Climbing the Partnership Ladder

January 1, 2004

Guy R. Gruppie has been elevated to Senior Partner. Mr. Gruppie joined the firm as an associate in 1991. He was made an Associate Partner in 1998 and a Junior Partner in 2000. Mr. Gruppie specializes in the defense of product liability, catastrophic injury and business litigation matters and has tried numerous cases to verdict. Mr. Gruppie is a member of the firm's Product Liability Practice Group and served as Chair of the Firm's Hiring Committee since 1997. He is a member of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, the Defense Research Institute, the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel and has served as a volunteer mediator for the Los Angeles Superior Court. Mr. Gruppie is resident in the firm's Los Angeles office.

Gina E. Och, a member of the firm's Law & Appellate Practice Group, has been named a Partner. For the past seven years at M&C, Ms. Och has focused her practice on product liability, business litigation, public utilities and international law. Prior to joining M&C, Ms. Och worked as a Research Attorney for the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Ms. Och has prepared briefs and argued numerous cases at the appellate level. In addition, each year she is a co-presenter for the firm's Year in Review seminar with senior partner Edmund G. Farrell, III. Ms. Och is resident in the firm's Los Angeles office.

Kasey A. Covert has been named the Partner in Charge of Murchison & Cumming's Northern California office. She practiced seven years in the firm's San Diego office handling complex litigation, before moving north to manage the firm's first office in Northern California. Ms. Covert's practice includes construction defect, health law and general liability matters for the Sacramento and San Francisco Bay areas. She is a graduate of the University of San Diego School of Law and is a member of the Association of Northern California Defense Counsel.