Pillsbury Winthrop LLP is pleased to report that Michelle Hallsten has returned to the firm’s Sacramento office as partner, where she will head up the business department in the Sacramento market. Hallsten, who served as Of Counsel with Pillsbury Winthrop in the Sacramento office from 1995 to 2000, represents emerging and established companies in a variety of practice areas, including general corporate, securities, corporate governance, private debt and equity financings, venture services, mergers and acquisitions, and public offerings. Her client base covers many industries, including healthcare, insurance, business services, technology, life sciences, retail, publishing, professional services and real estate.
Hallsten was most recently a partner with Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich LLP, resident in its Sacramento office. Also joining Hallsten at Pillsbury Winthrop’s Sacramento office is senior associate attorney Thomas Morton. Morton also hails most recently from Gary Cary Ware & Freidenrich LLP in Sacramento, where he advised companies in general business and intellectual property matters. Hallsten and Morton are the fifth and sixth attorneys to join Pillsbury Winthrop’s Sacramento office since March, expanding the size of the office to 18 attorneys.
Hallsten received her J.D. from the University of Alabama Law School, and a B.A. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. After receiving her law degree, she served as a staff attorney in the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. She was also in private practice in the Washington, D.C. office of Rogers & Wells for four years before relocating to Sacramento.
Hallsten was the founder and a former chair of the Business Law Section of the Sacramento County Bar Association, and has served on the Corporations Committee of the Business Law Section of the State Bar of California, and as its Legislative Chair
Morton received his J.D. from McGeorge School of Law and a Certificate of Comparative Legal Studies from Salzburg University in Austria. He also holds a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of San Diego. Morton is on the Board of Directors of the Business Section and the Intellectual Property Section of the Sacramento County Bar Association.
“I am delighted to return to Pillsbury Winthrop and its Sacramento office, and to have the opportunity to build and lead a business department in the Sacramento market during a pivotal time of growth in this region. Pillsbury Winthrop is a great law firm with a lot to offer both emerging and established businesses in the Sacramento region,” notes Hallsten. “I am also very excited that Thomas Morton has joined the firm. Thomas and I worked closely together at our prior firm and I could not have a better colleague to team up with on this endeavor.”
