Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP continues its expansion in San Diego with the addition of two Litigation Practice shareholders, S. Todd Neal and Zagros S. Bassirian. Both attorneys join the firm from Procopio, where they worked closely with Greenberg Traurig’s San Diego office Co-Managing Shareholder John P. Cleary, who joined last fall from the same firm.
Neal, who previously served as team leader of the Litigation Practice at Procopio from 2013-2019 and served on the firm’s management committee from 2022-2025, has tried more than 35 cases to verdict. At Greenberg Traurig, he will focus on commercial litigation and defense of government actions. Neal’s business dispute work across various industries includes matters such as defending a real estate developer against allegations of fraudulent transfer in a $32 million transaction and obtaining dismissal of a class action lawsuit alleging that a client’s products were illegally labeled as “dietary supplements.” He also has defended clients subject to government investigations, such as persuading the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to not pursue securities violations charges against a publicly traded company and representing another public company’s director when the SEC brought a securities fraud action; Neal persuaded the SEC not to charge his client despite charges filed against the company and other individuals. Neal has been continuously listed by Best Lawyers in America for Bet-the-Company litigation and commercial litigation since 2016. He is involved in San Diego’s Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club, serving as the board of governors’ current president from 2023 to the present.
“We are thrilled to welcome Todd and Zag into the fold. They are business-minded litigators who are heavily focused on client service,” Co-Managing Shareholders of the firm’s San Diego office Ellen M. Bronchetti and Cleary said in a joint statement. “With their collective litigation experience, we are bolstering our capabilities in Southern California while adding to our global platform and involving two experienced attorneys in our office’s strategic growth initiatives.”
Bassirian’s practice focuses on general business litigation, including alleged trade secret misappropriation, partnership disputes, landlord-tenant conflicts, and defamation claims, among other matters, often in collaboration with Neal. He also works on corporate governance matters, such as previously securing a CEO’s seat on a board of directors during a corporate takeover action. Among other matters, Bassirian has: defended an electronic parts manufacturer against a $30 million fraud and kickback claim brought by a national big-box retailer, with the client receiving a multimillion-dollar breach of contract settlement; defended a large mortgage broker in a class action lawsuit alleging violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA); and defended a corporation in a breach of contract action filed by an independent contractor seeking $1.6 million that ended in an arbitrator awarding only $54,000. Bassirian is active in the San Diego entrepreneurial community.
“It was a natural fit for us to join Greenberg Traurig given the nature of our practice and the synergies we have with other San Diego-based Greenberg Traurig shareholders,” Neal and Bassirian said. “It’s an honor to be part of Greenberg Traurig’s expansion into San Diego and we look forward to helping to cement the firm’s status as the go-to law firm for the San Diego community.”
Neal received a J.D. from the University of Illinois Chicago John Marshall Law School and a B.A. from the University of California at Irvine; he is admitted to practice law in California and Illinois. Bassirian graduated cum laude from California Western School of Law and holds a B.S.B.A. from San Diego State University; he is admitted to practice law in California.