Buchalter Announces New Office Litigation Chairs in Its Orange County and San Diego Offices
June, 2023 - Los Angeles, California
12 June, 2023. Buchalter is pleased to announce the appointment of new office Litigation Practice Group Chairs in Orange County and San Diego. Shareholders Artin Betpera and Thomas O'Connell will be leading the Litigation groups, while Caroline Djang and Rebecca Fortune will co-chair alongside them.
"Artin, Caroline, Rebecca, and Tom are excellent litigators with deep industry knowledge in their respective specialties and practices," said Adam Bass, President and Chief Executive Officer of Buchalter. "They will be excellent leaders and mentors. We look forward to their valuable contributions."
Betpera is a highly experienced civil litigator, having started his career at ground-zero of the 2007 financial crisis. He provides his clients with laser-focused strategies, and has helped a diverse collection of business enterprises successfully navigate complex litigation matters. Central to his approach to the practice of law is an unwavering commitment to providing exceptional client service, and adeptness at balancing business objectives with the management of legal exposure.
A member of Buchalter’s Insolvency and Financial Law practice group, Djang practices in the areas of insolvency, bankruptcy, and litigation. She has vast experience representing various creditors, trustees, debtors, and committees in bankruptcy cases and adversary proceedings. Djang is a Chapter 11 Subchapter V Trustee for the Central District of California. She counsels her clients on the best strategies for pursuing and collecting debts and realistically advises them on their prospects for recovery.
Fortune is an experienced trial attorney focusing her practice on the representation of individual and business clients in general civil litigation with an emphasis in real estate, business, and probate litigation. Her representative matters include commercial lease disputes, commercial and residential easement/boundary disputes, unfair competition claims, business contract disputes, real estate non-disclosure actions, state and federal fair housing and employment defense, commercial and residential common interest association disputes, trust and elder abuse litigation.
O'Connell also chairs the Firm’s Franchise Law Practice. He is widely regarded as an industry authority on joint employer liability having successfully litigated the “largest case ever adjudicated” by the National Labor Relations Board, providing audits to franchisors of their potential exposure to such liability, and advising clients and organizations of best practices to address this ever-evolving issue. O’Connell’s litigation practice broadly encompasses all aspects and stages of litigation in negotiations, arbitrations, courts, and appellate courts.
