Rancho Santa Margarita Lawyers

Manbir S. Chowdhary represents employees in all areas of labor and employment law, including wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, employee misclassification, and unpaid wages claims. Mr. Chowdhary's experience also includes contractual disputes, and the enforcement of partner/shareholder rights. Mr. Chowdhary's business litigation clients include real estate developers, national sportswear manufacturers, Fortune 500 executives, medical organizations, small businesses, and 501(c)(3) corporations. Mr. Chowdhary is a graduate of USC Law School, and a former legislative aide to the Lt. Governor of California. He is licensed to practice law in California, New York, and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Asif Arif Esq. is an extremely skilled attorney specializing in Immigration and Global Mobility. Asif is admitted to Paris and California Bar. With more than 10 years of experience representing clients between France and the United States, he is a key player in the French-American legal market.

Ms. McMillan obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Spanish and Latin American Studies from the University of New South Wales in Australia in April 1993, after which she returned to the United States to attend law school. Ms. McMillan received her J.D. from Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, California in 1996, having graduated from Western State University Magna Cum Laude in the top 5% of her class. Ms. McMillan was placed on either the Honor Roll or the Dean’s High Honors Roll for every semester of law school. Ms. McMillan received a number of American Jurisprudence...

Randall Hicks is an attorney who limits his practice to adoptions, specifically only adult and stepparent adoptions. In addition to his office in Riverside, he has satellite offices in Los Angeles County (Sherman Oaks), San Diego and Orange County (Irvine).

Mr. August has been practicing corporate and transactional law for over 30 years. He began his legal career in Washington, D.C., at the firm of Lane & Edson, where he was part of the team representing Wesray Capital on leveraged buyout transactions, and subsequently associated with the Washington, D.C. office of Dow, Lohnes & Albertson, where he serviced its telecommunications and other clients with corporate fundraising and strategic transactions. In 1990, he moved to California to serve in the Los Angeles office of Graham & James, handling securities, mergers & acquisitions and other transactions for its primarily international...

I have been practicing exclusively Criminal Defense at the trial court level since June of 1997. During that time, I have had periods where I worked for several Criminal Defense firms and I have had period where I was court appointed on several thousand Indigent Criminal Defense matters. After the first years of my practice, I transitioned into handling privately retained matters and I have handled (almost) the entire range of Criminal Defense charges. I have tried cases as serious as Drug Manufacturing Labs and 3-Strikes Life cases and as minor as Petty Theft cases. I do not back down...

Margaret B. Seymour, a retired U.S. District Judge (District of South Carolina, 1998–2022), was the first African American woman federal judge and chief federal judge in South Carolina. She served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge (1996–1998) before her district court appointment. Over 26 years, Judge Seymour presided over complex securities, contract, class action, commercial, banking, bankruptcy, employment, discrimination, and environmental cases, as well as criminal matters like drug conspiracies, white-collar crime, and Ponzi schemes. She sat by designation on the Fourth Circuit and participated in two three-judge-panel redistricting cases. She served twice on the Judicial Conference Committee on the Administration of...

Layn R. Phillips, founder of Phillips ADR Enterprises (PADRE), is a former U.S. Attorney and U.S. District Judge. Appointed at age 35 by President Reagan, he presided over 140+ trials in Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas, and sat by designation on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Earlier, Judge Phillips served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, and at age 31, was nominated as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma. After leaving the bench, he spent 23 years at Irell & Manella, focusing on complex civil litigation, internal investigations, and alternative dispute resolution. He later founded PADRE, specializing...

Seth Aronson joined Phillips ADR in 2023, mediating disputes up to ten figures in securities, consumer class actions, privacy, false claims, shareholder derivative, antitrust, RMBS fraud, and complex litigation. He serves on the ADR panel for the U.S. District Court, Central District of California. Retiring from O’Melveny & Myers LLP in 2022 after 40 years as a trial and appellate lawyer, Seth was managing partner of O’Melveny’s Los Angeles office and chaired its Securities Litigation practice. Ranked by Chambers USA for 20 years, he was named California Securities Litigation Attorney of the Year twice by Benchmark Litigation, a “Top 100 Lawyer”...

Elliot Brown, a Phillips ADR neutral, is the former managing partner of Irell & Manella LLP. He spent nearly 30 years in IP litigation, counseling, and licensing at a top IP practice. Elliot graduated cum laude from Harvard College (1985), earning Phi Beta Kappa and a John Harvard Scholar award. He studied philosophy of science at Princeton, receiving an MA (1987) and a Mellon Fellowship, where game theory and Daniel Kahneman’s work on bargaining and cognitive bias shaped his approach to dispute resolution. He earned his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School (1990), serving as a Harvard Law Review...

Clay joined Judge Phillips’ ADR practice in 2011. He graduated cum laude from Pepperdine University (B.A., History, 2006) and earned his J.D. from Fordham Law School (2011). He is admitted to the New York and California State Bars. Clay began mediating small claims in Bronx County Civil Court during law school. With over a decade at Phillips ADR, he now mediates complex disputes involving major companies in areas like antitrust, class actions, intellectual property, environmental, mass tort, insurance, securities, and contract disputes. He has worked on over 500 mediations, assisting Judge Phillips before, during, and after sessions, and directly engaging parties...

Andra Greene, a Phillips ADR neutral, has mediated disputes from seven to 11 figures in mass torts, class actions, securities, sexual misconduct, insurance, and intellectual property. She spent 35 years at Irell & Manella LLP, leading the Class Action Defense practice and serving as managing partner of the Newport Beach office and on the Executive Committee. A seasoned trial lawyer, Andra handled complex litigation in class actions, professional liability, employment, business torts, securities, and intellectual property in state and federal courts. She often represented lawyers and law firms. Recognized as a “Top Woman Lawyer in California” by the Daily Journal five...

Mark A. Ufkes completed his law degree from Loyola Law School. He is licensed to practice in all California’s state and federal courts. Mr. Ufkes primarily practices in the area of injury law, including but not limited to workers’ compensation, personal injury, and Social Security Disability. He is a devoted attorney with extensive experience representing plaintiffs in a wide variety of claims. Mr. Ufkes is highly regarded by clients and peers for his knowledge and dedication.

Before my association with Corporate Securities Legal LLP, I served as an associate in the Banking and Finance and Capital Markets group at Cariola Diez Perez-Cotapos. Prior to that, I was also an associate at Carey & Allende Abogados in Chile from 2010 to 2014.

The Law Offices of Raymond Perez focuses primarily on matters involving personal injury, immigration, criminal/DUI defense, real estate and construction services issues.

Niki, a Phillips ADR neutral for six years, brings 25 years of experience in complex litigation, claims administration, mediation, arbitration, and special master roles. A protégé of Judge Layn Phillips, she has co-mediated hundreds of cases, applying his innovative practices in mediations she leads and in court-appointed special master roles nationwide. Before Phillips ADR, Niki was Vice President of Client Strategy & Development at a national class action claims administrator. For nearly 15 years, she litigated securities fraud and complex commercial cases at a national class action law firm, securing court-approved settlements in high-profile matters. She also represented defendants in insurance...

Gregory W. Cabo practices in the areas of: FAMILY LAW Family Law, including divorce, legal separation, nullity, dissolution of a domestic partnership, paternity, child custody and child visitation, guardianships, child support and spousal support, property division, prenuptial agreements, pre-divorce planning, enforcement of court orders, modification of court orders and modification of judgments, Department of Child Support Services cases, and restraining orders related to harassment and abuse under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act. PROBATE Probate, including estate and trust administration, probate litigation, trust litigation, wills and trusts challenges and related property law, corporations law and contract law issues. ESTATE PLANNING Estate Planning, including wills, trusts, special needs...

Michael Wasserman has been involved in the area of dental malpractice, both for patients and dentists, for the past 35 years. Currently, Mr. Wasserman's practice is focused on representing patients who have been injured as a result of negligently performed dentistry. Michael Wasserman has given lectures at the three dental schools in Southern California and lectured at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine .Mr. Wasserman is a 1981 graduate of the University of Oregon School of Law. He graduated from undergraduate from UCLA with honors, Magna Cum Laude, and was invited into membership Phi Beta Kappa.

Justin Hodges is a civil trial attorney at Consumer Litigation Law Center. His practice focuses exclusively on representing clients in personal injury, medical malpractice and wrongful death matters. Mr. Hodges received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Central Florida and his Juris Doctorate degree from the Nova Southeastern University. During law school, Mr. Hodges earned a degree concentration in Health Law and focused his studies in the area of medical malpractice. He served as the president of his law school’s health law society and captained a team in the L. Edward Bryant, Jr. National Health Law Competition...