LAGASSE BRANCH BELL KINKEAD - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate
- Senior Associate / Los Angeles
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate / San Diego
Anissa Elhaiesahar is an associate in the Employment Practice Group in the firm's San Diego office. She specializes in employment defense and has experience defending businesses against a variety of labor and employment claims, including discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, and wage and hour. Ms. Elhaiesahar also provides advice and counsel to employers on personnel issues such as hiring, discipline, leave of absence, employee classification, and wage and hour issues.
While attending law school, Ms. Elhaiesahar served as the vice-president of the Employment and Labor Law Society in which she organized regular meetings between students and attorneys to provide employment advice and counseling. She was also a member of the Middle Eastern Law Society, and served as a mentor to incoming law students needing guidance and support during their first year.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner / Los Angeles
Mr. Avetisove is a partner in the Tort and Professional Liability Practice Groups. Mr. Avetisove specializes in the areas of general civil litigation and professional liability. His professional liability practice includes the representation of a variety of professionals, including design professionals, real estate agents and brokers, accountants, and insurance professionals. Mr. Avetisove also defends the firm's institutional and construction clients in a variety of tort liability claims. Mr. Avetisove has first and second chair trial experience.
Prior to joining Lagasse Branch Bell + Kinkead, Mr. Avetisove worked in a commercial litigation practice group at a prominent national law firm, representing and counseling companies in business and contract disputes. Mr. Avetisove also represented a wide array of companies, including aviation and aerospace companies, in products liability, wrongful death, and catastrophic injury matters.
In addition, Mr. Avetisove has experience representing the County of Los Angeles in employment matters before various County tribunals such as the Los Angeles County Employee Relations Commission and the Civil Service Commission.
Outside of LBBK, Mr. Avetisove is a tech and video game enthusiast. He is also an avid sports fan, spending much of his free time rooting on the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Kings.
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate
- Member of the Firm
- Senior Associate / San Diego
Ms. Yamabe is a member of the firm's General and Professional Liability Practice Group, where she focuses her advocacy on the defense of individuals and entities faced with claims of personal injury, wrongful death, premises liability, professional negligence, and tort liability. Her experience litigating in this arena began at a boutique civil litigation firm in San Diego, where she spent nearly ten years defending a major Southern California theme park in cases involving ride-related incidents, slip-and-falls, and animal interactions. Simultaneously, she represented personal injury plaintiffs in vehicular and premises liability litigation. There, Ms. Yamabe's diverse practice also encompassed cross-border disputes, business torts, and intellectual property litigation in both state and federal court.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate / San Francisco
- Associate in Lagasse Branch Bell
Christopher A. Tanimasa is an associate in Lagasse Branch Bell + Kinkead's San Francisco office. His practice focuses primarily on tort liability, professional liability, and employer-related cases.
Before joining LBBK, Mr. Tanimasa gained extensive litigation experience as an attorney practicing complex medical malpractice defense, focused primarily on professional malpractice defense of physicians, hospitals and health care facilities, dentists, nurses, and other licensed professionals. Mr. Tanimasa has also defended complex legal malpractice matters.
As part of his practice, Mr. Tanimasa has successfully defended positive case outcomes for his clients brought on appeal before the California Courts of Appeal and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Before beginning his practice, Mr. Tanimasa clerked for the Hon. Peter A. Krauthamer of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. During his time as a judicial law clerk, Mr. Tanimasa authored bench memoranda, draft orders, and draft judgments for the Court, and advised His Honor on all matters coming before the bench.
Mr. Tanimasa received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 2014 and was admitted to the State Bar of California in March 2015. He received his Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 2009.
Mr. Tanimasa is licensed to practice before all courts of the State of California as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and various U.S. District Courts in California.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate / Los Angeles
David Zeetser focuses his practice on advising, counseling, and defending businesses and public entities in a wide range of employment-related claims. His experience includes representing employers who are sued for discrimination, retaliation, harassment, failure to accommodate, failure to engage in the interactive process, wrongful termination, breach of contract, wage-and-hour issues, and other employment-related issues. Tenaciously fighting to represent his client's best interests, David uses his perspective to guide them through all stages of the litigation process. David understands that each client has different goals and objectives, and he approaches every matter on a case-by-case basis with those goals in mind.
Prior to joining LBBK, David gained experience representing and defending clients in administrative employment matters, employment litigation, and class-actions. He previously served as a judicial intern under the Honorable Joel M. Pressman for the Superior Court of California - County of San Diego. David also completed an externship for the Los Angeles City Attorney's office, working on matters in their Employment Litigation Department.
Outside of his law practice, David is an avid hockey player in an adult men's league. His favorite Sunday Funday activity is cruising PCH to Malibu for some good ole fish and chips, and he loves going on hikes with his mini schnauzer, Lola!
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Operating Officer
- Chief Operating Officer / Chief Financial Officer of Lagasse Branch Bell
Jay S. Anderson is the Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer of Lagasse Branch Bell + Kinkead LLP. Mr. Anderson joined the firm in 2018. He manages the day-to-day strategic operations of the firm and oversees firm finances, including record-keeping and reporting. Prior to joining LBBK, Mr. Anderson worked as the U.S. Controller for a multinational immigration law firm in San Francisco, California. Throughout his career, Mr. Anderson has overseen the finance, accounting, and operational disciplines for several organizations in a variety of industries including professional services, large retail, and wholesale organizations.
Mr. Anderson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Brigham Young University and a Master of Business Administration in Finance from California State University, East Bay.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner / San Francisco
Mr. Ta is a partner in the Tort and Professional Liability Practice Groups. Mr. Ta has a broad practice in civil litigation defense. He focuses on tort liability, professional liability, and employer-related cases. His clients include a wide range of entities and businesses, restaurants, property owners, and real estate professionals. Mr. Ta's tort liability practice includes defense of personal injury claims, ranging from premises liability claims to catastrophic injury claims, sexual assault/abuse claims, and defamation claims. He also represents property owners on various real estate disputes, including property line disputes, easement disputes, wrongful eviction, breach of the warranty of habitability claims, and Rent Ordinance violations (San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland and San Jose). Mr. Ta's professional liability practice includes the defense of a variety of professionals, with a focus on real estate professionals in professional liability claims and commission disputes. Mr. Ta's employment practice focuses on representing employers in single plaintiff claims under the FEHA, wrongful termination, and Labor Code violations. He also provides advice and counsel to employers on personnel issues including hiring, discipline, termination, accommodations, and leave of absence, and complying with California wage and hour laws.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner / San Diego
Outside of her law practice, Ms. Yang enjoys watching sports and trying new restaurants and cuisine.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate / San Diego
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner / San Diego
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate / Los Angeles
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner / Los Angeles
Job Titles:
- Society for Human Resource Management, Member and past Vice President of Conferences
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner / San Diego
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner / San Diego
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner / Los Angeles