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.

TORKLAW is a personal injury law firm dedicated to representing victims of negligence and serious accidents. Since 2012, our attorneys have helped individuals and families pursue justice after life-altering injuries caused by the careless or wrongful actions of others. Our lawyers represent clients in cases involving car, motorcycle, bicycle, and pedestrian accidents, dangerous or defective products, unsafe property conditions, animal attacks, catastrophic injuries, wrongful death, and certain employment matters. When someone else’s negligence causes harm, we work to hold the responsible parties accountable and secure the compensation our clients need to recover and rebuild. Founded by attorney Reza Torkzadeh, TORKLAW was built on the belief that injured people deserve more than legal representation—they deserve guidance, compassion, and strong advocacy during one of the most difficult times in their lives. Our team is committed to helping clients navigate the legal process with clarity while standing up to insurance companies and corporations that attempt to minimize responsibility. At TORKLAW, we fight for justice for our clients and work to make our communities safer by holding negligent parties accountable.

Following 10 years as a senior prosecutor with the Orange County District Attorney's Office, where he supervised the Homicide Panel, Paul Meyer founded his own firm in 1981. His practice includes both state and federal criminal defense, involving such matters as the successful defense of Merrill Lynch during the Orange County bankruptcy in 1996, the defense of members of the Orange County Board of Supervisors and judges of both the Los Angeles and Orange County Superior Courts. His practice includes a wide variety of vehicular crimes, from manslaughter to D.U.I. along with defense of fraud, child pornography and regulatory matters involving the District Attorney and federal agencies. Mr. Meyer takes a "hands on" approach to practice. Mr. Meyer is currently designated as one of five lawyers in Southern California for legal representation of judges and justices before the Commission on Judicial Performance. He has successfully tried dozens of major felony cases before juries in both Los Angeles and Orange Counties; comprising, in all, over 200 jury trials. For nearly 40 years Mr. Meyer has been the lead lawyer in representation of the most serious criminal cases charged in Southern California. He was selected as the Criminal Defense Attorney of the Year by the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association, and recently as Trial Lawyer of the Year for Orange County by the Best Lawyers in America. He has consistently been named to the Top 100 and Top 50 lawyers in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Mr. Meyer has been cited by the Los Angeles Times and New York Times for his work in many cases including the successful federal and state representation of Superior Court Judge Ronald Kline, County Supervisor Don Roth and other elected officials. His successful criminal defense of Princess Alayban of the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia received world-wide media coverage, as did his earlier successful defense of Merrill Lynch. He led the criminal defense of the regional branch of the Republican Party. He is the legal representative of the Orange County Deputy Sheriff's Association, and the designated representative in matters involving use of deadly force by the Orange County Probation Department. A guest speaker of the Department of Justice, National Medical Examiners Association, Fidler Institute in Los Angeles, California Public Defenders and District Attorneys Associations, an Association of Business Trial Lawyers, he has also taught consistently throughout his career. Mr. Meyer has lectured internationally on subjects of ethics and professionalism for the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Mr. Meyer served as Adjunct Professor of Law for Western State University College of Law and for the Police Officers Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.). His teaching includes C.E.B. programs for the State Bar, and the College of Trial Advocacy for Orange County. His work on The Uses of Experts in Criminal Trials has been published in the ABA Litigation Manual. A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Mr. Meyer served as Regent for Southern California, Arizona and Hawaii from 2008 to 2012. Mr. Meyer is also a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers and also a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He has been recognized for his leadership roles in many other organizations including service as a Director at Large for the Orange County Bar Association, Director of the Community Services Program, and on the Board of the Center for Lawyers and Trial Advocacy of Chapman University School of Law. He graduated from the U.C.L.A. School of Law where he served as Chief Articles Editor of the U.C.L.A. Law Review. He received the Order of the Coif. Mr. Meyer's work has been cited hundreds of times by the New York Times, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, and many national magazines. He has appeared as a guest commentator for CNN and was selected by CNN to provide exclusive commentary of the opening statements in the O.J. Simpson murder trial.

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.