In court and on the strings, John Swenson is a bit of a virtuoso. Guitar has been a passion of his for nearly his whole life, and if it weren’t for the call of home and a career in law, John might still be touring Budapest right now.

“Not long after law school I went to Hungary for about three years, working for a number of organizations that were deployed in post-Soviet countries to assist with building up infrastructure,” John said. “And throughout, I was playing guitar for a band at venues all over Budapest. It was a lot of fun.”

Lucky for us, the allure of old horizons and new opportunities beckoned, leading him back to his native Southern California. He spent the next 13 years handling product liability defense litigation under the guidance of his legal mentor, an old family friend. His mentor’s independent practice eventually merged into a Big Law firm, and John realized that he and his clients would benefit from a little more flexibility. That’s when he met firm founder Chris Scali.

“I was really impressed with what he had put together, as at the time I’d never seen anything like it,” said John. “A one-stop shop for automotive retailers was a concept that really appealed to me. I grew up in SoCal, so I always had that lust for cars, even though I was by no means a gearhead. But I immediately saw the value of the Scali business model in the automotive-heavy LA market.”

John’s deep experience in product liability litigation proved a win/win for the firm and his own personal practice, as he was able to narrow his focus to meet the specific needs of the automotive industry. His day-to-day work typically includes some mix of consumer litigation (in state, federal and appellate courts), and pre-litigation negotiation. He also dedicates significant time to pro bono work, having recently been lauded by the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles for his defense of a group of longtime Santa Monica residents displaced by a fire that was caused by their landlord’s neglect.

John loves spending time with his two children, a son soon turning 18 and a 12-year-old daughter. His son’s even playing guitar himself these days, and John’s been happy for the opportunity to share his passion for music with his kids.

“It’s been great. I like to build electric guitars, I recently built my fifth, and we were able to build one for my son that was just for him,” John said. “And I love just hanging out with my daughter. She’s really the love of my life right now.”

Scali Rasmussen’s senior corporate paralegal Shawn Peters spent more than a decade as a counselor in higher education. But with a Juris Doctor from Southwestern Law School and years of experience under his belt as a law clerk, Shawn says he always felt something in his mind calling him back to the legal world.

A call with his long time friend Chris Scali - the firm’s managing shareholder - made his move back into law official.

“He reached out to me back in 2018. He knew I wasn’t completely satisfied with where I was at the time and asked if I wanted to jump back in,” said Shawn.

As senior corporate paralegal, Shawn’s job is to primarily assist clients with transactions and licensing for new businesses. He also assists other parts of the firm, especially the labor and employment practice, in potential damage analysis summarizing depositions for the litigation team.The thing that really makes the job interesting, he said, is how much his duties day-to-day shift based on the needs of the firm’s clients.

“If we are involved in a purchase or a sale, I am normally the person that helps form the company and obtain all the necessary permits and licenses for the new business to operate,” said Shawn. “Once you establish a relationship with a client what I find is they will frequently reach back out to you on various licensing and permitting questions.”

The most rewarding aspect of the job for Shawn is the sense of accomplishment he feels when a client gets what they need.

“From my standpoint on the corporate side, clients have a lot they are dealing with when they start or acquire a business,” said Shawn.” I can’t tell you how many times I have been thanked at the end of the transaction for helping them through the process or being there to answer questions when they need help.

With family around the country, Shawn and his wife like to spend most of their off-time traveling to visit.

Most people might hesitate at the prospect of trading beautiful villas, Renaissance architecture and a view of The Campanile for the busy streets of LA 6000 miles away. But most people aren’t Anthony. “I live a big, big life,” said Anthony. And he’s got the resume to back it up.

Prior to leaving his home country of Italy, the Florence native was employed for several years at the Vatican as a superintendent, working with parish and diocesan leadership on the administrative end of things. He later served for seven years as an office administrator for Polizia di Stato.

But, always on the lookout for his next big move, Anthony was suddenly struck with the idea of a move to America—and Los Angeles in particular.

“It was a decision that would change everything. So I called Chris Scali—my best friend, ‘What would you think if I moved to America’?” said Anthony. “He told me, ‘It’s not going to be very easy, but if you want to do it, you should try.’”

While the LA life took some getting used to, he says things couldn’t have worked out for the better: he’s now three years married to his husband Mark, who’s a lawyer in Los Angeles. They have a young pit bull named Guido.

As file clerk, Anthony’s not only the firm’s official recordkeeper, he’s arguably its most reliable linguist and translator. He’s fluent in four languages—English, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. He also understands French and Russian. “In Europe, the countries are so close that you are always traveling somewhere else. Three months here, five months there,” Anthony said. “And I always wanted to take in the culture and learn the language.”

While his friendship with Chris was the link that brought him into the legal world of the US, Anthony said he’s come to deeply appreciate the firm, its members, and the important work they do.

“The firm really has a vision, and everyone is always working to achieve it,” said Anthony.

While most new employees are welcomed to our firm with a tour around the office and many warm greetings along the way, Julie joined Scali Rasmussen under slightly different circumstances in June 2020, when the pandemic was in full swing and lockdown measures were at their tightest. Despite the chaos of the times, and the fact that most in-person interactions were off the table, she says the firm found ways to give her the old-fashioned hospitable reception with video conferencing and the occasional socially distanced face-to-face.

“Everything was shut down, but I really wanted to get to know people, I wanted to come into the office. But at that point there were really only a few people there regularly,” said Julie. “Considering they were hiring during COVID – which was a remarkable thing other firms weren’t really doing – they still handled everything so well given the unique circumstances of the onboarding.”

With in-person operations resuming and a few years at the firm under her belt, Julie’s an invaluable leader and an integral part of our litigation team. You can reliably find her at her desk researching varied areas of law, writing, and otherwise working through cases, often related to discovery – an often demanding process she finds can make or break litigated disputes.

“The people here are really great, I’ve said that over and over again to anyone that’ll ask me,” said Julie with a laugh. “I work a lot of hours, but the people make it worthwhile. The support staff are super dedicated, and my colleagues are hardworking, genuinely nice, and interesting people.”

Her family’s long been avid hikers, and while her children are grown now, they still find time for the occasional venture into nature, with a particular fondness for national parks. She’s always looking for opportunities to find new books, with a particular love for historical fictions examining lesser-known figures of significant importance.

Whether it’s research for a legal matter or experiments on a new recipe, Janae Hill always strives towards perfection. After obtaining her law degree from Ontario’s University of LaVerne in 2019, she says she found kindred spirits with similarly high standards at Scali Rasmussen.

“I didn’t have strong thoughts about the kind of firm I wanted to work for prior to meeting with Christian [Scali] and Jeffrey [Erdman]. But once I learned about Scali Rasmussen, and the sophisticated nature of the work being done here, I knew it was a place I wanted to be a part of,” says Janae.

An Associate, Janae assists the firm’s Partners by providing support through legal research, coordination of strategy, and a variety of client-facing activities. She also keeps the firm and its clients informed about any developments in privacy law.

Janae says the businesses she gets to know and the personalities that make them tick are a highlight of her job.

“You realize when you work with these businesses how many different components, how many different people are making it all happen,” says Janae.

Janae loves baking, which became a serious hobby of hers over the course of the 2020 lockdowns. Holidays have been her big chance to debut new recipes, her latest winner being her strawberry cheesecake cookies.

“They took a while to get right - what really helped was not freezing the strawberries beforehand, which is how I used to do it,” says Janae. “It’s exciting, it really is about experimenting.”