Lewis Roca Promotes Six Lawyers to Partner

Press Release

01/13/2020

PHOENIX (January 13, 2020) – Lewis Roca Christie LLP has selected six lawyers to join the firm’s partnership effective January 1, 2020.

Eric Kniffin, Litigation, Colorado Springs

A member of the firm’s Litigation practice, Kniffin is a nationally recognized expert in the First Amendment and religious liberty matters. He is a leader in the firm’s religious institutions group, where he has represented hundreds of churches, dioceses, schools, and charities. His diverse group of clients also includes businesses and governmental entities. Kniffin also has experience litigating a broad range of constitutional and civil rights issues, including establishment clause, free exercise, free speech, free association, property rights, public accommodations, and due process.

Before joining the firm, Kniffin practiced in Washington, D.C. at the United States Department of ‎Justice, Civil Rights Division, and The Becket Fund for Religious ‎Liberty. He received his J.D. from Notre Dame Law School and his B.A. from Wheaton College, both with honors.

Kristen Martini, Litigation, Reno

A member of the firm’s Litigation practice, Martini focuses on ‎civil and commercial litigation at the federal and state court levels, where she represents clients in complex commercial contract, fraud, and business tort lawsuits. Martini was named a Mountain States Super Lawyer in 2019 and has been recognized as one of the “Legal Elite” by Nevada Business since 2016. She received her J.D. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law and her B.S., cum laude, from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Caitlin McHugh, Litigation, Denver

As a member of the firm’s Litigation practice, McHugh focuses on complex civil and commercial litigation in federal court, state court, and arbitration. She represents clients in diverse industries including higher education, religious institutions, and healthcare. McHugh handles matters in all phases of litigation including pre-suit counseling, trial and appellate work, and alternative dispute resolution. She has been recognized as a Colorado Super Lawyers Rising Star in the area of business litigation since 2018 and received her J.D., Order of the Coif, from the University of Colorado Law School and her B.S., with Distinction, from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Martin Regehr, Intellectual Property, Los Angeles

A member of the firm’s Intellectual Property practice, Regehr handles patent prosecution matters for clients in a variety of industries, including digital integrated circuits, radar, nonlinear mechanical structures, electric motors, optical communications and switching systems, semiconductors, MEMS devices, cryptography, power generation, battery systems, welding systems, and software systems. He also has expertise in tailoring patent prosecution strategies to fit expected revenue streams.

Prior to his legal career, Regehr worked in a wide range of engineering and scientific endeavors, at small companies and at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). He has designed RF and microwave circuits, written real-time software for a space telescope, developed FPGA code, and designed and tested gravitational wave detectors for LIGO at Caltech. Regehr received his J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology, his M.B.A. from University of California, Los Angeles and his M.S. from California Institute of Technology.

Dustin Szakalski, Intellectual Property, Los Angeles

As a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property practice, Szakalski handles patent litigation, patent prosecution, trademark applications and clearance opinions, patent invalidity and non-infringement opinions, freedom-to-operate opinions, branding, trade secrets, licensing, and DMCA notice and takedown procedures. Before attending law school, Szakalski worked as an engineer for Northrop Grumman, designing structural airframe parts for the F-35 Lightning II fighter, and a flight test engineer for Goodrich Aerostructures, instrumenting engines for the Boeing 787. This experience as a flight and structural design engineer in commercial and military aviation enables Szakalski to provide counsel to clients in a wide variety of industries in addition to the aerospace and unmanned aerial systems industries. Szakalski received his J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and his B.S., magna cum laude, from the University of Southern California.

Meng Zhong, Intellectual Property, Las Vegas

As a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property practice, Zhong’s practice focuses on matters involving copyright, trademark, right of publicity and trade secrets. He has handled a wide array of intellectual property litigations at both the trial and appellate levels in Nevada and other jurisdictions. Zhong also has helped numerous clients in the seizure of counterfeit products at Las Vegas trade shows, which includes investigation, motion practice, and execution of the seizure order at the trade shows.

In December 2019, Zhong was named the recipient of the Myrna Williams Children’s Pro Bono Award for 2019 for his pro bono services on behalf of abused and neglected children as part of the Legal Aid Center’s Children’s Attorneys Project. He received his J.D., from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law and his B.S. from the University of Michigan.

About Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP

Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP is an Am Law 200 commercial law firm handling complex matters in litigation, intellectual property, business transactions, gaming, government relations and other practice areas. Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie offices are located in Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Reno, Silicon Valley and Tucson. For more information, visit lewisroca.com.

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