The global law firm Jones Day has announced that four former prosecutors – including three Assistant U.S. Attorneys and a former Deputy District Attorney – have joined the Firm’s Business and Tort Litigation Practice in three different California offices. In San Diego, Truc Do and Peter Mazza have joined as partner and of counsel, respectively. In addition, Rasha Gerges Shields has joined Jones Day as a partner in Los Angeles and Cheryl O’Connor will join the firm on November 17 as a partner in Irvine.
Ms. Do was most recently a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, where she represented individuals and corporations in complex litigation, white-collar criminal defense, and internal corporate investigations. Previously, she was a Deputy District Attorney in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, where she served in the Major Crimes Division and Hardcore Gang Division, and tried 75 cases to jury verdicts. Ms. Do has been lead counsel in many high profile cases both as a prosecutor and a defense attorney, including the six-month murder trial of Phil Spector in Los Angeles and the defense of best-selling author James Arthur Ray in the “Arizona sweat lodge” trial, which was nationally televised. She earned her undergraduate degree from U.C.L.A. and her law degree from Stanford Law School.
Mr. Mazza joins Jones Day from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego, where he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division, prosecuting major frauds and narcotics enforcement matters. Mr. Mazza is also a skilled trial attorney, who has handled complex criminal investigations and numerous jury trials. Previously, Mr. Mazza was a law clerk for the Hon. Marilyn L. Huff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. He earned his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.
Ms. Shields was most recently an Assistant U.S. Attorney for more than seven years, and Deputy Chief of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force at the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Los Angeles, where she directed complex wiretap and grand jury investigations, conducted numerous trials, and supervised other prosecutors. Previously, she was an associate in Jones Day’s Issues & Appeals Practice, where she argued before the California Supreme Court and other federal and state courts. Ms. Shields served as law clerk to the Hon. Ferdinand F. Fernandez of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and to the Hon. Gary A. Fees of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Ms. Shields earned her undergraduate degree from U.C. Irvine and her law degree from U.C.L.A. Law School.
Ms. O’Connor also comes to Jones Day from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, where she was an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Deputy Chief of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section. Her last day in the U.S. Attorney’s office will be October 31. Prior to joining the Department of Justice, she was an associate at Howrey & Simon in that firm’s Business Litigation Practice. Ms. O’Connor earned her undergraduate degree from U.C.L.A. and her law degree from the U.S.C. Gould School of Law.
“Serving clients across a broad range of business disputes, from counseling through trial and appeal, requires a deep talent base,” said Dan Reidy, head of Jones Day’s Business and Tort Litigation Practice, and himself a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. “Truc, Peter, Cheryl, and Rasha are great additions to a practice well known for its strength and depth in handling complex and significant cases, multidistrict litigation and coordinated state proceedings, and multiple class actions in federal and state courts across the nation. We are very pleased to be adding the talents of these four experienced trial lawyers to our practice and are sure that our clients will benefit from working with our new colleagues.”
“These four lawyers bring with them tremendous first-chair trial experience, with the valuable perspective of trying complex cases as prosecutors,” said Karen Hewitt, Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day’s San Diego Office and a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California. “That experience creates great capabilities and benefits for our clients, both in California and throughout the firm.”
“The addition of these four experienced trial lawyers makes our formidable firmwide litigation capabilities even stronger, and is a continued step forward for our growth in California,” said Joe Sims, the partner at Jones Day who coordinates the Firm’s activities in California. “It’s exciting to continue to attract some of the most highly sought-after legal talent on the West Coast.”
Source: www.jonesday.com
