Press Release

Jan. 5, 2021 (San Francisco, CA) – Hanson Bridgett LLP, a leading California law firm advising clients nationwide, is pleased to announce it has begun 2021 with its most diverse leadership and management team in its 63-year history. Kristina Lawson has taken the reins as Hanson Bridgett’s new Managing Partner and four new partners have been appointed to the firm’s Management Committee. In addition, the firm has elevated an attorney to partner and several associates to senior counsel roles.

Lawson, who served throughout 2020 as Managing Partner-Elect, is the first woman to lead the firm.

Her predecessor, Andrew Giacomini, held the role for nearly 20 years, during which Hanson Bridgett expanded to three new cities including its first Southern California office in Los Angeles, grew to more than 180 attorneys, and advanced bold and innovative approaches to attracting, supporting and advancing the careers of female attorneys and attorneys of color.

“I’m incredibly proud to lead Hanson Bridgett, a firm that has a rich history of legal excellence and innovation, and also puts the core values of equality and opportunity for all into practice every day in our engagements with one another, with our clients and in our community and pro bono work throughout California,” said Lawson. “In my work with Andrew last year to help steer the firm through the myriad of business and personal challenges caused by COVID-19, as well as to address the industry-wide racial reckoning sparked by the murder of George Floyd, one thing was clear: Hanson Bridgett is a truly unique organization with limitless potential to impact positive change at an individual and business level, within the legal industry, and beyond. I couldn’t be more excited to work with my talented colleagues to lead the firm into the future at this pivotal point in time.”

Hanson Bridgett’s reputation as one of California’s strongest midsize firms and its culture of inclusivity led Lawson to join the firm’s Real Estate + Environment Practice Group from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP in 2017. She rapidly established herself as a forward-thinking leader eager to help Hanson Bridgett realize its vision of strategic expansion within the firm and the state, drawing on her deep experience as a statewide civic leader. In November 2020, she was named President of the Medical Board of California, to which she was first appointed in 2015 by Governor Jerry Brown, and she served as City Councilmember and Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, California from 2010-2014. In recent years, she has held positions on various boards including the Research Advisory Board for the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment at Berkeley Law, the Board of Directors for Meals and Wheels Diablo Region, and Swords to Plowshares.

“Hanson Bridgett’s guiding principles of understanding and caring about the unique needs of our clients and everyone at the firm have contributed to the success of our firm – and we believe that living our values of equity, justice, and inclusion is more important than ever,” added Lawson. “By leading with our values every day, our diverse, talented team of professionals is empowered with both legal skill and the passion to deliver best-in-class legal services to our clients and our communities."

Hanson Bridgett is routinely recognized as one of the top firms in the country for female and minority attorneys; in 2020 it was ranked near the top of such lists published by Law360, The American Lawyer, and Working Mother magazine.