Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP Names Two Attorneys to Partnership

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 5, 2026--

Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP, a leading full-service law firm specializing in real estate in the United States, proudly announces the election of attorneys Scott Laes and Jamie Sprague to the firm’s partnership, effective January 1, 2026. Both attorneys are accomplished litigators whose practices span commercial real estate, complex business disputes, construction disputes, environmental and land use matters, insurance recovery, landlord/tenant disputes, and labor and employment litigation. Their elevation reflects the firm’s ongoing commitment to exceptional client service, combining deep subject-matter knowledge with a practical, client-first mindset.

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“Our litigation practice is defined by its strategic, solution-driven approach to resolving disputes with efficiency and precision,” said Mathew Wyman, Chair of Cox Castle. “Scott and Jamie exemplify that standard. They possess the skill, judgment, and experience necessary to guide clients through matters ranging from straightforward commercial conflicts to the most complex multi-party litigation. Additionally, they approach each engagement with a focus on responsiveness, clear communication, and a thorough understanding of client business goals. Their advancement to partnership strengthens our ability to deliver higher levels of service and achieve successful outcomes in courts and dispute-resolution forums nationwide.”

New Partners:

Scott Laes (Los Angeles) is a leading litigation attorney focusing on construction disputes, including defect and delay litigation, business and commercial disputes, real estate disputes, partnership disputes, landlord/tenant disputes, and insurance coverage litigation in state and federal courts. He has extensive experience drafting and arguing briefs and motions, taking and defending depositions, and participating in arbitrations, judicial reference proceedings, and bench and jury trials. Recently, he represented a developer in a complex multi-party construction action, prosecuting claims for defect, delay, and breach of contract and defending against general contractor claims for breach of contract and indemnity. Scott has also assisted clients in the aftermath of the January 2025 Southern California wildfires—a challenging situation due to rapidly changing regulations. By staying current with these developments, he provides clients with continuous, strategic, and practical guidance throughout complex and evolving matters.

Jamie Sprague (Orange County) is a prominent litigation attorney representing clients in complex commercial litigation cases, including contract disputes, business torts, labor and employment litigation, landlord/tenant disputes, land use disputes, and multi-plaintiff mass torts involving nuisance, trespass, negligence and environmental claims. She represents developers, investors, owners, and operators in the healthcare and life sciences, renewable energy, and construction industries, among others. Jamie has experience in all levels of federal and state civil litigation, as well as administrative proceedings, including drafting briefs and motions, managing complex discovery, working with expert witnesses, and taking and defending depositions. Her track record includes successfully arguing before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a jury verdict, first-chairing multi-million-dollar disputes, and leading teams through trials, arbitrations, and appeals.

“Scott and Jamie embody our approach to understanding clients’ legal and business objectives from the outset and crafting strategies that serve both,” added Dwayne McKenzie, Managing Partner of Cox Castle. “They deliver candid assessments, practical guidance, and the kind of partnership that earns long-term trust. Our clients rely on us not only to resolve conflicts, but to help prevent them, and Scott and Jamie have become the trusted advisors clients turn to for their most important matters.”

About Cox Castle

Cox Castle was founded in Los Angeles in 1968, with the goal of providing superior and comprehensive legal services to businesses, institutions, and individuals across all aspects of the real estate, finance, and construction industries. Cox Castle is now one of the largest full-service law firms specializing in real estate in the United States with more than 140 transactional attorneys and litigators in its Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Francisco offices.

The firm has substantial expertise in matters involving land and improved property acquisitions and dispositions; joint ventures; single and multifamily residential development; land use, entitlement, and regulatory compliance (including coastal commission and condemnation); office, industrial, retail, data centers, and mixed-use development, leasing, and management; commercial lending and institutional investment; loan workouts and financial restructuring; construction; resort and hospitality; labor and employment; risk management and insurance; environmental compliance; renewable energy and natural resources; and tax and estate planning. For more information, please visit www.coxcastle.com.

Jamie Sprague

Scott Laes

PARIS (AP) — Brigitte Bardot's funeral will be held Wednesday with a private service in Saint-Tropez and a public homage at the French Riviera resort where she lived for more than half a century after retiring from movie stardom at the height of her fame.

The animal rights activist and far-right supporter died Dec. 28 at age 91 at her home in southern France.

Once one of the world’s most photographed women and a defining screen siren of the 1960s, the ceremony will take place at the Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Catholic Church in the presence of guests invited by the family and the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the protection of animals.

The service is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., according to the foundation.

Local authorities said the ceremony will be broadcast live on large screens set up at the port and two plazas in the small town, allowing residents and admirers to follow the farewell.

After the church service, Bardot is to be buried “in the strictest privacy” at a cemetery overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, according to the Saint-Tropez town hall.

She had long called Saint-Tropez her refuge from the celebrity that once made her a household name.

A public homage will take place at a nearby site for admirers of the woman whose image once symbolized France’s postwar liberation and sensuality.

“Brigitte Bardot will forever be associated with Saint-Tropez, of which she was the most dazzling ambassador,” the town hall said last week. “Through her presence, personality and aura, she marked the history of our town.”

Bardot settled decades ago in her seaside villa, La Madrague, and retired from filmmaking in 1973 at age 39, during an international career that spanned more than two dozen films.

She later emerged as an animal rights activist, founding and sustaining a foundation devoted to the protection of animals.

While she withdrew from the film industry, she remained a highly visible and often controversial public figure through decades of militant animal rights activism and links with far-right politics.

She will be buried in the so-called marine cemetery, where her parents are also interred.

The cemetery, overlooking the Mediterranean sea, is also the final resting place of several cultural figures, including filmmaker Roger Vadim, Bardot’s first husband, who directed her breakout film “And God Created Woman,” a role that made her a worldwide star.

People walk in. Street leading to Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church before Brigitte Bardot's funeral ceremony, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026 in Saint-Tropez, southern France. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

A police officer signs the condolence book outside Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church before Brigitte Bardot's funeral ceremony, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026 in Saint-Tropez, southern France. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

A woman carries a bouquet of flowers reading" BB, memory of an eternal animals lover" outside Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church before Brigitte Bardot's funeral ceremony, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026 in Saint-Tropez, southern France. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

Flowers lay at actor Brigitte Bardot's home in Saint-Tropez, southern France, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025 after the French 1960s sex symbol who became one of the greatest screen sirens of the 20th century and later a militant animal rights activist and far-right supporter, has died. She was 91. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

A woman lays flowers at actor Brigitte Bardot's home in Saint-Tropez, southern France, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025 after the French 1960s sex symbol who became one of the greatest screen sirens of the 20th century and later a militant animal rights activist and far-right supporter, has died. She was 91. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

FILE - Former French film star and animal right activist Brigitte Bardot acknowledges applause prior to a press conference, Sept. 28, 2006 in Paris. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere, File)

FILE - French actress Brigitte Bardot poses with a huge sombrero she brought back from Mexico, as she arrives at Orly Airport in Paris, France, on May 27, 1965. (AP Photo/File)