Attorneys
MANAGING PARTNER
A. RAYMOND HAMRICK, III serves as Managing General Partner of Hamrick & Evans, LLP, with offices in California and Nevada. He also serves as Chairman of the Firm's Litigation/Construction Defect Practice Group and of the Firm's Insurance Practice Group. He attended San Diego State University, where he obtained his B.A. with high honors, was named to the Dean's Honor List and was selected as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree from Santa Clara University, where he served as Research Editor for the Santa Clara Law Review and as a Judicial Extern to Judge Joseph Sneed, U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1985, he gained national recognition in the American Lawyer when he departed his former firm and founded his new firm. In 2011, Mr. Hamrick was selected as a "California Super Lawyer".
Since founding Hamrick & Evans, LLP, he has concentrated his practice in the areas of construction defect litigation, insurance coverage, entertainment litigation, business and business litigation and environmental litigation. He has been involved in defending over 1,500 Construction Defect matters in both California and Nevada and has been recognized in the construction industry for his experience and knowledge. He represents clients in many sophisticated litigation matters, including construction, entertainment, bad faith and other complex civil litigation matters. He also possesses significant experience in the handling of all aspects of coverage-related matters, including coverage investigations, recommendations and litigation. He has lectured nationwide to insurance claims professionals and to attorneys, speaking on topics including construction defect litigation, mold litigation, state insurance regulations, insurance fraud, and current developments in insurance, construction and insurance coverage law. In 2009, he obtained a $7.06 Million Dollar Federal Court Jury Verdict.
He is peer-review AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell. He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1980, to the State Bar of Nevada in 2000, and to the State Bar of Colorado in 2001. He is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Southern California Defense Lawyers Association, the Defense Research and Trial Lawyers Association, the State Bar of California, the State Bar of Nevada and the State Bar of Colorado.
PARTNERS
DAVID L. EVANS Starting with the Firm in 1994, Mr. Evans serves as Chairman of the Hamrick & Evans, LLP Business, Corporate & Transactional Practice Group and as Co-Chairman of the Firm's Entertainment & Intellectual Property Practice Group. For his undergraduate education, Mr. Evans attended Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he graduated in 1987 with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in German. In college, Mr. Evans served as an Editor of the weekly student newspaper, played forward on the Men's NCAA Basketball team, and was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. Mr. Evans received his law degree in 1991 from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, and was admitted to the California Bar that same year.
While at Loyola Law School, Mr. Evans finished 4th in the all-school Moot Court Competition, and was selected as a Member of the Loyola National Moot Court Team and the Scott Moot Court Honors Board. As a law student, Mr. Evans received American Jurisprudence Awards for excellence in Appellate Advocacy and Trial Advocacy. Mr. Evans is fluent in German and Spanish, and serves as outside General Counsel for a number of Corporations and Limited Liability Companies, both domestic and foreign.
An experienced litigator, transactional and trial attorney, Mr. Evans was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1991, to the State Bar of Nevada in 2000, and to the State Bar of Colorado in 2001. Mr. Evans practices primarily in the areas of business litigation, corporate law, entertainment, trusts and estates, employment and insurance defense. Mr. Evans is an active Member of the Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the State Bar of California, the State Bar of Nevada, and the State Bar of Colorado.
Most recently, Mr. Evans was lead trial counsel for the Plaintiff in Derm-Tech Labs, Inc. v. Cobe Chemical Co., Inc. , securing a $4.8 million jury verdict for his client in a case involving breach of contract, fraud, unfair competition, misappropriation of trade secrets and intellectual property.Also, in April of 2011, Mr. Evans secured a $6.7 Million settlement for his client in a consolidated probate litigation action.
WILLIAM G. KELSBERG Mr. Kelsberg serves as Co-Chairman of the Firm's Civil Litigation Practice Group. Mr. Kelsberg received his law degree from Whittier College School of Law in 1989, and was admitted to the California Bar that same year. Mr. Kelsberg is a trial attorney with over 21 years of experience in civil litigation and criminal defense, focusing primarily on premises liability and products liability matters, wrongful death, catastrophic personal injury, construction site personal injury, breach of contract, business litigation and entertainment law.
Mr. Kelsberg is admitted to the California Court of Appeals (1989), the U.S. District Court for the Central, Southern, Northern and Eastern Districts (1990), the U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit (1990) and U.S. Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit (1990). He is an active Member of the American Bar Association, Los Angeles County Bar Association, and American Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Kelsberg has twice served as a Guest Lecturer at the West Coast Casualty Construction Defect Seminars. Prior to practicing law, Mr. Kelsberg was a radio announcer, producer and music director. He has also appeared on Los Angeles radio broadcasts regarding civil litigation.
KENNETH A. HEARN Mr. Hearn serves as Co-Chairman of the Firm's Insurance Practice Group, and specializes in the area of insurance coverage law. Mr. Hearn was admitted to the California Bar in 1978 after receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California Los Angeles in 1974, and his J.D. from La Verne University School of Law. Mr. Hearn has extensive experience representing developers, general contractors, and other trades in the construction industry. His expertise also encompasses the representation of carriers and policyholders under general liability, homeowners', business, commercial and professional policies. His clientele has included, among others, Scottsdale Insurance Company, Century National Insurance Company, Ellis Brokerage Insurance Services, American Specialty Insurance Company, North American Capacity Insurance Company, Clarendon Insurance Company, North American Risk Services, Legion Insurance Company, Villanova Insurance Company, Western General Agency, Universal Underwriters Insurance Company, and numerous insureds. Mr. Hearn is a member of the California State, Los Angeles County, San Fernando Valley and American Bar Associations.
Mr. Hearn is peer-review AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Mr. Hearn has served as an arbitrator through the Los Angeles Superior Court, sponsored by the San Fernando Valley Bar Association's Dispute Resolution Program. Mr. Hearn is also a member of the Central, Southern and Eastern Districts of the Federal District Court, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and has authored several articles dealing with construction and insurance issues.
KENNETH C. GREENE Mr. Greene serves as Chairman of the Firm's Equipment Lease & Financing Practice Group, and specializes in commercial and civil litigation. Mr. Greene obtained a B.A. in Sociology from Brandeis University and his J.D. from Santa Clara University in 1980. Mr. Greene has extensive experience representing commercial equipment finance companies in transactional as well as litigation matters, including bankruptcy cases. He has been active in all of the major equipment leasing associations, including the National Equipment Finance Association ("NEFA"), and the United Association of Equipment Leasing ("UAEL"), for which he has twice served on the Board of Directors.
Mr. Greene practices in both the firm's Northern and Southern California offices. He is a frequent writer and lecturer, as well as an acknowledged contributor to Miller & Starr's California Real Estate 2nd. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Directors of Leasing News, an online publication serving the equipment finance industry. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Mountain Play Association in Marin County.
ERIC DOBBERSTEIN Mr. Dobberstein serves as Partner managing the Nevada office as of 2011 after having had a successful general trial practice for several years. Graduating from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas with a B.A. in Criminal Justice in 1985, Mr. Dobberstein went on to get his J.D. in 1989 from Texas Southern University, Thurgood Marshall School of Law where he served as the Notes Editor of their Law Review and has extensive training in Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Mr. Dobberstein has been a licensed attorney in the State of Nevada since 1989, and has filed over 500 lawsuits consisting of construction, personal injury, and commercial issues along with handling issues involving corporations, LLC's and partnerships. Recent significant construction projects include Clark County School District projects consisting of new construction and renovation, City of Henderson recreational center, local casino construction for City Center, Station Casinos, Fountainbleu, Planet Hollywood, and numerous commercial private business centers, auto malls, and numerous pool and residential construction disputes. The cases litigated or mitigated have been comprised of motor vehicle accidents, air plane accidents premise liability, dog bite, wrongful death, products liability, breach of contract, construction defects, mechanic liens, business disputes, construction completion, subcontract disputes, architectural, employment, labor, franchise, contracts, medical malpractice, commercial, transactional, homeowners, real estate, insurance bad faith, injunctive relief, bankruptcy, domestic, probate matters and other types of cases in litigation. He has represented and litigated cases from $5,000.00 to $11 million with juries as well as judges before Municipal, Justice, District and Supreme courts of the State of Nevada as well as Nevada Federal District Court, United States Bankruptcy Court, United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court reflecting his additional professional licenses with the above courts acquired between 1989-2007.
His reported cases have been Marion Properties v. Goff, 108 Nev. 946 (1992) and Sierra Glass & Mirror v. Viking Industries, 107 Nev. 119 (1991). Mr. Dobberstein has negotiated multi-million dollar transactional closings for the sale and completed transfer of businesses for Embassy Glass 2000; Destination Spa 2003; Dolphin Court Green Valley Ranch 2004; Bronco Framing; Universal Door and MS Concrete 2007.
OF COUNSEL
MARTIN J. BARAB Mr. Barab graduated from the University of Southern California in 1967 with a B.S. degree in Finance and from Loyola University School of Law in 1970 with a J.D. degree. His practice of law began as a First Amendment attorney with emphasis on Constitutional Law before specializing in entertainment litigation and motion picture production, finance and distribution arenas. Working as an entertainment attorney, Mr. Barab has represented numerous independent distribution and production entities, independent foreign sales companies, banks, Production financiers, foreign co-producers, as well as foreign distributors. Mr. Barab has also organized and was involved in founding of major motion picture companies. In his capacity as counsel for the numerous producers and distributors, he has organized the productions, arranged for the financing and oversaw the distribution of each picture. In many instances Mr. Barab has followed up production financing with enforcement proceedings to collect and obtain profits and participations for his clients. He is currently involved with companies such as Blue Rider Pictures, as well as numerous European funds, all engaged in various form of Bridge and/or production financing. Mr. Barab is a member of the Producers Guild and past president of the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce.
Please click here to view Mr. Barab's profile on IMDB.com.
GEORGE KNOPFLER Mr. Knopfler graduated from Connecticut College with a B.A. in Government and Economics in 1976 and received his J.D. from
Santa Clara University School of Law in 1980. He has been admitted into the California Supreme Court, U.S. District Courts, Central, Northern, Eastern Districts, and U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit. Specializing in business, real estate, construction, and insurance litigation, Mr. Knopfler has tried over 100 Court and Civil Jury Trials in the State and Federal Court and has arbitrated over 30 Claims and Counter Claims in many different areas of law. He has also been retained as a Mediator, Arbitrator and Expert Witness.
Mr. Knopfler obtained judgments and settlements in excess of $65 million during the past 30 plus years on behalf of individuals, entities and class action representatives. Mr. Knopfler was selected as "California Super Lawyer" in 2009-2011 for the Business Litigation section.
ASSOCIATE ATTORNEYS
DOUGLAS K. LACKEY Mr. Lackey received his undergraduate degree from UCLA, and his law degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. Mr. Lackey works in the firm's Universal City office, and is admitted to practice in both California and Nevada. Mr. Lackey has over 20 years of litigation experience, specializing in defending developers and contractors in complex construction defect matters. An experienced trial attorney, Mr. Lackey has handled a wide variety of litigation matters including insurance bad faith and coverage litigation, employment disputes, business litigation, products liability, defamation and professional malpractice litigation (legal and real estate).
JEFFREY A. WHITE Mr. White received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of California at Santa Barbara and his J. D. from Golden Gate University School of Law. While in law school, Mr. White published an article in the Golden Gate University Law Review and served as Outside Articles Editor for the Law Review. Mr. White practices in the areas of civil litigation, construction defect, toxic tort and indoor air quality litigation.
ELLIE WIEDER Ms. Wieder obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego, where she graduated in 1999 with a B.A. in Economics and a B.S. in Clinical Psychology, receiving Provost Honors 1997-99. Ms. Wieder obtained her J.D. from Loyola Law School in 2003, where she was named to the Dean's List 2000-03. Ms. Wieder is a member of the California bar and practices in the areas of civil litigation, construction defect litigation and insurance coverage.
KENNETH A. KOTARSKI Admitted to the State Bar of California in 1981, Mr. Kotarski has extensive experience in complex business litigation matters on behalf of individuals, public companies and privately-held businesses of all forms. Mr. Kotarski represents owners/developers in the development, financing, leasing and management of their real estate assets and, in addition, has established a national reputation as counsel in media, defamation and privacy actions, particularly on behalf of plaintiffs.
Mr. Kotarski takes pride in having been part of the legal team that worked on the following reported cases: Ward v. News Group Intern., Ltd. (C.D. Cal. 1990) 733 F.Supp. 83 (17 Media L. Rep. 1583); In re National Mtge. Equity Corp. Mtge. Pool Certificates Securities Litigation (C.D. Cal. 1988) 120 F.R.D. 687 (11 Fed.R.Serv.3d 369); In re San Juan Dupont Plaza Hotel Fire Litigation (D. Puerto Rico 1988) 687 F.Supp. 716.
Mr. Kotarski attended the University at Buffalo School of Management, SUNY (B.S., Business Administration, 1978) and received his law degree from Southwestern University School of Law (J.D., 1981). Mr. Kotarski is admitted to all state and federal courts in California, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Kotarski is a member of the Litigation Section of the State Bar of California and the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and volunteers as a mediator for the Los Angeles Superior Court ADR Neutral and Early Mediation Pilot Program Panels, 2000-present (Arbitrator, 1993-1998).
DANIEL J. QUISENBERRY Mr. Quisenberry is a litigation attorney with over fifteen (15) years of experience litigating cases in California, Tennessee, New York, Washington, and Florida, as well as trademark matters in Australia, Japan, China, and the European Union. Mr. Quisenberry began his practice in music and music group trademark matters, and expanded his practice over the years to emphasize the litigation of complex business and intellectual property matters, including copyrights, trademarks, unfair competition, directors' and officers' liability, shareholder, partnership, and real estate disputes. He represents artists, management, and industry in various entertainment transactions and establishes and protects copyrights and trademarks worldwide. Daniel has successfully represented clients (both plaintiffs and defendants) in litigation regarding commercial lease disputes and real property purchase, sale, and exchange transactions. He has also represented clients with regard to claims and adversarial complaints in the United States Bankruptcy Court.
Daniel graduated summa cum laude from the University of California San Diego in 1990 and from the U.C.L.A. School of Law in 1994.
Representative Cases: Steppenwolf v. Nick St. Nicholas (9th Cir. Published Decision); Fosson v. Waterland (9th Cir. Published Decision); Fleener v. Trinity Broadcasting NetworkProfessional Associations & Memberships; California Copyright Conference; Intellectual Property Section of California Bar; Rotary International.
Representative clients and/or cases dealt with: The Beach Boys Original Recordings with Deck Records; Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon; The Ventures; Mic Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac); Sugar Ray Leonard; Prince; Original Sound Records; Rhino Records; Andrew Blake; Real Artists Management and many more...
For a more extensive list of firm clients click on the CLIENTS Tab at the top of this page.
SVETLANA KUPERMAN Ms. Kuperman obtained her B.A. in Business Administration from the University of California (Berkeley) Haas School of Business in 2001, and obtained her J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley School of law (Boalt Hall) in 2005. While at Boalt, Ms. Kuperman was honored with the Richard W. Erskine Fellowship, and obtained her certification in Intellectual Property from the Berkeley center for Law and Technology. Ms. Kuperman is a member of the California Bar and practices in the areas of civil litigation, entertainment law, trusts and estates and business law.
JUSTIN F. CRONIN Mr. Cronin received his B.A. in Politics (with Honors) from the University of San Francisco and his J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. While in law school, Mr. Cronin served on the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, served as a coordinator of the American Bar Association-award winning Judge Stephen O'Neil Trial Advocacy Program and was the recipient of a Dean's Scholarship, Equal Justice America Fellowship and the Dean's Service Award. Mr. Cronin has extensive experience in civil litigation from inception through disposition and trial, particularly in the following areas: complex civil litigation, Anti-SLAPP proceedings, toxics and environmental law, mortgage and financial institution industry litigation, professional liability, intellectual property and business and insurance disputes. Mr. Cronin was a member of the trial team in Derm-Tech Labs, Inc. v. Cobe Chemical Co., Inc. that secured a 4.8 million dollar judgment on behalf of the firm's client, Plaintiff Derm-Tech Labs, Inc., arising out of the misappropriation of Derm-Tech Labs, Inc.'s trade secrets and other intellectual properties. Mr. Cronin works in the firm's civil litigation practice and is a member of the State Bar of California (Environmental Section), the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Los Angeles Rugby Club.
RHONDA R. LONG Ms. Long received her J.D. from Howard University School of Law, Washington, DC in 2005. She was admitted into Nevada Bar in 2008. Ms. Long is an associate attorney in our Las Vegas office. She has practiced extensive civil tort law and construction defect law in State and Federal Court. Ms. Long is affiliated with the American Bar Association; National Bar Association, Las Vegas; Southern Nevada Association of Women Attorneys. Her early interests in law allowed her to be Volunteer judge for State bar of Nevada high school competition and Volunteer judge for ABA law school moot court competitions.
REBECCA L. WORDEN Ms. Worden attended Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where she received Dean's List honors and graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Anthropology and Religion. In 2008, she obtained her J.D., cum laude, from Brooklyn Law School, where she served as Associate Articles Editor for the Journal of International Law and received Dean's List honors. Ms. Worden was admitted to the New York bar and practiced law in New York for two years, primarily in the areas of insurance coverage, personal injury litigation, and commercial law. Ms. Worden was admitted to the California bar in 2010 and currently practices in the areas of construction defect litigation and corporate litigation.
W. JOSEPH ANDERSON Mr. Anderson was admitted to the State of California Bar in 2009 and to the Central District of California in 2011 after receiving his J.D. in 2009 from Georgetown University Law Center and his B.A., Political Science, cum laude in 2006. His experience lies in Entertainment Litigation; Business Litigation; Right of Publicity; Right of Privacy; Copyright and Trademark; Libel, Slander and Defamation. He is a member of the State Bar of California and the Los Angeles County Bar Association in the Entertainment Law & Intellectual Property and Litigation sections.
Mr. Anderson began his legal career as an associate with Lavely & Singer specializing in Entertainment & Intellectual Property Litigation. Prior to joining Hamrick & Evans, LLP Mr. Anderson served as in-house counsel to Wald Realty Advisors. Additionally Mr. Anderson has been an Extern to Judge Carol A. Dalton, District of Columbia Superior Court in 2006 and an Extern for the State Bar of California, Office of Enforcement in 2007.
Nazo L. Koulloukian NAZO L. KOULLOUKIAN Mr. Koulloukian graduated magna cum laude from UCLA in 2005 with a Bachelors Degree in Communication Studies, where he served as the graduation commencement speaker. Thereafter, he attended law school and graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law in 2008, where he participated in the Maryland Law Fall Moot Court Competition and was involved in the Civil Rights Clinic, where he submitted an amicus brief with the Maryland Court of Appeals. Among other things, Mr. Koulloukian was actively involved with the Maryland Law Katrina Project where law students donated their valuable vacation time to the rebuilding efforts of various Gulf Coast towns affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Mr. Koulloukian has also served as an extern for the Honorable Judge Philip S. Gutierrez of the US District Court, Central District of California in 2007.
He joined the California State Bar in 2009. Prior to joining Hamrick &Evans, Mr. Koulloukian was an employment and labor attorney for a Southern California civil litigation firm specializing in medical malpractice and employment defense. In addition to being licensed to practice in all California State courts, Mr. Koulloukian is also licensed to practice before the United States District Court for the Central District of California. He is proficient in Armenian and has working knowledge in Turkish and Spanish.
Mr. Koulloukian is also a lecturer in the UCLA Department of Communication Studies where he teaches "Propaganda and the Media," an undergraduate course where students examine the ideological nature of propaganda, the corporate structure of the media, and how propaganda is disseminated to control the media environment.
