Meet the Team

Lawyer Deborah Dixon

Deborah Dixon

Deborah Dixon is the managing partner of The Dixon Firm. Her practice focuses on class and mass actions relating to defective products and fraud. Deborah also concentrates her practice on employee gender discrimination and harassment actions. Deborah actively litigates cases in state and federal courts, as well as in arbitration forums. She has been appointed by federal and state courts as lead class counsel in several class actions, as well as a member of plaintiff’s leadership counsel in a multi-district litigation. Deborah also serves as the General Counsel for the Los Angeles Chargers, acting as the lead lawyer for the NFL team.
From April 2022 through August 2022, Deborah served as the General Counsel for the Los Angeles Chargers, acting as the lead lawyer for the NFL team. In her role, she served as the liaison to the NFL on specific compliance issues, negotiated countless contracts relating to vendors, sponsors, suite agreements and related football activities, as well as business initiatives. She oversaw aspects of the internal employee processes and managed all outside counsel. Currently, Deborah serves as Special Counsel to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Deborah has been recognized as a Super Lawyer every year since 2016, and the Top 50 Super Lawyer since 2022, and Top 25 Women Super Lawyer since 2021, as well as a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” from 2014 through 2015. Deborah is recognized as one of the Best Lawyers In America. In 2014, Deborah was named by San Diego Metro Magazine as one of the best and brightest in San Diego in its “40 Under 40” designation. The San Diego Business Journal awarded her “Best of the Bar” in 2014 through 2016. Deborah has been recognized by the San Diego Daily Transcript as a Top Attorney, the 2012 Woman of Influence and the 2012 Top Young Attorney. She was selected “Top 40 under 40” by The National Trial Lawyers.

In 2025, she received the Community Service Award from Lawyers Club of San Diego, the bar association dedicated to the advancement of women in law and society.  In 2024, she received the Witkin Award for “Excellence in the Practice of Law” and in the same year, she was honored with the “Service to the Community” award by the San Diego County Bar Association. In 2022, Deborah received the “Friend of San Diego South Asian Bar Association” award for her commitment to diversity and inclusion. In 2025 she received the Alumni of the Year “Legacy Award” from California Western School of Law, where she was previously recognized in 2017 as Alumni of the Year for her community service and in recognition of her continued dedication to mentoring law students and young lawyers.

Deborah is the past-president of Lawyers Club of San Diego, San Diego County Bar Foundation and San Diego Inn of Court. Deborah is still a member of the Board of Directors for San Diego County Bar Foundation and San Diego Inn of Court, where she continues to be a workshop leader for Evidence and Trial Programs.  She was selected by the US District Court for the Southern District as a Lawyer Representative; she has also been selected by the District Court for federal committees and merit-selection assignments.  She currently serves as an advisory board member to the Federal Bar Association and Lawyers Club of San Diego. She is the chair of the Evening in La Jolla fundraiser for San Diego County Bar Foundation, as well as the co-chair for Fund for Justice, the non-profit of Lawyers Club of San Diego.  Deborah is a Master in the American Inns of Court, Louis M. Welsh Chapter. She is a member and frequent speaker with Consumer Attorneys of California and American Association for Justice.

Email: Ddixon@thedixonfirm.com

Gerrisa Conforti

Gerissa Conforti

Gerissa Conforti is a partner at The Dixon Firm. Her practice focuses on mass and class actions, using her years of litigation experience in state and federal court to represent individuals against major corporations and insurance companies. Her work on behalf of individuals also focuses on complex multidistrict litigation, advocating for those who have been injured by a defective product or harmed as a result of negligible or wrongful conduct. Gerissa is a lead attorney in the Firm’s mass arbitrations and represents the interests of employees in discrimination, retaliation and labor disputes.
Gerissa continues to serve as outside general counsel for several startup companies, commercial and multifamily residential landlords and other businesses, providing strategic guidance on risk management, compliance matters, commercial property acquisitions and lease negotiations. She also provides advice on a wide variety of contract and commercial issues and represents her clients’ interests in all stages of litigation.

Gerissa is a top-rated attorney selected to Super Lawyers Rising Stars from 2023 to the present.  She has been awarded “Best of the Bar” by San Diego Business Journal, honoring lawyers chosen as the most outstanding in their field and was a Top Young Attorneys nominee for San Diego Daily Transcript and Outstanding Young Attorneys for UT San Diego.

Gerissa completed her undergraduate degree from University of California, Riverside, graduating cum laude in 2006.  She earned both her Juris Doctorate (2009) and Masters of Law in Trial Advocacy (2011) from California Western School of Law, where she received multiple awards and accolades for her academic performance and trial advocacy. Gerissa served six years on the Board of Directors for California Western School of Law Alumni Association (2012-2018), and the Board of Directors for California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (2012-2015), chairing various committees and serving in leadership positions.  She continues to serve the legal community and maintains active involvement in a number of organizations, to include Lawyers Club of San Diego, American Association for Justice, Federal Bar Association, Consumer Attorneys of California, among others.

Email: Gerissa@thedixonfirm.com

Allison C. Worden

Allison C. Worden

Allison C. Worden focuses her practice on helping victims of catastrophic personal injuries. She brings to the Firm tremendous trial experience having tried over 100 cases to jury verdict and another 25 bench trials in her over 25 years of practice. Prior to joining The Dixon Firm, Allison served as a Deputy District Attorney in San Diego for 13 years before she transitioned to civil litigation in 2013, where she has dedicated her practice to obtaining civil justice for her clients. As a Prosecutor, Allison investigated and prosecuted all levels of crime including child abuse and molest, domestic violence, elder abuse, sexual assault, vehicular crimes, fraud, property crimes, assault, robbery, gangs, homicides and capital cases. She took this experience to the civil courtroom where she has consistently held large corporations, Ride Share Operators, Religious Institutions, Medical Professionals and Hospitals, School Districts, Public Entities, and individual wrongdoers accountable.

Allison earned her Bachelor’s Degree and Juris Doctorate from the University of San Diego. While an undergraduate, Allison was named to the West Coast Conference All-Conference Team as a soccer goalkeeper four years in a row and was inducted into the San Diego Hall of Champions her senior year after being ranked nationally as a top five goalkeeper. Allison has served as Adjunct Professor for the University of San Diego’s Political Science Department and remains actively involved with the school’s Athletic Department.

Giving back to the legal community is very important to Allison. She is a past-president of the San Diego Inn of Court, where she served on the Board of Directors for 15 years, and currently volunteers as an Instructor and Workshop Leader for the San Diego Inn of Court Colleges of Evidence and Trial Advocacy Programs. Most importantly, however, Allison loves spending every free moment with family.

Email: Allison@thedixonfirm.com

Max Halpern

Max Halpern

Max Halpern has dedicated his legal career to helping people who have been harmed or injured, and specializes in litigating catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, and sexual assault cases. Max actively litigates cases in both state and federal court, having completed several jury trials and arbitrations over the course of his career.
From 2020-2025, Max personally worked on cases that resulted in recoveries totaling over 100 million dollars, including complex mass tort litigation, medical negligence, serious personal injury, wrongful death, and the representation of numerous victims of sexual assault and abuse.

Max received his law degree from the University of San Diego, cum laude, and his Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of California San Diego.  Max currently serves on the Board of Directors with the San Diego Inn of Court, an association of attorneys, judges, and other legal professionals dedicated to advancing skills and knowledge required for excellent trial advocacy.

Email: Max@thedixonfirm.com

Onora Labrum

Onora Labrum

Onora Labrum is an attorney at The Dixon Firm working on individual, class and mass actions.
Onora received her Juris Doctor from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University in May 2023. During law school, she was a Legal Extern with the Arizona Coyotes as well as U-Haul International’s Legal Department.
Upon graduation, Onora spent one year as a Judicial Law Clerk in her home state of New Jersey in the Superior Court’s Family Division. Prior to joining the Firm, she practiced in labor and employment matters.

Onora earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Media Studies as a dual major at the University of California, Berkeley, in December 2018.

Attorney Tarina Mand

Tarina Mand

Tarina Mand is Of Counsel at The Dixon Firm representing plaintiffs in complex litigation matters, including class action and mass tort cases, as well as employment matters including discrimination, harassment, and assault. She actively litigates cases in both Superior Court and Federal Court, including jury trials in federal and state court.

Tarina is a leader within the community, advocating for inclusion and equality. She was the co-chair of the Women’s Advocacy Committee for Lawyers Club, and as former two-term President of the South Asian Bar Association of San Diego she launched the Equal Pay Transparency Initiative.  She also serves as the co-chair for the Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee for the Federal Bar Association. She previously served on of the San Diego County Bar Association Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, as well as the County Bar Leadership and Outreach Committee. She became one of the first members of the newly launched California Judges Association’s Committee on Law Student Wellness & Ethics, and currently helps mentor law students through Lawyers Club Mentorship Connection Program. She also provides pro bono legal services to veterans and victims of human and civil rights violations.

Tarina earned her Bachelor of Arts in Literature from the University of California, San Diego. She received her Juris Doctorate at California Western School of Law where she received the Distinguished Student Award in 2016, receiving a scholastic scholarship every year.

Featured Speaking and Articles:

Wellness & Anti-Racism Roundtable.

Facilitator | SAN DIEGO COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION, NOV 2020

Reproductive Justice Amidst a Global Pandemic.
Moderator | LAWYERS CLUB OF SAN DIEGO, SEP 2020

Ethics & Wellness – An Introspect Approach.
Speaker | USD SCHOOL OF LAW, SEP 2020

Women in the Law.
Panelist | UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO, FEB 2020

Exploring Options in Civil Law.
Panelist | CALIFORNIA WESTERN SCHOOL OF LAW, OCT 2019

Equal Pay Transparency Initiative: Harnessing community data to close the wage gap. SAN DIEGO COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION | NOVEMBER 2021

Measure B – Police reform with a little more teeth to protect women from officer misconduct. LAWYERS CLUB NEWSLETTER | DECEMBER 2020

Roe v. Wade may not see its 47th birthday: Reproductive freedom being reserved for the economically privileged. LAWYERS CLUB NEWSLETTER | JUNE 2019

Department of Homeland Security’s proposed “Public Charge” regulation threatens to disproportionately impact the health and general welfare of women and children. LAWYERS CLUB NEWSLETTER | MARCH 2019

Will California’s cannabis regulation limit commercial activity between licensed and unlicensed entities? THE NATIONAL LAW REVIEW | JD SUPRA | DECEMBER 2018

The U.S. Supreme Court strikes back abortion rights under California’s Reproductive FACT Act (Assembly Bill No. 775). LAWYERS CLUB NEWLETTER | SEPTEMBER 2018

Kelly McDaniel

Kelly McDaniel is a Senior Paralegal at The Dixon Firm.  Kelly specializes in complex litigation matters, including preparing filings in every jurisdiction as well as multi-district litigation and judicially coordinated complex proceedings, and has been the lead paralegal on federal and state class action jury trials. Kelly is a vital member of the firm, managing all aspects of the litigation support for all the cases. Kelly graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration.  She then attended the University of San Diego’s Paralegal program where she completed the program with honors and began working as a paralegal in 2007.

In her spare time, Kelly enjoys spending time with her family, hiking with her dogs, and completing DIY projects on her home with her husband.

Lisa Cox

Lisa Cox

Lisa Cox is a civil litigation paralegal and notary public. In 1990, Lisa obtained an AA Degree in Paralegal Studies from Kelsey-Jenney Business College, graduating number one in her class. Lisa has vast experience, having worked at the top national law firms on an array of cases ranging from personal injury, employment, complex and commercial litigation.
Lisa volunteers her time in the community, serving on the Legal Professionals Committee for the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego and in 2016, was the recipient of the CASD President’s Award. Lisa has previously served on committees with the Lawyers Club of San Diego, the San Diego Met High School Mentor Advisory Board, and San Diego County Bar Association’s Children at Risk Committee.
In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her daughter Everly, working out, and coaching and managing Everly’s softball team.
Legal Assistant Julia Collins

Julia Collins

Julia Collins serves as the office manager for the Firm, and as a client liaison for the class and mass practice groups. She has worked with the team since 2019 to help obtain compensation for thousands of clients devastated by utility-caused fires, in addition to class actions and mass tort cases.

Prior to joining The Dixon Firm, Julia had years of customer service and medical training in hospitals, working with cancer patients and conducting otoacoustic emission tests on infants to detect hearing loss at birth. Julia served in the United States Marine Corps, including tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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