San Diego County’s 2023 Men of Influence & Accomplishment
John David
David is an exceptional attorney with remarkable achievements throughout his career as a Managing Trial Attorney. Since joining Shegerian Law in 2017, he consistently demonstrates his expertise in all aspects of litigation, earning him a well-deserved reputation as a highly effective and accomplished legal professional. During his time in law school, he exhibited great dedication by working full time as a certified law clerk. In this role, he gained valuable experience by conducting and defending depositions, drafting, and arguing substantive discovery and dispositive motions, and even trying a case before a jury. As a managing attorney, he has been entrusted with overseeing all aspects of case management. He has obtained several significant verdicts, including a $5.9 million disability award, a $4.1 million disability retaliation award, a $2.7 million disability discrimination award, and a $1 million disability discrimination award. He is a very effective advocate for his clients’ rights. He has proven to be a valuable asset to the firm and a highly respected member of the legal community. He is a graduate of Occidental College and earned his Juris Doctor degree from the Loyola School of Law.
Scott Sabin
Sabin is the chief executive officer of Plant with Purpose who recently celebrated 30 years with the firm. Under his direction, the San Diego-based Christian, nonprofit dedicated to reversing global poverty and environmental damage due to climate change has grown. It expanded from a single program in one country to include more than 1,500 communities in nine countries. Plant With Purpose helps thousands of people transform their lives and the environment around them through sustainable agriculture, economic development and environmental reforestation in Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Haiti, Malawi, Mexico, Tanzania, and Thailand. He committed his life’s work in the service of others. First, he served his country for seven years in the U.S. Navy as a surface warfare officer. He became a program manager for Floresta after reentering civilian life. He joined Plant With Purpose in 1993. The group’s holistic model focuses on community-led innovation and leadership that helps global communities reverse structural and environmental causes of rural poverty. It planted its 50 millionth tree this year and anticipates doubling to 100 million trees over the next four years. Sabin also published a book in 2010 titled Tending to Eden: Environmental Stewardship for God’s People. He is a graduate of Oregon State University and the University of San Diego.
Kyle Overs
Overs, a leader at Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP, is an impactful attorney committed to the San Diego community. As an advocate for his clients, he helps them achieve their business goals to obtain desired results. He mentors young colleagues as they strive to grow their practice, exemplifying a dedication to the future of the firm and a passion for supporting others. He brings a creative legal strategy to the teams of attorneys he collaborates with daily. He specializes in complex business and trust litigation, often dealing with “bet the business” litigation. He takes a focused, deliberate approach to serving clients, achieving the best possible results for his clients by focusing on their litigation , personal and business needs. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Arizona, where he was a Dean’s Scholarship Recipient and participated on the ABA Moot Court and Environment Moot Court Team. He earned his BA in Business at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, where he was on the Dean’s List and President of the Mock Trial Team. He is a San Diego Rising Star by Super Lawyers and was a 40 Under 40 award honoree by SD METRO Magazine in 2020. He is a board member of the San Diego County Bar Foundation.
Brent Douglas
Douglas has the unique ability to translate the maze of California employment laws forSan Diego ’s small business owners as a partner at Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP. More than just technically proficient, he is a strategic master who ensures all legal tactics serve the client’s larger business interests. He is a seasoned California litigator with experience providing both compliance and litigation support to businesses statewide. His practice focuses on employment claims, wage and hour class actions, partnerships, disputes and general business litigation. He counsels human resources personnel on terminations, leave of absence issues, and wage and hour compliance. He is corporate counsel on mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations, and financing for a wide range of industries in the $2 million – $25 million range and routinely drafts and negotiates stock option plans, stock grants, and senior, subordinated, and mezzanine debt arrangements. He is a past president of the San Diego County Bar Foundation and currently a board member of the New Children’s Museum and the San Diego Century Club. He has coached for the Special Olympics of Southern California. He is a Rising Star, Southern California Super Lawyers. He has a BA degree from Washington University in St. Louis and a JD from the Emory School of Law in Atlanta.
Steve O’Connell
O’Connell is president and chief executive officer of North Island Credit Union. Under his leadership for the past 11 years, the credit union has achieved outstanding financial performance and introduced numerous innovations to achieve significant transformation, growth, and member service enhancements across every area of operation. Through his guidance, North Island’s 2022 financial performance was among the highest in the organization’s history, increasing assets by $271 million to total of $4.5 billion, ending the year with a net worth ratio of 9.65 % and realized net income of $23 million. Through his focus on a member-centric approach, North Island achieved a member satisfaction survey score of 96.6% in 2022. North Island contributed more than $725,000 in 2022 to assist hundreds of local schools, educators, military families, and community-based programs. Over the past five years North Island has invested over $2 million in local communities. He is a graduate of Cal State Northridge.
Ronson J. Shamoun
Shamoun is San Diego’s leading tax attorney. He is a three-time graduate of the University of San Diego, receiving his B.A. in Accounting, his Juris Doctor and his Master of Law in Taxation. He is the founder and CEO of RJS Law. His practice involves federal and state taxation, with an emphasis on criminal tax defense, tax controversy and international tax and estate planning He has extensive experience representing individuals and businesses before the IRS, FTB, the EDD, and the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. He recently represented Pricilla Presley in her challenge to the validity of her late daughter, Lisa Marie Presley’s will. He hosts a yearly USD School of Law “Big Give Bash” event and one for the USD Business School. He is a mentor to law and business students in his capacity as an adjunct professor at both schools. He is a strong advocate for aiding his community, instilling the same generous and giving spirit in his young daughters by going on weekly homeless crusade missions with them where they supply sleeping bags, personal hygiene items and other essentials to those in need.
Rhett Wheeler
Wheeler serves as Bill Howe Plumbing’s head of human resources and risk management for the firm’s 260 employees. He has added 41 highly skilled employees to the company since 2021 and has successfully integrated 25 employees from a business acquisition, guaranteeing their satisfaction and commitment to their new professional home. He re-launched Bill Howe’s Safety and Injury Prevention Program, which better conforms with California standards and supports employee health, safety and well-being. He also oversaw the installation of dash cam technology on all Howe’s fleet vehicles as part of an ongoing community and employee safety initiative. He also has reduced turnover company-wide by 23% and implemented cost controls for employee programs such as tool and uniform accounts. He’s also an assistant scoutmaster in a local Boy Scout Troop.
Brian Katusian
Katusian is a partner and shareholder at Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek and is among the top tax attorneys whose work greatly impacts San Diego’s leading nonprofits, businesses, and governmental agencies. He is a man of influence in the local business, legal and nonprofit sectors. He is among the 5% of California attorneys certified as a specialist in taxation law. His work is critical to ensuring individuals, businesses and nonprofits comply with local, state, federal and international laws. He is a key factor to many San Diego employers’ ability to attract and retain top talent with great employee-sponsored benefit and retirement practices. He successfully persuaded the San Diego County Assessor’s office to voluntarily reverse its determination that his client did not quality for age 55+ tax relief. He successfully concluded an IRS Appeal involving Code section 4941 self-dealing excise taxes and Code section 4945 taxable expenditures asserted by the IRS in connection with a Code section 501(c)(e) Private Foundation. He is a graduate of UCSD and the University of San Diego School of Law.
Steve Lewandowski
Lewandowski is a small business owner and a proud Navy veteran who is devoting his life to the service of veterans. His base business is selling life insurance and annuities. He conducts charity auctions and is well known as a nationwide polo announcer for the San Diego Polo Club and ESPN. His primary passion is helping veterans and their families. His current mission is directing the effort to get a Medal of Honor awarded to a retired U.S. Navy fighter pilot and officer, E. Royce Williams, a 98-year-old hero credited with shooting down four Russian Migs in a single dogfight during the Korean War and likely damaging two more. He has helped raise money for Honor Flight, the SEAL Foundation, We thank our Troops, VFW, Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, Heroes Across the Harbor and Holes for Heroes. He has received 26 certificates of Congressional Recognition from various U.S. House members for his work on behalf of veterans. He was commander of Encinitas American Legion Post 416, turning it from near collapse to being one of the top legion posts in the country. He is the CEO of the Post’s 416 Foundation tasked with raising funds for a new building in Encinitas. He is a graduate of Auburn University in Auburn, Ala.
Zach Myers
Myers is a “go to” attorney for Southern California’s private and public companies in the technology and life sciences sectors, especially biotechnology and medical device companies involved in complex, high-value transactions. His practice allows him to work with companies from startups to large public clients. He represents private companies in venture capital financing, helping companies raise millions of dollars needed to fund, grow, and expand their businesses. He has assisted numerous clients that have gone public, listing on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ markets. He often represents clients in the purchase or sale of their businesses. He has a solid understanding of his clients’ businesses and their finances, in particular. He is a known expert in corporate and securities law, and often lecturers the UCSD Rady School of Business and the Keck Graduate Institute. He was a 40 Under 40 award honoree in 2020 by SD METRO Magazine and a 2021 Top Attorney by SD METRO Magazine. He is an alumnus of Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, Calif.
Evan Wahl
Wahl is director of project management and site strategy for Catalent Pharma Solutions. The company focuses on early-stage development of small molecule and peptide drug candidates from the bench to the clinic. The facility offers an array of services that support oral and injectable dosage forms that include pre-formulation testing, formulation and analytical development, cGMP manufacturing and clinical packaging. The San Diego location is the home of Spray Dry Dispersion technologies with downstream roller compaction capabilities to support the needs of a client’s most challenging compound. He leads a team of 14 project managers to help clients turn their experimental drug substance into drug products for clinical trials. He is a retired Marine veteran, having flown multiple different aircraft and leaving as a lieutenant colonel. He has degrees from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Penn., and the University of San Diego.
