The Daily Journal has named Keker & Van Nest partners John Keker, Robert Van Nest and Elliot Peters to its list of Top 100 attorneys in California.

Keker—who has been on the Daily Journal’s Top 100 list every year since 1998—was recognized for his white‐collar defense work, including his defense of former KB Home Chief Executive Bruce Karatz. In April a Los Angeles jury acquitted Karatz on 16 of 20 charges relating to stock options backdating. “Since the economy tanked, people are quick to lay blame with corporate executives,” the editors wrote, touting Keker’s ability to mitigate the damage for clients in this environment.

Van Nest was profiled for his work on behalf of a wide range of clients, including HTC—which is currently doing battle with Apple over the patents for Smartphone technology—and American Honda Motor Co. “When a company hires Van Nest as lead counsel, it usually means they’re facing litigation that has the potential to be very large and very complex,” the editors wrote.

The publication highlighted Peters’ banner year representing a diverse group of clients. “Peters represented a corporate executive, a pro bono criminal defendant and the Major League Baseball Players Association – scoring wins on behalf of each this year.” In one case, Peters convinced federal prosecutors to drop their stock options backdating investigation of former KLA‐Tencor CEO Ken Schroeder—and then got KLA to pay Schroeder $16.5 million for firing him.