Courthouse Steps

Brendan Begley, an associate attorney with Porter, Scott, Weiberg & Delehant, has been selected by Judge Connie Callahan to serve as one of her elbow clerks at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Begley has taken a one year leave of absence from the firm to fulfill his clerkship.

Carlton, DiSante & Freudenberger LLP is pleased to announce that Jennifer D. Merta has joined the firm's Sacramento office as an associate attorney. Merta received her juris doctorate from California Western School of Law in San Diego, California, where she graduated magna cum laude and served as an associate editor of the California Western Law Review and as a legal writing instructor. Merta received her undergraduate degree in English and History from CSU- Bakersfield. Merta will focus her practice in the representation of employers in employment-litigation and employment-related disputes.

Palmer Kazanjian Holden LLP is pleased to announce the addition of two new associate attorneys. Over the past few months the firm has expanded its capacity to effectively serve clients by hiring Meriam E. Hamilton and Marcos A. Kropf.

Hamilton is a 1995 graduate of Pepperdine University School of Law, whose practice has focused on representing management in labor and employment law matters, including sexual harassment, discrimination, disability and wrongful termination. Hamilton has defended employers in state and federal courts and administrative agencies in a wide variety of employment related cases, including but not limited to those governed by the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Kropf is a 1995 graduate of Santa Clara University School of Law, whose practice has an emphasis on employment, civil rights, labor and business issues. He is experienced in all phases of litigation through trial, as well as alternate methods of dispute resolution such as mediation or arbitration. Kropf has successfully represented clients in state and federal courts of appeal and has appeared in the California Court of Appeals for the Third District and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Kropf has also briefed and argued published cases that have set standards of statewide and national importance.