PARTNERS
ALAN G. ROSS, ESQ.
Alan G. Ross received his Juris Doctor in 1992 from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley. He graduated summa cum laude from University of California, Irvine with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. Mr. Ross began his legal career with Graham & James LLP as a litigation associate in its Los Angeles and Orange County offices. His work in these two offices came with the benefits of working for an established worldwide firm while still affording him substantial “hands on” involvement with cases in state and federal courts.
Based on his early performance, Mr. Ross was offered and accepted an opportunity in 1995 to relocate to the firm’s office in Tokyo, Japan. During his tenure in Japan, Mr. Ross worked as in-house counsel for ITOCHU Corporation, a globally integrated Japanese trading company with annual revenues exceeding US$100 billion. During his three years at ITOCHU, Mr. Ross was responsible for overseeing litigation in United States courts and elsewhere and negotiated contracts for infrastructure projects throughout Asia and Australia. These projects included the Kowloon-Canton Railway, the US$500 million Monorail portion of the “KL Linear City” project in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and establishment of RPG Itochu Finance Ltd., a multinational financing company in Mumbai (Bombay), India.
Mr. Ross returned to practice in the United States in 1998 and became affiliated with the litigation boutique firm of Payne & Fears in Orange County, California. He subsequently founded the firm of Ross & Wersching LLP in Irvine, California, where he continues to represent domestic and foreign clients in a variety of commercial litigation and employment matters. Mr. Ross’s reported cases include Lockheed Martin v. Superior Court, 29 Cal.4th 1096 (2003), and Finley v. Superior Court, 80 Cal. App. 4th 1152 (2000).
Mr. Ross is admitted to practice before all State and Federal Courts in California. He is a member of the State Bar of California and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers.
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ERIC J. WERSCHING, ESQ.
Eric J. Wersching represents clients in all phases of complex litigation, with an emphasis on contract disputes, trade secret violations, employment disputes, and real estate matters. Mr. Wersching has successfully arbitrated and litigated cases involving misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contract, wrongful termination and harassment, fraud, wage and hour violations, construction defects, insurance bad faith, and employee raiding. A substantial portion of Mr. Wersching's practice also involves advising high net worth individuals on their legal issues.
Mr. Wersching received his Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he distinguished himself as an Order of the Coif and magna cum laude graduate, a Thurston Honor Society member, and Commencement Speaker. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a minor in Education, magna cum laude, from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was selected Commencement Speaker.
Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Wersching served as a law clerk to the Honorable Melvin T. Brunetti, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Prior to founding Ross & Wersching LLP (the predecessor firm to Ross Wersching & Manisco LLP), Mr. Wersching practiced employment, business and insurance litigation in the Orange County office of Payne & Fears LLP. Mr. Wersching also lecturers frequently on law related topics and is an adjunct professor at Western State University College of Law.
When not practicing law, Mr. Wersching volunteers in the community, including spending time as the Orange County Area Chair for the UCLA Alumni Association's Scholarship Committee. Mr. Wersching is a Trustee of the UC Hastings College of the Law Foundation, is a Fellow of the Orange County Bar Foundation, and is a past Chair of the Ladera Ranch Civic Council.
Mr. Wersching is admitted to practice in all State and Federal Courts in California as well as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a member of the State Bar of California, the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, the Robert A. Banyard Inn of Court and is a licensed California real estate broker.
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JOSEPH M. MANISCO, ESQ.
Joseph M. Manisco is a veteran attorney with more than twenty nine years of specialized experience in real estate and business law and litigation. Over a period of twenty three years, Mr. Manisco served as in-house legal counsel to three of the country's largest homebuilding companies.
Immediately prior to joining Ross Wersching and Manisco LLP, Mr. Manisco served as Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of K. Hovnanian Companies of California, Inc., a subsidiary of Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., a national homebuilder listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In this capacity, Mr. Manisco was responsible for all legal affairs of the California company, including land acquisition, development and disposition, home sales, Department of Real Estate processing, homeowner and subcontractor issues, dispute resolution and litigation, office leasing and subleasing, restructuring of challenged projects, and public infrastructure financing.
At KB Home, also a publicly traded homebuilding company, Mr. Manisco served as Vice President of Legal Affairs, first for the company's Nevada division, and subsequently for its Southern California divisions. During his tenure as Vice President of the Nevada division, it built and sold approximately 3,000 homes per year, making it one of the highest volume and most prosperous homebuilding divisions in the country. Mr. Manisco was an integral part of the Nevada division's management team, with responsibility for all of its legal affairs.
Prior to the acquisition of its homebuilding operations by KB Home, Mr. Manisco served as Senior Counsel to Lewis Homes Management Corp., which, at the time, was one of the country's largest and most successful private homebuilding companies. In addition to his responsibilities for the acquisition, development and sale of numerous residential communities in Southern and Northern California, Mr. Manisco represented the company in its acquisition, renovation and sale to the public of 1,270 units of former officers' housing at the closed Mather Air Force Base in Sacramento, California. Mr. Manisco was also responsible for the legal matters pertaining to the development of the 1,300 acre Terra Vista Master Planned Mixed Use Community in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
During the early years of his career, as a litigator with the Ventura law firm of Lowthorp Richards McMillan Miller Conway and Templeman, Mr. Manisco successfully litigated a variety of civil cases.
Mr. Manisco received his Juris Doctor in 1981 from Loyola University Law School, Los Angeles, where he was a member of the Loyola Law Review, the St. Thomas More Law Honor Society and, throughout law school, the Dean's Honor List. Mr. Manisco is also a 1978 graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science.
Mr. Manisco was admitted to practice law in 1981 and has since been a member of the State Bar of California. He is a member of the State Bar's Real Property Law Section and is a Director of the California Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation. He is also a licensed California Real Estate Broker.
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CYNTHIA M. WOLCOTT, ESQ.
Cynthia M. Wolcott’s real estate practice spans over twenty years. A 1985 graduate of the University of Southern California School of Law, Ms. Wolcott has significant experience representing both commercial and residential real estate developers, including homebuilders, shopping center developers and hotel developers. Ms. Wolcott’s practice includes negotiation and documentation of residential and commercial purchase and sale agreements and the financing for such transactions. Her practice also includes commercial leasing and long term ground leases, as well as land use and regulatory work, including CEQA compliance for her developer clients. She regularly handles transactions for families developing and/or leasing large real estate holdings.
In addition to receiving her Juris Doctor from the University of Southern California School of Law, Ms. Wolcott earned her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Dartmouth College. Prior to joining Ross Wersching & Manisco LLP, Ms. Wolcott was a partner with the law firm of Palmieri, Tyler, Wiener, Wilhelm and Waldron LLP.
Ms. Wolcott is admitted to practice before all state courts in California and is a member of the American Bar Association and the Orange County Bar Association, Real Estate and Business and Corporate Law Sections.
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