Attorneys

A native of Staten Island, New York, Bob Tyson is a Founding Partner and strategic managing partner of the firm. Mr. Tyson is a trial lawyer. He specializes in arguing damages in catastrophic injury, wrongful death, and high exposure jury trials. He is especially known for his groundbreaking work on Howell v. Hamilton Meats, a case he argued and won before the California Supreme Court. Howell has since been hailed as the most significant insurance decision to come down in over 40 years – altering the way California interprets the collateral source rule and impacting the damages a plaintiff may recover. Mr. Tyson successfully argued an injured plaintiff may only recover the much lower amount that is paid for medical expenses, not the full medical bills, as past medical damages. This difference between what is billed versus paid saves insurance companies and defendants over $10 billion dollars every year. The victory earned Mr. Tyson the California Lawyer of the Year (CLAY) award from the California Bar Magazine, among other awards.

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.

Heather Bean is the Managing Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office.  Her practice focuses on general liability, personal injury, premises liability and products liability claims.  As a leader in the firm’s Retail, Restaurant, and Hospitality practice group, Ms. Bean also advises clients on risk management and strategy issues. 

Levi Bendele is a Partner at Tyson & Mendes’ Seattle office. Mr. Bendele has developed significant construction injury and defect, premises liability (from single-family homes to Fortune 500 retailers), HOA litigation, professional liability, directors and officers liability, coverage litigation, and insurance bad faith and IFCA experience since first handling auto claims as a claims representative for a major national automobile insurance company in the late 1990s. Since 2000, he has worked as an attorney and been a partner for private insurance defense firms.

Kristi Blackwell is a Partner in 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.

Patricia Conway is a Partner at Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office and leads a multi-attorney litigation team. Ms. Conway has practiced civil litigation in the Bay Area since 1996, advancing from associate to partner in 2001.  Ms. Conway has represented manufacturer and contractor defendants in construction, toxic tort, environmental, and premises liability actions.  She has served as “outside general counsel” to contractor clients assisting them with a variety of issues.  She currently serves as National Coordinating Counsel for a corporate client overseeing their nationwide asbestos litigation.

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 a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Denver offices. Mr. Felderman has in-depth experience in a number of practice areas, including: general negligence, professional liability, premises liability, product liability, personal injury, and commercial & general civil litigation in California and Colorado.

Damian M. Fletcher is the Managing Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Florida office. Mr. Fletcher has over 20 years’ 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.

Jessica Heppenstall is a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. Her practice focuses on medical malpractice and general liability maters, including premises liability, automobile liability, and personal injury matters. Her representation of individuals and businesses includes high-exposure matters involving alleged catastrophic injury and wrongful death.

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 15 years.

James Mendel is a Partner in Tyson & Mendes’ Seattle office. Mr. Mendel began his career handling personal injury claims for five years in New York before moving to Washington state, where he has been litigating cases for the last 17 years. He handles about 5-7 jury trials a year and balances a heavy arbitration calendar. James has developed significant expertise in litigating first-party (PIP, UIM) and third-party (liability) cases involving automobile personal injury, premises liability, homeowner liability, HOA litigation, construction injury, business liability, and general liability.

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.

Robert Modica is the Managing Partner of Tyson & Mendes’ New York office.  Rob is a trial attorney.  He has tried high profile cases throughout New York and New Jersey.  His practice focuses primarily on catastrophic injury and wrongful death, professional liability, privacy, data & cybersecurity, commercial litigation, tort & product liability and construction. Mr. Modica represents a broad range of clients including directors and officers of both large and small businesses, attorneys, architects, engineers, accountants, brokers, manufacturers and distributers. Mr. Modica also represents businesses in various commercial disputes involving intellectual property rights, shareholder derivative claims and technology based claims arising out of privacy, data and cybersecurity breaches.

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.  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.

Kevin Place is a Partner at Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office, where he leads the Complex Trial Team. Mr. Place is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). He handles a complex insurance defense practice and has taken in excess of 20 cases to jury trial. He has practiced exclusively as an insurance defense attorney, specializing in wrongful death, vehicle accidents, construction accidents, premises liability, toxic torts, habitability claims, unfair business practices, and products liability. Mr. Place’s first six years of practice were spent as a trial attorney with Nationwide Insurance Company’s Trial Division. He was also a managing attorney for Liberty Mutual Insurance Company’s staff counsel and a Partner with Archer Norris for 11 years.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Robert Bernstein is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office.  Mr. Bernstein is in his 30^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. He has also litigated land use and entitlement matters on behalf of residential and commercial developers.  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.

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.  

Michelle A. Campbell is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office, where she is a member of the Complex Trial Team. Prior to joining Tyson & Mendes, Ms. Campbell gained significant experience in an insurance defense firm in Orange County, California.

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.

Monica Castillo is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office and works on multi-attorney team. Her practice focuses on personal injury and construction defect defense.

Kathryn Lee Colgan is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. Mrs. Colgan is a nine-year attorney and leads a multi-attorney litigation team in the areas of general liability and employment practices liability. Mrs. Colgan specializes in insurance defense, employment defense, medical malpractice, catastrophic accidents, subrogation matters, personal injury, premise liability, business litigation, and contract law.

Eric L. Cook is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Phoenix office. His practice focuses on complex litigation, product liability, and construction defect. He has extensive litigation experience, including representing individuals and businesses in state and federal courts throughout Arizona.

Dan Cortright is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. His experience includes defense of personal injury litigation, including auto liability, premises liability, and products liability as well as toxic tort defense.  Mr. Cortright has also handled employment, business, and other general and commercial litigation matters.

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. 

Lara Cullinane-Smith is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. Her practice focuses on general liability and medical malpractice. Ms. Cullinane-Smith has extensive litigation experience representing clients in state and federal matters and has brought a wide variety of cases to successful resolutions through settlement and in the courts.

James J. Cupero is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Phoenix office. Bringing more than 35 years of litigation experience, his practice focuses on complex litigation, personal injury, and wrongful death.

Katherine Dedrick is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Denver office. With more than 30 years of complex litigation and in-house experience working for both insurance companies and corporations, Ms. Dedrick has handled matters in both federal and state courts throughout the U.S. and has consulted on disaster recovery matters in other countries. She is also an arbitrator, having served as both a sole arbitrator and panel member.

Michael D. Drews is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Denver office.  Mr. Drews has a wealth of experience and enjoys the challenges of handling cases that draw from a number of diverse practice areas, including professional liability, premises liability, personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, insurance law and bad-faith litigation, employment law, interstate trucking and transportation law, commercial law, and construction defects.

Codie Dukes is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes. 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.

Tara-Jane Flynn is Senior Counsel in Tyson Mendes’ Los Angeles office.  Her practice focuses on general liability with a specialization in automobile liability litigation.

Amanda Fornwalt is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. Her practice focuses on general liability litigation and personal injury defense in state and federal courts throughout California.

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.

Molly Gilardi is Senior 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.

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.

Candice Nguyen Hamant is Senior Counsel 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. 

Elisabeth Hansen is Senior counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office.  Her concentration of practice areas includes personal injury, premises liability, construction defect, and general civil litigation. 

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.

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.

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.

Catie R. Johnson is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office.  Her practice focuses on litigating state and federal general liability matters on behalf of individuals and private entities, including premises liability, motor vehicle negligence, products liability, habitability and subrogation actions, and excessive force and civil rights claims.

Dane Joseph is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. His practice focuses on general liability matters, including automobile liability and personal injury matters. Mr. Joseph’s legal experience also includes complex civil litigation, including residential construction, and he has extensive experience representing Fortune 500 companies, including real estate developers, general contractors, and property owners.

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.

Mia Kelly is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office.  Ms. Kelly’s practice focuses on premises liability, automobile liability and personal injury matters.  As a former prosecutor, Ms. Kelly brings a wealth of trial and litigation experience to the Tyson & Mendes team.

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

Carlos MacManus is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. Mr. MacManus works primarily on general liability and personal injury litigation. His legal experience includes complex civil litigation in the areas of general liability, business and contract disputes, and more recently, medical malpractice defense.

Mitchell B. Malachowski is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office 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.

Issa Mikel is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office 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.

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.

Margaret J. Phe is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office, where she is a member of the Complex Trial Team.  Her practice focuses on general civil litigation defense.  Ms. Phe possesses over 18 years of litigation experience before administrative, state, and federal courts throughout California.  Prior to joining Tyson & Mendes, Ms. Phe worked for the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, where she prosecuted disciplinary actions against licensed health care professionals and defended State agencies, their employees, officials, and executives in civil due process, harassment, and discrimination lawsuits.

Steve Plas is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office.  His practice experience includes a wide spectrum of general liability, serious personal injury, and construction related litigation from inception through trial.

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.  

Leslie Price is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. His practice focuses on general liability matters including catastrophic personal injury, premises liability, and the defense of libel and slander claims. Mr. Price is admitted to practice in all California state and federal courts and has over 30 years’ experience in all phases of litigation including investigation and discovery, mediation, arbitration, trial, and appeals. Over his career, he has successfully defended homeowners (easement disputes; dog bites; slip & fall; assault & battery), homeowner associations, supermarkets, contractors, manufacturers, pharmacies, landlords, bars & taverns, cosmetic makers, and motorists in a wide variety of motor vehicle collision cases.

David Ramirez is an AV rated Senior Counsel 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.

Reece Román is Senior Counsel 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.

David B. Roper is Senior Counsel in the firm’s San Diego office.  Mr. Roper’s defense practice focuses on personal injury, products liability, construction defect, and commercial matters.  He has extensive litigation experience representing manufacturers, retailers, real estate developers, general contractors, and property owners at the state and federal levels in both California and Nevada.

Kimberly Sayre is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ Phoenix office. Her practice focuses on catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases. She has been practicing exclusively in the area of personal injury litigation for 25 years.

Bryan D. Scholnick is Senior Counsel 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.

Greta M. Schultz is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. Her areas of practice include general liability, intellectual property, business litigation, and property law, which she practices in both California state and federal district courts.

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.

Regina Silva is Director of Employment Practices in the firm’s San Diego and Los Angeles offices. Ms. Silva defends employment litigation matters such as sexual harassment, employment discrimination, wrongful discharge, retaliation, wage/hour claims including DLSE claims, class actions and PAGA representative actions. She has appeared before various state and federal agencies and courts, and has defended matters in arbitration. Ms. Silva provides Clients with employment advice, litigation prevention, mandatory sexual harassment training, and assistance with policies and handbooks. Ms. Silva represents employers in traditional law labor matters such as collective bargaining negotiations, grievances, and unfair labor practices. Ms. Silva represents employers of all sizes, in industries such as manufacturing, retail, private schools and universities, medical, government, hospitality, non-profits, and construction.

Wendy Skillman is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. Her practice focuses primarily on general liability litigation, with experience in both criminal and civil prosecution work.

Andrew Smith is Senior Counsel in the firm’s 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.

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.

Paul Vaillancourt is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ San Francisco office.  His practice includes the defense of catastrophic construction and trucking accidents, premises liability, products liability, toxic torts, employment, landlord tenant, construction defect and general defense litigation. 

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 office. Her practice focuses on general liability, premises liability, and personal injury defense.  Ms. Waghalter specializes in developing legal strategies aimed at early dismissals and summary adjudication of high-exposure lawsuits. Ms. Waghalter is licensed to practice law in California, Oregon, and Washington. 

Heather R. Whitehead is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office.  Her practice focuses on insurance defense, general liability, personal injury, premises liability, professional liability, and catastrophic injury and wrongful death litigation.

Paul Whitfield is Senior Counsel at Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. His practice focuses on general liability, including personal injury, premises liability, and products liability claims. He also has extensive experience in professional liability, unfair business practices claims, and insurance coverage.

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.

Marsha M. Yasuda is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. Her practice is focused on general liability cases. Ms. Yasuda has extensive litigation experience, including representing clients in California state and federal district courts.

Kevin Yee is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. He specializes in premises liability and personal injury defense.

Allen Aho is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office. His practice focuses on personal injury defense, general liability, and premises liability. 

Benjamin Angulo is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. His practice includes commercial litigation and general liability matters.

John Barton is an Associate in Tyson and Mendes’ Seattle office.  His practice area focuses primarily on general liability and personal injury cases.

Nathan Berkeley is an Associate 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 an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. 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.

Sitar Bhatt is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Phoenix office. His practice focuses primarily on general liability, personal injury, premises liability, and bad faith litigation. Mr. Bhatt has successfully represented individuals and businesses in Arizona state and federal district courts as well as arbitrations.

Matt Burgess is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office and a member of a multi-attorney litigation team. His practice focuses primarily on defending medical malpractice claims. Mr. Burgess has litigation experience representing individuals in California state and federal district courts.

Cinnamon J. Carr is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ Orange County office.  Her practice focuses on personal injury defense, including general liability, auto, premises liability, and wrongful death, as well as property damage and defamation cases.

Margaret C. Castaneda is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. Her practice focuses primarily on general liability matters. She maintains a goal-oriented approach to protect her clients’ interests through every stage of litigation.

Amy Chambers is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office and a member of the firm’s Complex Trial Team.  Ms. Chambers has extensive experience representing employers and insurers in California state and federal district courts.

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

Terra Davenport is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. She specializes in general liability defense and personal injury. Ms. Davenport has experience representing insurance and public entity defendants in a variety of different legal matters, including class action tax litigation, tort litigation, personal injury, wrongful death, construction and premises liability, quiet title and boundary disputes, and civil rights and police liability.

Rachel Donnelly is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. 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.

Aydin Emami is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. His practice focuses primarily on general liability defense and personal injury. Mr. Emami has experience litigating premises liability, boundary disputes, general liability, and directors and officers liability. He has experience representing corporations and individuals across California.

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

Jeremy Freedman is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. His practice focuses primarily on general liability. Mr. Freedman has experience litigating personal injury, employment and commercial claims representing individuals, retired naval officers, businesses and banking institutions in California state and federal courts.

Salayha K. Ghoury is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office.  Her practice focuses on general liability, construction litigation, premises liability, and personal injury matters. 

Katie Greenbaum is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. Her practice focuses primarily on defending personal injury, products liability, general liability, and professional malpractice claims. Ms. Greenbaum has litigation experience representing individuals, businesses, and insurance companies.

Haldon Greenburg is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Fort Lauderdale office.  His practice focuses primarily on personal injury and general liability litigation.  Mr. Greenburg has extensive litigation and trial experience.

Rachel Holzer is an Associate in Tyson Mendes’ Las Vegas office. Her practice areas include insurance bad faith defense and coverage litigation, general liability, and construction defect. Ms. Holzer has extensive experience practicing in Nevada’s state and federal courts, including the United States District Court for the District of Nevada and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada.

Asif Hossain is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ New York office. His practice focuses primarily on professional liability, privacy, data & cybersecurity, commercial litigation, product liability and all aspects of insurance defense.

Colin Jennings is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. Mr. Jennings is a member of a multi-attorney team handling primarily general liability and personal injury litigation.  He has experience in representing corporations and individuals across California.

Michaela Jester is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. Her practice primarily focuses on civil litigation, including intellectual property and personal injury defense. In addition to managing a full caseload, Ms. Jester is actively pursuing the enhancement of her intellectual property skillset by preparing for an upcoming Patent Exam in order to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) as a patent practitioner.

Ashley Kaye is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office and a member of a multi-attorney litigation team.  Her practice focuses primarily on defending personal injury, products liability, general liability, and professional malpractice claims.  Ms. Kaye has litigation experience representing individuals in California state and federal district courts.

Danielle Kim is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ Seattle office. Her practice focuses on general liability and personal injury litigation.

Grace Kim is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. Her practice focuses primarily on labor and employment litigation on both a single plaintiff and class action level. Ms. Kim represents public and private clients in a wide range of employment cases, including discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, harassment, and reasonable accommodation matters.

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.

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

Allison Lawrence is an Associate 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.

Jeffrey Leight is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles 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.

James Lumsden is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office, where he is part of the general liability team. He enjoys a diverse practice in personal injury defense, including six years of specialization in habitability claims.

Christopher Lund is an Associate 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 an Associate in the firm’s Los Angeles office. 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.

Kyle R. Maland is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego Office.  His practice focuses primarily on the defense of employment litigation matters throughout California.  Mr. Maland has experience representing individuals, private businesses, and public entities in state and federal district courts, as well as administrative proceedings.  Mr. Maland defends employment litigation matters such as sexual harassment, employment discrimination, wrongful termination, retaliation, wage/hour claims, class actions and PAGA representative actions. Mr. Maland also provides clients with employment advice, litigation prevention, and assistance with policies and handbooks.

Rachel Marshall is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ Seattle office.  Her practice focuses primarily on general liability and personal injury litigation.

Michael McDonald is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. His practice focuses on general liability, insurance litigation, and tort defense. Mr. McDonald has experience representing individuals and fiduciaries in the defense and prosecution of litigated matters throughout Southern California.

Kristin Mathis is an Associate in the Los Angeles office of Tyson & Mendes. Her practice focuses on general liability litigation. She specializes in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases involving premises liability, hotel and restaurant related claims, government entity liability, school district liability, personal injury defense, and all matters related to transportation. 

Emily Meeson is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. Her practice focuses on employment practices litigation defense including wrongful termination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and wage and hour claims.

Kristine Minnick is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office, where she defends clients in a wide range of civil liability matters.

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

Chandra Roam is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. Her practice primarily focuses on civil litigation, including commercial and residential construction, general liability, and personal injury.

Anthony Ross is an Associate on the Complex Trial Team in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office. Mr. Ross is a trial attorney with experience in general liability, commercial litigation, personal injury, consumer protection, and business litigation.

Kelly Ryan is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. Her practice focuses primarily on general liability and insurance defense.

Margaret Schmidt is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Las Vegas office.  Her practice includes general liability, personal injury, and quiet title disputes.  Ms. Schmidt has extensive experience representing individuals and businesses in Nevada state and federal district courts, defending cases at the appellate level and resolving cases through arbitration and mediation.

Christopher Schon is an Associate 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.

Alice Segal is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’s San Diego office.  She is a member of a multi-attorney litigation team defending entity defendants in lawsuits involving sexual torts.  Ms. Segal has worked in civil litigation defense for over five years.

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

Amir M. Shoar is an Associate at Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. His practice primarily focuses on civil litigation, including products liability and personal injury defense.

Jason Shon is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Los Angeles office.  Mr. Shon’s practice focuses on defending individuals and businesses in general liability matters, contractual disputes, labor and employment claims, and consumer protection actions.  Mr. Shon has extensive experience litigating in federal and state courts throughout California.

Margarite Sullivan is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego Office.  Her practice is primary focused on personal injury, general commercial liability, professional liability, and business litigation.  Ms. Sullivan is an accomplished litigator with experience representing individuals, public entities, and insurance institutions across California. 

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

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

Morgan Van Buren is an Associate 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.

Danielle Vukovich is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office. Her practice focuses primarily on defending personal injury, general liability, and professional malpractice claims.

Raymond “Ken” Wilson Jr. is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ San Diego office.  His practice focuses on professional malpractice defense, general liability defense, corporate/contract, and appellate law.  Mr. Wilson has extensive litigation experience representing physicians, attorneys, general contractors, developers, businesses, and individuals in California and Nebraska state and federal district courts. 

Noah Winkeller is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Seattle office.  His practice focuses on defending personal injury and general liability cases.

Natasha K. Zaslove is an Associate in Tyson & Mendes’ Northern California office. Her practice focuses primarily on general liability, personal injury, complex construction, medical malpractice, and general business matters.