Best Lawyers® 2025 Recognizes 44 Downey Brand Lawyers with Four Receiving Prestigious “Lawyer of the Year” Honors

August 15, 2024


Downey Brand is pleased to announce that 44 of its attorneys have been recognized in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®, including four who received the highly acclaimed 2025 “Lawyer of the Year” honor: Jay-Allen Eisen (Sacramento) for Appellate Practice; Tyson Hubbard (Sacramento) for Trusts and Estates Litigation; Kevin O’Brien (Sacramento) for Water Law; and William Warne (Sacramento) for Personal Injury Litigation.

In addition to these achievements, 8 of the firm’s up-and-coming attorneys were selected for the Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch list.

Here are the 36 Downey Brand attorneys who were honored as The Best Lawyers in America:

  • Annie Amaral – Commercial Litigation
  • Meghan Baker – Commercial Litigation
  • Kelly Breen – Commercial Litigation
  • Andrea Clark – Water Law, Natural Resources Law
  • Brian T. Cragg – Administrative/Regulatory Law, Energy Law, Energy Regulation Law, Utilities Law
  • Michael B. Day – Energy Law, Utilities Law
  • Jamie Dreher – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation – Bankruptcy
  • Jay-Allen Eisen – Appellate Practice, Bet-the-Company Litigation
  • Matthew Ellis – Commercial Finance Law, Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Real Estate Law
  • Sean Filippini – Construction Law, Litigation – Construction, Litigation – Real Estate
  • Janlynn Fleener – Commercial Litigation
  • Steven Goldberg – Environmental Law, Litigation – Environmental
  • Nicole Granquist – Environmental Law, Natural Resources Law, Water Law
  • Tyson Hubbard – Litigation – Trusts and Estates
  • Steven B. Hymas II – Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law
  • Thomas MacBride, Jr. – Communications Law, Energy Law
  • Christian Marsh – Environmental Law, Land Use and Zoning Law, Litigation – Land Use and Zoning, Natural Resources Law, Water Law
  • Mary Martinelli – Family Law
  • Scott McElhern – Construction Law, Litigation – Construction
  • Daniel McVeigh – Employment Law – Management, Litigation – Labor & Employment
  • Stephen Meyer – Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Environmental
  • Meredith Nikkel – Litigation – Environmental, Natural Resources Law, Water Law
  • Kevin O’Brien – Environmental Law, Natural Resources Law, Water Law
  • Kathryn Oehlschlager – Environmental Law, Land Use and Zoning Law
  • Kelly Pope – Commercial Litigation, Family Law
  • Silvio Reggiardo III – Tax Law
  • Scott Shapiro – Natural Resources Law, Water Law
  • Rebecca Smith – Natural Resources Law, Water Law
  • Megan Somogyi – Administrative/Regulatory Law, Energy Regulatory Law, Energy Law
  • Robert Soran – Litigation – Environmental
  • James Squeri – Communications Law, Energy Law
  • Danielle Stephens – Real Estate Law
  • Melissa Thorme – Environmental Law, Natural Resources Law, Water Law
  • Tina Thomas – Environmental Law, Land Use and Zoning Law, Litigation – Land Use and Zoning
  • William Warne – Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
  • Matthew Weber – Construction Law, Litigation – Construction, Commercial Litigation

Here are the 8 Downey Brand attorneys named to the “Ones to Watch” list:

  • Kristin Capritto – Business Organizations, Tax Law, Trusts and Estates
  • Bradley Carroll – Commercial Litigation
  • Austin Cho – Natural Resources Law
  • Brian Hamilton – Environmental Law, Litigation – Environmental, Natural Resouces Law
  • Christopher Kolkey – Commercial Litigation
  • Alexandra LaFountain – Labor and Employment Law – Management, Litigation – Labor and Employment
  • Michael Laino – Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Construction, Litigation – Intellectual Property
  • Patrick Veasy – Environmental Law, Litigation – Environmental

The Best Lawyers in America® recognizes outstanding attorneys by using a sophisticated survey process based entirely on peer review on a national level. Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch are recognitions given to attorneys who are earlier in their careers for outstanding professional excellence. The prestigious “Lawyer of the Year” designation is presented to only one attorney in each practice area per geographical region each year.