William Markham is our lead attorney. He is directly supported by a lead paralegal assistant, Laura Avila, and an all-purpose office assistant, Ana Ruiz. Ms. Avila, who holds a law degree, began to work for Mr. Markham in 2007 and became his lead assistant in 2010. Ms. Ruiz has worked for the firm since 2011. When appropriate, we can associate with other attorneys who are already well-known to us and whose work and judgment we trust.
For each matter, we conduct an investigation, develop a strategy at the outset, form a team for the case, and delegate the expected tasks so that each one is performed by a professional who has the appropriate level of expertise for the task in question. Mr. Markham always oversees any case that we accept to ensure that it is properly managed.
In larger matters, we can call upon colleagues who have worked with us before so that we can proficiently oppose major firms in large antitrust litigations and respond to government inquiries in significant antitrust investigations. We aim never to overstaff a matter (which can lead to wasteful duplication of effort and unreasonable bills), and we accept only a few significant matters at any one time, so that we can always devote our full, undivided attention to each of our cases.
William Markham
Trial and Appellate Attorney
William Markham
William Markham is a trial attorney based in San Diego who obtained his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1987 and has litigated cases in California for the past thirty-five years. He tries cases in court, conducts appeals, and principally litigates the following kinds of matters: antitrust cases (civil and criminal), false advertising, trademark offenses, securities fraud, other kinds of business litigation, and certain kinds of real estate litigation. Click here to learn more about his professional expertise, recent engagements, and past accomplishments.
Laura Avila
senior paralegal assistant
Laura Avila
Licensed attorney, Laura Avila works for us as our senior paralegal assistant and Mr. Markham’s executive assistant. She holds a law degree from a very good law school in Mexico (Universidad Autonoma de Baja California) and has worked with Mr. Markham since 2006. She helps us to obtain, organize, analyze, and present evidence for use at trial, organizes our case files, and collaborates with our IT specialists to ensure that all of our information is properly stored, archived, and instantly accessible to each person in our firm. Ms. Avila plays a key role in our fundamental work and regularly collaborates directly with Mr. Markham in order to help him improve his presentation of evidence and arguments. You can reach her directly at la@markhamlawfirm.com.
Ana Ruiz
Paralegal assistant
Ana Ruiz
Ana Ruiz (née Acosta) joined our firm in mid-2011 and works as a paralegal assistant and all-purpose office assistant, helping our team to organize and use the information and evidence that we need to try our cases and handle our matters. She is a highly motivated, capable, and practical assistant who is fluent in English and Spanish, and she is trained and highly proficient in computer technology and all manner of digital devices and applications. She also excels at organizing computer files, old-fashioned files, and anything else that requires organization. You can reach her directly at aa@markhamlawfirm.com.
Other Professionals
In our larger matters, we can associate with other highly qualified attorneys and delegate certain tasks to junior attorneys who can proficiently perform the work at lower hourly rates under Mr. Markham’s direct supervision. We have substantial experience staffing large cases in this manner and have obtained successful outcomes in them time and time again.