Alyson E. Ackerman

Posted on May 14, 2025 by -

Professional headshot of attorney, Alyson Ackerman

With a strong background in surface water rights, Alyson helps clients secure and manage reliable water supplies across California. Her work includes drafting water rights opinions, navigating administrative and judicial proceedings, and advising on infrastructure permitting and easements. She has represented clients in high-stakes matters, including challenges to State Water Resources Control Board curtailment actions and contract conversions under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act.

Alyson serves as outside general to special districts and public water purveyors. In this role, she regularly attends board meetings and collaborates with general managers, engineers, and staff to address issues such as Brown Act and Public Records Act compliance, Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO) matters, and water conveyance infrastructure improvements.

Her regulatory experience extends to California’s complex air quality landscape. She advises clients on compliance with the various air quality standards, including EPA, CARB, and local air quality management district regulations and rules. When necessary, she represents these clients in administrative proceedings. Alynson strives to resolve issues efficiently and favorably through negotiated outcomes.

Annie S. Amaral

Posted on October 6, 2018 by -

Professional headshot of attorney, Annie Amaral

Annie is an experienced litigator who has practiced and prevailed in state and federal court at the trial and appellate levels, including many cases that are cross-venued. With each case, she applies a mix of intelligent, aggressive advocacy and efficient work ethic to achieve optimal results for clients. Annie’s complex litigation practice involves entities of all kinds, both publicly traded and privately held. Examples include banks and financial institutions, health care providers, industrial and land use companies, retail distributors, trade associations, and solo entrepreneurs, to name a few. She defends employers against claims brought by current and former employees while also protecting and pursuing trade secret claims that are common in the employment arena.

Apart from obtaining favorable merits-based adjudication of her clients’ cases, Annie also employs her smart and efficient litigation skills in settlement efforts. She has successfully mediated dozens of complex disputes over her years in practice. Annie is aware of the stress that litigation can impose on all business types, and she uses her in-depth knowledge and skills to minimize the resources and worry her clients may otherwise expend on contentious litigation.

In addition to her law practice, Annie currently serves as the marketing partner for the firm. Previously, she served as the firm’s mentoring partner, helping junior associates navigate the practice of law and life at Downey Brand.

Farah Amjad

Posted on January 3, 2023 by -

Professional headshot of attorney, Farah Amjad

Farah uses her creative and sharp analytical skills to find efficient solutions to pressing and complex questions involving California’s employment and labor laws. In her current practice, she excels in counseling and discovery, a result of critical work alongside notable firm partners and senior associates. In addition, Farah is an adept researcher and writer, exemplified by her roles as a Senior Articles Editor for the UC Davis Law Review and as a copyeditor and fact-checker prior to attending law school. Her strengths in verbal and written advocacy stem from her ability to listen attentively and mindfully, a skill she developed early as a multilingual person and later strengthened through cross-cultural and interfaith experiences around the world.

Sabina Bagdasarova

Posted on December 4, 2025 by -

Professional headshot of attorney, Sabina Bagdasarova

Known for her analytical rigor and persuasive advocacy, Sabina thrives in fast-paced, high-stakes environments where preparation and precision make the difference.

Graduating in the top ten percent of her class, Sabina has distinguished herself in national and regional competitions, earning multiple Best Oralist and Best Brief awards, including at the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition and the Chicago Bar Association Moot Court Competition. Grounded in a commitment to excellence, she approaches each matter with unwavering dedication and a drive to secure the best possible results for every client.

Joshua B. Bailey

Posted on June 4, 2025 by -

Professional headshot of attorney, Joshua Bailey

He represents clients across a broad spectrum of industries, including agricultural businesses, municipalities, and special districts, as well as developers, trade groups, chambers of commerce, and citizen and landowner coalitions. With a strong foundation in environmental, water, and land use law, combined with extensive general litigation experience, Josh provides practical, forward-thinking counsel. His experience on both sides of disputes gives him a unique ability to anticipate opposing strategies and craft workable compromises.

Clients value Josh’s analytical mindset and direct communication style. He is known for engaging deeply with complex legal issues while maintaining a grounded, personal connection with clients. When working with Josh, clients know he’s fully invested in their goals, their outcomes, and the broader impact on their businesses and lives.

Meghan M. Baker

Posted on October 6, 2018 by -

Professional headshot of attorney, Meghan Baker

With almost two decades of trial and litigation experience, Meghan’s litigation practice focuses on business, commercial, employment, real estate, and probate disputes. She also handles class action defense, construction defect, and product liability claims. Her clients span a broad range of industries, including professional and financial service providers, developers and construction companies, as well as manufacturers and distributors.

Meghan graduated first in her class at University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. She has been rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell and is recognized by Best Lawyers in America© and Northern California Super Lawyers for her business litigation acumen.

Jennifer D. Barcellos

Posted on August 10, 2023 by -

Professional headshot of attorney, Jennifer Barcellos

Jennifer works collaboratively with clients to meticulously craft comprehensive estate plans that pave the way for the success of future generations. Her adeptness extends to skillfully advising individuals and families throughout the intricacies of trust and probate administration. In addition, Jennifer provides insightful guidance on entity formation, management, and real estate transactions, all with a watchful eye to minimize tax liabilities.

Before practicing law as an attorney, Jennifer honed her skills as a trust, business, and tax paralegal for twelve years.

Sam Bivins

Posted on January 20, 2026 by -

Professional headshot of attorney, Sam Bivins

Sam’s practice focuses on water rights litigation and related environmental disputes that impact critical water supplies for agricultural, municipal, and industrial users. His litigation work includes the successful defense of senior water right holders against Endangered Species Act claims brought by environmental interest groups, a high-profile groundwater adjudication that protected landowners facing curtailment of their groundwater rights under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), the representation of a mutual water company in eminent domain litigation against the federal government, and the successful defense of a county against challenges to its actions under SGMA at trial and on appeal. Sam has also successfully resolved a variety of disputes involving assessments and fees associated with water supply projects and regulatory actions, such as obtaining a defense judgment upholding a California city’s water neutral development fee and recovering substantial amounts of delinquent local agency assessments from the State of California. Sam has also successfully resolved many of his clients’ disputes without litigation by leveraging relationships with key federal and state officials, and through his pragmatic and collaborative approach to working with opposing parties.

Sam has unparalleled expertise with adjudicative hearings before the State Water Resources Control Board. He represents multiple clients before the Board in their efforts to obtain or protect water rights on the Bear, Kern, Kings, and Santa Ynez Rivers. Before returning to Downey Brand in 2026, Sam also spent two years serving as a senior hearing officer at the State Water Board’s Administrative Hearings Office, where he heard and decided a wide variety of enforcement and permitting cases. Sam’s combination of experience as both an advocate and a hearing officer gives him a unique perspective on how his clients can successfully navigate permitting and enforcement matters at the State Water Board.

In addition to his litigation and regulatory practice, Sam provides strategic advice and transactional support to public and private clients on a wide variety of environmental and water right issues. Clients repeatedly look to Sam for help because they know they’ll receive practical, strategic, and straightforward advice delivered in a cost-efficient way.

Kelly M. Breen

Posted on July 16, 2019 by -

Professional headshot of attorney, Kelly Breen

Kelly is a trial attorney who focuses her practice on commercial litigation with an emphasis on real estate litigation, construction defect litigation, personal injury defense, premises liability, toxic tort litigation, Proposition 65 litigation, and product liability cases. Kelly has represented a variety of corporate clients in both federal and state court. She is experienced in all aspects of litigation, including taking and defending depositions, drafting and arguing dispositive and evidentiary motions, and negotiating favorable settlements.

Kelly has extensive experience representing multinational companies in asbestos-related lawsuits, including product manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors of electrical controls, aviation engines, valves, pumps, and automotive components in state, federal, and multidistrict venues. She also defended personal injury actions in state and federal courts across California involving elevators and escalators.

Kelly has independently handled cases from start to finish and has successfully obtained dismissals of numerous cases on summary judgment. As a second-chair trial attorney, Kelly is experienced in all phases of trial, including voir dire questioning, expert and fact witness cross-examination, and argument of key evidentiary motions. Clients have come to rely on Kelly’s pragmatism and tenacity, and in turn have come to expect great results from her work.

Kristin N. Capritto

Posted on October 6, 2018 by -

Professional headshot of attorney, Kristin Capritto

Kristin works with families and individuals to effectuate their wealth transfer and succession planning goals. She also regularly advises clients in connection with entity formation and management, real estate transactions, as well as the local, state, federal, and international tax consequences of their objectives. With her special focus on charitable planning, clients trust her to manage the formation and administration of private foundations and nonprofit entities. As a skilled mediator and negotiator, Kristin assists business partners with pre-venture counseling to minimize future conflicts and ensure the longevity and success of joint ventures. When necessary, she effectively and efficiently employs her advocacy skills to obtain the results her clients deserve in state and federal courts.

Kristin’s legal education and experience spans nearly two decades; her more than 10 years as a paralegal in various aspects of trusts, estates, business transactions, and taxation has given her a wide breadth of knowledge and expertise to the benefit of her clients. She has amassed more than 300 hours of mediation and negotiation training, both locally and internationally, and has participated in peace-building processes involving both interpersonal conflicts and politics at the community level on an international scale.