practice focuses primarily on general liability and high exposure litigation. Mr. Van Buren has significant litigation experience, including handling of matters involving diverse damages claims and potential excess exposure.

Michelle A. Campbell is a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles and Orange County offices, where she is a member of the Complex Trial Team.  Her practice includes general liability, directors and officers liability, and errors and omissions.  Prior to joining Tyson & Mendes, Ms. Campbell gained significant experience in an insurance defense firm in Orange County, California.

Kirsten K. Cinquemani is a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County and Los Angeles offices.  Her practice is focused on the defense of complex civil litigation actions involving matters which include high exposure catastrophic injury and wrongful death. 

Kathryn Lee Colgan is a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego and Orange County offices. Ms. Colgan is an experienced ten plus year attorney and leads two multi-attorney litigation teams in the areas of general liability and labor and employment practices. Ms. Colgan specializes in insurance defense including catastrophic accidents, personal injury, premise liability, business litigation, and some medical malpractice cases and labor and employment defense including wrongful termination, sexual harassment, employment discrimination, retaliation, wage/hour claims, class actions and PAGA representative actions.

Scott Cook is a Partner at Tyson & Mendes’ Las Vegas office. His experience includes all aspects of general liability, complex and mass tort litigation, insurance, health care, regulatory law, and business litigation. Mr. Cook’s experience extends to catastrophic injury/damage, complex/mass litigation in tort, multi-state litigation, environmental litigation, explosion/fire litigation, health care law, employer/employment law, and insurance law.

Michael D. Drews is the Managing Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York offices.  He has a wealth of experience and enjoys the challenge of handling cases that draw from diverse practice areas, including professional liability (medical and legal malpractice), premises liability, wrongful death, hospitality law, interstate trucking and transportation law, commercial law, construction defects, employment law, and bad-faith litigation.

Codie Dukes is a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. A member of the firm’s Complex Trial Team, she has extensive litigation experience representing individuals and businesses in California state and federal district court cases involving catastrophic injury and damages claims.  Ms. Dukes achieved successful resolution in a variety of cases involving personal injury, fraud, property damage, and complex trust disputes. She has successfully obtained defense verdicts and moved for summary judgment in favor of defendants in both general and professional liability lawsuits. She routinely negotiates settlements for pennies on the dollar in cases involving 7 and 8-figure demands.

Dan Fallon is a Partner in the firm’s San Diego office. Mr. Fallon leads a group of litigators specializing in professional liability, personal injury, general commercial liability, and business litigation. Admitted to practice in all California state and federal courts, Mr. Fallon has significant experience developing and executing litigation strategies to the benefit of his individual and corporate clients.

Jacob Felderman is Head of Legal Operations and Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Denver office. Mr. Felderman has in-depth experience handling cases in California and Colorado in many practice areas including general negligence, professional liability, business disputes, premises liability, product liability, personal injury, and commercial and general civil litigation.

Bertha Baranko Fitzer is a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Seattle office. Her practice focuses on medical malpractice defense involving catastrophic injuries and complex appeals.

Damian M. Fletcher is the Managing Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Fort Lauderdale office. Mr. Fletcher is an accomplished trial lawyer and has over 20 years of experience proactively managing liability risks and investigating accidents resulting in catastrophic losses in state and federal courts across the country. He regularly defends tort claims involving industrial accidents, contaminated drugs, products liability, environmental contamination, medical malpractice, trucking and other vehicular accidents, negligent security, and discrimination.

David M. Frishman is a Partner at Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office, where he is a leader of the Los Angeles Complex Trial Team. His practice includes all facets of the defense of cases involving personal injury, including wrongful death, traumatic brain injury, paralysis, burns and other catastrophic injuries, as well as significant property damage claims across a wide range of general liability and casualty matters, including commercial ground transportation, warehouse and cargo liability, personal automobile liability, construction- related accidents, premises liability, the hospitality industry, subrogation, unfair business practices and related claims.  Mr. Frishman also advises clients on risk management and related issues.

Kevin Gray is a Partner at Tyson & Mendes’ San Francisco office and leads a multi-attorney team.  His practice focuses on personal injury defense, defense of trucking companies, defense of governmental entities, premises defense, and Special Investigation Unit work.

Candice Nguyen Hamant is a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office.  Her practice focuses primarily on general liability, construction litigation, and premises liability.  Ms. Hamant has extensive litigation experience, including representing individuals and businesses in California state and federal district courts. 

Margaret M. Holm is a Partner in the Orange County, San Diego, and Los Angeles offices and Chair of the Healthcare practice.  Margaret is one of the country’s leading trial and appellate litigators for large health care entities in complex civil disputes.  She is a well-renowned leader in the legal profession.  Margaret defends national and regional insurers in addition to healthcare organizations and providers, including hospitals, medical professionals, nursing homes, and long-term care facilities.

William Johnson is the Managing Partner at Tyson & Mendes’ Nashville office. His practice focuses on defending against claims of catastrophic personal injury, sexual torts, including childhood sexual abuse and sexual assault, medical malpractice, and employment practices liability. Mr. Johnson has represented skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, physicians, hospitals, religious institutions, and many others.

Allison Lawrence is a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. Her practice focuses primarily on general litigation, premises liability and personal injury matters. Ms. Lawrence has extensive litigation experience defending clients in both civil and criminal California state courts.

Edward Leonard is a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office with 42 years of litigation and trial experience. His practice focuses on general liability matters with a long-term emphasis on transportation cases involving the trucking industry and logistics.

Cayce E. Lynch is the firm’s Administrative Partner based in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. In this capacity, she wears multiple hats – directing Tyson & Mendes’ administrative, marketing, and business development activities, and has taken the firm through a period of unprecedented growth.

Thomas McGrath is the Managing Partner of Tyson & Mendes’ Las Vegas office. He handles a wide variety of litigation cases and specializes in general liability, third-party bodily injury, first party uninsured/underinsured bad-faith and coverage litigation, and HOA litigation. Mr. McGrath is licensed to practice in all Nevada and California federal and state courts. He has devoted his practice to Nevada for the last 20 years.

Kevin P. McNamara is a Partner at Tyson Mendes’ Los Angeles office. His practice focuses on catastrophic personal injury defense, commercial vehicle litigation, premises liability litigation, and general liability litigation. Mr. McNamara has extensive experience advising insurers on their duties under general liability, excess, umbrella, pollution, property, and auto insurance policies. He also has experience litigating coverage disputes involving a wide array of insurance policies.

Mina Miserlis is a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office with over 20 years of litigation and trial experience. She leads the firm’s multi-attorney Complex Trial Team, focusing on complex personal injury matters.

Susan Oliver is a Partner at Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office and leads a multi-attorney team. Her practice focuses on catastrophic personal injury defense, the defense of entity defendants where sexual torts are alleged, including sexual assault and child sexual abuse, and medical malpractice defense.

Kara Pape is a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office and is a leader of the Complex Trial Team.  Her practice focuses on catastrophic personal injury defense; general liability defense; commercial vehicle litigation; and the defense of public entities where sexual torts are alleged, including child sexual assault and harassment.

David Ramirez is an AV rated Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. His practice focuses primarily on general liability, commercial and residential construction, and insurance litigation. Mr. Ramirez’s extensive litigation experience includes representing individuals and businesses across all California state and federal district courts.

Steven Rich is a Partner at Tyson & Mendes’ Seattle office. Mr. Rich is an accomplished litigator and trial attorney with experience in complex and multi-party civil litigation. He passionately defends large companies and individuals in high-exposure lawsuits involving a myriad of issues, including premises liability, product liability, catastrophic injuries, wrongful death claims, automobile accidents, construction defect claims, toxic torts, and environmental contamination.

Reece Román is a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office and is a member of the firm’s Complex Trial Team. His practice focuses primarily on catastrophic personal injury matters, with particular emphasis on cases involving traumatic brain injuries, spinal cords injuries, and major orthopedic injuries. Mr. Román represents individuals, public entities, and businesses in California state and federal district courts.

Sheryl Rosenberg is a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. She is a trial attorney whose clients include both private and public entities for cases involving product liability, personal injury, harassment, abuse, and bullying. She has been lead counsel on cases for high profile clients in business litigation, product liability, and personal injury cases in both California and federal courts. Sheryl was selected as a Southern California Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in 2010-2011 and in 2013-2018. In 2018, she was named by Super Lawyers as one of the Up-and-Coming 50: 2018 Women Southern California Rising Stars.

Scott Ruksakiati is the Managing Partner of Tyson & Mendes’ Chicago offi­ce. For more than 25 years, he has defended clients in diverse and challenging litigation involving catastrophic injury and death, professional liability, construction defect, breach of contract disputes stemming from multi-million dollar construction projects, transportation litigation and other complex commercial litigation cases throughout the United States. He also has significant experience in insurance coverage matters involving third-party liability and first party property claims.

Bryan D. Scholnick is the Managing Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Seattle office. Mr. Scholnick’s legal career focuses on defending general liability cases with a focus on professional liability and automotive claims. He is an experienced litigator in a variety of cases involving automotive and trucking personal injury claims, automotive rental liability issues, engineering error and omissions claims, medical malpractice, products liability, workplace injuries, wrongful death, construction defect, and breach of contract. Mr. Scholnick has defended and represented architects, engineers, and physicians and hospitals in suits alleging professional negligence.

Jim Sell is the Managing Partner of Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office and leads a multi-attorney litigation team. Mr. Sell has practiced law in the Bay Area since his admission to the California Bar in 1988. He is a trial attorney with a long history of success in all types of jury trials. Mr. Sell has extensive experience in construction, public works, products liability, catastrophic injury, personal injury, wrongful death, and professional liability litigation. He also serves as “general counsel” to a number of Bay Area contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers in hundreds of construction matters and disputes.

Andrew Smith is the Managing Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. Mr. Smith leads a multi attorney litigation practice focused on labor and employment litigation, to which he also brings substantial experience in the defense of public and private entities in matters involving general liability, personal injury, trade secrets litigation, premises liability, and contractual disputes.

Richard Somes is the Managing Partner of the Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office.  His practice focuses on general liability, premises liability, personal injury, surety law, construction, medical malpractice, toxic and mass torts, and employment law.

Jennifer Merringer Veal is a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Seattle office. Her practice focuses on medical malpractice defense, professional licensure issues, appellate practice in state and federal court, and general liability defense.

Terra Affourtit is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. She specializes in high exposure catastrophic personal injury and general liability defense.  Ms. Affourtit has experience representing insurance and public entity defendants in a variety of legal matters, including class action tax litigation, tort litigation, personal injury, wrongful death, construction and premises liability, directors and officers, errors and omissions, quiet title and boundary disputes, and civil rights and police liability.

Orlando Arellano is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office, and works in the Employment Practices group. Mr. Arellano handles a broad range of employment law matters such as harassment/discrimination claims, wrongful termination claims, and wage and hour claims including claims under the California Private Attorney General’s Act. He is also extremely well versed in the complex nuances of class action litigation, and just recently, preemptively de-certified a class action before the plaintiff was able to obtain the list of putative class members, saving the company hundreds of thousands of dollars and avoiding the disruptive class notice procedure. He has further drafted numerous arbitration agreements helping his clients avoid the court system, and preventing class action litigation before it starts.

Sheila Baker is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Southern California office. Her practice focuses on the defense of individuals and business entities in a broad range of legal matters. Ms. Baker has extensive and in-depth experience in commercial litigation, personal liability, premises liability, products liability, breach of contract, real estate, as well as commercial and residential construction defect disputes. Her experience also includes professional and medical malpractice, general liability, directors and officers liability, errors and omissions, bad faith, insurance coverage, and subrogation. Ms. Baker has successfully written, argued, and won several motions for summary judgment as well as appeals in the Central District Court.

Jeffrey H. Ballin is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ Las Vegas office. Mr. Ballin’s practice focuses on personal injury, general liability, construction defect, and medical malpractice cases.

Louis R. Barella is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. He specializes in personal injury and general liability defense. Mr. Barella has successfully defended and resolved hundreds of matters for his clients.

Nathan Berkeley is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. His practice focuses primarily on business litigation, personal injury, and professional liability. Mr. Berkeley has represented organizational and individual clients throughout California for more than eight years.

Emily Berman is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego and Los Angeles offices. Her practice primarily focuses on general liability and commercial and insurance litigation, including personal injury defense. Ms. Berman has experience representing individuals, businesses, and insurance companies in litigation across California state courts.

Robert Bernstein is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office.  Mr. Bernstein is in his 32^th year of practicing law in California.  During his career, he has defended clients in construction defect, real estate, premises liability, and personal injury/auto accident cases. Mr. Bernstein’s construction litigation clients include national developers and general contractors, manufacturers and material suppliers, design professionals including architects and engineers, and trade contractors of many specialties.

Shivani Bommakanty is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Seattle office. Her practice focuses on civil litigation, construction defect, intellectual property prosecution, insurance defense, personal injury, medical malpractice, and government entity liability.

David Bregman is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. He has spent the better part of his legal career analyzing and resolving complex business and commercial and construction related disputes and achieved Martindale-Hubbell’s highest rating for legal ability and ethical standards. Mr. Bregman successfully represents clients in a wide range of complex business transactional and litigation matters including contractual disputes, contract review and negotiation, corporate formation, real estate, complex construction litigation, delay claims, mechanics lien actions, and risk management.

Christopher L. Campbell is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. His practice focuses on personal injury defense, employment practices defense, and sports-related disputes from high school to Olympic levels.  

Randel Campbell is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. Before becoming an attorney in 2000, Mr. Campbell worked in construction for 17 years, and owned and operated his own contracting business for more than a decade. He is a California licensed contractor in the B–General Building, C20–Warm Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning, and C43–Sheet Metal classifications. Owing to his experience before becoming an attorney, his practice naturally emphasizes construction law. His experience includes: construction defect claims, complex multi-party cases, breach of contract, payment disputes, delay claims, general contractor and sub-contractor liability, design professional liability, materials and product defect claims, and toxic tort (mold) claims. He has also handled a variety of personal injury, wrongful death, and property damage cases, including workplace injury, fire claims, and motor vehicle accidents, and other accident claims.

Russell D. Christian is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ Las Vegas office. His practice focuses on personal injury and general liability defense litigation. He is licensed to practice in all Nevada state and federal courts.

Jodi Cohen is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ Fort Lauderdale office and works in the construction defects practice group. Ms. Cohen focuses her practice on all aspects of construction law.  She has experience advising and counseling contractors regarding litigation strategy, lien and bond claims, breaches, defaults, delays, terminations, claims evaluation, contract formation, administration, and performance. Ms. Cohen primarily litigates complex construction claims involving construction defects, contracts, payment and performance bonds, design errors, and construction liens.

Eric L. Cook is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Phoenix office. His practice focuses on complex litigation, product liability, construction defect, insurance bad faith, nursing home defense, traumatic brain injury, quad, burn, and significant injury, and environmental superfund cleanup litigation. He has extensive litigation experience, including representing individuals and businesses in state and federal courts throughout Arizona.

Jenn N. Crittondon is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office.  Her practice focuses on personal injury and general litigation, with an emphasis on multi-party litigation and catastrophic injuries. 

Seth Cronin-Wilton is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. His practice focuses on professional liability, construction litigation, and general liability litigation.

Katy Cummings is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. Her practice focuses on general liability, including personal injury, premises liability, and products liability claims. She also has extensive experience in professional liability and insurance coverage.

Bradley Damm is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ Colorado office.  Mr. Damm’s practice focuses on personal injury, premises liability, construction defect, professional malpractice defense litigation, and commercial litigation.

Richard P. Dieffenbach is Senior Counsel and a Team Leader at Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. His practice focuses on defending insureds in personal injury and property damage matters, Homeowners Association litigation, product liability defense, and employment rights defense.

Erick Dimalanta is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. His practice focuses on construction defect, business litigation, premises liability, property damage, subrogation and real estate professional liability.

Rachel Donnelly is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office and is a member of the Complex Trial Team. Ms. Donnelly has extensive trial and litigation experience. She began her career immediately upon admission to the State Bar of California as a law clerk with the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. Since then, she has represented clients in civil cases ranging from personal injury to labor and employment matters. Ms. Donnelly’s practice now focuses on personal injury and insurance litigation.

Julee Fritsch Earley is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. Her practice focuses primarily on catastrophic personal injury.

Derek Earley is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office. His practice focuses on defense of personal injury, general commercial liability, professional liability, and business litigation matters.

Dana Furman is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office with a wide range of practice areas including legal malpractice, bad faith, wrongful death and general liability matters. Ms. Furman has been praised by the judiciary for her legal skill and trial ability and has secured multiple judgments in favor of her clients at trial, arbitration, through motion practice and on appeal.

Nathan Furman is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Seattle office. His practice focuses on defending general liability and personal injury cases including auto liability, UIM/UM, premises liability, construction accidents, and construction defect claims.

Chase Goodman is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. Mr. Goodman primary practice focuses on catastrophic accidents, personal injury, premise liability, and business litigation.

Jason Gould is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Phoenix office. His practice focuses on general liability, personal injury defense, premises liability, and property damage matters.

Haldon Greenburg is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ Fort Lauderdale office, where he represents individuals, businesses and insurance carriers related to a variety of different legal matters including claims of personal injury, construction defects, premises liability, wrongful death, first party property claims, and contract related matters.

Susan Gruskin is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office.  Her practice focuses primarily on general liability litigation and complex civil litigation. Ms. Gruskin represents individuals and businesses throughout California state and federal district courts.

Kelley Harman is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. Her practice focuses on general tort claims, including large catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death claims, premises liability, and product liability actions.

Harry Harrison is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. His practice focuses on personal injury, employment, and the defense of entity and organization defendants involving allegations of sexual misconduct.

Victoria Hightower is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Las Vegas office. Her practice includes general liability and personal injury litigation.

Tim Irving is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. Mr. Irving concentrates his practice on representing insurance carriers and corporate clients in high-stakes litigation. He has more than 25 years of courtroom experience representing clients in complex insurance coverage disputes, commercial litigation, and the defense of professional liability and general liability claims. Prior to joining Tyson & Mendes, Mr. Irving was a litigation partner at an AmLaw 100 firm.

Matthew Izu is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. His practice focuses on medical malpractice defense, elder law defense, regulatory law, personal injury defense, and legal malpractice defense.

Brian Johnson is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. His practice focuses on general liability, personal injury, complex construction, products liability, and general business matters.

Mark Johnson is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office and a member of the Complex Trial Team. His practice focuses on catastrophic personal injury defense and general liability defense.

David Kahn is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office specializing in the defense of complex, multi-party general litigation and personal injury matters. Mr. Kahn has extensive litigation experience representing individuals, businesses and employers in California state and federal district courts.

Robert has been a practicing attorney for the past 16 years and is now Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office. His practice focuses on business and contract disputes, automobile accidents, wrongful termination, and premises liability.

Mia Kelly is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. Ms. Kelly’s practice focuses on personal injury, professional liability, premises liability, and general commercial liability matters. As a former prosecutor, Ms. Kelly brings a wealth of trial and litigation experience to the Tyson & Mendes team while also chairing the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

Brandon Kerr is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office.  His practice focuses on general liability/insurance defense and construction litigation. 

Shelley Kramer is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. With over 35 years of legal experience, in and out of the courtroom, Ms. Kramer specializes in catastrophic injury and personal injury litigation.

Charles Lawrence is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County Office. His practice focuses on general liability, catastrophic personal injury, vehicle and premises liability, construction defect, and mass tort defense.

Jeffrey Leight is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office.  Mr. Leight has a broad range of experience in multi-party complex litigation, including products liability, business litigation, premises liability, employment, and general liability matters. He is experienced in all stages of litigation, including early litigation strategy, discovery, dispositive law and motion, and trial preparation.  He has represented a wide range of entities in his practice including corporations, insurance companies, homeowners’ associations, and manufacturing companies.

Edward Lester is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office, where his practice focuses on civil litigation defense. Mr. Lester’s expertise includes public entity liability, products liability, premises liability, and catastrophic personal injury.

Aurora Levinson is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Seattle office. Her practice focuses on defending Washington businesses and individuals in general liability and personal injury litigation.

Christopher Lund is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Las Vegas office. His areas of practice include employment law, personal injury, general liability, commercial litigation, and representing homeowner’s associations. Mr. Lund has litigation experience representing individuals and businesses in both Nevada and Utah state and federal district courts, as well as the Utah Court of Appeals.

Christine Luong-Pham is Senior Counsel in the firm’s Los Angeles and Orange County offices. She has experience in litigation, including catastrophic personal injury defense, product liability, toxic tort, and civil qui tam. She has extensive experience handling all aspects of litigation claims, from initial case evaluation, discovery, law and motion, settlement negotiations, and trial preparation.

Tina Ma is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ New York and New Jersey offices. Her practice focuses primarily on professional liability defense, employment practices litigation defense, direct representation of insurers in insurance coverage litigation, monitoring and coverage determination, statutory class action litigation (FDCPA, TCPA) and New York labor law. Ms. Ma has appeared on behalf on insurers, entities, and individuals in federal and state courts throughout New York and New Jersey.

Cindy Mader is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office where she is a member of the Complex Trial Team. Her practice focuses on general liability including commercial and insurance litigation. Ms. Mader has significant experience litigating and advising clients in connection with various business and commercial disputes in federal and state courts throughout California.

Mitchell B. Malachowski is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego and Northern California offices and engages in full-spectrum civil litigation defense. His trial-court and appellate practice specializes in complex litigation, including federal multidistrict litigation, class actions, mass torts, and products liability. Mr. Malachowski’s litigation style is notable for applying creative approaches to leverage favorable outcomes, particularly with respect to novel legal theories.

Nathan E. Malone is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office.  His practice is focused exclusively in civil litigation, primarily in the areas of personal injury, general liability, complex and environmental tort, and products liability. Mr. Malone also has experience in lemon law, business litigation, HOA defense, and representation of corporate and HOA creditors in Bankruptcy Court.

Garry (Gerald) McCarthy is a Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. He has almost 30 years of experience as both a business attorney and a litigator, and has extensive experience in all phases of litigation including investigation and discovery, mediation, arbitration, trial, and appeals. Mr. McCarthy focuses on professional liability, directors & officers’ liability, catastrophic personal injury, and construction litigation. He has represented corporate boards of directors as both general counsel and litigation counsel, and has defended developers, general contractors, subcontractors, engineers, design professionals, C.P.A.s and attorneys in cases involving alleged negligence, malpractice, design and construction defects. Mr. McCarthy has successfully tried numerous lengthy cases to jury verdict.

Sean McGah is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office.  His practices focuses on personal injury defense and general liability litigation.

Emily Meeson is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego and Orange County offices. Her practice focuses on employment practices litigation defense including wrongful termination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and wage and hour claims.

Issa Mikel is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes who primarily practices general liability and commercial litigation. Mr. Mikel has extensive litigation experience, including representing businesses and individuals in state and federal courts in California and New York. Today, his practice primarily focuses on premises liability, motor vehicle collisions, product liability claims, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and other business torts.

Roberta Nalbandian is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. With over 30 years of litigation experience, Ms. Nalbandian’s practice focuses on diverse complex litigation including construction defect, general liability, personal injury and other related areas of practice.

Scott Nenni is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. His practice primarily focuses on labor and employment litigation.

Darrell Nguyen is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office.  His practice focuses on complex multi-party construction litigation, real estate professional liability, and general liability litigation.

Denae M. Olivieri is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. Ms. Olivieri is an experienced litigator who focuses her practice on construction defect litigation, general civil litigation (with an emphasis on insurance defense matters, including toxic torts, products liability, premises liability and business litigation.) She primarily represents developers, general contractors, and subcontractors in all phases of litigation and pre-litigation alternative dispute resolution. Ms. Olivieri also has a background in bad faith defense matters, including long-term disability and ERISA claims.

Rob Olson is Senior Counsel in the San Diego office and a member of the Complex Trial Team. Mr. Olson has specialized experience handling all types of personal injury lawsuits – from major brain and concussions injuries to minortrip and falls. Mr. Olson also has litigation experience with regards to complex multi-party matters, toxic tort, professional liability, aviation, and maritime matters.

Joel Palmer is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Colorado office, with a background in cases involving personal injury and wrongful death, premises and products liability, construction defect, insurance coverage and bad-faith claims, contractual disputes, employment discrimination, and constitutional claims.

Stephen Poirier is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. Mr. Poirier has extensive experience in complex construction litigation and commercial litigation; defending general contractors, developers, architects, and engineers.

Alla Policastro is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office.  Ms. Policastro’s practice focuses on defense of general liability and personal injury matters on behalf of individuals and businesses.  Ms. Policastro’s decade of litigation experience has revolved around high exposure and catastrophic personal injury cases in the insurance and hospitality industries.  Ms. Policastro also has significant experience defending leading insurance carriers against first-party claims.  

Kimberly Sayre is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ Phoenix office. Her practice focuses on bad faith litigation, catastrophic personal injury, traumatic brain injury cases, complex regional pain syndrome, insurance coverage disputes, nursing home neglect, paraplegic, professional liability, and wrongful death cases. She has been practicing exclusively in the area of personal injury litigation for 25 years.

Christopher Schon is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. He specializes in high exposure catastrophic personal injury and general liability defense. Mr. Schon also assists privately held businesses in state regulatory and compliance matters.

Mark Shanberg is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Chicago o­ffice. Mr. Shanberg is a seasoned litigation attorney with over 27 years of practical experience.  He has successfully defended his clients in a variety of concentrations including medical liability, construction liability, product liability, trucking and transportation liability and premises liability. Most of Mr. Shanberg’s cases involve wrongful death or catastrophic injuries that rely heavily on liability and medical experts. He prepares every case as if it is going to trial, meaning that trial strategy is being developed from the moment the responsive pleading is prepared.  Mark Shanberg has deposed over a hundred liability and damages witnesses, and is known by his peers as a zealous and ethical advocate for his clients. He has served as a guest speaker to discuss with nursing students the potential pitfalls involved in medical negligence cases.   Mr. Shanberg  is rated as AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell and has been recognized by Illinois Leading Lawyers in the area of Personal Injury Defense Law, General.

Pegah Shetabi is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. Her practice focuses on personal injury and general liability litigation.  Ms. Shetabi joins Tyson & Mendes as an experienced litigator who has successfully represented individuals and business entities (including Fortune 500 companies) involved in personal injury, premises liability and products liability litigation.  She has managed cases from inception up to trial, drafted and argued numerous discovery and dispositive motions, and taken hundreds of depositions of plaintiffs and key witnesses on behalf of her clients.

Timothy Smyth is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. His practice focuses on personal injury, general liability, civil rights, construction defect, premises liability, landlord-tenant, products liability, and public entity defense.

Cynthia Speegle is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego Office and a member of the firm’s Complex Trial Team.

Emily Straub is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. Her practice focuses on defending personal injury, general liability, and professional liability claims. Ms. Straub’s practice is also geared towards representing businesses of all sizes, whether for-profit or not-for-profit, in business disputes and employment litigation.

Ms. Stuppiello is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office and a member of the firm’s Complex Trial Team. Ms. Stuppiello has comprehensive experience representing businesses and individuals through all phases of civil litigation. Her practice primarily focuses on defending against personal injury and property damage claims. Her background also includes defending subrogation actions brought on behalf of insurance carriers.

Matthew G. Tang is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. His practice focuses on catastrophic personal injury defense, complex commercial litigation, and other general liability matters. 

Evgenia Terehova is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office, where her practice focuses on general insurance defense litigation. Ms. Terehova has extensive experience representing individuals, businesses, and insurance companies in high exposure personal injury, product liability, and premises liability matters, as well as employment and business litigation disputes. Through her experience of representing both defendants and plaintiffs prior to joining Tyson & Mendes, Ms. Terehova provides a unique and comprehensive perspective with regard to case strategy.

Kent Thaeler is a Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office with almost 30 years of experience.  Mr. Thaeler primarily handles construction defects matters, both residential and commercial, as well as personal injury, wrongful death, and property damage claims.

Christopher Tuttle is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office.  His practice focuses on personal injury, construction defect defense, and general liability.

Jennifer Vedra is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Colorado office. An experienced litigator, she has defended individuals as well as small and international companies. Ms. Vedra has represented her clients in a variety of matters including personal injury, products liability, toxic torts, and complex commercial and international disputes. She also has extensive experience in the restaurant and hospitality industries, and was in-house counsel to a global hotel company prior to joining the firm.

Michelle Verkh-Kent is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office.  Her practice focuses on professional liability matters.

Po Waghalter is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles and Seattle offices. With over a decade of experience, her practice focuses on general liability, product liability, and personal injury defense. Ms. Waghalter specializes in developing legal strategies aimed at early dismissals and summary adjudication of contentious disputes through tactical strategy and dispositive motions. Ms. Waghalter is licensed to practice law in California, Oregon, and Washington.

Ian Wilson is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office and is part of a multi-attorney team.  He practices general litigation, with a primary focus on construction defect, personal injury, and professional liability defense.

Cheryl Wilson is a Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Las Vegas office.  She is a trial attorney primarily focused on civil defense of claims asserting negligence, product liability, professional liability, and business torts. She has been practicing in Nevada since 2002.

Brian Woolfall is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office.  His practice focuses on litigating complex construction defect and property damage claims on behalf of developers, general contractors, and subcontractors along with our construction defect litigation team.  Mr. Woolfall also has also litigated cases involving personal injury, products liability, unfair business practices, and antitrust violations over nearly 25 years of experience.

Kevin Yee is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office and has represented clients in litigation matters in Southern California for over 10 years. He specializes in premises liability and general liability matters and also has extensive experience litigating and resolving contentious claims involving wildfire damage, consumer law, financial elder abuse, and complex trust and probate disputes.

Jennifer H.Yeung is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office. Her practice focuses on the defense of general liability and medical malpractice matters. Ms. Yeung has extensive litigation experience representing individuals and businesses in state and federal courts throughout California.

Wilson Yurek is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County Office. His practice focuses on general liability, catastrophic personal injury, vehicle and premises liability, construction, and mass tort defense.

Molly Gilardi is Special Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office.  Her practice focuses primarily on personal injury and general liability litigation.  Ms. Gilardi is an experienced litigator, having successfully defended individuals and businesses throughout the state of California.

Kiran Gupta is Special Counsel for Client Relations and Legal Education at Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office.  The primary focus of her practice is developing legal content for the firm’s training, marketing, and education programs. 

Grace Shuman is Counsel for Client Relations and Legal Education at Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego Office. Ms. Shuman’s focus is on developing legal content for the firm’s marketing, education, and training programs.

Brianna Andrade is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. Her practice focuses on multi-party complex litigation and general liability matters. She also has previous training in labor and employment litigation.

Blaire Bayliss is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ Denver office. Her practice focuses on personal injury defense, corporate liability, and general liability matters.

Stephanie Black is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office and is a member of the complex trial team. Her practice focuses on personal injury matters including auto accidents involving wrongful death or catastrophic injury, premises liability including slip and fall matters, homeowners’ insurance claims including dog bites, and contract disputes.

James Brewer is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Arizona office. His practice focuses on insurance defense litigation, including insurance coverage disputes, personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits, premises liability, and bad faith litigation.

Annalyse Butler is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. Her practice focuses primarily on defending against personal injury, general liability, and professional malpractice claims.

Kiley McCarthy Connolly is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office and is a member of the Complex Trial Litigation team. Her practice focuses on catastrophic personal injury defense.

Elizabeth Dimaano is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office, where her practice focuses on general liability and employment-related claims. Ms. Dimaano has experience representing individuals, businesses, and insurance companies across Southern California.

Phil Downs is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ San Francisco office, and is part of the attorney trial litigation team. Mr. Downs practices in the area of public entity defense, including the defense of peace officers against 42 U.S.C. 1983 actions, as well as premises liability and other types of personal injury defense matters.

Stephanie Drenski is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ San Francisco office. Ms. Drenski represents individuals and businesses in a wide variety of matters, including general liability, personal injury, premises liability, automobile liability, professional liability, and product liability. Her past clients include owners of small and large businesses, hotels and restaurants, and owners and property managers of commercial buildings.

Caroline Emhardt is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. Her practice focuses on personal injury defense as well as the defense of entity defendants where sexual torts are alleged, including sexual assault and child sexual abuse.

Chris Engle is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Seattle office. Mr. Engle’s practice focuses on construction defect litigation and complex litigation in general. He defends businesses and individuals in tort and contract matters.

Jeremy Freedman is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office whose practice focuses primarily on general liability cases. He has litigated cases involving personal injury, professional liability, directors and officers liability, errors and omissions, employment, and commercial claims and has represented individuals, retired naval officers, businesses, and banking institutions in both California state and Federal courts.

Andrew Friese is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ Seattle office, where he is engaged in a wide variety of civil litigation in tort and contract including land use, trespass, breach of contract, and construction defect cases.

Kristine Gamboa is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office. Her practice focuses on catastrophic personal injury defense, product liability, and general liability.

Marianne Gordon is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. Her practice focuses on general and professional liability, intellectual property, and business litigation defense.

Ross Harper is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. He is a member of the firm’s Complex Trial Team, where his practice focuses on a variety of complex civil litigation matters.

Kayla Huynh is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office, where practice focuses on general liability, professional liability, and personal injury litigation.

Kris D. Klingensmith is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ Las Vegas office.  Mr. Klingensmith has extensive litigation experience representing individuals and businesses in Nevada state and federal courts.  He practices primarily in personal injury litigation with experience in trucking accidents, premises liability, product liability and wrongful death.

Nareg Kourouyan is an Associate at Tyson and Mendes’ Los Angeles office, where he works with a multi-attorney litigation team on employment practices liability insurance matters.

Ethan Kraft is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office, where he is a member of a multi-attorney litigation team with a primary focus on general liability and personal injury defense.

Michael Kutzner is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Seattle office. His practice includes general liability and personal injury litigation.  

Kristopher Lancial is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. His practice focuses on general litigation, including personal injury defense, corporate liability, and automobile liability.

Kevin Lee is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. His practice focuses primarily on general litigation, construction defect, insurance defense, and bodily injury. Prior to joining Tyson & Mendes, Mr. Lee’s practice also included landlord-tenant disputes, premises liability, and business litigation.

Jie Lien is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office, where her practice focuses on insurance defense, general commercial liability, personal injury, premises liability, and all complex litigation matters.

Cian McGeever is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ New York office. His practice focuses on construction and construction defect litigation, premises liability, medical malpractice, transportation and catastrophic personal injury matters.

Leah McKeever is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Phoenix office. Her practice focuses on defense of general liability and personal injury matters on behalf of individuals and businesses.

Omar Mulamekic is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ New York office. His practice focuses on complex litigation matters including construction (New York Labor Law and construction defect), transportation and catastrophic injury matters.

Victoria Nguyen is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office. Through multiple years of experience as a legal professional, Ms. Nguyen has been able to explore and gain experience in a wide-variety of law including worker’s compensation, intellectual property, business disputes, consumer protection, and employment law. Ms. Nguyen’s current practice focuses on personal injury defense and general liability.

Brooke Park is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. Her practice focuses on general liability and commercial litigation.

Ashley Pidhajny is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office. Ms. Pidhajny has experience in a wide variety of practice areas, including labor and employment matters, insurance defense litigation, medical malpractice suits, estate planning, and complex litigation.

Thushan Sabaratnam is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ Chicago office, where he handles all facets of complex litigation. Mr. Sabaratnam’s practice focuses on general liability, where he defends clients on matters of catastrophic personal injury and death, construction defects and accidents, transportation litigation, and commercial liability.

John Salcedo is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office and a member of the Complex Trial Team. His current practice focuses on insurance defense and complex commercial litigation. Additionally, prior to joining Tyson & Mendes, he also accumulated experience in trust litigation, construction defect, and general liability matters.

Kareen Sassounian is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office. Her practice focuses on insurance defense, general liability, personal injury, and premises liability.

Lauren Sharkey is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ Seattle office. Her practice focuses on personal injury defense and employment practices litigation defense.

Jamie R. Nazemi Tabrizi is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s Complex Trial Team. His practice includes the defense of cases involving personal injury, wrongful death, traumatic brain injury, paralysis and other catastrophic injuries, as well as commercial litigation, including fraud, unfair business practices and related claims, construction litigation, and other general liability matters.

Schardé Vallone is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office. She works on a multi-attorney litigation team focusing on the defense of complex civil litigation actions.

Kasun Wijeyewickrema is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office, where he is a member of the Complex Trial Team. His practice focuses on general liability defense. Prior to joining Tyson & Mendes, Mr. Wijeyewickrema gained experience in professional liability and general liability matters at an insurance defense firm in Los Angeles. He also has experience in representing clients in commercial real estate litigation and corporate transactions.