Allen Matkins Elects Joshua del Castillo, Marissa Dennis, Crystal Lofing and Erin Murphy to Partnership

LOS ANGELES – April 22, 2014 – Allen Matkins, a California-based full service real estate and business law firm, announced today that attorneys Josh A. del Castillo, Marissa M. Dennis, Crystal Lofing and Erin L. Murphy have been elected to the firm partnership. The election is effective as of July 1, 2014.

"Josh, Marissa, Crystal and Erin are excellent lawyers with strong client relationships, and we are thrilled to add their talent, energy, enthusiasm and perspectives to our terrific partnership," says David Osias, managing partner of Allen Matkins. "They each exemplify – both personally and professionally – our focus on client service and community involvement. This new class of partners will carry on the Allen Matkins legacy. I congratulate them on their deserving election."

Joshua del Castillo

Based in Allen Matkins' Los Angeles office, Josh is a litigation, creditors' rights, and regulatory compliance attorney practicing in the firm's Receiverships, Lenders & Special Creditor Remedies; Restructuring, Insolvency & Bankruptcy; and Corporate Finance Practice Groups. He has significant experience in representing institutional lenders and creditors, including in connection with emerging securities-based challenges to creditors rights, and regularly represents receivers appointed at the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and other federal agencies in connection with a myriad of enforcement actions. He has successfully represented clients before the California Court of Appeal, the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit, and the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Josh is frequently published in a variety industry publications, including Scotsman Guide, CMBA Legal News, Receivership News and the Los Angeles Daily Journal. He is also the author of many widely-read articles and legal alerts focusing on timely California Court of Appeals and Ninth Circuit decisions impacting institutional lenders, developers, receivers, monitors, secured and unsecured creditors, and other business enterprises. Josh has been a member of the Financial Lawyers Conference, the National Association of Federal Equity Receivers, the California Receivers Forum, and the Hispanic National Bar Association.

Josh received his B.A. in economics, cum laude, from the University of Southern California and his M.A. in anthropology, with a subspecialty in economic anthropology and development, from the University of Michigan, advancing to Ph.D. candidacy thereafter. He received his J.D. from University of Southern California Gould School of Law. He has been named a Super Lawyers Rising Star the past two years.

Marissa Dennis

Marissa is a litigation attorney based in Allen Matkins' Los Angeles office. She is a member of the firm's Business & Real Estate Disputes, Construction, Jury Trials, and Landlord Disputes Practice Groups, and its Financial Services Industry Group. Her practice focuses on litigation involving business and commercial real estate matters, including contract and commercial lease disputes, financial services and consumer lending, construction, and Proposition 65 matters. Marissa has substantial trial experience, and has chaired three jury and bench trials, as well as a four-week arbitration. Notably, in a construction defect case, she assisted a property owner in obtaining a $2+ million judgment against his unlicensed contractor. She has also represented institutional lenders and servicers in hundreds of consumer lending actions, obtaining early dismissals and judgments in favor of her clients.

Marissa received her B.A. with a major in political science and a minor in public policy from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she went on to earn her Master of Social Welfare degree. She received her J.D. from Loyola Law School Los Angeles where she was on the Dean's Honors List. Marissa previously served as a judicial extern for the Hon. A. Howard Matz (Ret.) of the United States District Court, Central District of California, and as an intern at the White House. Prior to becoming an attorney, Marissa was a social worker working with abused and neglected children and the homeless population in South Los Angeles.

Crystal Lofing

Based in the firm's Century City office, Crystal is a member of Allen Matkins' renowned Real Estate Department in which she is a part of the Commercial Practice Group and Office Industry Group. Crystal is frequently involved in some of the West Coast’s most high-profile real estate matters, including closing over $4 billion in commercial acquisitions and dispositions from Seattle to Los Angeles since 2010. One of her more notable matters was preparation of a new set of recorded covenants governing the cooperative use of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ stadium and surrounding parking lots while representing Frank McCourt on the real estate-side of his $2.15 billion sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Crystal has been recognized by numerous industry publications and groups for her outstanding accomplishments, including Real Estate Forum's2012 40 Under 40 and 2013 Tomorrow's Leaders in Southern California; the Los Angeles Daily Journal's2013 Top Five Associates to Watch in California; and as the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Outstanding Young Lawyer. Crystal received her J.D. from Harvard Law School. Prior to law school, she received her M.M. in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music and her B.M. in piano performance and music management, summa cum laude, from the University of Pacific.

Erin Murphy

Erin is based in Allen Matkins' Los Angeles office, and like Crystal, is a member of firm's Real Estate Department, as well as the Commercial Practice Group and Office Industry Group. In addition to commercial lease transactions, Erin has extensive experience in the acquisition and disposition of individual properties and portfolios in connection with commercial, industrial, retail and mixed-use projects. Erin recently represented a buyer in the acquisition of a 17-asset office and industrial portfolio with properties located in California and Arizona, and subsequently represented such client in the disposition of 12 of those 17 assets; the sale of some properties required amending CC&Rs and drafting reciprocal easement agreements. Erin also represented an institutional landlord in negotiating a full building office lease – approximately 178,000 rentable square feet – with Safelite Auto Glass for Safelite’s corporate headquarters.

Erin received her B.A., cum laude, from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her J.D. from Loyola Law School Los Angeles where she received a Faculty Academic Honors Scholarship. Erin is a member of CREW-LA.

ABOUT ALLEN MATKINS

Allen Matkins, founded in 1977, is a California-based law firm with more than 200 attorneys in four major metropolitan areas of California: Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco and San Diego. The firm's core specialties include real estate, real estate and commercial finance, bankruptcy and creditors' rights, construction, land use, natural resources, environmental, corporate and securities, intellectual property, joint ventures, taxation, employment and labor law, dispute resolution and litigation in all these matters.