FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2026
CONTACT
Kaitlyn Francis | kaitlyn@rebuttalpr.com
AWKO Opens San Francisco and Louisiana Offices, Adding Top Talent for Data Privacy, Personal Injury, and Sexual Abuse Practice Areas
New hires expand AWKO's Consumer Litigation Division on the West Coast and bring the firm's survivor advocacy and personal injury work to two new markets
Pensacola, FL – Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz (AWKO) announces the opening of two new offices in San Francisco, California, and Chalmette, Louisiana, just outside New Orleans, along with four new attorneys joining the firm, effective September 1. The new offices reflect the firm's intentional growth strategy: building best-in-class teams in areas where the law is rapidly evolving and where individuals need sophisticated representation the most.
The San Francisco office will house a new Data Breach & Privacy Subdivision within AWKO's Consumer Litigation Division. Amber L. Schubert joins as partner and Sonum Dixit as associate, both coming to AWKO from Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP, where they represented consumers, shareholders, and employees affected by large-scale data breaches and corporate misconduct. They join partner Jean Martin, who leads AWKO's Consumer Litigation Division.
"Amber is one of the most accomplished consumer fraud litigators on the West Coast, and bringing that level of experience and a proven book of business into this firm is a major step for our practice," said Jean Martin, partner and head of AWKO's Consumer Litigation Division. "Building a subdivision around that kind of expertise makes our practice stronger for clients nationwide as data breach litigation grows more complex."
Also joining the San Francisco office is Ali Marsh, who will be an associate with AWK Survivor Advocate Attorneys (AWK SAA), AWKO's dedicated practice representing survivors of sexual assault, abuse, and exploitation. Based in White Plains, New York and led by partner Hillary Nappi, AWK SAA handles cases across the country, and Ali's addition gives the practice a West Coast presence.
"Survivors deserve advocates who are close to them, who understand their community and their courts," said Hillary Nappi, partner and head of AWK Survivor Advocate Attorneys. "Ali's background representing survivors and her experience with some of the most difficult human rights work there is, makes her exactly the kind of advocate we built this practice around. Bringing her on gives survivors on the West Coast direct access to that same high standard."
In Louisiana, Carlos Zelaya II joins as partner to lead the newly opened office in Chalmette, for the firm’s Louisiana Personal Injury Division. Carlos brings more than three decades of trial and appellate experience in Louisiana and federal courts, including toxic tort, environmental contamination, and complex commercial litigation matters, and has taught trial advocacy and negotiation at Tulane Law School since 2013.
"We built this firm on the belief that people harmed by powerful institutions deserve lawyers who show up before the headlines do," said Justin Witkin, founding partner of AWKO. “San Francisco and Louisiana are where that belief takes us next in new markets with the same standard we've held for 25 years."
##
Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz (AWKO) is a national leader in high-impact, complex litigation focused on holding powerful institutions accountable. Based in Pensacola, Florida, with more than 30 attorneys and over 350 professionals, the firm represents individuals across the country who have been harmed by defective products, dangerous pharmaceuticals, corporate misconduct, and the harms of emerging technology. AWKO has recovered more than $10 billion for clients nationwide, with landmark results including the $6.01 billion 3M Combat Arms Earplugs settlement and $9 billion verdict over the diabetes drug Actos. Building on that foundation, the firm is now taking on the next generation of accountability litigation, including AI and chatbot harm, sports gambling and social media addiction, cryptocurrency fraud, data breaches, and child sexual exploitation. From multidistrict litigation to constitutional and international claims, AWKO is driven by a mission to deliver justice for its clients.