Montage recently welcomed 12 new freelance attorneys, bringing its current number to 35 lawyers. Montage Legal has quickly expanded to cover new geographical areas — from San Diego up the coast to San Francisco — by engaging exceptionally qualified attorneys who have left law firms, but still want to practice law and advance their legal careers. Montage fills a niche need for both attorneys, law firms, and their clients alike by providing exceptional temporary legal assistance to law firms at reduced hourly rates.
Montage’s newest freelance attorneys graduated from schools like Stanford, Dartmouth, University of Virginia, University of Michigan, Wellesley College, and Georgetown, and previously practiced at firms like Latham & Watkins, Clifford Chance, Quinn Emmanuel, Rutan & Tucker, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Vinson & Elkins, Irell & Manella, and Paul Hastings. Montage Legal Group now fills almost any temporary legal need – from basic litigation to substantive pre-trial and trial work, writs and appeals, corporate transactions, intellectual property, ERISA/employee benefits, and commercial finance.
Welcome Dimetria Jackson, Annie Albertson, Sana Swe, Kristin Martin, Katie Phillips, Natalie Gowin, Bobbie Eftekar, Leena Bhakta, Mary Mock, Laura Icken, Amy Hirsch-Holtzman, and Susie Dickman! See below for highlights about our new freelance attorneys, or click on their names to see their full Montage bios.
Dimetria Jackson
Dimetria obtained her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. Following law school, Dimetria was selected as an Echoing Green Foundation Fellow, which she pursued with the National Health Law Program and founded the Women & HIV Policy Development Project. She then joined the LA County Counsel’s Juvenile Dependency Division, and ultimately transitioned to in-house corporate work for First American Title Insurance Company and First American Trust, FSB. She has also been involved in numerous nonprofit organizations and is the OCBA’s incoming 2012 President. She is the CEO of an online children’s boutique, RedBAMBINA.com. Dimetria lives with her husband and 3 year old son, and is raising a 14 month old foster child that her family wishes to adopt.
Dimetria obtained her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. Following law school, Dimetria was selected as an Echoing Green Foundation Fellow, which she pursued with the National Health Law Program and founded the Women & HIV Policy Development Project. She then joined the LA County Counsel’s Juvenile Dependency Division, and ultimately transitioned to in-house corporate work for First American Title Insurance Company and First American Trust, FSB. She has also been involved in numerous nonprofit organizations and is the OCBA’s incoming 2012 President. She is the CEO of an online children’s boutique, RedBAMBINA.com. Dimetria lives with her husband and 3 year old son, and is raising a 14 month old foster child that her family wishes to adopt.
Annie obtained her B.A. from Stanford University, and her law degree from Northwestern University School of Law. Annie previously practiced at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP (now SNR Denton), Latham & Watkins, and Buchalter Nemer. Annie also spent one year in Germany as a recipient of the prestigious Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship prior to joining Latham & Watkins. Annie stays busy with freelance work and chasing after her 2 ½ year old son. Annie is also expecting her second baby in Spring of 2012.
Sana obtained her B.A. from Occidental College and her law degree from Loyola Law School. Sana graduated magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, and was a member of the Loyola Law Review. Sana began her legal career at Irell & Manella, LLP, where she practiced litigation and employment law from 1994 to 1997. Sana then joined Paul Hastings LLP, where she was elected full equity partner in the Employment Law Department in 2005. Sana resigned as partner in 2008 to freelance and to start her own labor and employment law firm. Sana practices employment law in Los Angeles, both through her own solo practice and through freelance work with Montage. 
Kristin Sciarra Martin earned her B.A. from UCLA in 2001. She obtained her JD from Loyola Law School in 2004, where she served as the Production Editor for the Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review. Kristin began her legal career at Haight, Brown & Bonesteel in Los Angeles, where she focused on business litigation, including insurance, construction, and product liability matters. Kristin then joined Gartenberg, Gelfand, Wasson & Seldon, a boutique law firm that specializes in trade secret litigation and fraud cases. Kristin resides in Orange County with her husband and baby son.
Katie obtained her B.A. from the University of Florida in 2002 and her JD in the top 20% of Stetson University College of Law in 2005, where she won several awards for her role on the International Moot Court Team. Katie started her legal career in litigation with Reid & Hellyer, and then joined Gresham, Savage, Nolan & Tilden, where she focused on real estate transactions, land use, redevelopment, city code enforcement, acquisition, zoning, permitting and development. Katie then started her own law firm, Meier & Phillips, focusing on real estate and corporate transactions. Katie then joined Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith in their employment group. Katie resides in Orange County with her husband, and is expecting her first baby in March of 2012.
Natalie obtained her B.A. from UCLA, cum laude, in 2001, and her J.D. from NYU School of Law in 2004, where she was a Dean’s Merit Scholar. After law school, Natalie joined Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld’s litigation department in Los Angeles. Natalie then moved to Orange County and joined Rutan & Tucker’s litigation group in Orange County. Natalie has been named a Southern California Superlawyer Rising Star in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Natalie resides in Orange County with her husband and infant son.
Bobbie earned her B.S. in Psychology and Pre-Medicine, with a specialization in Biology, from Texas A&M University in 2001, where she graduated cum laude in the top 10% of her class. She obtained her J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law in 2005, where she graduated cum laude, Order of the Coif,Stoelker, where she focused on intellectual property litigation (trade secret, trademark, patent and copyright litigation), and business litigation. Bobbie joined Quinn Emanuel’s intellectual property litigation group in 2006. Bobbie then moved to Orange County and joined Snell & Wilmer’s product liability litigation group in 2008. She left Snell in 2011 to pursue a career in Sports Medicine, and is currently getting her Masters of Science at California State University, Long Beach.
Leena graduated cum laude from the University of California, Irvine in 1998, and received her J.D., with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law in 2001. Leena began her legal career at Vinson & Elkins in the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group. Leena then joined Halliburton Company in 2005, and was primary counsel in charge of legal compliance for Halliburton’s qualified plans, welfare benefit plans, the master trust and offshore retirement plans. Leena has extensive experience with PPA, COBRA, USERRA, FMLA, HIPPA, and PPACA compliance. Leena then relocated to Orange County, where she currently lives with her husband and two young daughters.
Mary obtained her B.S. in cognitive science in 2002 from Wellesley College, and her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 2007. After law school, Mary practiced general civil litigation at Caldwell, Kennedy & Porter, and then at Musick, Peeler & Garrett. Mary currently resides in Southern California’s high desert region.
Laura obtained her B.A. from Dartmouth College and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. Laura was an associate at Clifford Chance (fka Rogers & Wells) in New York, and lived in both France and Germany, where she was an associate with Freshfields (the U.K. law firm) and Shearman and Sterling. Laura specializes in entertainment law, and has worked in-house at various entertainment companies including Fremantle Media, National Geographic Television, MySpace, Yahoo! and various Fox entities. Laura is currently doing freelance work in Los Angeles, and stays busy with her 7 year old daughter and new baby. 
Amy graduated magna cum laude from UCLA in 2000, and obtained her J.D. from UCLA School of Law, Order of the Coif, in 2006. After law school, Amy clerked for the Honorable Alicemarie Stotler in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California. She then joined Paul Hastings’ San Francisco employment group in 2007. At Paul Hastings, Amy represented and counseled employers in single and multi-plaintiff employment litigation. Amy is our Lead Attorney for San Francisco and will take an active role in marketing for Montage. Amy resides in San Francisco with her husband and toddler son.
Susie earned her B.A. in English from the University of California, Irvine in 2002, and her J.D. from the University of Southern California School of Law in 2006. After law school, Susie joined Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton’s corporate department in Orange County. Susie then relocated to Los Angeles, and joined McDermott, Will & Emery’s corporate group. Susie’s experience includes private and public equity offerings, mergers & acquisitions, debt offerings, commercial finance, venture financings and corporate governance, and general corporate transactions. Susie resides in Santa Monica with her husband.Montage is thrilled to welcome our newest freelance attorneys!