September 2026

5 Land Use Risks California Data Center Developers Should Be Watching

California’s data center boom is creating new opportunities for developers and investors, but local land use requirements are becoming an increasingly important part of the equation. Our Land Use practice leader Jim Vaughn examines 5 issues to watch as California cities and counties consider how to regulate data center development, including zoning uncertainty, changing rules, environmental review, infrastructure demands and community concerns.

California’s Ban on Non-Competes Is Reshaping Competition Through Trade Secret Litigation

California’s ban on most employee non-compete agreements allows talent to move freely, but it can also increase the risk of trade secret disputes. Procopio Partner and IP Litigator Ben Herbert examines how this dynamic is playing out as competition for specialized AI talent intensifies. He also outlines practical steps employers can take during onboarding to help protect confidential information and reduce litigation risk.

FinCEN Scales Back Corporate Transparency Act Reporting and Plans to Delete Filed Data

FinCEN has permanently narrowed who must report under the Corporate Transparency Act, largely eliminating reporting requirements for U.S.-formed companies while maintaining them for certain foreign companies registered to do business in the United States. The agency also plans to delete certain ownership information previously submitted by U.S. companies and individuals. Juan Arau explains what has changed, what will happen to previously filed information, and what businesses should know now.

Real Estate Partner David Jones Returns to Procopio After Six Years In-House

David Jones has returned to Procopio as a Real Estate Partner after several years as Deputy General Counsel to the Port of San Diego. David previously practiced with us from 2014 to 2020. His return brings significant in-house experience to our Real Estate practice, including firsthand insight into how public agencies and institutional property owners evaluate risk, structure transactions, and advance complex development projects.

David has experience handling transactions across a broad range of asset classes, including mixed-use, multifamily, retail, office, industrial, hospitality, and waterfront properties. He has represented clients in acquisitions and dispositions, ground up development, commercial leasing, financings, joint ventures, and entity formation.

At the Port, David advised on an array of matters involving its expansive real estate portfolio, which generates over $150 million in annual revenue. His work at the Port included major San Diego waterfront projects such as the Chula Vista Bayfront, Freedom Park at Navy Pier, Harbor Island West Marina, the Coronado Ferry Landing, and Seaport Village.

Superior Court Judge and Former Procopio Litigator Nominated to Serve as an Associate Justice to Fourth District Court of Appeal

Congratulations to former Procopio litigator and current San Diego County Superior Court Judge Marsha Amin on her nomination by California Governor Gavin Newsom to serve as an Associate Justice in the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One! This is the latest honor for an attorney who has been a dedicated public servant for many years.

Judge Amin was a litigation attorney at Procopio from 2006 to 2010. She left Procopio to become an in-chambers attorney for the Fourth District Court of Appeal, later serving as a Senior Attorney before becoming Managing Attorney. She has been a Superior Court Judge since 2023. This new position requires confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments.

Numerous Procopio Attorneys Named to 2027 Best Lawyers and Ones to Watch Lists

Congrats to our 73 attorneys recognized by Best Lawyers® for 2027! Located in every Procopio office--downtown San Diego, Del Mar Heights, Orange County, Silicon Valley, Las Vegas, Scottsdale, and Washington, D.C.--they cover a broad range of legal services, including commercial litigation, construction, corporate, family law, health care, intellectual property, employment law, Native American law, real estate, and tax. 

A special congrats to our three recipients of the "Lawyer of the Year" designation: Kendra Hall for Appellate, Maria Pum for Bankruptcy Litigation, and Glenn Feldman for Native American Law. 
You can find all of our 73 Best Lawyers and Ones to Watch in the comment section below and learn more about them in our press release.

Mindy Morton Named a Client Service All-Star by Leading Consulting Group

Procopio IP Litigation Partner Mindy Morton has been named a 2026 Client Service All-Star by The BTI Consulting Group! She was one of only 256 U.S. attorneys to secure this honor, which is based solely on unprompted, confidential feedback from clients. One of Mindy's clients told BTI: "Mindy is efficient and smart, and always accessible and pragmatic." 

Based in our Silicon Valley office, Mindy provides her clients, including start-ups and public companies, in trade secret, privacy, copyright, trademark, patent, and complex commercial disputes. She has other accolades, including being named to the WIPR Global Trade Secrets list.

Procopio also recently earned BTI recognition as a Client Service A-Team law firm.

2 Procopio IP Partners named to 2026 IAM Strategy 300 Global Leaders List

Procopio Partners Miku Mehta and Ben Herbert have been named to the 2026 IAM Strategy 300 Global Leaders list. This is Miku’s 4th listing and the 2nd for Ben. IAM recognizes attorneys "leading the way in developing and implementing strategies that maximize the value of IP portfolios.”

Miku focuses on the preparation and prosecution of patent applications, due diligence projects, including preparation of opinions in the areas of patentability, validity, infringement and product clearance, and patent licensing. Ben focuses on patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation litigation. 

Procopio’s IP attorneys and practices are routinely recognized, including our patent prosecution practice by Chambers USA and Best Lawyers-Best Law Firms.

SPED Best Practices Webinar Series – Part I - Starting Strong: Special Education Essentials for the Beginning of the School Year | 12:00 – 1:00 pm PT | webinar

School teams are invited to join Procopio attorney David Graham as he begins a multi-part special education webinar series for charter school teams in the 2026-27 school year. Like previous years’ sessions, this webinar series will trace the concept of educational benefit, including IEP compliance and best practices, from referral all the way through implementation and into due process.

Privacy Litigation’s New Era: CIPA Claims, Session Replay, and When Consent Isn’t Enough | 5:00 – 7:00 pm PT | Irvine, CA

This CLE event features Procopio privacy attorneys Elaine Harwell and Danielle Ocampo Hull discussing the latest wave of privacy litigation and what businesses can do to reduce risk while maintaining effective digital marketing and analytics operations.

From Hire to Fire: CA Employment Law Changes Every CPG Founder Needs to Know | 11:00 am – 12:00 pm PT | webinar

As your CPG brand grows, hiring and managing people gets complicated fast, especially in California. New employment laws taking effect in 2026 and 2027 will impact how you hire, pay, manage, and separate from employees, and the cost of getting it wrong is only going up. Join Procopio and Naturally San Diego for a practical, founder-focused session led by Procopio Labor and Employment Law practice leader Marie Burke Kenny.

2026 Procopio International Tax Institute | San Diego, CA

Held 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.

Please welcome our Chambers-recognized patent prosecution team’s latest addition, Irina Britva! A registered patent agent with more than two decades of patent prosecution experience, she helps life sciences companies protect innovations in medicinal chemistry, pharmaceuticals, drug discovery, diagnostics and biotechnology. Irina brings a scientist’s perspective to patent prosecution and counseling. She holds a PhD in pharmacology and biochemistry and spent nearly 15 years as a scientist before beginning her career in intellectual property. Her scientific work included drug development and immunopharmacological research, and she is a co-inventor on two patents involving immunotherapeutic drugs. Irina is based in our Del Mar Heights, California, office, and is fluent in Ukranian and Russian.

Let's hear it for Craig Sapin on his 45th anniversary with Procopio! In 1980, Craig was a summer associate from UCLA law school, hired despite some partners believing his hair was too long. At the end of the summer, founding partners Alec Cory and Manny Savitch took Craig to lunch and offered to bring him on in 1981, but only if he said yes on the spot. Fortunately, he did. Over the decades, Craig built one of the most respected real estate law practices in southern California, with a specialty in limited liability companies and partnership ventures and syndications. He counsels clients on a variety of matters relating to tax, real estate joint ventures, wealth planning, corporate law, mergers and acquisitions and strategic joint ventures, and has extensive experience in real estate funds, business transactions, family wealth and tax planning, and tax controversy issues. Craig has played an indisputably positive role in Procopio's success and growth during his tenure with us, from mentoring attorneys to serving in leadership positions such as the firm's Management Committee. 

"Procopio gave me an amazing opportunity to come back and work with colleagues and clients I respect and admire," Partner David Jones told Adrian Cruz of Law360 on his return to the firm after several years with the Port of San Diego. "I also felt that I could use my in-house experience to help further the firm's practice areas and build a successful book of business." The article notes that David's real estate practice focuses on acquisitions and dispositions, leasing, financing, joint ventures, entity formation and development matters. It quotes Procopio Managing Partner Dennis Doucette describing David as "an outstanding attorney" in his first tenure with the firm, adding "[h]is years at the port have added another dimension to an already strong commercial real estate practice." David noted a truism, namely that "California waterfront development is not easy, so to help advance great projects along our waterfront always felt good. My port experience offered significant insight into how public agencies as well as developers and operators identify, evaluate and mitigate the various risks that are inherent to transactions and development, particularly in areas that have a robust regulatory scheme such as coastal California." Read the full Law360 article (subscription may be required).

Please join us in congratulating 3 Lawyers of the Year as named by Best Lawyers! Kendra Hall, Appellate Practice; Maria Pum, Bankruptcy Litigation; and Glenn Feldman, Native American Law. They are among 73 Procopio attorneys named Best Lawyers or Ones to Watch for 2027. Meet all of them in our press release.

What an honor it was for Procopio to be named the Law Firm of the Year by the Orange County Asian American Bar Association (OCAABA)! This recognition is not always awarded, but Procopio Partner and former OCAABA President Charles Lin accepted it on Procopio’s behalf at the 32nd Annual Installation Dinner July 23 in Newport Beach. Other Procopio attorneys in attendance included Chyi Gary Chen, Alexander Tang, Andrew Mar, Danielle Ocampo Hull, Xiyu “Cecilia” Wan, Jason Galaif, Raph Y. Kim, and Renee Gabbard. We were pleased to see former Procopio attorney Raymond Chan, now at Netlist. Procopio is a longtime OCAABA sponsor, and was a Platinum Sponsor for this year’s dinner.

Now's the time to secure a seat at our 21st Annual Procopio International Tax Institute in San Diego Oct. 28-30! Take advantage of the early-bird rate while you can.

Let's hear it for another successful Procopio International Litigation & Arbitration Retreat held recently in San Diego! Partner Adrian Martinez did a masterful job assembling litigation leaders from the U.S. and Mexico to discuss changing economic, trade, and regulatory practices that are spurring an increase in cross-border litigation. Other Procopio attorneys speaking included Partners Laurence Phillips, Jorge M. Obén-Cuadros, Elaine Harwell, and Mindy Morton. Marketing & Client Relations Manager Francisco Sanchez Losada handled logistics to make this fourth-annual conference possible. We hope to see you next year for the fifth!

Procopio was a proud sponsor of the 2026 Greystar Charity Golf Event at Pelican Hill Golf Club in Newport Beach, for which all proceeds supported Camp Hope and the SoCal chapter of the PTSD Foundation Of America. Procopio real estate attorneys Steve Serna, Stephen Isbell, Mike Polvi and Hayden Weaver were on hand as we sponsored one of the holes. The PTSD Foundation of America tackles post-traumatic stress by providing hands-on support to military communities. Through expert counseling and peer mentorship—both individual and group—they pave real paths to healing. They raise awareness about veterans' needs via engaging public events, media, social platforms, service groups, and faith partnerships. Their message is clear: hope exists, connection is strength, and no veteran fights alone. Learn more.

Don't miss Jorge M. Obén-Cuadros discussing how the rules related to Puerto Rico tax incentives have often led to scrutiny and enforcement actions in this podcast by the Beverly Hills Bar Association. Entrepreneurs, investors, fund managers, crypto taxpayers, and service businesses are attracted to these incentives, but often need experienced counsel to ensure legal compliance.

Procopio Partners Renee Gabbard and Jon Schimmer will speak on a panel titled "The Often-Forgotten Tax: The California Property Tax in Estate Planning" at the STEP Orange County monthly meeting in Newport Beach on September 22. Non-members may attend, at a slightly higher cost. Learn more.

Corporate Law Partner Chyi Gary Chen will be lecturing on business law in a 6-week OC Workforce Solutions Business Accelerator Program sponsored by Orange County. His lecture is on September 8, and he'll be lecturing in another cohort later this year. The program is free for participants and is held online and in Brea, CA. 

International Tax Partner Jorge M. Obén-Cuadros will share his insights December 16 at the Annual Institute on Current Issues in International Taxation organized by the Georgetown Law Graduate Tax program and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service at the Georgetown University Capitol Campus. Based in Procopio's Washington, D.C., office, Jorge advises clients on planning, controversy and litigation, and policy matters involving tax and trade. He previously served in the IRS Office of Associate Chief Counsel International.

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