Bird Marella partners Nicole Rodriguez Van Dyk and Julia Cherlow are honored in the Daily Journal’s annual list of Top Women Lawyers in California. This marks the third consecutive year that Ms. Van Dyk has been named to the list and the second year Ms. Cherlow has received this honor.
Ms. Van Dyk has built a sophisticated practice at the intersection of white collar defense, regulatory compliance, and complex civil litigation. A seasoned trial lawyer, she advises clients navigating parallel criminal, civil, and regulatory proceedings, spanning multiple practice areas, including healthcare-related matters, consumer fraud actions, and employment discrimination and harassment. She has also developed a nationally recognized niche practice representing cosmetics companies in high-stakes regulatory enforcement matters, including litigation arising under California’s Proposition 65.
Ms. Van Dyk’s Daily Journal profile describes her practice as “span[ning] industries and procedural contexts, but the throughline is [her] approach to client service that treats outcome definition as the starting point, not an afterthought.”
Ms. Cherlow is a first-chair trial lawyer who handles high-stakes, bet-the-company complex commercial litigation across industries, with a particular emphasis on entertainment matters. She represents leading actors, studios, and industry participants in their most consequential matters, combining creative strategy with disciplined courtroom execution. Her trial work includes serving as co-lead counsel in a landmark healthcare case that resulted in a jury verdict exceeding $510 million, one of the largest healthcare verdicts in Nevada history.
Ms. Cherlow’s profile notes the connection between her work as a litigator and her years as a ballet dancer: “Both demand discipline, preparation, and the ability to perform under pressure when it counts. There’s a rhythm to building a case and presenting it at trial that mirrors choreography, with structure underneath what can look effortless from the outside.”
Read the full list of honorees here (Daily Journal subscription required).
