Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP is pleased to announce that partners Ann Marie Mortimer and Roland M. Juarez were selected to an elite group of 2026 Law Firm Visionaries honored in the May issue of Business by LA Times Studios magazine. Mortimer has been named to the list every year since its inaugural publication in 2021, and this recognition marks Juarez’s second selection to the list.
The annual publication features California attorneys who are impacting change in the legal profession. Winners were selected based on criteria including noteworthy successes and accomplishments in the past two years, consistent demonstration of strong leadership throughout their career, long- and short-term impact they have made to their organizations, and community involvement that showcases leadership beyond their organization.
Head of the firm’s commercial litigation practice and founder and managing partner of the Los Angeles office, Mortimer is well-versed in advising high-profile clients on complex commercial litigation, including banking, privacy, mass torts, data breach, and climate litigation. In a recent verdict with major implications for the banking and finance industry, as lead counsel, she and the team secured a complete defense verdict for Nano Banc after a two-month jury trial for claims that the bank aided and abetted a theft and breach of fiduciary duty in connection with a $37 million commercial real-estate loan. By contrast other co-defendants were liable as the jury awarded the plaintiff $83.25 million, including punitive damages. Importantly, the jury found Nano Banc not liable and awarded no damages on any claims asserted against it. She was the lead lawyer defending an internet service provider in a class action lawsuit that has been deemed the largest data breach in history and was featured as lead counsel on one of the Daily Journal’s Top Defense Verdicts in California for her representation of one of the largest American multinational big box retailers in a class action lawsuit involving an alleged data privacy breach and its precedent-setting decision was one of the first dismissals of a California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) claim on the merits. Mortimer’s leadership in complex commercial litigation extends to model leadership within her firm and the community as one of only a handful of female office managing partners in California.
A partner in the firm’s labor and employment practice, Juarez handles high-stakes employment cases with a forward-thinking approach. His experience includes class action and collective actions, PAGA, non-compete, non-solicitation and employee raiding cases, discrimination, harassment, disability, and wage and hour cases. He has secured favorable trial and arbitration outcomes in wage and hour cases and various discrimination cases for clients in various industries across the US. Juarez also serves as co-head of Hunton’s unfair competition and information protection task force. Highly decorated for his trial work, Juarez has been recognized on numerous lists for litigation and labor and employment by The Los Angeles Times, Daily Journal, and Los Angeles Business Journal, as well as being ranked by legal directories including Benchmark Litigation and Legal 500.
Profiles for all honorees, including Mortimer and Juarez, are featured in the Business by LA Times Studios magazine.
