Farella Braun + Martel Congratulates Its Seven New Associates on Passing the California Bar

SAN FRANCISCO (Jan.16, 2007):  Farella Braun + Martel is pleased to announce that all seven of our first year associates have passed the California Bar exam.  This diverse first-year associate class bolsters a variety of growing practice groups. 

Following are the new associates and their practice groups and educational backgrounds:

Diego F. Acevedo - Business Litigation:  Acevedo earned his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (2006).  He served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Charles R. Breyer of the Northern District of California.  He was a summer intern at Farella Braun + Martel and was a legal intern with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in San Francisco.

Gregory J. Cleaver - Business Litigation:  Cleaver earned his J. D. from Yale Law School (2003).  He clerked for the Honourable Chief Justice Michael E. J. Black AC and the Honourable Justice Raymond A. Finkelstein of the Federal Court of Australia.  He also clerked for the Honorable Donald M. Middlebrooks of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and has worked as a law clerk in both the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California and in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office. 

Nicole Howell - Business Litigation:  Howell earned her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (2006).  She was a summer intern at Farella Braun + Martel and served as an intern at the Sheriff's Department, Prisoner Legal Services. Howell also worked as an extern at the San Francisco Office of the Public Defender where she represented clients in felony preliminary hearings and motions and assisted in felony trials.

David K. Ismay - Construction and Real Estate/Land Use:  Ismay earned his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law (2005).  He clerked for the Honorable James R. Browning of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  Ismay has also served as a law clerk for the United States Department of Justice in the Environmental & Natural Resource Division. 

Amarra A. Lee - Business Litigation and White Collar Crime:  Lee earned her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (2006).  She externed for the Honorable Teri L. Jackson of the Superior Court of San Francisco County. Lee was a summer intern at Farella Braun + Martel and has served as a legal intern with the Office of the District Attorney in San Francisco and as a law clerk for the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law in Los Angeles.

Sonya U. Sanchez - Insurance Coverage:  Sanchez earned her J.D. from Stanford Law School (2006).  She was a summer intern at Farella Braun + Martel and at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto.  She served as a research assistant at the Stanford Law School Immigrant's Rights Clinic.

Sky Stanfield - Environmental:  Stanfield earner her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law (2005).  She clerked for the Honorable Lawrence K. Karlton, Senior Judge, of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.

Farella Braun + Martel supports the incoming first year class in preparing for the bar exam by offering four weeks salary to subsidize the preparation for the California State Bar in addition to paying actual out-of-pocket expenses of the Bar Examination and Bar Review courses.

Since its founding in 1962, Farella Braun + Martel has achieved a national reputation for the acumen of its business practice, the high profile cases of its complex commercial litigation practice and its prestigious client base. The San Francisco-based firm serves a diverse group of clients from multinational corporations to emerging businesses. The firm also has an office in the Napa Valley focused on the wine industry and related businesses.  Farella Braun + Martel is a Green Business.

Contacts:

Melinda Faith / Traci Stuart                              
Blattel Communications              
415.397.4811
melinda@blattel.com / traci@blattel.com          

Cheryl Loof
Farella Braun + Martel LLP
415.954.4433
cloof@fbm.com