Allen Matkins elected Melissa K. Bell, Paige H. Gosney, Joseph L. McGeady, Scott Perlin, Stephanie S. Roberts and Jennifer C. Shakouri to the partnership. These new partners represent the litigation, land use, real estate, and employment practice groups and are based across the firm’s San Diego, Century City, Downtown Los Angeles and Orange County offices.
“This year’s new partner class represents the best of Allen Matkins,” Jeff Patterson, managing partner of Allen Matkins, said. “Melissa, Paige, Joe, Scott, Stephanie and Jennifer are each superb lawyers, and also exemplify our core values of respect, collegiality, client service and giving back to our communities. We congratulate all of them for this achievement.”
Bell is an employment partner based in both Los Angeles and Orange County. She serves as a trusted advisor to management and human resources professionals, providing employment advice and counseling on employment agreements, workplace policies and personnel issues. She also represents employers in litigation and before government agencies, such as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the California Civil Rights Department and the California Labor Commissioner.
Gosney is a land use partner based in the firm’s Orange County office, where he assists commercial and industrial developers in navigating the entitlement process and obtaining and defending land use and environmental approvals. His practice includes representing clients in both transactional matters and in all aspects of litigation before state and federal courts, including matters involving due diligence, land use and development entitlements, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Coastal Act compliance, eminent domain and inverse condemnation, water rights, the Outdoor Advertising Act and general planning and zoning laws.
Based in the San Diego office, McGeady is a member of the litigation group. His practice includes representing both plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of commercial litigation matters. His has experience in all aspects of commercial litigation, including drafting and arguing pre-trial motions, taking and defending depositions and direct and cross-examining witnesses.
Perlin is a litigation partner in the San Diego office with substantial trial experience. He represents clients primarily in matters of real estate development and other real property disputes, business litigation, construction law and general civil litigation.
Roberts is a real estate litigation partner, based in Los Angeles, whose experience encompasses nearly every type of real estate-related dispute, including disputes concerning financing projects, construction defects, easement disputes, taxation disputes and disputes between commercial landlords and tenants and buyers and sellers of real estate. She also has extensive experience litigating complex business disputes and employment matters. Stephanie handles all aspects of litigation, from pre-litigation workouts through litigation, mediation/settlement, trial and post-trial and appellate matters.
Shakouri is a litigation partner in the Century City office. She has significant experience litigating complex real estate and business disputes for a broad array of clients, including property developers and owners, purchasers, sellers, investors, high-net-worth individuals and families, lenders, telecommunications companies and other leading industry players. Shakouri has an impressive track record of favorable results in California state and federal courts and through alternate dispute resolution.
