Becky S. James is a highly accomplished attorney with extensive experience in both criminal and civil litigation. Admitted to practice in California, Texas, and numerous federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court, she focuses her practice on civil and criminal appeals, white-collar criminal defense, and civil litigation.

Known for her extensive appellate experience, James has worked on hundreds of appeals and argued more than 50 civil and criminal appeals before federal and state appellate courts. She also frequently consults with trial teams and assists with complex motions in the trial courts. She is a Certified Appellate Specialist in California.

James was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Central District of California for nearly 13 years, where she served as Chief of the Criminal Appeals Section and Chief and Deputy Chief of the General Crimes Section. Entering private practice, James was a partner and co-chair of the national appellate practice at a major law firm before opening her own boutique law firm in Los Angeles. Moving to Texas, she served as the Chief Public Defender for the Atascosa Area Advocates Public Defender’s Office, where she managed a team serving four rural counties, before returning to private practice.

James has served as a Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representative and a member of the Ninth Circuit Conference Executive Committee and has taught appellate advocacy and white-collar crime at Loyola and Pepperdine Law Schools. Among her honors, she was named one of California’s Top White Collar Attorneys 2021 by Daily Journal and has repeatedly been named a Super Lawyer.

James earned her J.D. at Stanford Law School and her A.B. from Stanford University. Following law school, she was a law clerk for Judge Pamela Rymer on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Viviana Andazola Marquez represents clients across business sectors in high-stakes civil, regulatory, and criminal matters. At her prior firm, she gained experience in white-collar criminal defense and investigations, in addition to insurance defense.

Viviana earned her J.D. from Stanford Law School where she participated in Stanford’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic. As a law student, Viviana was the recipient of the P.D. Soros Fellowship for New Americans and a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Fellow. A graduate of Yale University, where she earned her B.A. in Ethnicity, Race, and Migration with distinction, Viviana was awarded the Carlos Moreno Essay Prize for the best senior essay focusing on the field of Latinx Studies. She is fluent in Spanish.

Viviana is admitted to practice in California and various federal courts.

Gayane Moran is an associate in the firm’s business litigation practice. Gayane received her law degree from the University of Arizona. During her time there, she received CALI awards in Contracts and Antitrust Law (highest grades in her class) and the E. Thomas Sullivan Antitrust Award (2021). Gayane also served as an Articles Editor at the Arizona Law Review. Her own research focused on federal courts’ application of state anti-SLAPP statutes.

Patricia Rojas-Castro is an associate in the firm’s Commercial Litigation practice. She has experience representing clients in complex commercial litigation, in civil litigation, and in civil and regulatory matters. At her prior firm, she also gained experience in labor and employment matters.

Patricia earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, staff editor for the Columbia Human Rights Law Review, and participated in the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic. She earned her BA in Political Science at Brown University. Fluent in Spanish, she is proficient in French and Italian and spent a semester abroad at the University of Paris, Sorbonne.

Patricia is admitted to practice in California and various federal courts.

Riley Smith represents clients across business sectors in high-stakes civil, regulatory, and criminal matters and practices in both federal and state court, where he has represented large corporations, start-ups and high-net-worth individuals in various phases of litigation. He has represented clients in matters involving the IRS, Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services and DHS.

Riley was a litigation associate at a Los Angeles-based boutique prior to joining Waymaker. After earning his J.D. at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, he clerked for the Honorable David S. Morales of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. During law school, he spent two years in the Juvenile Innocence and Fair Sentencing Clinic advocating for clients at parole board hearings and representing juvenile offenders in wrongful conviction cases.

Riley received a BA in Politics from Occidental College, where he was also the captain of the baseball team. Prior to law school, Riley played two years of professional baseball for the Alpine Cowboys of the Pecos League. He enjoys playing softball, golf, running at the Rose Bowl and camping.