Jonah A Toleno

Jonah Toleno is Of Counsel with Garcia Hong Law. She has been licensed for over 20 years. Her practice with Garcia Hong Law focuses on business and corporate law. She brings a broad range of trial and arbitration experience to the firm, having litigated, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of complex business, securities, financial services, and trade secret matters prior to joining. She uses her expansive litigation experience to provide outside General Counsel services to various local, national, and international businesses, corporate entities, and individuals, helping navigate legal issues.

Jonah has a premier “AV”, 5.0 out of 5.0 rating with Martindale Hubbell. She consistently is recognized by numerous publications for her excellence as an attorney, including being named by SuperLawyers as a Top 50 Attorney in San Diego and a Top 25 Female Attorney in San Diego since 2020, and a “SuperLawyer” consecutively since 2017. Two of San Diego’s largest bar organizations, San Diego County Bar Association and Lawyers Club of San Diego, have recognized Jonah’s community contributions by awarding her their respective Annual Community Service Awards in 2018 and 2020.

Jonah is a longstanding leader in the local and national legal community. Her service includes co-chairing the 2023-2024 “Friends” Committee of the National Association of Women Judges, co-chairing several committees of the Lawyers Club of San Diego, including the Judicial Appointments Evaluation Committee, Bench Bar Committee, Membership Development Committee, and the Diverse Women’s Committee, serving as a Past President and current Director for the Filipino American Lawyers of San Diego, and serving on the Awards and Endorsements Committee of the National Filipino American Lawyers Association. She also volunteers with local charities and regularly mentors law students and new attorneys through organizations such as the San Diego County Bar Association, and on her own time. She regularly speaks at events and panels on topics such as good business practices, law practice and management, avoiding the pitfalls of litigation, networking and marketing, and alternative dispute resolution.

Jonah attended the University of California at Berkeley, where she majored in Legal Studies and minored in Music. She obtained her law degree from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, California. While at U.C. Hastings, she was a staff editor for the Hastings Women's Law Journal and served as President of various student organizations. She is fluent in Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines.

Professional Associations and Memberships

• National Association of Women Judges, Co-Chair, “Friends” Committee

• San Diego County Bar Association

- Business and Corporate Law Section

- Civil Litigation Section

- Alternative Dispute Resolution Section

- Employment Law Section

• Past President, Filipino-American Lawyers of San Diego, 2015 - 2017; Board Member, 2015 - Present

- Co-Chair, Community Outreach Committee

• Lawyers Club of San Diego

- Co-Chair, Membership Development Committee, 2020-2021

- Chair, Judicial Endorsements Committee, 2019 - 2020

- Co-Chair, Bench Bar Committee, 2019 - 2020

- Co-Chair, Diverse Women's Committee, 2017 - 2019

- Life and Law Committee Member

- Endorsements Committee, Past Member

• Association of Business and Trial Lawyers, San Diego Chapter

• Pan-Asian Lawyers of San Diego

• National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Member, Affiliate Past President

• National Filipino American Lawyers Association, Member, Affiliate Past President

- Awards and Endorsements Committee Member 2018 - Present

• San Diego Chamber of Commerce, Past Member

• American Bar Association, Past National Advisory Board Member

• Filipino Bar Association of Northern California, Past Secretary

Honors & Awards

• 'AV' Rated with Martindale Hubbell

• AV Peer-rated 5 out of 5 in Securities Law, General Practice, and Business Law

• Named San Diego Magazine's Pioneer in the Law & Legal 2023

• Named a Top 25 Female Attorney in San Diego, SuperLawyers 2020-2025

• Named a Top 50 Attorney in San Diego, SuperLawyers 2021-2025

• SuperLawyer Honoree, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025

• Named a 'Women of Influence in the Law' by the San Diego Business Journal, 2023

• Named a 'Top Leader In Law' by the San Diego Business Journal, 2022

• Lawyers Club of San Diego Community Service Award, 2020

• San Diego County Bar Association Community Service Award for Commitment to Diversity, 2018

• Inspirational Women Honoree, San Diego Woman Magazine, 2018

• San Diego Business Journal Best of the Bar Award Recipient (Securities Law), 2014 - 2018

• San Diego Magazine, Top Lawyers in San Diego, 2017 (Litigation)

• San Diego Magazine, Woman of the Year Finalist, 2016

• San Diego Daily Transcript Top Attorney (Corporate Litigation), 2014 & 2015

• San Diego Business Journal Women Who Mean Business Award Finalist, 2014

• Top Rated Lawyers in Securities Law, 2013