Mislabel It, Pay for It: California’s Tough New Rules on Recycling Symbols

If your company manufactures or packages a product that displays a recycling symbol, California is about to turn up the heat on you. A new law going into effect later this year will lead to increased regulatory scrutiny of recyclability claims, note John Lormon and Matt Abbot, and companies that use the familiar chasing arrows symbol without meeting California’s standards could face enforcement actions, litigation, and costly relabeling or recalls. What used to be a routine packaging decision will become a high-risk compliance issue.

Nasdaq’s 23/5 Trading Proposal: What Issuers Should Expect

Are you ready to trade equities 23 hours per day? Nasdaq is considering it, having filed with the SEC to introduce a new “Night Session." Each weekday, trading would close for only one hour to allow maintenance and corporate-action processing. Ruba Qashu notes that we're at the beginning of the review process, and while it will be more marathon than sprint, issuers should begin preparing for near-continuous market access.

The New Capital Markets Clock: Why “Shelf-Ready” Is an Operating Discipline

Public company finance used to run on a familiar cadence, notes Ruba Qashu: pick a window, launch a process, price, settle, and get back to operating. Today, time is a constraint as the market moves faster, capital is more selective, and execution risk is priced in real time. That is why being “shelf-ready” is now an operating discipline.

Clawbacks and Cybersecurity: Two Compliance Tests Boards Must Pass

The SEC is creating a direct test of how well boards manage accountability and risk with their enforcement of two initiatives, notes Dennis Doucette. One is a new executive compensation clawback rule, the other involves cybersecurity disclosure requirements. Directors and in-house counsel should read Dennis’ new article to understand these initiatives and what steps to take in an effort to stay on the right side of legal compliance.

Procopio Grows Award-Winning Corporate Law Team with Partner Gary Chen

We're so pleased corporate law attorney Chyi "Gary" Chen has joined Procopio as our newest Partner! Based in our Irvine office, Gary advises on a broad range of corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and private equity financings, commercial agreements, and general corporate matters. 

Gary brings significant experience in leading domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, particularly in Asia, as he speaks fluent Mandarin and has lived and worked in China and Taiwan. 

Gary counsels clients on a variety of business and legal matters, including acquisition and divestiture strategy, deal structuring, and post-closing integration. He also represents early-stage companies from formation through multiple rounds of venture financing and advises on ongoing corporate governance and regulatory compliance matters. 

Learn more about Gary in our press release.

Michael Nolan, Jorge Obén-Cuadros and Neil Salyards Elevated to Partner

Congrats to three Procopio attorneys elevated to Partner in 2026! Construction litigator Michael Nolan, trademark and copyright attorney Neil Salyards, and tax attorney Jorge Obén-Cuadros were selected by the Partnership to join their ranks.

Mike has experience litigating construction and a wide range of business disputes. His construction practice includes the prosecution and defense of claims arising out of public and private construction projects. 

Neil advises clients on the full range of domestic and international trademark and copyright matters, with a focus on building, protecting, and enforcing global brand portfolios. He works closely with in-house legal, marketing, and brand teams, as well as foreign counsel worldwide, to manage intellectual property strategies across jurisdictions. 

Jorge focuses on tax planning matters, tax controversy and tax policy. He represents individuals and businesses—including multinational corporations, high-net-worth individuals, and family offices, particularly from Latin America and Puerto Rico—on complex U.S. international tax matters. His practice includes advising on inbound structuring, cross-border planning, IRS examinations, and tax policy developments. 

Mike and Neil are in Procopio's Del Mar Heights office and Jorge in our Washington, D.C., office. Learn more about these three outstanding attorneys in our press release.

Five Former Procopio Legal Interns and Law Clerks Advance to Associate

Kudos to the five recent legal interns or law clerks who have advanced to Associate at Procopio! These attorneys have demonstrated the skill, commitment, and judgment that reflects the firm’s standards of excellence. 

Danielle Sanderlin focuses on family law matters including divorce proceedings, parentage matters, child custody and visitation, support issues, and post judgment modifications, and is a U.S. Navy veteran.

Imani Hicks advises tribal governments, tribal corporations, and tribal affiliated organizations on legal matters. She is Payómkawichum (Luiseño) and enrolled in the Pechanga Band of Indians.

Nathan Gelbrich represents companies ranging from emerging startups to large public entities with mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, securities compliance, and corporate governance matters.

Drew Jimenez is a litigator who assists corporate clients with complex business disputes, real estate related conflicts, and strategic negotiations.

Ayham Dahlan represents public and private employers in preventive counseling, litigation, and class and representative actions involving wage and hour, discrimination, harassment, and wrongful termination claims. 

Learn more about these outstanding attorneys in our press release.

Procopio Commercial Litigation, Corporate/M&A and Real Estate Practices Recognized by Legal 500 Along with Eight Attorneys

It’s a big day for Procopio! Legal 500 has named us a top tier law firm in San Diego in three legal practices: Commercial Disputes, Corporate/M&A, and Real Estate. They also recognized eight of our partners: 

Commercial Disputes: Paul Tyrell, Elaine Harwell, Jeff Hood and Michael Kiesling 

Corporate/M&A: Dennis Doucette, Bill Eigner and John Miles

Real Estate: Robert Brown

Legal 500 has been benchmarking excellence in the law since 1987 with a data-driven approach involving extensive research on legal markets, firms, and attorneys. Learn more.

Procopio Recognized as a Top Patent Firm in the U.S. by Juristat in Seven Categories

Thank you to Juristat for naming Procopio one of the 2025 Top Patent Firms in the U.S.! The AI data analytics company broke down USPTO data and recognized our patent prosecution attorneys in all five of its metrics, two at its Gold Tier. It also singled Procopio out as a top firm in the categories of Telecom & Wireless and Computer Science & IT. 

Our IP Team Leader Miku Mehta prosecutes patents in those technologies, as well as many others, including Stephen Beuerle, Gregory Boger, Jonas Hodges, Ernest Huang, Pattric Rawlins, Sheree Rowe, Jonathan Cheng, Sam Lee, Ali Uyanik, Micha Adler, Nathan Black, Chitrajit Chandrashekar, Hao (Harold) Guo, Chen (Peter) Huang, Zizi (Zishuang) Liu, Andrew Mar, Eli Sharp, Jing Zheng and Farhad Shir.

Learn more in our press release.

Procopio and Partners Mindy Morton and Ben Herbert Recognized for Trade Secret Litigation by WIPR

A huge congrats to Procopio Partners Mindy Morton and Ben Herbert on being named top U.S. trade secret litigators by the World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR)! Mindy, Ben, and Procopio's Trade Secrets practice, led by Mindy, have been named to the WIPR USA Trade Secrets rankings for the second year in a row. WIPR says this year's ranked firms and attorneys represent "a legal landscape of 'nuclear' verdicts, judicial reversals, and the explosive intersection of artificial intelligence and proprietary data."

Mindy focuses on intellectual property, data privacy, internet, and healthcare litigation, helping companies handle trade secret, privacy, copyright, trademark, patent, and complex commercial disputes. Ben focuses on trade secret misappropriation and patent infringement litigation and has litigated complex patent and trade secret cases involving diverse technologies

Both partners have active trade secret practices, including counseling and litigation. Mindy and Ben also serve on the Sedona Conference Working Group 12 on Trade Secrets, with Mindy a Senior Editor, and Mindy chairs the ABA IP Section’s Trade Secrets Committee. Mindy is based in Procopio's Silicon Valley office and Ben in our Orange County office. 

Learn more in our release.

Brooke Oliver and Lyndsey Heaton Named to WTR 1000 List as Top Trademark Attorneys

Kudos to Brooke Oliver and Lyndsey Heaton on being recognized as top global trademark attorneys as they've been named to the World Trademark Review (WTR) 1000 list for 2026! WTR identifies the leading professionals deemed outstanding at obtaining, protecting, managing, enforcing and monetizing trademarks through exhaustive research that includes in-person, telephone and video interviews.

Among Brooke's high-profile trademark work includes arguing Dykes on Bikes trademark cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, twice securing historic wins for LGBTQ+ rights. She is a nationally recognized art and entertainment attorney with more than 30 years of experience advocating for artists, nonprofits, and social justice causes, and known as “a folk hero of copyright law” for her groundbreaking victories on behalf of visual artists. 

Lyndsey represents companies and business owners in high stakes intellectual property and complex commercial disputes, with a practice centered on protecting brands, technology, and competitive advantage. She litigates matters involving trade secrets, trademarks, copyright, patents, counterfeiting, unfair competition, employee fraud, and intellectual property theft. This is her second year making the WTR 1000 list.

Learn more in our release.

Now or Later: Expedited Relief when Misuse is Unclear | 12:25 - 1:25 pm ET | webinar

Procopio Trade Secrets practice leader and Partner Mindy Morton moderates a panel on expedited relief in a webinar as part of the Trade Secrets Symposium 2026: Navigating the Law of Trade Secrets and Restrictive Covenants. Organized by the New York City Bar, the two-day program will examine some of an organization’s most valuable assets, from cutting edge technologies to profit-enhancing improvements and beyond.

The Anatomy of an Employment Lawsuit and the Tools for Prevention | 2:15 – 3:15 pm PT | San Diego, CA

Hear Procopio Labor & Employment Leader and Partner Marie Burke Kenny with two prominent San Diego in-house counsel present a case study illustrating how an employment lawsuit can develop and the resulting exposure for an employer. This session will earn attendees one hour of general California CLE credit and is part of the all-day annual La-Law-Palooza held by ACC San Diego at the Paradise Point Resort and Spa. 

2026 Procopio International Litigation & Arbitration Retreat  | San Diego, CA

Procopio attorneys will speak alongside numerous legal experts at PILAR, an annual forum where litigators from the United States and Mexico come together to analyze the legal challenges impacting both jurisdictions. Major policy shifts in the U.S. and Mexico will be among the topics discussed. 

2026 Procopio International Tax Institute | San Diego, CA

Held again in collaboration with the Graduate Tax Program of Georgetown University and International Fiscal Association, this premier educational and networking event is again dedicated to the latest developments in U.S. and Mexican international tax law. This year's PITI comes as tax policies are evolving with the U.S. and Mexican presidential administrations.

Investment Bank Client Moody Capital Solutions Closes Significant Registered Direct Offering

Kudos to client Moody Capital Solutions for successfully serving as the sole placement agent for AmpliTech Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMPG) in its registered direct offering, which generated more than $9 million. Certain institutional investors purchased 2,230,000 units at an offering price of $4.055 per Unit, with each unit consisting of one share of common stock, one Series A right to purchase one share of common stock at $5.00, and one Series B right to purchase one share of common stock at $6.00.

Procopio Capital Markets and Securities Co-Leader Ruba Qashu served as counsel for Moody Capital Solutions

Have you met a recent superstar addition to our IP litigation team, Lyndsey Heaton? Based in our Silicon Valley office, Lyndsey's practice centers on protecting brands, technology, and competitive advantage. She litigates matters involving trade secrets, trademarks, copyright, patents, counterfeiting, unfair competition, employee fraud, and IP theft. Lyndsey handles cases from first filing through appeal. She has tried bench and jury cases in both state and federal courts in California and New York and has handled appeals before the Ninth and Second Circuits.

Give a hand to Imani Hicks on being elevated to Associate in our Chambers-recognized Native American practice! Imani, previously a law clerk, advises tribal clients on issues related to gaming, taxation, self-governance, and contracts. She works alongside her Native American Law practice colleagues and leader Kerry Patterson in representing tribal governments, tribal corporations, inter-tribal organizations and tribal-affiliated clients in a wide range of legal matters and protect tribal interests in state, federal and tribal courts. Imani is Payómkawichum (Luiseño) and enrolled in the Pechanga Band of Indians. As a law student, Imani was active in the Native American Law Student Association, Indian Legal Program, Indian Legal Clinic, and the Black Law Students Association.

A big congrats to the most recent law clerk elevated to Procopio Associate, Ayham Dahlan! He represents public and private employers with labor and employment preventive counseling, litigation, and class and representative action litigation in areas including wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination, and wage and hour violations with individual plaintiff and in class actions. Ayham previously was a legal intern and law clerk with Procopio, and served as a judicial intern in the Civil Division of San Diego Superior Court. He's part of our award-winning Labor & Employment Law practice led by Partner Marie Burke Kenny. 

New Corporate Law Partner Gary Chen told James Mills of Law360 that his desire to more broadly serve his clients helped him choose Procopio. “My clients needed more services such as employment, tax, immigration, real estate, construction. That's why I started looking for a more full-service firm," Gary said. But he wanted one that wasn’t too big and focused only on billable hours. “I was looking for a firm that actually cares about the client and is more business-focused and tries to resolve issues. That's when I found Procopio." In the interview, Gary shared his path to practicing law, starting with a move from Taiwan to California as a teenager. After earning his JD at Columbia, Gary briefly worked in the law firm world before going in-house, then relocating to China to work as an investment banker. After returning to the U.S., he again worked as a corporate counsel before returning to the law firm world in 2021. "My practice focuses a lot on Chinese-speaking entrepreneurs, as well as Asian companies who are looking to establish or expand their presence in the U.S." Gary said. "A lot of the Chinese entrepreneurs in the U.S., as immigrants, they don't have guidance how to operate in the U.S. legal environment. It's not just U.S. immigration or criminal law, but really setting up a company and how to run it properly. That's the reason why I wanted to focus on the Chinese community." Learn more about Gary in this Law360 article (subscription may be required).

Kudos to Partner and International Tax practice leader Pedro Corona de la Fuente and newly named Partner Jorge M. Obén-Cuadros as their reputation in Washington, D.C., continues to grow, most recently through participating in the D.C. Bar Tax Conference in our nation's capital.

Our Employment Law attorneys loved their afternoon in Newport Beach January 29 at Procopio’s first-ever Orange County Labor & Employment Seminar! Based on the longstanding seminar done annually each fall in La Jolla, this event featured panels, Q&A, and an enchanting reception. The agenda opened with a panel with Partners Gina Miller and Wendy Tucker on evolving laws and regulations impacting California employers, including issues related to remote work, political activity, diversity and immigration clashes between state and federal law, AI use, and medical accommodation obligations. A second panel with Partner and Team Leader Marie Burke Kenny and Associate Karina Lo addressed ongoing challenges with wage-and-hour litigation and the practical impact of PAGA reform more than one year after enactment. Attendees were then able to engage directly with our Partners in an extended Q&A before enjoying a reception at the lovely Newport Beach Country Club. 

Let's Work Together.