Category: WTJ Updates

Laura E. Devane and Julie R. Campos join the team

Whitney, Thompson & Jeffcoach is excited to announce the newest partners joining our team for 2025: Laura E. Devane and Julie R. Campos. Both attorneys bring experience advising and representing employers in a broad range of employment matters. With their addition, WTJ intends to expand our already flourishing employment law practice, positioning us to offer clients an extensive range of litigation, class action, and counsel in this area.

Laura E. Devane graduated magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School and has worked to defend corporations in multimillion-dollar cases stemming from employment-related claims. Laura has also provided pro bono representation and assistance in death penalty cases, and served as a housing court volunteer for low-income individuals.

Julie R. Campos is a graduate of California State University, Fresno, and the University of Alabama School of Law. She has represented employers of all sizes in class-action and single-plaintiff cases all through California, while providing clients with the strategies they need to minimize exposure, manage risk, and control costs.

The WTJ team looks forward to everything we’ll do in 2025 with these talented individuals.

Whitney, Thompson & Jeffcoach’s attorney Steve McQuillan was awarded the 2024 Blaine E. Pettitt Mentor Award on Thursday, October 10, at the Fresno County Young Lawyers Association’s annual George A. Hopper luncheon. Each year, this award recognizes one attorney who has demonstrated an exemplary commitment to mentoring young attorneys throughout their journey into the legal profession.

This award is a well-earned honor for McQuillan. He has spent much of his career mentoring young attorneys, going back to 2004, when he was one of the founding coaches of the Fresno State Mock Trial program. He coached teams in that program for approximately nine years, mentoring well over 100 different college students in that time. The team won many competitions under his tenure, with several of the members coached by McQuillan winning best attorney awards, receiving scholarships to law school, and going on to practice law locally and throughout the country. Their success is a testament to the incalculable number of hours Steve dedicated to the students on those teams.

From 2010 to 2015, Steve taught civil pretrial litigation at San Joaquin College of Law, and also continued to teach trial advocacy. He maintained his dedication to putting in extra hours to guide students in honing their skills, with many of them becoming local attorneys.

Steve’s guiding role continued at his firm, where he mentored many young attorneys including Kristina Garabedian, Will Jackson, Brooke Bergman, and others. He continues to serve as their mentor today, regularly fielding calls for advice. Some of Steve’s current colleagues at Whitney, Thompson & Jeffcoach even include former students from that very first mock trial team in 2004, now practicing law alongside him. Steve’s ongoing commitment to being a phenomenal resource and mentor for the next generation of attorneys lets him stand as deserving of this award bestowed on him.

Another Bulldogs win in the books!

The Bulldogs took on the New Mexico Lobos Saturday, Sept. 21, and WTJ was there to cheer on Fresno State. The firm’s tailgate party was just as successful as the Bulldogs’ 38-21 win against New Mexico. At Whitney, Thompson & Jeffcoach, we love getting the whole team together for community events like this, whether it’s rallying for a win with the rest of the Red Wave, or just bringing together friends and family for a good time. Like the Fresno State Bulldogs, WTJ knows that when we work together, we win together. Thanks to all the teammates who attended, and we look forward to seeing you at our next event!

Marshall Whitney is leveraging his extensive experience in mediations

Whitney Thompson & Jeffcoach is excited to announce that our partner, Marshall Whitney, will be expanding his mediation services. Marshall will continue his current areas of practice, which include business and commercial litigation, professional malpractice defense, ethics advice, and risk management consultation, but he will now devote more of his time to providing mediation services to anyone who may need a dynamic, experienced business litigator to help creatively resolve cases short of trial.

Marshall brings substantial experience to the new role he’s exploring as a mediator. He has received formal training in mediation through the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University and has participated in and mediated hundreds of cases throughout his career. Now, Marshall looks forward to expanding his area of practice to focus on this aspect. He is ready to apply his broad and varied background in litigating cases, along with innovative problem-solving skills and a deep commitment to effectively resolving cases, to helping parties and attorneys in resolving difficult and complex matters.

For more details on Marshall’s experience, please view his employee page.

WTJ’s 2023 retreat is in the books! Our firm spent the weekend in Monterey, CA, for a time of bonding with our team and their families. We enjoyed team-building activities such as a scavenger hunt, a catamaran cruise, and golfing. There was also a beach bonfire that included delicious s’mores. We truly value our incredible team members and look forward to our next firm event.

We are pleased to announce Jacob Sarabian as our newest Partner at WTJ. Jacob joined WTJ in 2021 after practicing at a nationally ranked litigation firm based in Los Angeles. Since then, he has utilized his extensive experience in business litigation to the benefit of WTJ clients by successfully representing them in diverse practice areas such as real estate disputes, agriculture, crop loss cases, and trust and estate litigation. Jacob was honored for his dedication to his areas of practice in 2022 when he was selected for inclusion in the Northern California Rising Stars list.

Outside of the Office

In his free time, Jacob serves on the Board of the Fresno County Young Lawyers Association. He also enjoys spending time with his wife, family, and dog, and is a fan of college football (Go ‘Dogs!) and the San Francisco Giants.

We are excited to have Jacob Sarabian begin his new role as a Partner at WTJ, and we look forward to his continued success with our firm. Congratulations, Jacob!

Celebrating Jaskarn Chahal

The WTJ team is happy to welcome Jaskarn Chahal to the practice of law as our newest attorney. After passing the July 2022 California Bar Exam, his swearing-in ceremony took place on November 22, 2022, before the Honorable Judge Hamilton. We look forward to having Jaskarn as a key attorney on our team who supports WTJ’s public entity representation practice. Congratulations, Jaskarn!