Law firm Cox, Castle & Nicholson beefed up its litigation practice team with three new hires at its Century City office on Tuesday. Veteran attorney Rob Begland joins as a partner He will represent companies in disputes relating to real property, contracts, corporate governance, intellectual property and insurance. Begland was previously a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. Stacy Freeman, former partner at Pine Pine Freeman Tillett, has been named senior counsel. Freeman’s experience has involved contracts, employment, probate, real estate, trusts and estates and government immunity law. Kevin Hannifan joins the firm as an associate from Feldman & Associates Inc., where he was an associate attorney. He is a member of Cox, Castle & Nicholson’s construction practice group, where he’ll focus on construction, business and commercial litigation.
Brentwood-based retail investment firm Westwood Financial named Matt Lougee its new executive vice president on Monday, poaching him from real estate investment trust DDR Corp., where he was a senior vice president of finance. Lougee will be responsible for spearheading the firm’s corporate strategy and finance. He’ll facilitate the financing of Westwood’s retail investments, oversee capital formation and investor relations, as well as negotiating joint-venture partnerships.
Salvador LaViña has joined law firm Barnes & Thornburg as a partner in the firm’s real estate department at its Century City office. LaViña’s focus is on real estate and corporate transactions such as acquisitions and sales, real estate fund formation, development and stock and asset transactions. He previously served as chair of the real estate and corporate departments at Enenstein Ribakoff LaViña & Pham APC in Brentwood.