News

Ryan Abernethy is featured in the 2019 issue of Northern California Super Lawyers Magazine. In a section called “Prior Practice” Ryan discusses his early career in animation and how he uses his creativity in his practice of law.

“Being a trial attorney is a bit of a performance that requires psychology,” he says. “My skill set revolves around conceptualizing. What stops people from doing things is thinking it’s been done before. I think all law exists to be pushed. The law suits my temperament, just as drawing in two dimensions fits it.” – Ryan Abernethy

Read the article here: The Fine Art of Practicing Law

Super Lawyers, Northern California 2019 Edition
Prior Practice: Life Before the Law

Weintraub is pleased to announce that Lizbeth “Beth” V. West has joined the Board of Directors of the non-profit organization Hope Cooperative.

Hope Cooperative (formerly TLCS), provides mental health and supportive housing services for Sacramento County residents with mental health challenges, many of them homeless.  The organization owns or operates seven residential facilities and serves more than 6000 people every year with housing, life skills education, mental health and psychiatric services, and crisis intervention.

When asked about her election to the Board, Beth said, “Homelessness is one of the most pressing challenges our region faces. Hope Cooperative has been making a difference for more than 40 years, and I am honored to join the Board and help the organization continue to do the important work it does every day.”

Beth is a Shareholder at Weintraub Tobin and is the Chair of the Firm’s Labor and Employment Group. She is admitted to practice law in California and Washington and has years of experience assisting employers in all aspects of their employment relationship with their employees and defending employers in employment disputes and governmental audits.  She also serves as a neutral employment mediator and conducts independent workplace investigations.  For the fifth year in a row, Beth was recently selected to the 2019 lists of the Top 100 Northern California Super Lawyers, the Top 25 Sacramento Super Lawyers, and the Top 50 Northern California Women Super Lawyers.

Weintraub is pleased to announce that Tara Sattler and Mark E. Ellinghouse have been named as Shareholders in the law corporation.

Mark Ellinghouse provides counsel to his clients in commercial real estate transactions, including leasing, acquisitions and dispositions, development, joint ventures, financing, and other matters in every real estate sector. He also provides outside general counsel services to his clients, including formation, governance and management, strategic partnering, joint ventures, licensing, distribution, and other contractual arrangements across numerous industries. Mark is based in his hometown of Sacramento and is active with the Urban Land Institute and the American Cancer Society. He has been recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star and named to the Sacramento Magazine Top Lawyers list as well as the Sacramento Business Journal’s Best of the Bar.

From the Firm’s Los Angeles office, Tara Sattler represents production companies, producers, financiers and content creators in the film, television and digital spaces. Her entertainment law expertise encompasses all of the phases of development, financing, production, and distribution of scripted and non-scripted content.  A Los Angeles native, Tara devotes time and support to organizations that strive to further both the artistic community and the wider community throughout her city. She has been featured in Variety’s Legal Impact Report: Up Next.

“These talented attorneys represent the next generation of leadership for our Firm,” said Managing Shareholder Gary Bradus. “In addition to helping our clients grow their businesses and careers, Tara and Mark give back to their communities and to the law firm itself.  We are pleased to welcome them as Shareholders.”

Don’t forget … California law requires that employers with 5 or more employees train their supervisory employees AND their non-supervisory employees on the prevention of harassment by January 1, 2020 (and every 2 years thereafter). In addition, even if your employees were trained in 2018, the law requires they be retrained during 2019.

Not only is training mandated by law, it is the smart thing to do.  A well-trained workforce can help ensure a respectful and productive work environment and reduce an employer’s risk of legal claims.  The attorneys in Weintraub Tobin’s Labor & Employment Department have years of experience conducting energetic, compliant, and effective harassment prevention training for employers of all sizes and in all industries.  We can help you meet your legal obligations and your goal of promoting a respectful workplace for all employees.

The Training Division of the Labor & Employment Department is headed up by Shareholder and Department Chair, Beth West.  Feel free to reach out to her or Department assistant Ramona Carrillo if you are interested in scheduling training.  We are available to discuss a training program that meets the specific needs of your workplace.

When an enormous tree crushed the home of 79-year-old Navy veteran Steven Grossack and his wife Lela, their homeowner’s association denied them assistance.  That’s when the Veterans Legal Institute (VLI) stepped in.  Weintraub attorney Sherry Bragg is on the board of VLI in Orange County and volunteered to take the case.

The Veterans Legal Institute lawyers “are fantastic,” Steven said. “It’s the first time being a veteran ever paid off.”

Read the full story in the Orange County Register 

Matt Sugarman client Mary Robinette Kowal received the 2019 Nebula Award for her novel The Calculating Stars. The novel is the second installment in the Hugo-award-winning author’s Lady Astronaut series, which re-envisions the history of the space race. The prestigious award is presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The first installment in the series the “The Lady Astronaut of Mars” won the 2014 Hugo Award for Best Novella.

Matt and the entire Weintraub firm extend their warm congratulations on this tremendous honor.

The Nebula Awards have been given each year since 1965 for the best novel, novella, novelette, and short story eligible for that year’s award. A full list of this year’s awards can be found in this article from The Verge.