Hiring a lawyer can be intimidating. Stepping into a lawyer's office can be even more stressful. At our firm, however, we strive to take the stress out of your legal matter. When you walk into our office, you will find a small, family-oriented firm focused on providing valuable and friendly service. John is the only attorney, and our legal secretary, Veronica, is his sister's childhood best friend. They have worked together for 20 years and treat each other like family. They will treat you the same.

George Louis is a practicing lawyer in the state of California,

Benjamin T. Ikuta is a trial attorney who has been licensed in California since 2008. For his entire career, Ben has focused on cases of wrongdoing against healthcare providers. Ben is a preeminent attorney in prosecuting medical malpractice actions who has tried multiple cases to verdict. He has presented and been published many times on medical malpractice issues.

Nicholas J. Leonard is a seasoned trial attorney who now manages Ikuta Hemesath’s Northern California office. Nick has practiced exclusively in medical malpractice after graduating from law school in 2008. Specifically, for the first 14 years of his career, Nick practiced as a defense attorney at Low McKinley & Salenko, a prestigious medical malpractice defense firm located in Sacramento. While there, Nick quickly rose through the ranks and became a partner in 2014. Hired by insurance companies, Nick successfully defended countless doctors, nurses, and hospitals in civil actions and board proceedings. Nick even presented to medical malpractice insurance companies, large hospitals, and medical groups on how to limit exposure in medical malpractice lawsuits. Nick was named a Rising Star, awarded to the top 2.5% attorneys under the age of 40, by Super Lawyers Magazine in the field of medical malpractice defense in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Nick’s transition from the defense has been seamless. His defense experience is the foundation and motivation for Nick, who uses the skills and knowledge learned during those years to achieve maximum compensation for injured victims of malpractice from those same insurance companies and large hospitals. To that end, Nick often speaks to other plaintiff lawyers about litigation strategies focused on leveraging internal pressure points insurance and large companies have to compensate injured persons for their losses. Nick graduated from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in 2008, where he was a member of the Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal and clerked at the California Attorney General’s Office. Before law school, Nick received an athletic scholarship from Seattle University to play on their basketball team and was honored as a member of the league’s academic all-conference first-team three times. He received a B.S. in Computer Science with a Business Specialization from Seattle University. After graduating but prior to law school, Nick worked as a Business Systems Analyst at Microsoft.

Jamal S. Mahmood has helped his clients recover millions of dollars through his approach to personal injury. As an experienced litigator, he’s been in the trenches supporting hundreds of injured people. He founded JSM Injury Firm APC with the vision of providing aggressive representation through legal expertise, personal attention and result-oriented goals. Mr. Mahmood graduated from the University of Oregon with a B.A. in Philosophy. He thereafter received his Juris Doctor from Western State College of Law with the distinction of Magna Cum Laude. He is currently a member of the California State Bar Association and admitted to the Federal Court. Mr. Mahmood works diligently to secure the compensation his injury victims deserve. He has a strong sense of justice and compassion for those injured by negligence because he was involved in two major car accidents in 2009 as a passenger. For this reason, he deals with complex cases that other injury attorneys disregard because he values the safety of his clients and their right to compensation for their injuries. He knows that a moment of carelessness or negligence can forever change a client’s life. His goal is therefore to help clients regain a balance in their lives as quickly as possible. Mr. Mahmood takes personal responsibility for the outcome of each case at JSM Injury Firm APC. When he is not helping victims of serious injuries, Mr. Mahmood enjoys spending time with his family and friends, relaxing at the beach, and traveling to new places. He is a fan of football and basketball, and specifically a huge laker’s fan.

Dedicated to fighting fraud, false advertising and abuse by corporations – We stand for the “little guy” (and gal). Our clients are victims of wrongdoing throughout the United States. We also represent tenants facing eviction.

Attorney Mando Macayaon has over twenty years of experience representing clients in the areas of United States Immigration and Deportation, California Family, Civil and Estate Planning Law. Attorney Macayaon started his career in 2003, with the prestigious law firm of Frank,Greenberg,Simone & Stefanski to take on the most challenging and complex of cases before starting his own firm in 2008. Mando Macayaon is a graduate of Western State College of Law in Fullerton, California and holds a degree in Nursing from Santa Ana College and a Communications degree from California State University, Fullerton. Mando Macayaon is licensed to practice law by the California State Bar and is sworn in the northern, eastern & central federal district courts.

Michelle Buxton Hemesath’s practice is focused on representing injured victims and their families. She formed Ikuta Hemesath, LLP in April of 2022 with law partner, Ben Ikuta. She began her career representing healthcare providers and learned from some of the best defense attorneys on the West Coast. During this time, Michelle. gained invaluable experience and intimate knowledge of how insurance companies handle lawsuits, how to best position a case for trial, and how to wade through complex medical issues. Michelle treats every case as if its going to trial. Michelle stoutly believes that the only way to obtain maximum recovery in a settlement is for the defense firm and insurance carrier to know that she is willing and able to try cases. Michelle was raised in Torrance, California. She attended college at San Diego State University. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts in political science, Michelle attended the University of San Diego School of Law. While at there, she participated in the university’s special education clinic advocating on behalf of students and parents to ensure students received the maximum benefits allowable under the law. Michelle graduated in the top twenty percent of her class and received awards in Complex Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution. In addition, Michelle received the Maria Shih Award for Diversity Awareness and Service. Michelle is licensed to practice in the State of California, United States District Court for the Central District of California and United States District Court for the Southern District of California. She is immediate past the President of the Women Lawyers of Long Beach (WLLB) and current Treasurer, as well as a member of the Orange County Bar Association (OCBA), Orange County Trial Lawyers Association (OCTLA), Orange County Asian American Bar Association (OCAABA), and Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA). Since 2019, Mrs. Hemesath has served as an attorney coach for the mock trial team at Valley High School. In 2021 and 2022, Michelle was selected as a Rising Star in plaintiff-side medical malpractice, awarded to the top 2.5% of attorneys under the age of 40, by Super Lawyer Magazine.

Since November of 2008, Heather Baker Dobbs has been a licensed and practicing attorney. For 16 years before joining Ikuta Hemesath LLP, she worked at a prestigious Los Angeles Plaintiffs’ firm handling every aspect of personal injury and employment matters from inception through trial. She now focuses on cases involving medical malpractice, elder abuse and personal injury. Through her years of litigation and hard fought wins in both trial and mediation, she has found that her true passion is in representing clients who have been wrongfully injured and obtaining large favorable results on their behalf. Heather enjoys forging a trusting working relationship with her clients and helping them through their time of injury or loss of a family member. Heather is well-versed in the ins and outs of every part of handling a case from inception to resolution. On a weekly basis she deals with the day to day of preparing complaints, discovery, depositions, hiring and conferring with experts, client contact, medical record analysis, drafting motions and briefs, attending hearings, mediation and trial. Heather is committed to the zealous representation of her clients in each of her cases, along with offering a personal side of transparent communication and compassion to clients along their litigation journey. When outside of the office, Heather enjoys spending time with her husband, two young kids, and dog, being active outdoors including hiking and going to the beach, and eating her favorite food: chips and salsa. Heather graduated magna cum laude from USC in 2005, with a double major in political science and psychology and a minor in business. Heather received her Juris Doctorate from Pepperdine University in May of 2008. During the fall of 2006, Heather clerked for the Honorable Kathleen Thompson, judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court of the Central District of California. Also, while at Pepperdine University, Heather obtained her Certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution in 2008 from the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. Heather has been selected as a Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Star (reserved for top 2.5% of attorneys under the age of 40) from 2012-2022.

Vanessa Raven is an experienced trial attorney who works out of the Northern California office. She is licensed in both California and Nevada. Vanessa’s practice focuses on representing injured victims in medical malpractice, personal injury, and elder abuse actions. Vanessa was formerly a partner at a prominent Sacramento medical malpractice defense firm. She spent nearly a decade representing physicians and hospitals in medical malpractice, elder abuse, and medical board licensing actions, giving her insight into how insurance companies think and how health care providers defend cases. She was named a rising star by Super Lawyers in medical malpractice in 2021 and 2022. Vanessa is a board member and current executive committee member of Women Lawyers of Sacramento (WLS). She is also a member of California Women Lawyers (CWL), the Sacramento County Bar Association (SCBA), Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC), and Capital City Trial Lawyers (CCTLA). She was raised in Sacramento, California and attended California State University, Sacramento, where she received a B.A. in English literature. She then attended the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, where she competed coast to coast on the nationally recognized mock trial team. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and writing, yoga, baking, and spending time with her family.