{ }

EDGAR J. REYNOSO

Edgar J. Reynoso is an Associate in our Newport Beach office.  He joined the firm in 2023. Mr. Reynoso has 16 years’ experience dealing with all aspects of workers’ compensation claims.

After graduating from law school in 1998, Mr. Reynoso represented workers’ compensation applicants.  He represented both personal injury plaintiffs as well as workers compensation applicants for six years.  During his tenure at this firm, Mr. Reynoso obtained a $41,900,000 judgement on a personal injury case.  While Mr. Reynoso was vigorously representing a workers’ compensation applicant in a deposition, the defense attorney liked his style and offered him a job, which he accepted.

For the next 10 years, Mr. Reynoso defended workers’ compensation claims. He regularly attended seminars hosted by insurance companies, which trained him on how to find, among other things, workers’ compensation fraud.  

Mr. Reynoso worked directly with representatives from many insurance companies, such as Royal & Sun Alliance, Zenith Insurance, ACE/USA, RSKCo, Specialty Risk Services, Crum & Forster, and One Beacon Insurance Group.  I also worked directly with self-insured companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Sam’s Club, National Sports Grill, Cheesecake Factory, and YMCA defending their WC claims.  Thus, he is very confident in dealing all aspects of workers’ compensation claims.

In addition to all California state courts, Mr. Reynoso is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Central, Eastern and Southern Districts of California; and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mr. Reynoso earned his law degree from Western State University, College of Law in 1998.

FRANCIS FERNANDEZ

EDUCATION

Francis Fernandez obtained his Juris Doctor from Pacific Coast University, School of Law in Long Beach, CA. He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2021.

BACKGROUND

Mr. Fernandez started working as a File Clerk in our Newport Beach office over a decade ago. He then served as the Firm’s Calendar Clerk and the Supervisor for the Newport Beach front office. Mr. Fernandez was eager to further his legal career and he began attending law school at night while working full time.

While attending law school, he transitioned from the Firm’s Calendar Clerk to a Hearing Representative. Over the last few years, Mr. Fernandez has been training attending/observing deposition/court appearances and analyzing legal cases under Attorney supervision. During this time, he gained extensive knowledge in defending cases aggressively, and bringing cases to a cost effective and expeditious resolution.

Mr. Fernandez is an Associate in our Newport Beach office.

MARIA XIMENA ZIMERI FERNANDEZ

EDUCATION

Maria Ximena Zimeri Fernandez went to Law School in Guatemala. She completed her undergraduate education in one of the best universities in Central America (“Universidad Francisco Marroquin”) she received her Juris Doctor Degree and graduated Cum Laude. She passed the bar in Guatemala and was admitted to practice law in 2018 as an Attorney and Notary Public.

After completing her undergraduate education, she completed her master’s degree and obtained an LLM in Pepperdine University in Commercial Law and International Arbitration. She passed the California Bar Examination in July 2019 and was admitted to the California Bar immediately following.

BACKGROUND

When Maria Ximena was in Law School, she worked as a paralegal for three years in a prominent law firm in Guatemala, and developed great organization, communication, research, and analytical skills. She worked in the area of civil litigation but participated in various cases involving arbitration, employment law, constitutional law, and commercial law.

Maria Ximena joined the Newport beach office of Samuelsen, Gonzalez, Valenzuela and Brown in 2020.

RECOGNITIONS

  • Cum Laude, Universidad Francisco Marroquin
  • Half Straus Merit Scholarship for the LL.M Program in Pepperdine University
  • CALI Excellence Award For the Future Award in the study of Legal Research and Writing
  • Admitted to practice law in Guatemala and California

LANGUAGES

Maria Ximena is fluent in Spanish and in English.

SARAH CHANNELS

EDUCATION

SARAH CHANNELS obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego. She obtained her Juris Doctor from Pacific Coast University, School of Law in Long Beach and was the valedictorian of her class. Sarah was admitted to the State Bar of California the same year she graduated.

BACKGROUND

Sarah began her career in the workers’ compensation defense field in 1996. She comes from a workers’ compensation defense family. Her father was a workers’ compensation defense attorney for over 35 years and her mother is a nurse case manager. Sarah started as a file clerk in her father’s law firm and eventually worked her way up to paralegal. Once her father became a sole practitioner, Sarah continued in her paralegal duties, which included extensive legal research, and also maintained client relationships.

After her father’s passing, Sarah continued her career as a workers’ compensation defense paralegal. She began working at Samuelsen, Gonzalez, Valenzuela & Brown, LLP with 16 years of experience. Her extensive knowledge of workers’ compensation, with an emphasis on the defense side, made Sarah an asset to our firm. She was eager to further her career and began attending law school at night while working full time.

While attending law school, Sarah transitioned from paralegal to hearing representative. She specialized in pro per settlements and focused on obtaining settlement approvals on an expedited basis. During this time, she gained further knowledge of the workers’ compensation laws of California.

Sarah’s vast experience in the workers’ compensation defense industry allows her to provide an aggressive defense of claims. She strives for early resolution of claims to avoid further litigation costs, yet carefully analyzes each claim to obtain the most favorable outcome for the client.

Sarah is an associate in our Newport Beach office.

KEVIN KOTTKE

EDUCATION

KEVIN J. KOTTKE obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology with a Minor in Political Science from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 2012. He received his Juris Doctorate from Pacific Coast University School of Law and was admitted to the California State Bar that same year.

BACKGROUND

Kevin Kottke started his legal career as a part-time file clerk with the law offices of Samuelsen, Gonzalez, Valenzuela & Brown, LLP, in 2009, while attending the University of Colorado, Boulder. He later transitioned to the lien department negotiating complex liens while resolving them in an expeditious and cost-efficient manner. After graduation from the University of Colorado, Boulder, he became a hearing representative with the firm, specializing in the area of in pro per settlements. Mr. Kottke continued to work full-time at the law offices of Samuelsen, Gonzalez, Valenzuela & Brown, LLP, while attending Pacific Coast University School of Law part-time. After graduating from law school, he was admitted to the California Bar that same year.

Kevin Kottke’s extensive experience from being with Samuelsen, Gonzalez, Valenzuela & Brown, LLP, has enabled him to be successful in the outcome of intricate cases while addressing the needs of clients.

ERICA PHAN

EDUCATION

ERICA PHAN completed her undergraduate education at the University of California, Los Angeles where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics with minors in Accounting and African American Studies. She continued on to receive her Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University School of Law. During her time at Pepperdine, Ms. Phan was a recipient of the Kimberly Dawn Ellis and completed a study abroad program in London where she held a Criminal Defense externship and focused her studies on corporations, international commercial arbitration and federal taxation.

BACKGROUND

After being admitted to the State Bar of California, Ms. Phan began her practice in civil litigation specializing in the areas of complex commercial and insurance coverage litigation, products liability and contracts. She gained experience in all phases of litigation including trial preparation, court appearances and settlement negotiations.
In 2012, Ms. Phan transitioned her focus to Workers’ Compensation defense and has practiced exclusively since. She excels in aggressively defending files while expediting closure through trials and settlements. Ms. Phan is well versed in all phases of litigation, including case in chief, lien resolution, and contribution and has received many favorable outcomes including several Take Nothings. Ms. Phan became a Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation in 2017.

We are pleased to have Ms. Phan as a Partner in our Newport Beach office.

JONATHAN LUNDGRIN

EDUCATION

Jonathan Lundgrin received his Bachelor’s Degree in History from Walla Walla University in Washington and his Masters of Business Administration from La Sierra University. He obtained his Juris Doctor from the University of San Diego Law. Mr. Lundgrin was a McLennon Moot Court Honor participant and wrote for the San Diego Journal of Climate and Energy Law.

BACKGROUND

While in Law school Mr. Lundgrin worked as a law clerk at the San Diego County Office of the Public Defender. He also was a Legal Intern at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office where he acted as a trial attorney and prosecuted a DUI trial with a guilty verdict.

Since passing the California State Bar, Mr. Lundgrin has gained experience handling workers’ compensation and personal injury cases. Mr. Lundgrin’s strategic negotiation skills have led him to many successful and cost-effective settlements for his clients. Mr. Lundgrin has appeared at and gained useful working knowledge of all the Southern California Workers Compensation Appeals Boards as well as a vast majority of the Workers Compensations Judges. Mr. Lundgrin’s criminal and civil trial experience provides him with an effective and assertive deposition technique that he has utilized when deposing many AME/QME physicians and hundreds of applicants.

Mr. Lundgrin has obtained multiple “take nothing” decisions at
AOE/COE Trials and Lien Trials.

Jonathan Lundgrin is an associate in our Newport Beach office.

Newport Beach

3501 Jamboree Road
Suite 602
Newport Beach, CA 92660

TEL:  949.252.1300
FAX:  949.252.1399

TINA M. BACKER

EDUCATION

TINA M. BACKER obtained her Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz, majoring in History with Honors. She received her Juris Doctor from the Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, California.

BACKGROUND

Ms. Backer served as a Paralegal Instructor prior to becoming an attorney. Ms. Backer practiced as an applicant attorney for more than three years in Workers’ Compensation for a large firm where she handled 132(a) discrimination complaints and Serious and Willful violations as well. Her background in applicant work has given her the knowledge and skill to practice Workers’ Compensation Defense aggressively. She now solely represents large employers, third party administrators and insurance companies in Workers’ Compensation for all Southern California boards. On the weekends, she devotes her time to being team mom for her daughters’ OC Allstar dance team as well as helping her son coordinate various charity activities through his service organization. Ms. Backer joined the Newport Beach office of Samuelsen, Gonzalez, Valenzuela and Brown in 2008.

ROBERT R. CAMPBELL

EDUCATION

ROBERT R. CAMPBELL, II graduated on the Deans Honor Roll for all semesters from California State University, San Bernardino in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Minor in Psychology. Mr. Campbell received his Juris Doctor from University of Laverne, College of Law, in 2004 with an American Jurisprudence Award in Criminal Law.

BACKGROUND

Mr. Campbell has over 21 years of experience handling Workers’ Compensation. He started his career as a Hearing Representative, Vocational Rehabilitation Coordinator and Paralegal. Thereafter, Mr. Campbell became a Managing Attorney where he operated and managed an office in the Riverside area and concurrently handled the case management of over 1000 Applicants from case inception to settlement and/or trial. Mr. Campbell also served as a Senior Associate Attorney where he had daily appearances at numerous Workers’ Compensation Appeals Boards including: San Bernardino, Riverside, Pomona, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Van Nuys, Marina Del Ray, Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego. Mr. Campbell has settled 1000’s of cases, taken over 500 depositions throughout his career and filed numerous Petitions for Reconsideration resulting in persuasive law. Mr. Campbell has a winning record in the courtroom and in ADR proceedings based on strong capabilities in preparing expert witnesses for court testimony. With Mr. Campbell’s extensive experience as an Applicant Attorney, he understands how to most thoroughly represent Employers, Insurance Companies and third party administrators on their Workers’ Compensation claims.

Mr. Campbell brings great knowledge and experience to the firm. He joined the law office of Samuelsen, Gonzalez, Valenzuela and Brown as an Associate in 2010 and is currently a partner where he handles Workers’ Compensation Defense in our Newport Beach office.

Sidebar