Author: Kristy Werness

Based in the firm’s Los Angeles and New York offices, all six attorneys are experienced in handling significant commercial litigation matters and have played key roles in many of Hueston Hennigan’s highest-profile trial and other victories.

“Each of these attorneys has an admirable work ethic and has contributed greatly to our firm’s success,” said Moez Kaba, managing partner of Hueston Hennigan. “Most importantly, our newly promoted counsel demonstrate the firm’s steadfast commitment to developing and nurturing trial talent at every level.”

Based in Los Angeles, Mr. Aronsohn represents clients in high-stakes cases involving complex commercial disputes, government investigations, and white-collar criminal prosecutions. He is on the team representing Amazon.com in a historic Federal Trade Commission lawsuit targeting the Prime subscription program. Mr. Aronsohn was also part of the trial team that represented Medtronic in a nine-figure patent infringement lawsuit, and he helped obtain a defense verdict for ClearOne Inc. following a jury trial against Shure Incorporated. He completed a clerkship for the Hon. Rebecca R. Pallmeyer, then chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He earned his J.D. at Stanford Law School and his B.A. in Political Science, with honors, from University of Chicago. Mr. Aronsohn has been named to the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch list since 2023.

Based in Los Angeles, Ms. Ding practices complex commercial litigation, including antitrust, false advertising, trade secrets, breach of contract, class action, False Claims Act, and other disputes. She recently helped secure a defense verdict after trial for The Boeing Company in a trade secret, breach of contract, and tortious interference case. Ms. Ding was also on the team that won a landmark opioid trial for Endo Pharmaceuticals in a closely watched $50 billion California case alleging public nuisance, unfair competition, and false advertising. She clerked for the Hon. Edward J. Davila of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and the Hon. Beth L. Freeman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Ms. Ding earned her J.D. from Stanford Law School and her B.A. in Economics, magna cum laude, from Harvard University. She has been named to the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch and Southern California Rising Stars lists.

Based in New York, Mr. Minchew focuses his practice on high-stakes business disputes and complex litigation, from pre-filing investigation to appeals. He represents companies and individuals in complex litigation matters across an array of industries, including information analytics, social media, video game publishing, asset management, e-commerce services, and technology hardware and equipment. Mr. Minchew is part of the team representing Joe Kiani, founder and CEO of Masimo Corp., a global technology company, in litigation surrounding Kiani’s departure from the company. He completed clerkships for the Hon. Denny Chin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second District and the Hon. Loretta A. Preska of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Minchew earned his J.D., summa cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law, where he was elected Order of the Coif. He obtained his B.A. in Government and History, cum laude, from Hamilton College.

Based in Los Angeles, Mr. Murray practices complex commercial litigation. He was on the team that won an arbitration trial victory on all claims and counterclaims for a prominent Napa winery and its majority owner against the winery’s founder, former CEO, and minority owner in a case alleging fraud and other claims. Mr. Murray also helped obtain a dismissal with prejudice of all claims for Deloitte Consulting in a trade secret misappropriation case, and he is currently representing Fortune 500 insurer Genworth Financial Inc. in a putative class action. He served as a law clerk for the Hon. Orlando L. Garcia of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Mr. Murray earned his J.D., cum laude, from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where he was Order of the Coif, and obtained his B.A. in English from Fordham University.

Based in New York, Ms. Rivera focuses on high-stakes business disputes, complex litigation, and white collar investigations. She is part of the team representing the major record labels in high-profile, high-stakes copyright litigation against two leading generative AI music companies, Suno and Udio. Ms. Rivera is also representing AbbVie in the complex Allergan textured breast implant litigation, and she previously helped obtain a favorable settlement for CoreLogic Credco in a consumer class action alleging violations of federal and state reporting laws. She completed a clerkship for the Hon. Nelson S. Román of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Ms. Rivera earned her J.D. from Cornell Law School and her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Maryland.

Based in Los Angeles, Ms. Xiao focuses on complex commercial litigation and white-collar defense cases. She is representing a Western utility in litigation relating to the Labor Day 2020 fires in California and Oregon, which has included a seven-week jury trial and two damages trials. She was part of the team that represented the State of Hawaii and advised the governor and attorney general in obtaining a $4-billion-plus global settlement resolving all 2023 Maui wildfire claims, and she also helped secure a favorable plea agreement for former USC School of Social Work Dean Marilyn Flynn on federal corruption charges. She clerked for the Hon. Kenneth K. Lee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Hon. Edmond E. Chang of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Ms. Xiao earned her J.D. from University of Chicago Law School and her B.A. from the University of Chicago.

The judge’s ruling held the VA accountable for failing to honor its obligations on the West Los Angeles VA Campus and ordered that the campus be used to provide housing and healthcare to disabled veterans as originally intended. The ruling voided four significant land-use leases on the West LA VA campus, including UCLA, Brentwood School, Safety Park and Bridgeland, and ordered the construction of both permanent and temporary housing.

“I am honored to have been selected as the monitor to ensure timely and comprehensive compliance with Judge Carter’s order, and am pleased to serve on a pro bono basis,” said Hueston. “Our veterans have made immeasurable sacrifices, and for far too long, the VA failed to provide a home and care for veterans as it pledged more than 100 years ago. I look forward to ensuring compliance with this order so that adequate housing and care is provided to veterans who desperately need it.”

As part of his role, Hueston will oversee the planning and construction of both temporary and permanent supportive housing, the construction of a Town Center, staffing the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program case worker ranks to an appropriate level, increasing VA homeless veteran outreach staff to an appropriate level, ensuring that the VA does not enter any land use agreement that does not principally benefit veterans and their families, and auditing compliance to ensure elimination of specified discriminatory practices against disabled veterans.

Hueston has a long and distinguished private and public sector career. His work as a prosecutor included sweeping and complex investigations and cases, including U.S. v. Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. During his tenure as a prosecutor, he earned national accolades for his work, including the Department of the Army’s Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, the U.S. Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service (the highest award granted by the attorney general within the Department of Justice), and three DOJ Director’s Awards for Superior Service.

A Fellow of both the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, Hueston was recently recognized by Chambers USA for his Outstanding Contribution to the Legal Profession. At Hueston Hennigan, he represents Fortune 500 companies and governments as lead counsel in complex civil matters, including breach of contract, real estate, and fraud cases. He has also served as independent counsel for investigations on behalf of numerous government agencies, including the County of San Bernardino, the City of Santa Monica, and the San Diego Association of Governments.

You can see the order appointing a special monitor here.

Coverage of the appointment appeared in the Daily Journal.

Mr. Alden joins the firm from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, where he most recently served as chief of the Criminal Appeals section.

“We are thrilled to welcome Bram to the firm,” said Moez Kaba, managing partner of Hueston Hennigan. “He is an experienced, creative and well-rounded trial lawyer who will comfortably fit within our national trial practice. And, Bram’s extensive appellate experience makes him a tremendous asset to our clients on appeal.”

Mr. Alden spent the last eight and a half years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Criminal Division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In his most recent role as chief of Criminal Appeals, he handled and oversaw the most complex appeals, supervised nine other appellate prosecutors, advised hundreds of trial attorneys, and taught legal writing. During his tenure in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he also tried five felony jury trials and one misdemeanor bench trial, never losing a single count, including for attempted murder, threats to kill major presidential candidates, bank robbery, false impersonation of a federal agent, conspiracy, and fraud. Mr. Alden also argued over 30 cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and drafted multiple successful en banc petitions. He received the Department of Justice Director’s Award for devising responses to novel legal issues arising from the pandemic and guiding federal prosecutors nationwide.

“I couldn’t be happier to join Hueston Hennigan, which has become the preeminent trial boutique in the country,” said Mr. Alden. “There isn’t a better platform out there, and I look forward to practicing alongside the firm’s incredibly talented lawyers.”

Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Alden was a litigation associate at Munger, Tolles & Olson, where his practice was focused on complex civil litigation. He served as a law clerk to Hon. John B. Owens of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Mr. Alden earned his J.D. from UCLA School of Law, where he was Order of the Coif and articles editor for the UCLA Law Review. He earned his B.A. from Columbia University and his M.S. from Pace University while teaching fifth grade as part of the Teach for America program in New York City.