News & Insights

Lightfoot, Franklin & White Welcomes Six New Attorneys

September 28, 2017

Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC welcomes six new attorneys to the firm — one of counsel and five associates.

Angela T. Bongat joins Lightfoot’s Houston, Texas office as Of Counsel. In her 13 years of practice, she has focused on general civil litigation, product liability, personal injury and insurance coverage matters. Bongat graduated from South Texas College of Law Houston while completing a rigorous internship for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in the Child Abuse Division. She is also a graduate of the International Association of Defense Counsel Trial Academy conducted at Stanford Law School.

The firm has also hired five new associates in its Birmingham, Alabama office:

Gabriella E. Alonso
Bridget E. Harris
Zachary P. Martin
Logan T. Matthews
Rachelle E. Sanchez

Alonso is a graduate of Washington and Lee University School of Law. She is a former student caseworker for the Black Lung Legal Clinic in Lexington, Virginia, where she represented physically disabled coal miners and survivors seeking Federal Black Lung Benefits.

Harris is a graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law. She was the captain of the Trial Advocacy Competition Team, which was named Southeast Regional Champion and national semifinalist in 2017.

Martin is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School where he was associate editor for the Journal of International Law. He also interned with the United States Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Alabama.

Matthews is a graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law. He previously clerked for the University of Alabama System and for the Honorable W. Harold Albritton III, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

Before joining Lightfoot, Sanchez was a criminal prosecutor, where she first-chaired numerous trials and spent the majority of her time in the courtroom. Now, she applies that trial and courtroom experience to her civil practice, where she focuses on medical malpractice and product liability litigation defense.