Walkup Shareholders Recognized by Lawdragon
Congratulations to every shareholder at Walkup, Melodia, Kelly + Schoenberger for being named to the 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers. This guide acknowledges lawyers who fight got clients in their toughest moments – securing medical care, insurance benefits, and other compensation upon tragedy. This is a great achievement. Congratulations to all!
Walkup shareholders include Doris Cheng, Michael Kelly, Douglas Saeltzer, Matthew Davis, Sara Peters, Khaldoun Baghdadi, Richard Schoenberger, Conor Kelly, Andrew McDevitt, Valerie Rose, and Spencer Pahkle.
Teresa Johnson Joins WilmerHale
WilmerHale has recently welcomed Teresa Johnson, Past BASF and JDC President, to its firm as partner and Co-Chair of the Sports & Gaming Practice. Within the span of her career, Johnson holds experience “advising major professional sports organizations, public and private companies, boards, senior executives, family offices, and high‑net‑worth individuals on securities transactions, corporate governance, capital markets matters, and complex business transactions.” During her time as President, Teresa focused on a Distinguished Speakers Series and a delegation from the Paris Bar Association to share the Bay Area’s expertise in AI.
Elevations at Ogletree Deakins
San Francisco Leader Circle firm, Ogletree Deakins, has recently announced the addition of Melissa Peters as a Workplace Safety Shareholder in San Francisco. Previously coming from Nixon Peabody, Peters led the national OSHA practice alongside another shareholder. This move significantly underlies the firm’s priority of health and safety in the San Francisco Bay Area. Peters holds a successful history of working with clients in high hazard industries, assisting with complex litigation, crisis scenarios, and more.
Congratulations to Katherine Manuel who has recently been promoted at Ogletree Deakins to managing shareholder at the San Francisco office! Manuel is an experienced employment litigator and holds over a decade of experience with the firm. She has dedicated her career to counseling employers on different areas of employment law issues and defending companies of all sizes in lawsuits and government agency matters.
Smith, New Of Counsel at Lubin Olson
Scott Smith has recently joined Lubin Olson as Of Counsel and is an addition to their Real Estate, Business, Finance & Workouts, and Construction service groups. He joins the firms with decades of experience in private practice, as well as general and in-house counsel.
Hons Yung Honored by 2026 Supra Readers
Hons Yung, Family Wealth Partner at Farella Braun + Martel, was one of ten listed in the Top Author in the Wealth Management category in the 2026 Supra Readers’ Choice Awards. This is a result of Yung’s visibility and thought leadership across the JD Supra platform throughout 2025 hen hosting the Farella podcast, The Verdict: Estate Planning Through Film. In the Wealth Management category, Yung was one of ten topics covering estate planning and wealth management issues.