Allen Matkins Elects Matthew Marino and Emily Murray to Partnership

LOS ANGELES - March 30, 2011 - Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP, a leading California business and real estate law firm, announces that attorneys Matthew Marino and Emily Murray have been elected to the firm partnership. The election is effective as of July 1, 2011.

"We are delighted to welcome Matthew and Emily to the partnership. They exemplify - personally and professionally - the qualities Allen Matkins nurtures and promotes," said Brian Leck, managing partner of Allen Matkins. "In the wake of the economic recovery in California and nationwide, they will play an important role, along with our many other exceptional attorneys, in meeting our clients' complex business and legal needs."

Matthew Marino

Marino practices in the litigation department in the firm's San Diego office. His practice focuses on civil and business litigation, with particular emphasis on real estate, construction claims, business torts, and landlord/tenant matters. He has a diverse litigation background that includes class actions, environmental litigation, government enforcement issues, and libel and Internet free speech litigation. Marino also has done substantial work in the area of gaming law and for gaming interests, including government regulation of gaming entities and Internet gaming and sports betting issues.

Marino was recently published in The Daily Journal regarding certifying class actions in fraud, unfair competition, and false advertising cases, in an article that was featured in the February 28, 2011 issue. He is a member of the National Association of Industrial Office Properties and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, for which he serves on the Board of Governors. Marino also is a member of the International Association of Gaming Attorneys and has twice been in published that organization's trade magazine, The Gaming Lawyer: The Plastic Empire: Regulation of Credit Cards and Online Gaming (The Gaming Lawyer, Summer 2002) and "Virtual Vigorish: Jay Cohen, Internet Wagering, and the Wire Act" (The Gaming Lawyer, Summer 2000).

Marino received his A.B., cum laude, from Princeton University in 1996 and his J.D., cum laude, from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1999.

Emily Murray

Murray practices in the firm's Los Angeles office, with primary focuses on environmental litigation, land use, and energy law. Her litigation practice includes federal and state court litigation of environmental claims related to land use, water quality, air quality, and hazardous materials brought under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act. She also represents clients before federal, state, and local agencies in connection with permitting and enforcement actions.

Murray's land use practice includes the representation of private and public sector clients in matters pertaining to the securing of land use entitlements and environmental compliance. She has significant experience in the preparation of environmental review documents under CEQA and NEPA for complex mixed use development projects throughout California. Her energy practice includes advising energy and renewable energy clients in all aspects of the industry, including project financing, acquisition of land, project entitlement and development, power purchase and sales, and environmental and regulatory compliance.

Murray is admitted to practice in California (2002) and Illinois (2003), and is a member of the American and California Bar Associations. She is a member of the ABA's Environmental and Energy Group; the Association of Women in Water, Energy & Environment; and the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Energy & Environment Committee. Murray is also a member of the firm's Pro Bono Committee and the Los Angeles office Recruiting Committee.

Murray received her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, cum laude, in 2002. She received her B.A. in Biology and Society from Cornell University in 1998 with a concentration in Environment, Law, and Society.

ABOUT ALLEN MATKINS

Allen Matkins, founded in 1977, is a California-based law firm with approximately 220 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, and dispute resolution and litigation in all these matters. For more than 30 years, Allen Matkins has helped clients turn opportunity and challenge into success by providing practical advice, innovative solutions and valuable business opportunities. When clients' challenges require experienced trial counsel, Allen Matkins has a proven track record of successful litigation before juries, judges and arbitrators.

Allen Matkins is located on the web at www.allenmatkins.com.