O'Melveny Dominates the Daily Journal's 2008 Top Women Litigators List

O'Melveny earned an impressive distinction this week when partners Debra Belaga, Carla Christofferson, Carolyn Kubota, and Linda Smith were named among the 75 leading female litigators in California by the Daily Journal, the state's largest legal newspaper. O'Melveny was one of just three firms to register four lawyers on the list.

The four women were honored at a reception on May 12 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, and are featured in a special section of the May 14th edition, and in a half-page ad from the Firm in the paper's main news section touting their achievement. Some comments from them also are included in a Q&A feature.

Smith's inclusion this year is an especially rare and noteworthy accomplishment, because it marks her fifth consecutive appearance on the list. As the Daily Journal noted in its profile of her, "With a client roster that includes PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Exxon, the University of California Regents, and Warner Bros, Linda Smith is considered one of the top litigators in the country."

Of Kubota, the paper noted that, "As a former assistant US Attorney-turned-corporate defense lawyer, [she] is undefeated at trial. Kubota has handled 19 jury and bench trials in state and federal court, and now focuses mostly on white-collar criminal defense, internal corporate investigations, and civil fraud actions."

Belaga's record of success on behalf of Lennar Corp., including the two dismissals she engineered in January for the real estate developer and homebuilder, caught the Daily Journal's attention. "Belaga achieved another favorable ruling for Lennar ... which affected $200 million of the company's investment in a San Diego development," her profile reads. The paper added that she will be representing Lennar again in a suit in October.

The Daily Journal had this to say about Christofferson: "From growing up on a sheep farm to co-owning the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, [she] is proof that anything is possible with more than a little hard work, including becoming one of the youngest office heads at O'Melveny."

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