Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP significantly expanded its San Diego footprint, including five attorneys and two paralegals, who joined the firm’s Private Wealth Services Practice from Withers LLP.

“When we enter a business market, as we did just last year in San Diego, we make a commitment to our clients and the community. With a focus on establishing local roots, we can then build a solid foundation which supports our global platform,” said Brian L. Duffy, Greenberg Traurig CEO. “We’ve built many of these foundations all over the world, always with the intent of providing our clients with excellent service. We’ve staffed our offices with incredibly talented legal practitioners, and our latest world-class additions in San Diego are a continuation of this pattern.”


Shareholders joining the San Diego office include:


  • Michelle Graham – a prominent strategist known for helping clients with cross-border private wealth estate planning and taxation.
  • Rebecca O’Toole – a highly regarded practitioner who assists high net worth families and individuals with trust and estate planning, business succession planning, and charitable planning.
  • Catherine Swafford – a widely respected trusts and estates litigator representing clients in will and trust litigation and contentious administration matters, elder abuse actions, breach of fiduciary duty matters, accounting cases, and conservatorships.


Other attorneys joining the Private Wealth Services Practice in San Diego includes Of Counsel Gwendolyn (Wendy) Andrey and Associate Cristianna M. Salarpi.


"We’re committed to expanding our Tax capabilities and its affiliated practices as we serve the needs of clients in a variety of ways. For example, we added Erika Mayshar recently in Southern California as chair of the Tax-Exempt Organizations & Philanthropy Practice,” said G. Michelle Ferreira, Greenberg Traurig senior vice president. “In fact, we continue to expand our firm along the entire West Coast, both in California and Oregon, where we recently added Noah M. Mullin in Portland.”


“As clients increasingly seek a broader array of sophisticated services, the Greenberg Traurig platform allows us to meet and exceed those needs across geographic boundaries and disciplines. We are thrilled to join a firm with these global resources and strong foundation and commitment across California,” Graham said.


Over the summer, the office added Life Sciences & Medical Technology attorneys Christopher C. Bolten, Robert D. Ward, and Albert K. Heng. Greenberg Traurig will move into office space at 12830 El Camino Real, Suite 350, in the One Paseo area east of Del Mar.


About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has more than 2750 attorneys in 47 locations in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. The firm is a 2022 BTI “Highly Recommended Law Firm” for superior client service and is consistently among the top firms on the Am Law Global 100 and NLJ 500. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule 6.0 Certified Plus by The Diversity Lab. The firm is recognized for powering its U.S. offices with 100% renewable energy as certified by the Center for Resource Solutions Green-e® Energy program and is a member of the U.S. EPA’s Green Power Partnership Program. The firm is known for its philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono. Web: www.gtlaw.com.