• President's Message by Janet Hong
• Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles Statement on the Death of Tyre Nichols
• Honoring Black Legal Trailblazers: WLALA President-Elect Jeannine Taylor; WLALA Board of Governors Member Sherry Patterson; and WLALA Board of Governors Member Kirra Jones McDaniel
• Black Lawyers and Students Drive Diversity in Associate Ranks at U.S. Law Firms; Gains at the Partnership Level Continue to Lag Behind
• For Common Cause: Sister Bar Executive Committees Meet to Collaborate on Future Programming
• WLALA Secretary Jennie Wang VonCannon, "Uber Scrutiny of Cybersecurity" (reprinted from The Daily Journal)
• WLALA Well Represented at the Multicultural Bar Association of Southern California's Unity Breakfast
• Former WLALA President Jessica Kronstadt, "How Hanukkah's Light Defies Today's Dark Forces" (reprint from Los Angeles Lawyer magazine)
• Final Push for WLALA Foundation's Annual Charitable Campaign -- Help Us Reach Our Goal! 
• Now Available! Limited Edition WLALA Sweatshirt to Benefit WLALA Foundation
• WLALA Needs YOU to be a Mentor to a Law Student
• WLALA Career Mentoring Committee Virtual Networking Event - March 3, 2023
• WLALA Foundation Now Accepting Fran Kandel Public Interest Fellowship Applications
• Post-Roe Resources: Pro Choice and Reproductive Rights Committee of WLALA, Board of Governors Members Vanessa Adriance and Amy Brantly Share the Overarching Reproductive Law Project's (ORLP) Letter to the State Bar of California
• Member News
• Welcome New Members!
• Support the Harriett Buhai Center’s Mission in Helping Vulnerable Women
• Support the Monterey Park Lunar New Year Victims Fund
• Save the Date: Mexican American Bar Association's 63rd Annual Installation of Officers & Awards Gala, March 11, 2023
• Save the Date: Roadways to the Bench: Who Me? A Bankruptcy or Magistrate Judge? April 3, 2023

Last Saturday, I attended the Multicultural Bar Alliance of Southern California's Unity Breakfast at Aloha Café in Little Tokyo. Bar leaders from all over Los Angeles were present, including leaders from SCCLA, Langston, BWL, LGBTQ+ LA, JABA, APABA-LA, APAWLA, Irish American Bar Assoc., MABA and IABA. Before the meeting, we had a moment of silence for Tyre Nichols. Our collective silence struck me as a powerful moment of coming together and acknowledging the pain and loss of yet another member of the Black community at the hands of police.  

Many of us are still reeling from the back-to-back violent incidents over the last few weeks. Monterey Park. Half Moon Bay. Keenan Anderson – a Black high school English teacher visiting from Washington D.C. – who died from cardiac arrest after being tased multiple times by the LAPD. Initially, I hoped to craft a message celebrating Black excellence in honor of Black History Month and highlighting the contributions of the Black community to this country, but instead I must acknowledge the feelings of anger, disgust, fear, and sadness among us. 

How do we celebrate excellence and beauty in the face of such destruction and depravity? Because Black history teaches us that we must. The counter-narrative must be told, that feat of human strength and fortitude.  We acknowledge the grief, but we also elevate the resilience that exists simultaneously with the hurt.

My heart goes out to the families of the victims of these senseless tragedies. I hope we can all find a moment of silence to honor all of them. And I hope as we reflect on this month, on Black History and the present, that we do so with the complexity this time deserves.

Thank you, Jasmine Horton, President of Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, for allowing us to repost BWL’s message on Tyre Nichols in our newsletter. We stand in solidarity with you.

Honoring Black Legal Trailblazers

WLALA President-Elect Jeannine Taylor is Deputy General Counsel for Keck Medicine of USC. In her role, she manages USC’s health sciences legal team and manages the health sciences legal fellowship program for USC law school graduates. She provides legal support for Keck Medicine of USC, assists with major corporate acquisitions and affiliations of healthcare entities, manages high exposure healthcare projects and functions as lead counsel for all Keck Medicine of USC affiliated entities. Prior to joining USC, Ms. Taylor spent seven years of practice in the healthcare department of the law firm Foley and Lardner, LLP. She also previously served on a clinical trial institutional review board, responsible for reviewing the safety of experimental medications for patients suffering from HIV or cancer. Her recent professional achievements include overseeing the formation of a new health system board and managing an affiliation with Arcadia Methodist Hospital, to expand access to care to residents in the San Gabriel Valley. Ms. Taylor is also a member of the Keck Medicine’s Diversity & Inclusion Executive Steering Committee, where she is honored to give her time and energy working toward creating a more inclusive environment. Previously, she championed for the legal team to become the first educational institution to sign onto the American Bar Association’s Diversity Resolution in 2019, a resolution that prioritizes purchasing services from firms that support the retention and promotion of diverse attorneys. Ms. Taylor graduated from the USC Gould School of Law in 2002 and from University of California, Irvine (B.A), magna cum laude in 1998, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Jeannine is also the proud mother of two daughters, Adara and Annisa, who are undoubtedly her greatest accomplishments.

WLALA Board of Governors Member Sherry M. Patterson serves as the Co-Chair for the Multicultural Bar Association of Southern California on behalf of WLALA. As a Partner at Morgan & Leahy, LLP, she represents insurance carriers, self-insured employers, corporations, groundskeeping business, hospitals, restaurants, grocery stores, and food & beverage companies in all aspects of workers' compensation defense, including Labor Code §132a claims. She also volunteers with The Alliance for Children's Rights preparing documents to finalize adoptions out of foster care. Before joining Morgan Leahy, Ms. Patterson was Associate Attorney for a workers’ compensation defense firm representing insurance carriers, third-party administrators, self-insured employers, transportation companies, hospitals, colleges, and school districts. She advised employers and claim representatives, appeared before the WCAB, and successfully advocated at trial. Ms. Patterson received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, where she received the Merle Catherine Chambers scholarship. She served as Staff Editor and Treasurer for the Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal, and was Class Representative and Treasurer of the Associated Students of UC Hastings. She was a Graduate Legal Assistant for the California Franchise Tax Board, and a Student Liaison for the California Association of Black Lawyers.

WLALA Board of Governors Member Kirra Jones McDaniel serves as Assistant General Counsel for global nonprofit AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the largest provider of HIV medical care in the world. Prior to joining AHF, Ms. Jones was an attorney in the Kansas City and Los Angeles offices of Polsinelli LLP, where she primarily focused on products liability and commercial litigation. She has extensive experience litigating on behalf of corporations in diverse industries, including food and agriculture, medical devices, automotive, industrial minerals, utilities, electrical components, and construction. Ms. Jones holds a B.A. in Spanish and a B.A. in Linguistics from the University of Missouri, and a law degree from Hofstra University’s Maurice A. Deane School of Law. Outside of law practice, she currently serves as the Legal Redress Chair for the Los Angeles Branch of the NAACP.

Black Lawyers and Students Drive Diversity in Associate Ranks at U.S. Law Firms; Gains at the Partnership Level Continue to Lag Behind

The National Association for Law Placement, Inc. (NALP) recently released its annual Report on Diversity at U.S. Law Firms, available at: www.nalp.org/reportondiversity. The report, based on information from the 2022-2023 NALP Directory of Legal Employers (NDLE), shows that overall gains continued to be made in the representation of women, people of color, and LGBTQ individuals in the associate and summer associate ranks at major U.S. law firms in 2022 as compared to 2021. Of particular note, the percentage of Black associates grew by nearly 0.6 percentage points to 5.77%, and the percentage of Black summer associates increased by 0.7 percentage points to 11.85%.

While improvements were also made at the partnership level in 2022, progress continues to lag far behind that of associates and summer associates, with people of color and women comprising just 11.40% and 26.65% of all partners, respectively, in 2022. For comparison, 28.32% of associates are people of color and 49.42% are women. The percentage of Black and Latinx partners each increased by just 0.1 percentage points to 2.32% and 2.97%, respectively as compared to 2021.

“While the legal industry continues to make measurable gains in the representation of women, people of color, and LGBTQ individuals in the associate and summer associate ranks, it is equally clear that law firm leaders have failed to do the work necessary to break down the systemic barriers that prevent these individuals from joining them in the hallowed halls of partnership,” said NALP Executive Director Nikia L. Gray. “The data demonstrates that we are nowhere near achieving the progress one would expect from an industry that has been focused on the issue of diversity for over three decades.” 

For Common Cause:

Sister Bar Executive Committees

Meet to Collaborate on Future Programming

On January 18th, representatives from Sister Bar Executive Committees including Asian Pacific American Women Lawyers Association (APAWLA), Black Women Lawyers (BWL), Latina Lawyers Bar Association (LLBA), and WLALA shared common issues and strategized around future collaborative efforts at Woodspoon in downtown Los Angeles. Clockwise from upper right hand corner: Cynthia Grande (LLBA); Tracy Nakaoka (APAWLA); WLALA Secretary Jennie Wang VonCannon; WLALA President Janet Hong; Ronni Whitehead Otieno (BWL); Esther Ro (APAWLA); WLALA Communications Officer Brigit Greeson Alvarez; WLALA President-Elect Jeannine Taylor; Marisol Ramirez (LLBA); and Jasmine Horton (BWL).

Still inspired by the ongoing conversation, attendees pause for a quick photo (from left to right): WLALA Secretary Jennie Wang VonCannon; Jasmine Horton (BWL); WLALA President Janet Hong; WLALA Communications Secretary Brigit Greeson Alvarez; and Cynthia Grande (LLBA).

WLALA Secretary Jennie Wang VonCannon,

"Uber Scrutiny of Cybersecurity"

(reprinted from The Daily Journal)

WLALA Well Represented at the

Multicultural Bar Association of Southern California's Unity Breakfast

On January 28th, WLALA was well-represented by at the annual Unity Breakfast coordinated by the Multicultural Bar Association of Southern California. Attendees included (from left to right): WLALA Board of Governors Member Hon. Holly Fujie; WLALA President-Elect Jeannine Taylor; WLALA Board of Governors Member Leana Taing; WLALA Board of Governors Member Sherry Patterson; WLALA President Janet Hong; and WLALA Second Vice President Farah Tabibkhoei.

Group photo of all attendees of the Multicultural Bar Association of Southern California's Unity Breakfast held in Little Tokyo.

Former WLALA President Jessica Kronstadt,

"How Hanukkah's Light

Defies Today's Dark Forces"

(reprint from Los Angeles Lawyer magazine)

WLALA Foundation's Charitable Fund Campaign:

Thank You to Our Generous Sponsors

WLALA Foundation's Annual Charitable Fund Campaign concluded on January 31. Thanks to your generous contributions, the Charitable Fund Campaign raised over $34,000 to support the Foundation’s fellows and scholars. While the Charitable Fund Campaign formally ended on January 31, we still welcome donations of any amount to reach our goal of $40,000 before scholarships and fellowships are awarded this spring.

We are so grateful to every donor. The WLALA Foundation seeks to improve access to justice in our community by supporting law students with a demonstrated commitment to working in public interest law. The 2023 Charitable Fund Campaign spotlighted inspiring fellowship and scholarship recipients who have contributed to our community. Past recipients provided legal support to women veterans, immigrants, the unhoused, those re-entering society after incarceration, and promoted initiatives to raise awareness on topics of healthcare, educational equity, and intimate partner violence. Thanks to you, the WLALA Foundation’s impact will also grow this spring as the WLALA Foundation selects its 2023 scholarship and fellowship recipients.

GOOD NEWS! THERE'S STILL TIME TO DONATE.

Remember your donation supports the professional development of attorneys interested in pursuing careers in public interest law.

Karen Herrera, a 2022 Southwestern Social Justice Fellow, is a 2L at Southwestern Law School. She grew up in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles. She graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2016 with a Bachelor in Politics & Latin American Studies. Before attending law school, Karen was an AmeriCorps Volunteer and later, spent four years working at the Central American Resource Center. There, she assisted undocumented victims of crime apply for immigration relief and advocated for trafficking victims to receive critical benefits. This past summer, Karen used her skills at the Inner City Law Center to help veterans obtain the benefits they deserve.

Now Available! Limited Edition WLALA Sweatshirt to Benefit the WLALA Foundation

Donate $100 to the WLALA Foundation Charitable Campaign and receive this luxurious and limited edition sweatshirt free! All proceeds go to our scholarships, fellowships and non-profit community partners.

WLALA Career Mentoring Committee Virtual Networking Event

WLALA Needs YOU to be a Mentor

WLALA needs attorney mentor volunteers like YOU since our increased presence in the legal community has led to increased participation among local law schools. WLALA's Law Student Mentoring Program pairs law student members with lawyer members to encourage and facilitate the development of women law students. Mentors and mentees are matched based on interests and background where possible. The program is flexible; mentors and mentees choose when and how to stay connected with one another, whether through e-mail, telephone, in-person meet ups, or a combination. Many participants find that the one-on-one mentoring relationship becomes a long-term friendship.

The WLALA Foundation Fran Kandel Public Interest Fellowship enables law students to work with an organization or individually to develop and implement a project in the field of public interest law in the spirit of Fran Kandel. The WLALA Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization created to increase the utility of the law as an instrument of social justice. Since 1985, the WLALA Foundation has awarded over 30 law student grants totaling over $137,000.

The WLALA Kandel Fellowship is designed to fund social justice-oriented projects with a tangible outcome. Strong preference is given to applicants who have the support of a sponsoring organization and who have arranged for an organization or suitable individual to supervise their project. Each Kandel Fellow may receive up to $6,000. This amount is intended to cover project expenses and provide a stipend.

The purpose of the WLALA Kandel Fellowship is to:

Provide help to the disadvantaged by funding original projects that will directly benefit the under-represented in the greater Los Angeles area; Educate and expose law students to legal concerns affecting the disadvantaged; and,

Encourage the legal community’s involvement in public interest law by funding students who show the capability of and commitment to assisting those in need.

Applications are due on April 14, 2023 by 5:00 p.m.

WLALA maintains a page of resources for our post-Roe world, including ways to donate, take action, and learn. Recently, the Overarching Reproductive Law Project -- a project sponsored and directed by WLALA and Southwestern Law School's Women Law Association -- sent a letter to the State Bar of California asking the Chief Trial Counsel to issue a statement that California attorneys who conscientiously violate “aiding and abetting” laws in other states by helping people access abortion care in California are: 1) not committing acts of “moral turpitude;” and 2) not subject to bar discipline. 

WLALA Second Vice President Farah Tabibkhoei Attends the Consumer Association Attorneys of Los Angeles (CAALA) 74th Annual Gala

Attendees of the 74th Annual CAALA Gala include (from left to right): WLALA Second Vice President Farah Tabibkhoei; Golnar Mohfared (Iranian American Lawyers Association); WLALA Foundation Board Member Ji-In Lee Houck; and Jasmine Horton (BWL).

WLALA President Janet Hong

Attends LACBA Affiliate & Affinity Bar Reception

Attendees included Ronni Whitehead Otieno (BWL)(second from left) and WLALA President Janet Hong (third from left).

WLALA Communications Officer Brigit Greeson Alvarez Accepts Position as

Deputy County Counsel

WLALA Communications Officer Brigit Greeson Alvarez recently started a new position as Deputy County Counsel with the Office of County Counsel for the County of Los Angeles. As a member of the Board Liaison Division, she provides representation and counsel to the all-women led Board of Supervisors, the Executive Office/ Clerk of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer, all County Departments, Special Districts and other public agencies such as commissions and boards as mandated and authorized by the County charter and State statute.

Congratulations Brigit!

Welcome to Our New Members

Samantha Abril

Stephanie Annunziata

Alyssa Archuleta Stolmack

Katrina Eiden

Nichole Fandino

Katherine Flores

Stephanie Freismuth

Jessica Gomez

Maria Jhai

Harper Johnson

Mariam Kaloustian

Grace Kim

Loni Kaye

Laura Lewis

Karen Lindow

Leslie Mak

Margaret Marrow

Lizbeth Medina

Jennifer Morales

April Nalls-Kurney

Nicole Ortega

Jillian Paris

Nonna Rudneva

Liz Sulaiman

Delilah Zied

Support the Monterey Park Lunar New Year Victims Fund

At least 11 individuals killed and many more were seriously injured in a shooting spree that occurred just blocks away from a joyous New Year festival where thousands of people gathered. Our hearts go out to the victims and everyone impacted by this horrific tragedy. 100% of donations contributed to the fund will go to the many individuals who are now suffering from this senseless violence.

Dear WLALA Member,

We hope you will support the Harriett Buhai Center’s mission in helping vulnerable women like Valerie.*

Physical and emotional abuse plagued Valerie's life. Strangulation, battery, and assault with a deadly weapon – the terror she felt was not only for herself but for her vulnerable children. With the support of WLALA members like you, Valerie could get the protection she and her children needed. We implore you to read Valerie's full story to better understand the impact your generosity can have on the lives of vulnerable individuals and their children. Click here to read Valerie’s full story.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Harriett Buhai Center. For first-time donations and donations increased in size, another generous donor will match it.

Help us stay strong for another 40 years! Donate today at hbcfl.org.

VOLUNTEER MOCK TRIAL JUDGES NEEDED!

UCLA’s Undergraduate Mock Trial Program seeks volunteer judges, attorneys, or law students to serve as Presiding Judges or Scoring Judges for the only two Los Angeles area collegiate mock trial tournaments of 2023. Both tournaments will be in person:

The 2023 UCLASSIC Mock Trial Invitational Tournament on January 14 -15, 2023

The 2023 Opening Round of the National Championship on March 11-12, 2023

Please read the information below and sign-up to volunteer one of two ways:

1. Register as a volunteer judge at the following link: 

                      Mock Trial Volunteer Judge Registration Link

1. Contact Tournament Director Mayank Killedar at uclainvite@gmail.com.

General Mock Trial Program Information

The UCLA Mock Trial Teams participate in the American Collegiate Mock Trial Association program. Over 700 teams from colleges around the nation compete by presenting the Plaintiff or Defense side of a civil or criminal case including Opening Statements, witness Direct & Cross Examinations and Closing Arguments. Students must follow the rules of evidence of the “State of Midlands” (an imaginary state that follows the Federal Rules of Evidence). Many California universities field teams at these tournaments, including UCLA, USC, Cal, Stanford, UCI, USCD, UCSB, Cal-Poly and the Claremont colleges. We will also have teams from around the United States.

2023 UCLA Tournaments Information

28 teams will compete at the January UCLASSIC Tournament in January and 24 teams who won their Regional Championship will compete at the March tournament. The students will present the Plaintiff or Defense side in the civil case of Ari Felder v. ​Koller Campbell Air, LLC. (a civil case of piloting negligence resulting in a plane crash and the death of a lawyer).

We seek attorneys, judges, and law students to volunteer as presiding and/or scoring judges at the trials. We try to accommodate your preference for serving as Presiding Judge (ruling on evidence & exhibits) or Scoring Judge. You may volunteer for more than one trial. Please share this flier with other members of your firm or organization.

Volunteer Information

We strictly time the trials and trials will typically last 2.5 hours. We will provide volunteers with a link with case materials ahead of the trials. However, you need not prepare or read any documents in advance of the trials. One presiding judge (ideally should be an attorney or judge) will preside over each trial (as the bench officer overseeing the trial and making evidentiary rulings). Scoring judges evaluate and score the participants. The winning team is based on total points received from scores awarded for Openings, Closings, Examinations, and Witness Performances. We will outline these procedures at an online training session on the evening of Thursday, January 12th. There is no Pre-Trial hearing as in high school competitions.

If you volunteer, we will send you a confirmation and detailed tournament information about 2-3 weeks prior to the tournament. If you can serve as a volunteer for one or more sessions or rounds, please go to the registration link at Mock Trial Volunteer Judge Registration Link or contact Tournament Director Mayank Killedar at uclainvite@gmail.com. We appreciate your support!

We Need YOU!

For Committees, Sections and Liaisons

Did you know that WLALA is run almost entirely by volunteers? If you're interested in participating in WLALA Committees, Sections or acting as a Liaison, visit our website to find out more and sign up now!

The Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles ("WLALA") promotes the full participation in the legal profession of women lawyers and judges from diverse perspectives and racial and ethnic backgrounds, maintains the integrity of our legal system by advocating principles of fairness and equality, and improves the status of women by supporting their exercise of equal rights, equal representation, and reproductive choice.