A.J. De Bartolomeo is a partner at Girard Gibbs with more than twenty years of experience in large-scale class and collective actions, including cases involving securities, antitrust, telecommunications, consumer protection, personal injury and copyright laws.
Ms. De Bartolomeo has served as court-appointed lead counsel and class counsel in several class actions throughout the United States, and has represented hundreds of people injured by defective medications and medical devices, such as Zyprexa, Vytorin, Actos, Medtronic medical devices, NuvaRing and Yaz & Yasmin birth control. In November 2009, Ms. De Bartolomeo was appointed by the Court to serve on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for the Yaz & Yasmin birth control litigation, where she is co-chair of the Law & Briefing Committee. In May 2012, she was appointed to the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee for the prosecution of over 700 transvaginal mesh lawsuits coordinated in federal court in West Virginia.
Ms. De Bartolomeo has an expertise in class settlement approval, notice and claims administration procedures, as well as the collection of class action recoveries and fraudulent transfer recoveries in bankruptcy proceedings. She frequently speaks on consumer and securities class actions, as well as the settlement approval process before defense law firms, institutional investors and government committees. She has been named among the highest class of attorneys for professional ethics and legal skills with an AV-Preeminent rating by Martindale Hubbell.
Eric H. Gibbs is a partner at Girard Gibbs representing plaintiffs in a broad range of cases, including employment, pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, as well as consumer class actions. He has achieved significant recoveries on behalf of his clients, and has served as court-appointed lead counsel, class counsel and liaison counsel in numerous class and collective actions in state and federal courts, and in arbitration actions, throughout the United States.
Mr. Gibbs' experience prosecuting large-scale class and collective actions includes cases involving defective products, telecommunications, credit cards, unfair competition, false advertising, truth-in-lending, product liability, credit repair, employment misclassification and wage and hour under both state and federal law.
Mr. Gibbs has been widely recognized for his professional excellence and achievements, and has been selected by numerous publications as a leading lawyer in the field of Class and Mass Actions. He was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2012 guide for Mass Tort Litigation/ Class Actions, and was honored as a Northern California Super Lawyer (2010-2011). He earned an AV-Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, recognizing him in the highest class for professional ethics and legal skills. Mr. Gibbs frequently lectures on class action related issues and serves on the Board of Directors of Consumer Attorneys of California and on Public Justice's Class Action Preservation Project. He is a former co-chair of AAJ's Class Action Litigation Group and former editor of the Class Action Litigation Group's Quarterly Newsletter.
Daniel C. Girard is the founder and managing partner of Girard Gibbs LLP, where he serves as the firm’s lead litigation counsel.
Mr. Girard is nationally recognized as one of the top plaintiff-side lawyers in the United States with an expertise in class actions and complex business litigation. For more than 25 years, he has successfully represented plaintiffs in cases involving shareholder rights, securities, antitrust, consumer, telecommunications, and civil rights laws.
Recognized by his peers and the judiciary for his professional excellence, he has been selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America 2012, and has been consistently honored as a Northern California Super Lawyer (2007-2011). He has been named among the highest class of attorneys for professional ethics and legal skills with an AV-Preeminent rating by Martindale Hubbell. Mr. Girard was appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to serve two terms on the United States Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules, where he evaluated and implemented proposed changes to the procedural rules governing U.S. federal courts.
Mr. Girard has litigated many of the firm’s most high profile, precedent-setting cases in state and federal courts throughout the United States, and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars on his clients’ behalf. He has served as counsel to several public and private institutional investors in securities litigation matters both domestically and abroad, and he assists in the prosecution of several international arbitration proceedings on behalf of European clients.
Mr. Girard has appeared on CNBC and FOX News and has published opinion pieces in The National Law Journal and Legal Times. His cases have been chronicled in major financial and news publications including The New York Times, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and Forbes. He is a frequent speaker on class actions, complex litigation and related topics for legal groups throughout the country, and has served as a guest lecturer at several law schools, including Stanford Law School and University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall).
Dylan Hughes is a partner at Girard Gibbs specializing in the prosecution of class actions. He represents plaintiffs in cases involving defective products, telecommunications, credit cards, product liability, credit repair, employment misclassification and wage and hour under state and federal laws.
Mr. Hughes has extensive experience prosecuting complex automobile-defect cases and helped achieve recoveries on behalf of class members in the In Re General Motors Dex-Cool Cases (settlement of $50 to $800 cash reimbursements per class member vehicle repair) and In Re General Motors Cases, JCCP No. 4396, a certified California state court class action against General Motors alleging violations of California’s “Secret Warranty” law, California Civil Code § 1794.90 et seq. Mr. Hughes is currently involved in the Parkinson v. Hyundai Motor America lawsuit, a class action against Hyundai for engaging in unfair and deceptive practices by selling vehicles with defective flywheel systems, which was recently granted class certification.
Mr. Hughes is a 2000 graduate of the University of California, Hastings College of Law. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1995. Mr. Hughes was a spring 2000 extern for the Honorable Charles A. Legge of the United States District Court, Northern District of California. Before joining Girard Gibbs, he was a law clerk for the Honorable Paul A. Mapes, Administrative Law Judge of the Office of Administrative Law Judges, United States Department of Labor.
Jonathan K. Levine is a partner at Girard Gibbs specializing in the prosecution of securities and financial fraud cases. With more than 20 years of litigation experience, Mr. Levine has served in a leadership capacity in numerous complex class actions in federal courts throughout the United States and in state courts in California.
Mr. Levine has successfully prosecuted over 20 securities fraud actions, including cases of complex accounting fraud, Ponzi schemes and shareholder derivative actions against corporate officers and directors for breach of fiduciary duty. He represents SEC whistleblowers, as well as consumers who have been victimized by timeshare companies, often through the imposition of unreasonable restrictions, unfair changes to timeshare rules, and unauthorized charges and fees. In addition, Mr. Levine has represented consumers in several data security breach class actions.
He regularly speaks on issues involving securities litigation under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, consumer fraud and predatory lending litigation, computer discovery and electronic data retention risk control class actions.
Elizabeth Pritzker is a partner at Girard Gibbs with broad experience prosecuting antitrust, consumer, product liability, and securities class actions.
Ms. Pritzker’s litigation experience extends to an array of practice areas, including new and emerging technologies, antitrust law, securities fraud, qui tam or False Claim Act lawsuits, and First Amendment-related issues. She also represents consumers who have been victimized by timeshare companies, often through the imposition of unreasonable restrictions, unfair changes to timeshare rules, and unauthorized charges and fees.
Ms. Pritzker co-founded the First Amendment Project, a nonprofit, public interest law firm devoted exclusively to First Amendment-related litigation. Over her seven-year tenure as the Project's Executive Director and Chief Staff Attorney, she successfully litigated matters involving defamation law, copyright and trademark enforcement, licensing, privacy law, Internet law, and enforcement of state and federal right-to-know laws. In 2000, she was honored by the Society of Professional Journalists with the prestigious James Madison Freedom of Information Award for her legal work on behalf of journalists and media.
Ms. Pritzker is a frequent speaker on civil litigation matters, including discovery, pre-trial and class action procedures, for the Continuing Education of the Bar, the State Bar of California, and other professional attorney groups. She was selected for inclusion in Northern California Super Lawyers in 2011.
Amanda M. Steiner specializes in the prosecution of complex securities and consumer class actions. She helped achieve recoveries on behalf of class members in Billitteri v. Securities America, Inc., ($150 million settlement achieved on behalf Provident Royalties and Medical Capital investors). She is currently involved in the prosecution of In re SLM Corporation Securities Litigation, securities fraud litigation on behalf of investors in SLM common stock, recently granted class certification. She also participates in the firm’s representation of structured note-holders in the In re Lehman Brothers Equity/Debt Securities Litigation.
Ms. Steiner is a 1997 graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, where she served as an Associate Editor for the Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law (1995-96) and Articles Editor for the Berkeley Women’s Law Journal (1994-97). She received her undergraduate degree, cum laude, from Carleton College in 1991. Prior to joining Girard Gibbs, Ms. Steiner handled a variety of complex litigation matters, including cases involving defective products, employment, real estate development, construction issues, commercial and real estate contracts, mortgages and trust deeds, and lender-related disputes.
Prior to obtaining her law degree, Ms. Steiner served as an extern for U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, and also worked as a law clerk for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Alameda County District Attorney, and the Hopi Appellate Court Clinic and Tribal Law Project. She is admitted to the California, New York and Washington Bars.
Gabriel Bluestone is a 2010 graduate of the Rutgers University School of Law, where he was a Notes Editor for the Rutgers Journal of Law and Public Policy. He received his undergraduate degree in history from Connecticut College in 2005, where he was a four year member of the varsity basketball team.
Prior to joining Girard Gibbs, Mr. Bluestone served on the staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Subcommittee. In this role he was responsible for antitrust, competition and other business regulation issues for Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI) and his staff. During his time on the subcommittee, Mr. Bluestone's work focused on antitrust oversight and investigations into various industries in addition to legislative work.
Mr. Bluestone was a summer 2009 law clerk for United States Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) where he participated in the preparation for then-Judge Sotomayor's U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings; he also served as a summer 2008 judicial intern for the Honorable Anthony M. Pugliese of the Superior Court of N.J., Civil Division. He is admitted to the New Jersey and Maryland Bars.
Matthew Brinegar is a 2004 graduate of the University of Washington School of Law, where he was a member of the Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal. He received his undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, in political science from The Ohio State University. Prior to joining Girard Gibbs, Mr. Brinegar served as Litigation Counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending, and represented low-income seniors as a staff attorney for AARP Legal Counsel for the Elderly. He was also an Equal Justice Works fellow after graduating law school. He is the co-author of Policy and Litigation Barriers to Fighting Predatory Lending, 2 Northeastern U.L.J. 193 (2010), and is a frequent speaker on litigating predatory lending matters. He is a member of the California, Washington, District of Columbia, Illinois (inactive) and Florida (inactive) Bars.
Claire Choo is a 2007 graduate of the University of San Francisco, School of Law, where she was a member of the legal fraternity, Phi Delta Phi—Stephens Inn, the Korean American Law Student Association and the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association. She received her undergraduate degree in sociology and legal studies from the University of California, Berkeley in 2002. Ms. Choo was a fall 2006 extern for the Honorable Joyce L. Kennard of the California Supreme Court. She was also a summer clerk for the San Francisco District Attorney’s office in 2005. Ms. Choo served as a certified summer law clerk for the Family Violence Law Center in Oakland, representing survivors of domestic violence in court in 2006.
Prior to joining Girard Gibbs LLP, Ms. Choo litigated bad faith insurance actions. She is a member of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area, the Korean Bar Association of Northern California, and the San Francisco Bar Association. Ms. Choo is admitted to the California Bar. She is also admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of California.
Tucker Cottingham is a 2011 graduate of the University of San Francisco School of Law, where he served on the Executive Board of the Intellectual Property Law Bulletin and founded the USF Clean Technology and the Law Symposium. He received his undergraduate degree in classics from Kenyon College in 2007. Mr. Cottingham was a 2010 certified law clerk for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and a Judicial Law Clerk for the California Public Utilities Commission. He is admitted to the California Bar.
Todd Espinosa is a 2000 graduate of Harvard Law School, where he participated in the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and Tenant Advocacy Project. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College in 1997 and a Master of City Planning degree from University of California at Berkeley in 2006. Before joining Girard Gibbs, Mr. Espinosa was a law clerk for the Honorable Claudia Wilken, United States District Court for the Northern District of California. He is the co-author of Limiting Evasive Discovery: A Proposal for Three Cost-Saving Amendments to the Federal Rules, 87 DENV. U. L. REV. 213, 473 (2010). He also worked as a legal research attorney for the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara. Mr. Espinosa is admitted to the California Bar. He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Mr. Espinosa is a member of Public Justice.
Matthew B. George is a 2005 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. He received his undergraduate degree in political science and criminal justice, magna cum laude, from Chapman University in 2002, where he was a Presidential Scholar. He was a featured speaker addressing Developments in the Arbitration of Wage and Hour Disputes at the Bridgeport 2010 Wage and Hour Conference (October 2010).
He was selected as a 2011 Rising Star by Northern California Super Lawyers, recognizing him as one of the best young attorneys practicing in Northern California. He is a member of the American Bar Association- Section of Labor and Employment Law and Young Lawyers Division, Consumer Attorneys of California, and BALIF. Mr. George is admitted to the California Bar, as well as the United States District Court for the Northern, Central, and Eastern Districts of California and the District of Colorado.
Scott Grzenczyk is a 2011 graduate of the University of California, Davis, School of Law, where he was the Chair of the Moot Court Board and the Executive Editor of the UC Davis Journal of International Law and Policy. Scott was the recipient of the Witkin Award for Legal Research and Writing, Best Brief and Best Advocate awards in his moot court class, and numerous awards at national moot court competitions. He was also a member of the Law School’s national mock trial team and the law school faculty named him as a member of the Order of the Barristers. Scott received his undergraduate degree in political science and certificate in political theory from Princeton University in 2006. Scott has appeared before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of California.
Geoffrey A. Munroe is a 2003 graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, where he was the recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award in Torts, Business Law & Policy and Computer Law. He received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley in 2000. Since joining Girard Gibbs in 2007, Mr. Munroe has worked on several high-profile consumer protection class action matters involving complex issues in both federal and state courts throughout the United States.
He was selected in 2010 and 2011 as a Rising Star by Northern California Super Lawyers, recognizing him as one of the best young attorneys practicing in Northern California. He is the co-author of "Consumer Class Actions in the Wake of Daugherty v. American Honda Motor Company," CAOC's Forum Magazine, January/February 2009, and a frequent contributor to the Class Action Litigation Group Newsletter of the American Association for Justice. Mr. Munroe is a member of the Public Justice Class Action Preservation Project Committee, the Class Action Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice and the Consumer Attorneys of California. He is a member of the California Bar and is admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, as well as the United States District Courts for the Northern, Central and Southern Districts of California.
Ian Samson is a 2011 graduate, cum laude, of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he was a Senior Supervising Editor for the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly and authored Boumediene as a Constitutional Mandate: Bivens Actions at Guantánamo Bay, 38 Hastings Const. L.Q. 439 (2011). He was also the recipient of the Best Brief Award in his moot court class and Witkin award in his Civil Procedure II, Effective Representation in Mediation, and Sale and Lease of Goods courses. Ian received his undergraduate degree in history and international studies: comparative religion, magna cum laude, from the University of Washington in 2007. Mr. Samson was a fall 2010 extern for the Honorable Marsha S. Berzon of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. He is admitted to the California Bar.
Dena Sharp is a 2006 graduate, cum laude, of the University of California, Hastings College of Law, where she was a member of the Thurston Society and was the recipient of the Best Oral Advocate Award. She was also the recipient of the Witkin award in her Legal Writing and Criminal Law courses. She received her undergraduate degree in history, magna cum laude, from Brown University in 1997. Ms. Sharp was a summer 2005 extern for the Honorable Phyllis J. Hamilton of the United States District Court, Northern District of California. Ms. Sharp also served as a spring 2005 extern for the Honorable John E. Munter, San Francisco Superior Court.
She was selected from 2009 through 2011 as a Rising Star by Northern California Super Lawyers, recognizing her as one of the best young attorneys practicing in Northern California. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Bar Association of San Francisco and the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association. Ms. Sharp is admitted to the California Bar. She is also admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Northern, Central, Eastern and Southern Districts of California.
David Stein is a 2007 graduate of the Emory University School of Law, where he was the Executive Notes & Comments Editor for the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal and authored Wrong Problem, Wrong Solution: How Congress Failed the American Consumer, 23 Emory Bankr. Dev. J. 619 (2007). He received his undergraduate degree in philosophy from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 2003. Before joining Girard Gibbs, Mr. Stein served as judicial law clerk to the Honorable Keith Starrett, United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi and to Magistrate Judge Karen L. Hayes, United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Mr. Stein is admitted to the California Bar.
Lesley Vittetoe is a 2010 graduate of the University of San Francisco School of Law, where she was a member of the Investor Justice Clinic, assisting investors in legal actions involving allegations of wrongdoing by securities firms. She received her undergraduate degree in International Relations with a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Southern California in 2007. Ms. Vittetoe was a spring 2010 extern for the Honorable William Alsup of the United States District Court, Northern District of California.
Prior to joining Girard Gibbs, Ms. Vittetoe represented investors in securities arbitration and other dispute resolution proceedings before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against brokers and brokerage firms. She is a member of the California Bar.
Janice Yi is a 2007 graduate of UCLA School of Law, where she was an Articles Editor for the Asian Pacific American Law Journal, secretary of the Asian Pacific Islander Law Student Association, and a graduate student instructor for Wills and Trusts. She was a summer law clerk at the San Francisco Attorney's Office specializing in Construction Litigation. Ms. Yi received her undergraduate degrees in Legal Studies and Sociology from UC Berkeley in 2003. She is admitted to the California Bar.
Amy Zeman is a 2010 graduate, magna cum laude, of the University of California, Hastings College of Law, where she was a member of the Thurston Society and served on the Hastings Law Journal. She received her undergraduate degrees in German and Art History and Archaeology, summa cum laude, from the University of Missouri in 1998. Ms. Zeman was a spring 2010 extern for the Honorable Marilyn Hall Patel of the United States District Court, Northern District of California. She is admitted to the California Bar.
Michael Danko is a renowned trial lawyer with more than 25 years of legal experience. He represents individuals who have suffered catastrophic personal injuries, as well as families of wrongful death victims in cases involving product defects, defective medications and medical devices, airplane and helicopter accidents, and dangerous structures. He has tried cases in state and federal courts throughout the country, and has won numerous eight-figure verdicts on behalf of his clients.
Mr. Danko represents dozens of victims of a Pacific Gas & Electric gas explosion and serves on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in a California state coordinated proceeding San Bruno Fire Cases, JCCP No. 4648. He also serves on the Science Committee for Plaintiffs in In Re Yasmin and Yaz (Drospirenone) Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2100.
In 2009, he won a $15 million jury verdict for a client injured by a defective aircraft part, which has earned him a nomination for 2009 California Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys of California.
Mr. Danko’s trial advocacy has helped bring about significant reforms and changes to corporate policies as well. As lead counsel in In Re Deep Vein Thrombosis Litigation, MDL No. 04-1606 (N.D. Cal.) he represented more than one hundred air travelers who had suffered strokes, pulmonary emboli, or heart attacks as a result of airline-induced blood clots. He developed theories of liability and proof regarding the cause of his clients’ injuries that lead to virtually every major air carrier warning air travelers about the risks of deep vein thrombosis and the steps that can be taken to mitigate those risks. Mr. Danko also represented parents of children who were injured or killed by a popular candy made by a foreign manufacturer. His work in proving that the candy’s unusual ingredients and consistency made it a choking hazard resulted in the candy being removed from Costco and Albertson’s stores nationwide, and helped lead the FDA to ban the candy from further import into the United States.
He has been named a Northern California Super Lawyer each year since the award’s inception in 2004. He is a Lawdragon 500 finalist. In 2010, he was named one of the Best Lawyers in America. He is a member of the American Association for Justice, the Lawyer Pilots Bar Association and the Consumer Attorneys of California, where he serves on the board of governors. Mr. Danko received his AB degree from Dartmouth College, magna cum laude in 1980 and earned his JD from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1983.
Kristine Keala Meredith is a trial attorney specializing in product liability litigation.
Ms. Meredith served on the Law and Motion committee in In Re Yasmin and Yaz (Drospirenone) Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2100, where she assisted in the successful opposition to 15 Daubert motions in fewer than three weeks.
She served as co-lead counsel in In Re Deep Vein Thrombosis Litigation, MDL No. 1606, representing more than one hundred air travelers who suffered strokes, pulmonary emboli, or heart attacks as a result of airline-induced blood clots. As a result of the work done in the case, virtually every major air carrier began warning air travelers about the risks of deep vein thrombosis and the steps that can be taken to mitigate those risks.
She was one of the trial attorneys in Burdett v. Teledyne Continental Motors, a case involving brain injuries suffered in an airplane crash, which resulted in a jury verdict of $15 million. She was also a trial attorney in Dunn v. State of Hawaii, a traumatic brain injury case that resulted in a judgment of $2.2 million. She obtained the terminating sanctions in Jing-Li v. Sheng Hsiang Jen Foods, paving the way for a $50 million result for the plaintiffs in that case.
Before devoting her practice to representing plaintiffs, Ms. Meredith worked on the national defense counsel teams for medical device manufacturers in multi-district litigation including, In re Silicone Gel Breast Implants Product Liability Litigation MDL No. 926; and In re Orthopedic Bone Screw Product Liability Litigation MDL No. 1014. She also represented doctors and hospitals in defense of medical malpractice actions, where she worked with some of the world's leading medical experts.
In 2010, Ms. Meredith was named a Northern California Super Lawyer. She is currently an officer of the American Association for Justice and the San Mateo County Trial Lawyers Association. She is also a member of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association and the Consumer Attorneys of California. She is a former chair of the Minority Issues Committee of the San Francisco Bar Association Barrister Club.
She obtained her B.S. with honors from the University of California at Davis and was awarded a scholarship to attend Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School. While in law school, she was awarded the Distinguished Student Service Award and spent a semester at Howard University Law School in Washington, D.C., as a member of the faculty/student diversity exchange.
Loren is a litigation assistant with Girard Gibbs specializing in securities and financial fraud cases. He earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science with a concentration in Classics from Kenyon College in Ohio. Upon graduating in 2007, Loren taught 8th grade U.S. History for two years through Teach for America, a program that places teachers directly into the classroom in low-income communities throughout the United States. He then assisted a team of contract attorneys at Indiana University’s Office of Research Administration before joining Girard Gibbs.
Brendan Brown is a litigation assistant with Girard Gibbs, working directly with clients and assisting attorneys in consumer protection, wage and hour, and financial fraud litigation. He is a 2010 graduate from the University of California, Santa Cruz where he earned his undergraduate degree in political science. Upon graduating, he interned at Senior Citizen’s Legal Aid in Santa Cruz working as a legal advocate on behalf of the indigent elderly community of the Monterrey Bay Area
Eileen Epstein is the Director of Client Relations and Marketing for Girard Gibbs. She received her J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law in 2005, where she was selected as a competing member of the Moot Court Honor Society and served on the Moot Court Executive Board. Ms. Epstein received her undergraduate degree in journalism, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Lehigh University in 2002. She is a member of the American Bar Association and the Legal Marketing Association.
John Hollis is a litigation assistant with Girard Gibbs, working directly with clients and assisting attorneys in Consumer Protection, Wage and Hour, and Financial Fraud Litigation. He is a 2007 graduate of Bowdoin College where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian Studies and a minor in Economics. During his junior year of college he studied abroad at Irkutskij Gosudarstvennij Universitet in Irkutsk, Russia, working to gain an understanding of Russian culture, history, and language. Prior to his employment with Girard Gibbs, he worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the International Rescue Committee, a non-profit organization working internationally to improve the standard of living for refugee populations in over 40 countries.
Kaitlin Jacobson is a litigation assistant with Girard Gibbs specializing in complex financial analysis. She graduated magna cum laude from Duke University in 2009 where she received a B.A. in History with a concentration in the history of medicine, science and technology and was named a member of the Phi Beta Kappa national honors society. While at Duke, she was one of the first recipients of a DukeEngage grant which afforded her the opportunity to travel to rural Poland and develop and implement an English language class curriculum. As an undergraduate, she also pursued advanced Russian language studies at Saint Petersburg State University in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Prior to her employment with Girard Gibbs, she was a Proxy Research Analyst at Glass, Lewis & Co., where she analyzed financial filings and provided voting recommendations to institutional investors for annual shareholder meetings.
Alexandra Jones is a litigation assistant with Girard Gibbs working directly with clients and assisting attorneys on medical mass tort, employment law and consumer protection litigation. She received a B.A. in Political Science, with a focus on political economy and international relations from the University of California Berkeley in 2010. Alexandra was a volunteer intern for the California Student Public Interest Research Group, a student based organization that focuses on political issues such as renewable energy and UC tuition increases. Prior to her employment at Girard Gibbs she was an assistant contract administrator at a venture capital group.
Linda Republicano is the Director of Business Administration for Girard Gibbs. After graduating from USF where she studied Business Administration, Accounting and the Classics, she began her accounting career at Touche Ross as a tax consultant. She left the accounting profession to raise a family and during that time chaired several fund raising projects for St. Joseph’s Elementary School. She also served on several boards for St. Joseph’s including the Finance Board, the Maintenance Board and the PTG Board. She resumed her business career as a Financial Administrator for St. Joseph Basilica. Before coming to Girard Gibbs she was the Vice President of Operations and Finance for Premier Apartment Advisors. She is a member of the Association of Legal Administrators through the Golden Gate Chapter.
Katherine Ullman is a litigation assistant with Girard Gibbs working directly with clients and assisting attorneys in labor and employment, consumer protection and financial fraud. She is a 2011 graduate from Vassar College where she received a B.A. in Sociology with a minor in Chinese and was named a member of the Phi Beta Kappa national honors society. As an undergraduate, she spent a summer in Qingdao, Shandong, China where she participated in an intensive Mandarin language program. Prior to her employment with Girard Gibbs, Katherine interned with a Domestic Violence Agency, a Youth Organizing Program and a Community Prison Program in New York State and Boston, Massachusetts.
