A litigation boutique based in Oakland, California, representing plaintiffs and defendants in complex civil litigation.
The Norton Law Firm Elevates Matt Ohlheiser, Celine Purcell, and Gil Walton to Counsel
The Norton Law Firm, a litigation boutique selected by the Daily Journal to its “Top Boutiques 2025” list, announces the elevation of Matt Ohlheiser, Celine Purcell, and Gil Walton to Counsel, effective January 1, 2026.
Co-founder Fred Norton said, “Matt, Celine, and Gil are thoughtful, creative advocates and fantastic colleagues. They exemplify our commitment to our client and our team. We congratulate them on these promotions.”
“We are proud of our colleagues Matt, Celine, and Gil, who are extraordinary litigators here at the firm. They have excelled not only in client service but also as mentors and leaders, and their individual strengths have allowed them to make meaningful contributions to the firm as a whole,” said Bree Hann, co-founder.
Matt Ohlheiser
Matt Ohlheiser is a seasoned litigator with expertise across complex commercial litigation, class actions, civil rights matters, criminal law, and consumer actions on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants. He has led every stage of litigation, including complex discovery, depositions, dispositive motions, trial preparation, trials, and appeals in state and federal courts, before administrative bodies, and in arbitration. Among other successes, he led early government tort claim and complaint drafting on behalf of an individual who was wrongly imprisoned for nearly three decades resulting in a pre-suit, eight-figure settlement for the client.
He has been recognized in the Northern California Rising Stars list, published by Super Lawyers, in 2024 and 2025, and was named to the 2025 Lawdragon 500 X –The Next Generation list, which honors future leaders in law. Before joining the firm, he was a litigation associate at Cozen O’Connor in Philadelphia and an Education Defense Fellow with the public defender’s office in Baltimore, Maryland. He earned his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law and his B.A., magna cum laude, from Bates College.
Celine Purcell
Celine Purcell represents businesses and individuals in a wide range of commercial litigation and white collar matters, including contract disputes, consumer class actions, and SEC investigations. She is consistently recognized as one of the top up-and-coming litigators in the state and country and was recently listed in Northern California Rising Stars in 2024 and 2025, published by Super Lawyers, and was named to the 2025 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation list in recognition of her status as an emerging leader in law.
Before joining The Norton Law Firm, she served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Susan Y. Illston in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, for nearly four years, and before that was an associate at a national law firm in their securities and commercial litigation group. She also maintains an active pro bono practice. In 2025, she represented a bipartisan group of lawmakers as amici in the Trump tariffs case, taking a leading role in briefing in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Federal Circuit, and the Court of International Trade. She has also successfully represented pro bono clients seeking domestic violence restraining orders and prisoners asserting constitutional claims. She earned her J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law and her B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Gil Walton
Gil Walton represents plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes criminal and civil litigation at all levels of the judiciary. He has briefed and argued dispositive motions, jury instructions, and evidentiary rulings; examined witnesses; led discovery; and drafted appellate briefs in state and federal court, including the United States Supreme Court. Among other successes, he was a member of a trial team that secured a $27 million net verdict on breach of contract claims related to payments for pistachio crops following a seven-week jury trial in California state court. He also drafted a successful petition for a writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court on behalf of a client convicted of federal mail and wire fraud based on an invalidated theory of fraud. The Supreme Court granted his client’s petition, vacated the judgment below, and remanded the case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The client’s sentence has since been commuted.
Before joining the firm, he served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Gerald B. Tjoflat of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He earned his J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he was a member of the executive board of the Stanford Law Review. He earned his B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Alabama, where he was a scholarship athlete on the track and cross country teams. He has been recognized in the 2024 and 2025 editions of Northern California Rising Stars, published by Super Lawyers.