Law Firm News

Lozano Smith Names Five New Partners

Fresno, CA (August 1, 2022) – Lozano Smith, LLP is pleased to announce that five attorneys have been promoted to non-equity Partner, effective August 1, 2022.

“Our newest Partners are exemplary leaders within our firm and valued advocates and thought partners for our clients throughout the State,” said Karen Rezendes, Managing Partner of Lozano Smith. “These promotions reflect their talent, expertise, and commitment to our clients and colleagues. We’re proud of our inclusive culture and believe that our strength, quality, and growth as a firm is directly attributable to the diversity of our team. We are excited about the current and future success of each of our new Partners.”

Meet Lozano Smith's Newest Partners:

Los Angeles Office

  • Fabiola Rivera joined the firm’s Los Angeles office in 2019 and currently serves as co-chair of the firm's Administrative Hearings Practice Area. She represents and counsels public agency clients with respect to facilities, business, employment, and labor matters. Fabiola is experienced in assisting clients through construction, facilities, contracts, and employment and labor matters, including wage and hour issues, and matters involving the Government and Education Codes. She also has extensive litigation experience ranging from case evaluation, discovery, law and motion to settlement negotiations and trial preparation and strategy.
  • Eleanor Welke joined Lozano Smith’s Los Angeles office in 2018. Eleanor provides legal advice to administrators on personnel matters, including discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment, disability accommodations, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. She has extensive experience representing clients in both California State and Federal Courts and in front of administrative bodies. She also provides advice and counsel to clients on a wide range of employment legal issues, including compliance with wage and hour regulations, employee hiring, termination and discipline decisions, investigations, and leaves of absence.

Sacramento Office

  • Constantine Baranoff joined Lozano Smith’s Sacramento Office in 2020. He focuses on representing clients in public finance/bond counsel work, Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts (EIFD) formation, and public work facility and construction matters. He routinely assists clients with bond counsel work and Mello-Roos community facilities district formations, as well as advises various public agencies regarding EIFD formation, economic development, and public debt issues. Constantine negotiates property transactions involving public/private partnerships, and is skilled with general facility and construction legal issues.
  • Carolyn Gemma joined the firm’s Sacramento office in 2017, and advises clients on all matters affecting employment, students and board governance. Carolyn conducts workplace and Title IX investigations for clients. Her trauma-informed training offers clients further expertise in investigating allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault and other forms of sexual misconduct. Carolyn also specializes in labor and employment matters, including employee discipline and termination; responding and facilitating resolutions to grievances, unfair labor practice charges and DFEH/EEOC charges; and conducting workplace investigations.

San Luis Obispo Office

  • Daniel McElhinney joined the firm in 2020 and was an early member of the San Luis Obispo office team. Dan provides counsel to school districts in a variety of areas, including labor, employment and governance. He regularly advises clients on matters related to employee relations, collective bargaining, investigations, Brown Act, Public Records Act, student issues and First Amendment rights, and is a certified mediator and has experience with alternative dispute resolution. Dan assists clients in effective pre-litigation problem solving and is a frequent presenter on behalf of clients and statewide associations.

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About Lozano Smith

Lozano Smith is a full-service education and public agency law firm serving hundreds of California's K-12 and community college districts, and numerous cities, counties, and special districts. Lozano Smith has offices in eight California locations: Sacramento, Walnut Creek, Fresno, Monterey, Bakersfield, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, and San Diego.  For more information, visit www.LozanoSmith.com or find us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also subscribe to our podcast or download the Lozano Smith App.