News

The OCBA is currently soliciting nominations for the Franklin G. West award. This award is the highest honor bestowed by the OCBA and will be presented at the OCBA Judges’ Night and Annual Meeting held in January 2017.  This award is presented each year to an outstanding attorney or judge whose lifetime achievements have advanced justice and the law. The deadline for nominations is Friday, November 4, 2016.
 
The attached application form contains the names of all of the previous honorees, but here are the most recent recipients:
 
Attorney Richard W. Millar Jr.
Judge James J. Di Cesare
Justice Richard Fybel
Judge Francisco Firmat
Attorney John Hurlbut Jr.
Judge Francisco Briseño
Attorney Donald S. Gray (posthumously)
Judge Nancy Wieben Stock
Attorney Wylie Aitken
Attorney Marjorie Fuller
Justice Kathleen O’Leary
Judge Ronald Kreber

On October 18, 2016 at 6:00 p.m., the Orange County Asian American Bar Association (“OCAABA”), a fellow affiliate bar for the OCBA, will be hosting its Fall Membership Mixer at Ten Asian Bistro.
 
This year, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association named OCAABA its 2016 Affiliate of the Year, beating out 75 other affiliates throughout the country.  Attached as a hyperlink is the press release regarding the award in case you would like to know more about OCAABA: Press Release re OCAABA as 2016 Affiliate of the Year.

Register for the event

The OCWLA holds an annual election for nine (9) Director positions of one-year terms.

Time commitment for an OCWLA Director (or Officer) includes:

1. Attorney or Lifetime membership to the OCWLA (join here);
2. Attendance at the OCWLA monthly Board meetings (on the fourth Wednesday of the month unless otherwise noticed);
3. Paid attendance at the OCWLA monthly lunch (or evening) programs;
4. Attendance at the Board Retreat & Orientation on November 19, 2016;
5. Participation in OCWLA's Annual Fundraising Gala, and
6. Participation in OCWLA committees.

If you are interested in running, you are asked to submit a short Candidate's Statement and photo (photo is optional) as the 2017 Slate of Director candidates will be presented to the membership via e-blast. You should send your statement and photo to Amelia Montgomery, OCWLA Executive Director, by the close of business on October 13, 2016 via email: info@ocwla.org.

Elections are held in November and will close and be tallied at the OCWLA monthly lunch meeting at Andrei's Conscious Cuisine & Cocktails, 2607 Main St, Irvine on November 11, 2016. Election results will be announced at the end of the lunch meeting. Installation of the 2017 Board of Officers and Directors takes place at the OCWLA Holiday Reception on December 14.

We are very excited over your energetic interest to join the OCWLA Board. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Amelia Montgomery at info@ocwla.org.

Thank you for your support!

Orange County Women Lawyers Association
P.O. Box 6130, Newport Beach, CA 92658
p: (949) 478-1103
e: info@ocwla.org
w: ocwla.org

The California Department of Justice is seeking to fill several Deputy Attorney General III positions throughout the state. Application
deadlines vary so please click on the link below and let us know if you are interested in applying. Please ensure you provide an email
address as a DOJ Recruiter will reach out to you with application instructions.
 
CLICK HERE IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN APPLYING

IRVINE, CA, September 21, 2016 --- Jennifer Keller has again been named to the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journals’ list of "The Top 100 Lawyers in California."  This is Keller's ninth appearance on the list.  There are over 220,000 attorneys in California, making her achievement that much more remarkable.
 
The award, one of the California legal profession's most coveted, is given by the editors of the statewide lawyers' newspapers to honor those whose superior achievement and stellar results place them in a super-elite category.
 
Jennifer Keller specializes in bet-the-company trials across varied practice areas that include commercial litigation, white collar criminal defense, intellectual property and class actions, among others.  She has won hundreds of millions of dollars for her clients in jury trials, settled other cases in the tens of millions, and successfully defended many more. Ms. Keller is the former President of the Orange County Bar Association.  She was named by California Lawyer Magazine an “Attorney of the Year” in Litigation for outstanding achievement, and was featured in The National Law Journal’s “Winning” report, which recognizes 10 of the country’s top trial lawyers.  She appears annually in the Lawdragon Leading 500 Lawyers in America.  Los Angeles Magazine’s Southern California Super Lawyers lists her in its “Top 100 Southern California Super Lawyers,” “Top 50 Orange County Super Lawyers,” and “Top 50 Southern California Women Super Lawyers.”  Ms. Keller is also a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America trial lawyers’ honorary society.  She earned her A.B. at the University of California, Berkeley, and her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
 
Her firm, Keller/Anderle LLP, is among the premier boutique litigation forms in California.  Ms. Keller and Managing Partner Kay Anderle have over 250 jury trials between them.  Unique among law firms handling high profile, bet-the-company cases of such a caliber is that both name partners are women, and the firm is women-owned.  Among its clients are MGA Entertainment and its CEO Isaac Larian; Michael Ovitz, the  Creative Artists Agency founder and former Chairman of the Walt Disney Company; Henry Nicholas, the co-founder of Broadcom; American International Group (AIG); MassMutual Insurance Company; and the McGraw Hill Companies (in The United States v. The McGraw-Hill Companies, the government’s civil suit alleging that the rating agency Standard & Poor’s improperly rated certain mortgage-backed securities). 

When: Tuesday, Oct 18, 2016, 6:00 PM until 8:30 PM

Where: Ten Asian Bistro, 4647 MacArthur Boulevard, Newport Beach

More information: http://ocaaba.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=87&club_id=369752&item_id=571961&eml=1&actr=3&sl=576652851

Greetings from the Orange County Family Violence Council.

QUESTION
If someone asks you, "Why doesn't s/he just leave?", the most helpful response an ally of family violence survivors can give is:

A. Give the person a dirty look;
B. Lecture the person on how her question is not politically correct;
C. Text your friend, "You won't believe what this lady just asked me"; or
D. Say, "There's a fantastic conference on November 4 on that issue. Why don't we go together and find out?"

ANSWER
Of the above choices, D is the most helpful response.

You might also say, "I'm glad you asked. The victim may have many reasons, including depression, shame, and lack of resources. Some abusers tell their victims, 'If you leave, I'll hurt/kill you, the kids, your parents, your brother ...' " We still have a lot to learn about helping abuse victims get to safety. What do you think might help them?"

At the conference on November 4, experts will provide more in-depth answers to these and other common questions in the field family violence prevention and treatment. We hope you can join us or send your staff or volunteers.

This event is approved for 6.0 hours of Minimum Continuing Legal Education Credit by the State Bar of California. UC Irvine School of Law is a State Bar-approved MCLE provider.

Seating is limited, so RSVP now at Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/identifying-understanding-and-breaking-the-cycle-of-generational-violence-tickets-27138449834

Thank you for your support,

Orange County Family Violence Council

Please join the Orange County Coalition for Diversity in the Law for a complimentary evening of socializing, hors d'oeuvres and drinks at Andrei’s in Irvine on the evening of Thursday, October 13.
 
This event is geared to raise awareness and engagement between the OCCDL and the local legal community. After 20 years of successfully advancing diversity in Orange County, we want to further expand our organization and hope you will join us to learn more about how you can become a member.
 
Please RSVP here no later than Friday, September 30. We look forward to seeing you there!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Amelia Montgomery, Executive Director
ORANGE COUNTY WOMEN LAWYERS ASSOCIATION
Tel.: (949) 478-1103
Email: info@ocwla.org

NEWPORT BEACH, CA - September 8, 2016 - The Orange County Women Lawyers Association (OCWLA)* is holding its annual fundraising event on September 22, 2016 at The Pelican Hill Resort in Newport Coast. Tickets are available at http://www.ocwla.org/event-2218719.

This year, the OCWLA is pleased to announce that it will be honoring our Judge of the Year, the Honorable Gail Andler, The Superior Court of California, County of Orange and our Attorney of the Year, Michele Johnson, Esq., Latham & Watkins LLP with keynote speaker Justice Eileen Moore, California Court of Appeal, 4th District, Division 3.

Charities Benefited. OCWLA is proud to announce charitable contributions being made in 2016, with proceeds raised in 2015. Charitable contributions include:

• Casa Teresa. Donation: $7,500.00
• Olive Crest. Donation: $7,500.00
• Orange County Bar Foundation. Donation: $5,000.00
• Orange County Collaborative Courts Foundation. Donation: $3,000.00 + gift cards collected at events
• Public Law Center. Donation: $2,500.00

About The Orange County Women Lawyers Association: The OCWLA is dedicated to advancing women in the legal profession. We support the continued growth and development of the OCWLA and its members by providing an exceptional professional network, raising awareness of discrimination and bias, and supporting worthy charitable organizations.

For more information please visit www.ocwla.org.

About Michele Johnson: Michele D. Johnson is a recognized leader at a prominent global law firm, in her area of practice, and in the community. She is a member of the Executive Committee of Latham & Watkins LLP and the former Managing Partner of the firm’s Orange County office in Costa Mesa.

Her practice focuses on securities and professional liability litigation, and she represents industry leading companies, officers and directors, special committees and accounting firms – often in high stakes litigation that sets legal precedent. She recently was recognized among a select group nationally of the “25 Most Influential Women in Securities Law” named by Law360. Ms. Johnson also has a longstanding
commitment to giving back to the community. She serves on the boards of the Public Law Center and the Orange County chapter of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, and she recently received the Anti-Defamation League of Orange County’s Jurisprudence Award in recognition for her strong commitment to civil rights and human relations to end bigotry of all kinds.