Ventura, CA (Jan. 27, 2010) Jeff Gorell, a successful solo practitioner and former deputy district attorney of Ventura, California, has joined Anderson Kill Wood & Bender, the Ventura office of Anderson Kill & Olick, as Senior Counsel. Mr. Gorell will support the firm’s corporate litigation practice and expand the firm’s practice in the areas of public policy and regulatory affairs.

Mr. Gorell provides clients with strategic legal, government, regulatory and community affairs counsel as they apply to large land development, agriculture, healthcare and energy issues and projects. Leveraging more than fourteen years experience as an advocate at the federal, state and local level, Mr. Gorell advises a wide variety of clients, including energy, agricultural and development companies, helping them navigate public policy as well as legal challenges. He is experienced in the areas of contract, CEQA, land use, environmental, employment and election law.Mr. Gorell worked as a solo practitioner from 2006-2009 and served as Assistant District Attorney in Ventura County, CA from 1999-2006, trying complex, multi-defendant cases in the major narcotics and serious and violent felony units.  He remains a partner in Paladin Principle, LLC, a firm offering strategic public, government and regulatory relations and consulting. In 2007, Mr. Gorell was named ”40 Under 40,” Top Business Leaders, Pacific Coast Business Times.Previously, Mr. Gorell served in the State Capitol as a writer for then-California Governor Pete Wilson, and later as director of communications for the California Manufacturers Association. Mr. Gorell is a Lt. Commander and intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan; he continues to serve as an intelligence officer with Pacific Fleet. He also serves as adjunct professor of public policy and politics at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, CA.“Jeff Gorell has a wide breadth of talent and experience," said David P. Bender, Jr., managing shareholder at Anderson Kill Wood & Bender. “His experience in politics, government and business will add to the deep talent pool we are building at the firm."“This is an exciting new chapter for me,” said Gorell. “Anderson Kill is a national firm with a global reputation, and yet it continues to maintain a small firm feel by way of community involvement and superior client service. I look forward to helping support and expand the firm’s respected and successful practice.”Mr. Gorell is a candidate in 2010 for the California State Assembly’s 37th District, which includes parts of Ventura, Los Angeles and Kern Counties.Mr. Gorell earned his bachelor’s degree in History from U.C. Davis and his Juris Doctor from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. Anderson Kill Wood & Bender is the California Office of Anderson Kill & Olick, a national law firm with offices in New York, Washington D.C., Ventura, Philadelphia, Newark and Greenwich.