CLAS Speakers

Ruthe Ashley

Ruthe Catolico Ashley was this founding member of this organization to support the California LAW Pathway with a mission to diversify California’s legal profession through the educational pipeline. California LAW supports the 24 high school law academies, 29 community colleges, 17 undergraduate institutions, and 11 law schools creating a 10-year diversity pipeline from 9th grade to the end of law school.

Cheryl E. Amana Burris

Cheryl E. Amana Burris was a Professor of Law at North Carolina Central University School of Law for 35 years. Her speciality was Family Law. Additionally she taught Property and rotating seminars in Bioethics, Children and the Law and Reproductive Rights.She has served as senior consultant with the Law Offices of John L. Burris since 2002.  She received her undergraduate education at Rutgers University (BA 1973).  She received her juris doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law (1977) and her Masters of Law (LL.M. 1990) from Columbia University School of Law, Graduate Division, where she successfully completed the course work for the doctorate of jurisprudence (SJD 1990).

Prior to coming to North Carolina Central University, Professor Amana Burris was a senior assistant to Attorney Willie L. Brown Jr., who during her tenure became Speaker of the California State Assembly.  She has served as a judicial law clerk and represented the City of Philadelphia as an Assistant City Solicitor. Professor Amana Burris has written and lectured in the field of reproductive rights. During her career she has served on a number of community boards including the Board for the Department of Social Services for Durham County; the Governors Committee on Infant Mortality; the Planned Parenthood Board for Durham/Orange Counties (served as vice-president); the NARAL NC  Board, and the Board for the Center for Child and Family Health-North Carolina (CCFHNC) (served as president). She is a co-founder of the Center which is a collaborative effort of North Carolina Central University, Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and which addresses child maltreatment. She assisted Chancellor Julius L. Chambers during his tenure as Chancellor of the University. She and her husband, Attorney John L. Burris, have funded an endowed trust that will benefit the CCFHNC as well as a student at NCCU who became a parent during high school and who intends to become an attorney. Professor Amana Burris is currently a Court Appointed Special Advocate with the Alameda County CASA program.

Professor Amana Burris has received numerous awards throughout her career. Among the many include being selected as a fellow for the sixth annual medical institute for law faculty at the Cleveland Clinic; honored as a recipient of the Torchbearer and Trailblazer award from the North Carolina Equity Women of Color Program; recognized by the North Carolina Human Relations Commission with the Governors Citizen of the Year Award for Exemplary Service by an Individual in the Area of Human Rights and chosen as the Woman of the Year by the Chapel Hill Womens Center. She was selected to be the Charles B. Bretzfelder Constitutional Law Scholar at Columbia University School of Law Graduate Division. In 2010 the NCCU Women’s Caucus established an award in her honor which is given annually to a faculty member  for distinguished service to the Law School.

Professor Amana Burris remains married to renown civil rights attorney John L. Burris. Together they have a blended family of nine children, twenty grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

Stephanie Cajina

Stephanie Cajina graduated from the Jesse Bethel Law Academy in 2017. She recently graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Affairs. Stephanie has interned at Solano County Office of the Public Defender and also interned with California Senate Majority Leader Robert Hertzberg. Her ultimate goal is to become a practicing attorney and give access to legal aid that contributes to a fair, humane, and efficient criminal justice system and contributes to human development.

Arabella Compton

No bio

Nicole Cuellar Nelson

Nicole Cuellar is a Senior Policy Advisor with the Office of Mayor Steinberg. Her portfolio includes sustainability, infrastructure, cannabis, and workforce development. A recent graduate with distinction from Sacramento State’s Masters in Public Policy & Administration Program, Cuellar has previously worked in direct service, restorative justice, and program management. Most recently she had worked with PRO Youth & Families to lead the implementation of a workforce program focused on helping formerly incarcerated individuals re-enter the workforce. Nicole earned an undergraduate degree in Society & Environment from University of California, Berkeley.

Amy Dunning

Amy Dunning works as a staff attorney for the California School Employees Association (CSEA), which is the exclusive bargaining representative for over 200,000 classified school employees at K-12 public schools and community colleges in California. Prior to joining CSEA, Amy earned a teaching credential in Social Science and was the lead instructor at De Anza High School’s Law Academy in Richmond, California. Amy retired from the Federal government in 2015 after serving as an attorney with the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights in the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Department of the Navy, the U.S. Department of Justice, and as an administrative judge with the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. Amy is also a retired Marine Corps officer.

Pamela Enslen

Pamela Enslen has been a mediator, arbitrator, counselor, and litigator with extensive experience in higher education, employment, civil rights, and commercial matters. She most recently was a partner with Warner Norcross & Judd, where she chaired the firm’s Higher Education Practice Group. Pamela provided dispute resolution services as an advocate and as a neutral mediator and arbitrator in litigation and pre-litigation matters. Having been a former federal defender, Pamela has conducted numerous internal investigations. She is active in the American Bar Association, where she currently serves on the Board of Governors.  She has also served as Chair of the Section of Dispute Resolution, and has acted as the DR Section’s Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates since 2000. Just prior to serving an earlier term as a member of the ABA Board of Governors, Pamela in 2013 traveled to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as the ABA’s official observer of trial proceedings for the alleged organizers of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC. She was one of only eight NGO observers allowed to observe the proceedings. She has received numerous awards, including the Nanci S. Klein Award from the Michigan State Bar, the YWCA’s Lifetime Woman of Achievement Award, and the Woman of Courage and Achievement Award from Michigan Women’s Foundation.  She has twice been named a Michigan Lawyer of the Year.  Pamela taught mediation and negotiation in law school, and is the author of a book and numerous articles on dispute resolution.

Thomas Erickson

Tom Erickson is a 1st generation So Cal resident. His mother as a child emigrated from the Dust Bowl region and his father, during the Korean War came to El Toro Marine Base after being raised in East Texas. His parent’s met a church event in Santa Ana. Their shared their religious faith unique life experiences had a large impact on Tom and his siblings on the necessity of serving others. 

       Tom graduated from CSUF as a Psychology major and immediately started working with OC Probation Department for 26 years. He received numerous special recognition awards but cherishes most his pioneering of restorative justice programs. This included coaching in custody juveniles to prepare and complete marathon races. During his tenure, he attended USC in Public Administration.

       Following retirement in 2006, Tom started a second career as an ROP teacher for Criminal Justice at a variety of Orange County campuses. His interest went beyond just teaching careers but desired to change the direction of criminal justice system by both increasing diversity and advocating for restorative justice practices. A singular class offering at Santa Ana High School was the perfect fertile for a dream and Tom made this campus his home for 14 years. This high school and SAUSD has steadily embraced this vision. The Elizabeth G Macias Legal Studies Academy and all the intertwined resources and opportunities it provides is the result. The Academy alumni have established a growing network with their California LAW Pathway undergraduate and law schools and beyond.

       Despite retiring in 2021, Tom remains actively involved in the Academy as an Advisory Board Member and volunteer. In fact, he is always looking forward to implementing new ways to advance his vision beyond the Academy throughout the County.

Carlos Garcia

Carlos Garcia grew up in south Sacramento and attended Elk Grove schools. At an early age he was inspired by committed and passionate teachers. Carlos took an interest in history and stories his uncle told him of marching with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers. As the first person in his family to attend college, Carlos came to believe that the greatest endeavor one could undertake is to inspire young people to live up to their greatest potential, just as his teachers had inspired him.

In 2006 and chose to a work at Florin High School due to its diverse student population. In 2008 a group of teachers and administrators began work on a grant proposal to create a Law Academy at Florin High School, and Mr. Garcia was chosen to lead the program. The concept behind the Law Academy is to increase diversity in the legal profession by empowering young people with the skills and opportunity to pursue legal careers, and in turn, become advocates for their underrepresented communities.

In 2010, when the California Law Academy Strategic Task Force (CLAS) was founded in a partnership between the California State Bar Association and the California Department of Education, the Law Academy at Florin High School was a natural choice to join the partnership. In 2014, Carlos began a successful high school mock trial program in partnership with other local law academies. Mr. Garcia continues to teach and coordinate the Law Academy and is inspired by the opportunity to continue to grow and develop the program.

Catherine Hawke

Catherine Hawke is the Deputy Director of the American Bar Association’s Division for Public Education. In that role, she facilitates publications, resources, and K-12 programs on the U.S. Supreme Court, rule of law, and judiciary. Catherine is also the Editor of the ABA’s Supreme Court Preview. She is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago School of Law and the University of Michigan.

Hueling Lee

Dr. Hueling Lee has over 20 years of professional experience in fostering transformative change in the education and private sectors. As the Executive Director of Authentic Preparation Today (APT), she spearheaded the collaboration with the California Department of Education since 2018 to develop and roll-out the State Seal of Civic Engagement as a lever to transform California’s education agenda systemically to become more equitable and holistic.

Dr. Lee has led over 30 professional teams on projects to engage with leaders and organizations to address ambiguous or obstinate challenges. Her prior professional experience includes coaching teams of upper-level Stanford graduate students on consulting projects to support leading-edge change in the education sector, overseeing district-wide implementation of new strategic initiatives at Sacramento City Unified School District, founding and managing the Education Fund within the Social Venture Fund (SvF) at the University of Michigan, the first student-run impact investing fund in the nation. She has also facilitated professional learning on equity and excellence, systems leadership, data use, family engagement, school turnaround, and teaching effectiveness and supported doctoral students on “leading through differences” at Harvard University.

Dr. Lee received her Doctorate in Education Leadership (Ed.L.D.) and a John E. Stevens Trust Fellowship from Harvard University, her MBA and Masters in Education from University of Michigan, and an AB from Bowdoin College. She was also the recipient of the Institute of International Public Policy (IIPP) Fellowship from the United Negro College Fund, enabling her to study at universities in Berkeley, Atlanta, Spain, Hong Kong, and Beijing.

Mary-Beth Moylan

Associate Dean Mary-Beth Moylan is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Experiential Learning and a Professor of Lawyering Skills. She was a founder of the Global Lawyering Skills (“GLS”) program at McGeorge. GLS is a nationally recognized, required two-year skills program that introduces students to a broad range of core lawyering skills that include, legal research, writing, and oral advocacy, as well as client interviewing, client counseling, negotiation, and drafting. Associate Dean Moylan is also the co-author of Global Lawyering Skills (West 2013) and Global Lawyering Skills: Second Edition (West 2018), a legal skills textbook that is unique in the market for its focus on cross-border and cross-cultural considerations in lawyering skills and practice. In addition to her experiences in the GLS program, Associate Dean Moylan has been engaged with McGeorge’s Clinics, Externships, and Pro Bono work. She also has been involved with the Advocacy and Dispute Resolution Center and the Capital Center for Law and Policy. In addition to these areas of interest, she teaches Civil Procedure.

Associate Dean Moylan has a long-standing passion for and expertise in politics and government. Since 2003, she has supervised the publication of the California Initiative Review, an online journal providing objective and neutral analysis of each statewide ballot proposition. The California Initiative Review is published in advance of every California statewide general election. Associate Dean Moylan and her students also hold a public forum for explanation and discussion of the statewide ballot propositions, and Associate Dean Moylan regularly provides a summary of the propositions to Capital Public Radio’s Insight program in advance of each general election. Her expertise in politics and government is not limited to the initiative process, and Associate Dean Moylan is often looked to by local news media for expert advice on state constitutional issues, conflicts of interest, and other election related topics. She was chairperson of the inaugural Sacramento Ethics Commission in 2018.

Associate Dean Moylan is also an expert in legal skills education. She was President of the highly respected and influential Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD) in 2014-2015, and she regularly presents at conferences. In May 2018, she was a panelist for ALWD’s first Leadership Academy and she presented at the ALWD conference in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2016, she presented on a mediation panel at the Global Legal Skills Conference in Verona, Italy, and the Legal Writing Institute Conference in Portland, Oregon. During her tenure as GLS director, McGeorge has hosted the ALWD Conference (2011) and the Western Regional Legal Writing Conference (2016). She continues to serve on ALWD’s ABA Task Force, and as an advisor to its ALWD Guide Committee.

Although Associate Dean Moylan was raised in New England, and attended college and law school in the Midwest, she launched her legal career in Sacramento as a law clerk for the Honorable Lawrence K. Karlton of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. She then practiced election law with Olson, Hagel, & Fishburn, and general civil litigation with Downey Brand LLP, both highly regarded Sacramento-based law firms. She maintains her connections to the Sacramento legal community and keeps abreast on changes to legal practice through her involvement with the Anthony M. Kennedy American Inn of Court. The Kennedy Inn brings together judges, lawyers, and law students to promote ethics, civility, and professionalism in the practice of law. Associate Dean Moylan is a member of the executive committee of the Kennedy Inn, and she ensures that student members of the Inn are active participants in this organization.

Linda Kingston

Linda Kingston has been a public educator for 28 years. Currently serving as the Director for Master Schedule and Instruction for Sacramento City Unified School District, she has extensive experience with California Partnership Academies (CPA’s) from providing curriculum support, to master scheduling challenges to building partnerships with advisory boards and local community colleges.                           

Jesse Bethel High School Law Academy in Vallejo, California was built under her leadership while she was the principal.  During her tenure Bethel’s Law Academy established a Restorative Practice Youth Court where law academy students processed school discipline cases through Restorative Practices.  Created a partnership with Solano Community College for the Law Academy seniors to take two of the Law pathways courses in their senior year. As well as building strong relations within the community to support the students which was imperative for the Law Academy’s success.

As a 5th generation Californian she believes in the public-school system. High Schools have an amazing energy. Dreams are created and supported, relationships matter, and it takes the whole community to support the child through high school. She looks forward to continuing the work of California LAW to ensure that the educational dreams of our students are fulfilled.

She graduated with a BA in History from California State University of Fresno and a MA in education from University of California Berkeley.  

Manjinder Kaur

Manjinder Kaur graduated from San Francisco State University earning a degree in Criminal Justice. She later received her J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law, including an honors certificate in Public Interest Law. While in law school, she interned at the Sacramento Public Defender’s office as a certified law clerk and was a member of the Criminal Law Society. She currently works as a civil litigation defense attorney and serves as Associate Attorney at Clapp Moroney Vucinich Beeman & Scheley.

Angelica Leonardo

Angelica Leonardo serves as a Deputy Alternate Public Defender in Solano County.  Angelica currently represents clients accused of felony offenses.  She has previously represented clients accused of misdemeanor offenses and minors in juvenile delinquency adjudications.  Angelica earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Davis and her law degree from Golden Gate University School of Law.  Outside of work, she serves on the board of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Solano County, the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California and the Asian American Criminal Trial Lawyers Association.

Deborah McKoy, PhD, MPA

Deborah McKoy is the Executive Director and Founder of the UC Berkeley Center for Cities and Schools and a lecturer in the Department of City and Regional Planning and the Graduate School of Education. Her research and teaching focus on the intersection of educational reform, urban & metropolitan planning, affordable housing, and community development. Central to her work is the critical role young people play in urban and metropolitan change and transformation.

For nearly two decades, Deborah’s work has bridged the worlds of research, policy and practice, including a wide range of professional experiences: Consultant to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); Chief of Economic Development at the NYC Housing Authority; Director of Refugee Services for CAMBA, a NYC non-profit organization; and Consultant to the United Nations Education For All initiative. Deborah has published numerous articles and recently published a new book, Planning Cities with Young People and Schools: Forging Justice, Generating Joy. 

Ann Park

Ann I. Park is currently serving as President of the 20,000-member Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA), one of the largest metropolitan bar associations in the United States, and is the first Asian American President of LACBA in its 145-year history.   Ms. Park is a Partner with the Los Angeles office of Foley & Mansfield, PLLP, specializing in the defense of complex toxic tort actions.  A graduate of Harvard College and of the UCLA School of Law, Ms. Park has been practicing law for nearly 36 years.  In 2022, Ms. Park was named by the Daily Journal as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California. In 1996, Ms. Park served as President of the Korean American Bar Association of Southern California.  She has also served on the California State Bar’s Council on Access and Fairness and the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation.  In 2022, Ms. Park received the President’s Award from the Asian Pacific American Women Lawyers’ Association, and in 2021, Ms. Park received the Asian Pacific American Bar Association Trailblazers Award.  In 2015, Ms. Park received the  State Bar’s Presidential Recognition Award for organizing LACBA’s High School Mentoring Program, which she has administered as part of CLAS at Wilson High School in East Los Angeles since 2008.

Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker

Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker, a Senior Advisor with the CSIS Defending Democratic Institutions Project, previously served as Executive Director, The State Bar of California (2015-2017), and Dean, University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law (2002–2012).  At McGeorge she helped to create a law-themed school, Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep (2003-2012), organizing the annual Wingspread Conference to develop a K-12 pipeline into legal education. She also founded the Journal of National Security Law and Policy and created a National Security Law and Policy Section, Association of American Law Schools. 

In California Dean Parker served on several committees of the Judicial Council of California, including the Access and Fairness Advisory Committee (2007), the Commission for Impartial Courts Steering Committee (2007), and the Science and the Law Steering Committee (2006).   

Earlier in her career, she was  General Counsel for the 26-campus University of Wisconsin System, General Counsel of the National Security Agency (1984-1989), Principal Deputy Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State, and General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency (1989-1995).  In private practice, as counsel to the law firms Bryan Cave and Survey and Morse, she focused on public policy, international arbitration, encryption and advanced technology.  Dean Parker’s legal career began in Atlanta, Georgia as a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow at the Community Legal Services Clinic, Emory University School of Law; in 1971 she joined the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund as a cooperating attorney on the death of her first husband, Peter E. Rindskopf, assuming responsibility for his 100 federal civil rights lawsuits, including two successful U.S. Supreme Court arguments.  Later she was Director, New Haven Legal Assistance Association, Inc. and Acting Director of Mergers and Acquisitions, the Federal Trade Commission.

A frequent speaker, Dean Parker is recognized for work in national security and terrorism, international relations, technology development and transfer, and civil rights litigation; her current focus is on civic education as national security imperative.  Dean Parker’s volunteer activities include the Public Interest Declassification Board, the Senior Advisory Group for three Directors of National Intelligence, and committees of the National Academy of Sciences, including serving as a founding member of the Intelligence Community Studies Board (ICSB).  A life-time Counselor on the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Law and National Security, which she chaired from 1999-2002, in 2022 she honored with its Morris I. Leibman Award for sustained commitment and exceptional contributions to national security law. 

Dean Parker holds an AB and JD from the University of Michigan. Married to Robert Parker, Dean Parker’s daughter, step-son and their families live in New haven, Connecticut and Boston, Massachusetts respectively.

Michael Reyes

no bio

Katrina Traylor Rice

Katrina Traylor Rice is a National Board Certified Teacher with over 15 years of teaching experience in urban secondary classrooms. She began her career at June Jordan School for Equity, in San Francisco, where she also worked as an administrator. Katrina currently works at her former high school, Jesse M. Bethel High School, in Vallejo, where she is the lead teacher of the Law Academy. Katrina has taught high school English and history at all grade levels, and loves teaching students to be engaged readers of history, literature, and the world around them. Katrina is deeply passionate about creating healing-centered classrooms through trauma informed care practices including restorative justice, mindfulness, and culturally sustainable curriculum. She holds a M.A. in Education from Stanford’s Teacher Education Program, a B.A. from UC Santa Cruz in American Studies, and is currently working her doctorate in education through the CANDEL program at UC Davis. When she’s not shaking things up in the world of education, she can be found reading historical fiction, conquering Beyonce’s dance moves, or delighting at the world with her four young children.

Michael Schwartz

Michael Schwartz is the 10th Dean of the University of Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law. He started July 1, 2017.

Dean Schwartz is the author of seven books (three of which come with lengthy teacher’s manuals), seven law review papers, three book chapters, and eight shorter works addressing a wide variety of teaching, learning and curriculum design topics. Schwartz’s books include What the Best Law Teachers Do (Harvard University Press 2013) and a contracts textbook, Contracts: A Context and Practice Casebook (3d ed. 2020), which was the first book in a textbook series he designed to modernize law school casebooks (which he now edits).

Dean Schwartz has delivered more than 225 professional presentations about teaching and learning in law school. He is the chair of the Section on Socio-Economics of the American Association of Law Schools (AALS) and a member of the AALS Membership Review Committee (which reviews law school applications for membership in the Association and approves sabbatical site evaluation reports on member law schools).  He is a former chair of the AALS Sections on Deans, Teaching Methods, and Balance in Legal Education. Dean Schwartz is a Consultant to the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning, and he is a member of the board of advisors for a national legal publisher and two peer-reviewed law reviews. In January 2017, National Jurist Magazine named Dean Schwartz the 9th Most Influential Person in Legal Education, the third year in a row he was ranked among the top 15 in the nation. Dean Schwartz’s Contracts course was selected by the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System as “an innovative course that reflects exemplary innovative teaching,” and Dean Schwartz was recently named one of 30 Honorees for a Council for Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) Edge Award in the Education category.

W. Davis Smith

W. Davis Smith is an attorney/consultant in the Utility/Energy field.  He was Senior Vice President and General Counsel for San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), one of Sempra Energy’s regulated California utilities.  Prior to that, he was Vice President and Associate General Counsel for Sempra Energy, responsible for Regulatory and Litigation.  He worked for the Sempra Energy family of companies for 31 years.
He has a law degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. He also has a master’s degree in business administration from California State University and a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He is Chair of the Advisory Counsel of California Law and is on the Crawford High School Law Academy Advisory Board which is part of the pipeline program.

Oyango Snell

Oyango A. Snell is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Executive Director of California Lawyers Association.

Known for his energetic leadership and endless innovation, Snell transforms organizations and the team he represents through the execution of transparent business practices, human development, and empowerment. With over 15 years of association management and leadership experience, Snell challenges internal and external stakeholders to think beyond the impossible to enhance the quality of service, increase revenue streams, and develop and enhance advocacy strategies.

Snell was selected to serve as the chief executive officer for the nation’s largest statewide voluntary bar association, the California Lawyers Association (CLA), and its charitable affiliate, the California Lawyers Foundation (CLF), in December 2021. Before joining CLA, he served as Senior Vice President and the first In-House General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), representing some of the world’s largest energy producers. In addition, Snell has served in leadership roles within national, regional, and statewide nonprofit associations. Within each position, he ensures that his professional and personal passions for championing diversity, equity, and inclusion are not just theorized but practiced.

Snell is a Certified Association Executive (CAE) credentialed by the American Society of Association Executives and is a nationally recognized professional and motivational speaker. He has earned numerous awards and accolades, including the 2021-2022 Association Executive of the Year by the California Society of Association Executives (CalSAE), Columbus, Ohio Business First 40 Under 40, Lifetime Achievement Award by Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated, Delta Zeta Chapter, and Alumni Hall of Fame Award by Central State University, a historically Black college/university (HBCU) in Wilberforce, Ohio, and Snell’s alma mater.

Snell earned his Juris Doctor from The Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law, and a Master’s in Business Administration from Franklin University. He attained his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Central State University. Snell exercises a servant leadership mentality through volunteer service on various boards, including United Way California Capitol Region, where he serves as Chair of the Board of Directors, and CalSAE, where he served as the inaugural Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force.

Kevin Tali

Kevin Tali is currently a Deputy District Attorney in Solano County. He has been a Deputy District Attorney for over 17 years where he has tried cases ranging from driving under the influence cases to Homicides. Raised in the Sacramento area, Mr. Tali went to Oakmont High School in Roseville. He then 

Attended Sacramento State University where he graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice. He then Attended the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law(2004).

S. Pat Tsen

S. Pat Tsen works as Deputy Executive Director for Consumer Policy, Transportation, and Enforcement at the California Public Utilities Commission.  She oversees the regulation of fared Passenger transportation services (Uber, Lyft, Autonomous vehicles, limousines, tour buses, and ferries), as well as all rail services including freight and passenger transit in California.  She also leads enforcement against fraud and abuse by public utilities in California.  Before her current role, she was an Administrative Law Judge for 10 years. She attended undergrad at UC Berkeley, and received her law degree from McGeorge School of law.  Pat started as a mentor at the De Anza Law academy in Richmond in 2013, and has been mentoring ever since.  Since 2021, she has been the chair of the advisory board for the Luther Burbank Law Academy in Sacramento.  She is a first-generation immigrant from Taiwan, and lives with her husband, two kids and two dogs in Sacramento.

Steven Tsuyuki

Steven Tsuyuki is the coordinator of the Law and Social Justice Academy at Luther Burbank High School.  He is a graduate of McGeorge School of Law, and served as trial counsel for Allstate, Mercury Insurance, and USAA, before coming to Luther Burbank.

Chris Voisin

Curriculum Vitae:

C.K. McClatchy H.S. 2003 – Present: Teacher – Govt., Econ, Law , History

C.K. McClatchy H.S. 2022 – Present: Law & Public Policy Academy Coordinator/Teacher

Attorney & General Counsel 1997 – 2001: Venture Catalyst, Inc.

College of Southern Nevada 1990 – 1997: Professor of Legal Studies

State of Nevada, Local Govt.-Management Relations Board 1993 – 1997: Chairman & Board Member

Attorney-at-Law 1982-1997; 2001-2003: Private Practice

California Western School of Law 1979 – 1982 (Juris Doctorate)

Honorable Fumiko Hachiya Wasserman

The Honorable Fumiko Hachiya Wasserman was appointed to the Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County in 1989.  Her assignments have included serving in appellate, civil trials, felony criminal trials and juvenile matters.  She was a past Presiding Judge of the South Bay Municipal Court.

Judge Wasserman was recognized by the Judicial Council for her service as Chair of the Governing Committee for the Center for Judicial Education and Research, which develops and provides required judicial training for appellate justices and bench officers in California.  She has taught judges at the California Judicial College and at the National Judicial College.  She also taught students at Loyola Law School and undergraduates at USC.  She co-authored publications for the Continuing Education of the Bar, including topics about civil discovery, motions under the California Anti-SLAPP statute and driving under the influence law.

Judge Wasserman served on the Commission on Judicial Performance and the California State-Federal Judicial Council.  She has participated in numerous advisory committees, court judicial organizations and bar committees, including the Judicial Council’s Access and Fairness Advisory  Committee.  She has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, Board of Governors of the Loyola Law School Alumni Association, Board of Governors of the City Club, Board of Governors of the Asian Pacific American Women’s Alliance and the Advisory Board of the Japanese American Bar Association of Los Angeles.  She is Chair of the California Law Academy Support Council.

Prior to her judicial career, she was the first Asian female to be appointed in the United States as an Assistant United States Attorney.  She served in the Civil Division for the Central District of California.  Her legal experience includes serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Terry J. Hatter, Jr.  She was a Deputy City Attorney for the City of Los Angeles and an associate in a law firm.

NAPABA honored her with the Trailblazer Award.  She has received the California Women Lawyers’ Joan Dempsey Klein Distinguished Jurist Award, Constitutional Rights Foundation Justice James Cobey Award for Judge of the Year,  Loyola Law School’s Alumni Service Award and  Asian American Pacific Women’s Alliance Public Service Award.

Judge Wasserman was a research assistant and received her degree from UCLA in anthropology.
She received her law degree from Loyola Law School and was on the Loyola Law Review and Dean’s Honor List.

Honorable Janice M. Williams

The Honorable Janice M. Williams graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. She attended New College School of Law while serving as both a volunteer advocate for domestic violence victims and then as a volunteer law clerk with the San Francisco District Attorneys’ office.  She later became the Director of the San Francisco Domestic Violence Unit. 

In an effort to relocate closer to her hometown, Ms. Williams accepted a position as a Deputy District Attorney with the Solano County District Attorney’s office. While at the District Attorney’s office, she has handled numerous misdemeanors, felony and juvenile cases. She was the prosecutor assigned to assist in the development of the Domestic Violence Response Team (DVRT) program with the Vacaville Police Department, (currently known as FIRST).  She has also been assigned to special units such as Statutory Rape, Domestic Violence, Environmental and Consumer crimes and Financial crimes. 

Ms. Williams was appointed to the Solano County Superior Court bench on September 3, 2021. Her current assignment is Family Law, which include dissolutions, child visitations/custody, domestic violence and adoptions.

When not working, she loves to watch sports, to cook, to exercise, and to watch a movie or read a novel.