January 11, 2024 – Five Procopio attorneys based in downtown San Diego, Del Mar Heights and Orange County have been elevated to Partner status as the firm enters 2024. Zagros Bassirian, Steven Casselberry, Shai Larkin, John Miles and Sarah Taylor are the latest to assume this role at the AmLaw corporate, intellectual property and litigation law firm.

“Each of these new Partners has exhibited great character, competence and commitment to the firm and our clients,” said Managing Partner John D. Alessio. “They possess unique skill sets that reinforce Procopio’s stability and strength in litigation, real estate, M&A, and taxation.”

Zagros Bassirian focuses on corporate and commercial litigation and representing plaintiffs in serious injury and wrongful death matters. He represents clients in complex and high stakes business disputes in both state and federal court. Zag has represented clients, plaintiffs and defendants, in a broad range of civil matters between landlords and tenants, real estate buyers and sellers, majority and minority shareholders/members of LLCs, corporate governance, contract disputes, intellectual property, misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair business practices, defamation, defense of ADA and TCPA claims, and more. He has a Best Lawyers® One to Watch in Commercial Litigation for the last two years and is based in Procopio’s downtown San Diego office.

Steven Casselberry represents clients in the financial services, real estate and title insurance industries. His financial services clients include community and regional banks, as well as mortgage bankers, brokers, lenders and investors. Steve’s legal services include mitigation, litigation, bankruptcy, foreclosure, and loan and fraud investigation matters as well as business venture formations, problem loan workouts and acquisition of loans in bulk. With his deal-making and litigation experience, creditors often recruit him to resolve complex disputes and recover millions from debtors. Steve also counsels real estate developers, acquirers, contractors and individual investors in matters involving the acquisition, development and finance of real property, and represents real estate management, title insurance, escrow and construction companies. He routinely establishes joint affiliations compliant with the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). Steve has been on the Best Lawyers® list since 2016 for Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law. In October 2022 he joined Procopio’s office in Orange County, a region where he had more than 45 years of professional experience.

Shai Larkin represents buyers, sellers, investors and sponsors in a variety of corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and recapitalizations.  Shai represents companies from formation through exit, servicing them throughout their lifecycle, including initial organizational matters, and seed and subsequent debt and equity financings.  With emerging growth and later-stage companies, Shai handles corporate governance matters, employment agreements and executive compensation packages, services agreements and strategic partnership agreements and other commercial agreements. He is on the Best Lawyers® Ones to Watch list for Venture Capital Law and is based in Procopio’s Del Mar Heights office.

John Miles serves clients through domestic business and tax planning. He assists in the development of business transactions including general matters; financing structures; mergers and acquisitions (including matters related to the development of real estate); and strategic joint ventures with significant experience working in the healthcare field. John also has extensive experience planning tax-free reorganizations, advising on the choice of entity, and on the effectiveness of S corporation elections. He previously was a licensed stock broker at a financial firm in Point Loma. He recognized for Tax law as a Best Lawyers® One to Watch and a Super Lawyers® Rising Star and is based in Procopio’s downtown San Diego office.

Sarah Taylor focuses exclusively on family law matters, including all divorce proceeding issues, legal separation, parentage matters, child custody and visitation, move-away/relocation cases, grandparent visitation, child and spousal support, restraining orders, contempt actions, characterization issues, reimbursements, and post-judgment modifications. She represents parties in cases ranging from simple dissolutions to complex divorce cases.  Sarah works closely with each client to determine the best avenue to follow, with a primary focus on achieving an outcome that is fair and reasonable for the client.  She has extensive experience representing clients in mediation as well as litigation proceedings. Sarah is recognized as a Best Lawyers® One To Watch in Family Law and is based in Procopio’s downtown San Diego office.