March is Women’s History Month and our Guest Editor, Anna Pletcher, brings you an issue devoted to women’s rights and history. A heartfelt thanks to Anna for the inspiration and the execution. Anna interviews Amy Everitt, California State Director of NARAL Pro-Choice America, about the status of reproductive rights in the U.S. With the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Roe v. Wade may not make it to the 50-year mark in any meaningful form. But even with Roe in force, did you know that in California, 43% of our counties do not have a single abortion provider?
Anna also profiles the Marin Family and Children’s Law Center, which since 1983, has played a critical role in providing legal assistance to those in need in Marin. And she profiles Ahtossa Fullerton, a new MCBA director whose many additional roles include being President of Marin County Women Lawyers, which plays a vital role in the Marin legal community. Mari-Ann Rivers has penned an insightful history of MCWL. Tracing its roots back to 1976, Mari-Ann paints a vivid picture of the blatant sexism, discrimination and misogyny in the legal system at the time. There are times it seems like the only thing that has changed is the “blatant” part, if that. But compared to the examples from 1976, things are definitely better, in no small part due to MCWL.
We are republishing several related articles, including Judge Adams’ history of women on the Marin Bench (with the current number at five, up one from the original publication date.) Judge Adams also wrote an illuminating history of the innovative programs of the Marin Bench in a new Judge’s Corner column for this issue. Did you know that one of MCBA’s past presidents regularly played poker with Richard Nixon?
I found Peggy Bennington and Madeleine Simborg’s remembrance of Ann Diamond, MCBA’s first female president a fascinating read and a wonderful tribute to a remarkable woman.
One of the elements in the success of MCWL and MCBA is the relationships that grow out of them, including mentoring. In the spirit of making the Marin legal community even more successful, I encourage everyone to develop relationships, particularly mentorships, with people who are not like you. Tribalism is a natural human tendency and it is easy to find yourself surrounded by people like you. Growth and change can come from working to overcome this tendency. This does not mean hanging out with someone you don’t like but with someone not like you. They are not the same thing and reaching out to someone different from you might just show you how delightfully not the same they can be.
This article can be viewed online at Marinbar.org.
Rob Rosborough is Of Counsel to Monty White LLP. He mediates disputes where an ongoing relationship is at stake, particularly adult-family conflict such as disagreement over caring for an aging parent and HOA disputes. He maintains an estate planning and general advisory and transactional law practice focusing on personal and small business issues. Rob also teaches at USF’s Fromm Institute (conflict resolution and history of science) and helps lawyers cope with the practice of law by teaching them meditation skills as a certified iRest® meditation teacher. EMAIL
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
CHARLES DRESOW
Building Bridges in Defense of the Constitution
You feel the presence of Barbara Jordan’s greatness when reading her speeches. The strength of her courage emanates from her words. Ms. Jordan was an attorney who started her law practice out of her parents’ home and practiced law until her election to the Texas Senate in 1966. She was the first woman to win that office. She was the first African American, male or female, to be elected to that office since 1883. She was even the first (and so far, only) African American woman to serve as Governor of Texas, albeit acting Governor. In 1972, she became the first woman elected to serve Texas in the United States House of Representatives. If she had not passed away at the tragically young age of 59, we likely would be referring to her as Justice Barbara Jordan.
The words of her keynote address to the 1976 Democratic National Convention for the first Presidential election following the resignation of the President of United States are as important now as they were then:
I could list the many problems which Americans have. I could list the problems which cause people to feel cynical, angry, frustrated: problems which include lack of integrity in government; the feeling that the individual no longer counts; the reality of material and spiritual poverty; the feeling that the grand American experiment is failing or has failed. I could recite these problems, and then I could sit down and offer no solutions. But I don't choose to do that either. The citizens of America expect more. They deserve and they want more than a recital of problems.
We are a people in a quandary about the present. We are a people in search of our future. We are a people in search of a national community. We are a people trying not only to solve the problems of the present, unemployment, inflation, but we are attempting on a larger scale to fulfill the promise of America. We are attempting to fulfill our national purpose, to create and sustain a society in which all of us are equal.
San Francisco's long-serving public defender, Jeff Adachi, was another extraordinary attorney and leader who just last month tragically passed away too young. He served the public in ways that only the most vulnerable of our society can understand Only they know what it is like to be facing the weight of an unfair world and find an advocate like Jeff, who helped ensure that our Constitution protects everyone, including the most vulnerable.
Attorneys like Jeff Adachi and Barbara Jordan inspired the speech I delivered at last month’s gala and installation dinner. In slightly abridged form, that speech appears below. I do not purport to use words as powerfully as they did, but I hope that the spirit of attorneys like Jeff and Ms. Jordan nonetheless shines through:
We are lucky to be practicing law at a time when we can do something extraordinary. We have the good fortune to be able to protect and preserve our constitutional values in this time of eroding public faith in our country's institutions and traditions.
Every day our job requires us to have a direct role in guaranteeing that the clients we represent and those who come into our courtrooms are treated with dignity, respect, and fairness.
We bear the burden of keeping truth alive. We are the engine that moves equal access to justice forward and the bulkhead that prevents injustice and unequal treatment from spreading.
We have the opportunity to protect our truth and evidence-based system of justice when those ideas are fraying in our political commentary and general society. We prevent the guarantees of equal justice, due process, and personal dignity enshrined in our Constitution from becoming hollow words consigned to the ashtray of history.
We work within a profession that connects directly to our Constitution. Our profession bears an extraordinary responsibility to protect our constitutional values today so that they can be preserved for tomorrow.
This is a wonderful duty to have. Not many professions can look back at their forbears, take up the baton from their hands, and continue to bend the arc of our society towards justice and fairness.
The architects of our Republic gifted us a magnificent dream when they wrote the words that became the Declaration of Independence. They lit the spark of freedom and gave birth to the ideal that all people are created equal and are therefore equally entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This dream continues to grow and evolve through the work of our profession. In 1974, attorney and congresswoman Barbara Jordan shared her view of our constitution and the importance of the constant spread and vigilant protection of its ideals,
Earlier today, we heard the beginning of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States: "We, the people." It's a very eloquent beginning. But when that document was completed on the seventeenth of September in 1787, I was not included in that "We, the people." I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in "We, the people."
Today I am an inquisitor. Any hyperbole would not be fictional and would not overstate the solemnness that I
feel right now. My faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total. And I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction, of the Constitution.
We must, as an association, dedicate ourselves to keeping the dream of a free and equal society alive. It is our good luck to be practicing law in this turbulent time because we can be extraordinary in our protection of our Constitution’s ideals and system of justice.
In his American sermon given in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. said:
When the architects of our Republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.
We must as an association dedicate ourselves to making sure our constitutional ideals are preserved for future generations to inherit.
Our association must come together to build bridges into the practice of law so that our profession can continue to break down the walls of injustice and inequity. So that new lawyers from backgrounds different from our own can join us in our mission as well.
I am well aware that my path into the law and ultimate success is in a large part due to my family’s tradition in our profession:
• My paternal grandfather Abraham Dresow, who fled the pogroms to become a career public defender in San Francisco.
• My maternal grandfather, Arthur Davis, who fought from North Africa, through Italy and into France before coming home to become a judge in Ulster County, New York.
• My mother, who worked at legal aid as she went to law school at night.
• My father, who for forty years sought justice in the same halls and courtrooms that I now walk.
I had a path into the practice of law rather than a struggle. I recognize that there are those in our society who have the potential of being 10 times the lawyer I will ever be, but weren’t born into
the good fortune and privilege I was. As such, one of the most important ways our association can improve access to the practice of law is to continue to provide scholarships to deserving law students and welcome them into this wonderful profession.
If we don’t build bridges into our profession today there will be no one to break down the walls of injustice that might be built tomorrow. I reflect back on my Grandfather Abraham’s story. As a child he was forced to flee the land of his birth, across continents and oceans, to seek safety, hope and liberty in our country. He was able to become a lawyer and the chief deputy public defender in San Francisco. His son was able to become a lawyer and now I am a lawyer as well.
We have no idea who our next constitutional defender will be.
We have no idea where they will come from.
We don’t know whether they will do something extraordinary for
our country, for our Constitution, or just be the difference maker in one client’s life.
As you read this issue of the Marin Lawyer and contemplate the role of women in our profession and our society, I urge you to let it inspire you to build bridges to all members of our society and of MCBA to help encourage and promote the next great defenders of our Constitution.
This article can be viewed online at Marinbar.org.
Charles Dresow is a partner at Ragghianti Freitas LLP and is the MCBA President for 2019. His practice focuses on representing those accused of crimes.
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WOMEN ON THE BENCH
HON. VERNA ADAMS
A Brief History of Women on the Marin Bench
On Friday, May 12, 2017, all of the active female Marin County Superior Court Judges gathered with our matriarch, Judge Beverly Bloch Savitt (Ret.) for her birthday party. This occasion sparked my interest about the history of the Marin County Superior Court. 104 years elapsed between the election of our first Superior Court Judge in 1879 and 1983, when Bev Savitt and Lynn Taylor together shattered the glass ceiling.
OK, OK, there are actually no glass ceilings at the civic center, but that phrase has more cachet than the more accurate “Plexiglas dome.” I searched for a roster of all the Marin Superior Court judges, from the beginning. First lesson: there is no such record, but I am working on it. Our CEO’s office has a roster dating from the Eisenhower administration, but I wanted to go back to the 19th Century.
back then was more-or-less at the location of the McDonald’s on Merrydale Road, according to a weedchoked plaque near the North San Pedro Road offramp).
Our first actual Marin County Superior Court judge was Thomas J. Bowers, who was elected pursuant to the 1879 Constitution. We had just one judge at a time until 1950, when the long-serving Edward Butler (circa 1924-1950) was joined by Jordan Martinelli.
Fast forward to 1982. During his first term, Governor Jerry Brown appointed Beverly Savitt to the Superior Court. Judge Lynn O’Malley Taylor was elected to the Municipal Court. Both were sworn in on January 1, 1983.
Thus, in about one hour, Marin welcomed its first two female judges. It had taken 104 years.
In my research so far, I have learned a few fun facts. Before the California Constitution of 1879 was enacted, we did not have a Superior Court. We had a District Court, the first judge of which was appointed in 1849 by the military. Our district comprising Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, and Mendocino (whew!) had one judge. The first was the hapless Stephen Cooper I say hapless because I can only imagine dispensing justice over five rather large counties. Our first Marin courthouse was an adobe room at Mission San Rafael (which
In the years since Judges Savitt and Taylor took office, we have had [nine] women on the Marin County Superior Court. In addition to Judge Savitt and Judge Taylor (who won election to Superior Court in 1991), they are, in chronological order: Lynn Duryee (appointed to Municipal Court in 1993, elevated to Superior Court with court consolidation in 1998); Verna Adams (1999); Faye D’Opal (2005); Kelly Simmons (2005); Beverly Wood (2013); Sheila Lichtblau (2017); and [Beth Jordan (2018)].
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: JUDGES BEVERLY WOOD, KELLY SIMMONS, SHEILA SHAH LICHTBLAU, VERNA ADAMS, BEVERLY SAVITT (RET.)
Judges Savitt, Taylor, Duryee and D’Opal are now retired, but they remain active: Lynn Duryee is busy at JAMS, Lynn Taylor has been sitting by assignment in San Francisco for years, Judge D’Opal is spending time with her grandchildren, and Judge Savitt (at 92) has stepped back from her mediation practice and is involved in a number of community activities.
Since 1982, our Superior Court operations have changed a great deal. Our bench has become more diverse and our approach to case management has become more varied as well. We have specialty courts and a robust ADR program for cases of every variety. But some things do not change. As a retired female judge once said, “A wise old man and a wise old woman will probably come to the same decision.” One thing that definitely hasn’t changed: none of us has to make any decisions about what to wear at work.
My rough count of the gender allocation of about 4[8] Marin County Superior Court Judges since 1879 is: Males: 39; Females: [9]. I don’t think it will take 104 more years for us women to get to 50 percent.
This article was originally published in the June 2017 issue of the Marin Lawyer.
We have updated the numbers to reflect the addition of the Honorable Beth Jordan to the Marin Bench in 2018.
Judge Verna A. Adams was appointed to the Marin County Superior Court in 1999. She earned her bachelor's degree from Wellesley College and her law degree from Stanford University.
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WOMEN’S RIGHTS
ANNA PLETCHER
Women’s Reproductive Freedom in the Balance: A Conversation with Amy Everitt
In 1973, the United States Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, declaring abortion a fundamental right. Women of my generation Generation X have gone through our entire reproductive lives with Roe on the books. Millennials, too, have never known life without it. But over the past forty-six years, courts and state legislators have slowly chipped away at Roe. Most notably, in 1992, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey held that abortion restrictions are unconstitutional if they place an “undue burden” on women. This weakened legal standard opened the door for states to impose obstacles such as mandatory waiting periods, parental consent requirements, and biased counseling. Since 1995, 1041 statewide measures have been enacted that limit or ban abortion, compared to 554 protecting the right.
Roe has been controversial from the day the decision came down. In this moment in history, however, it is particularly contentious. In the fall of 2018, Congress confirmed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexual misconduct and has a record of vociferous opposition to abortion rights. The Trump administration has launched an administrative
assault on reproductive rights, including reducing insurance coverage for abortion care and rolling back an Obama-era rule that required employers to cover contraception in their health insurance plans. At the same time and partly in response to recent curtailments of reproductive freedom we are experiencing a resurgence of grassroots advocacy for women’s rights that we have not seen since the 1970s. With #metoo, the Women’s Marches, and the record-breaking election of 117 women to Congress in 2018, women are raising their voices and demanding their rights, including the right to control their own bodies.
On January 30, 2019, Marin County Women Lawyers hosted a luncheon with Amy Everitt, California State Director for NARAL Pro-Choice California. Afterwards, I had the opportunity to speak with Amy about the status of Roe and women’s reproductive freedom in today’s political climate.
What is your view on the future of Roev.Wade?
With Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court and a 5-4 majority, the future of Roe v. Wade is not bright. We expect any one of 20 cases currently pending in the system to get to the Supreme Court soon, which will gut or fundamentally change Roe, so that abortion rights will vary based on the state in which you live.
Does the February 7, 2019 SCOTUS decision relating to abortion rights in Louisiana give you any indication about how the court may decide future similar cases?
This ruling should not give us hope. Donald Trump’s anti-choice justices, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, acted precisely as we expected they would. Justice Kavanaugh even went out of his way to author his own dissent. Two years ago, Chief Justice Roberts voted to uphold a Texas law essentially identical to Louisiana’s. His vote to grant a stay in the Louisiana case does not mean that he’ll vote to strike down the law when it comes back before the court.
If Roeis gutted or overruled, then abortion laws will be in the hands of the states. What is the state of abortion rights in California?
Better than most states for sure. In California, we have a constitutional protection for women’s bodily autonomy. Our state courts have supported access. We have great laws. But our access is not great. Forty-three percent of California counties have no abortion provider. That represents 5% of our overall population, which represents about two million women.
In order to improve access, California has worked to increase Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for reproductive health services. In his proposed budget, Governor Gavin Newsom is investing $100 million dollars in sexual and reproductive health services A few years ago, NARAL sponsored AB 154, the “early access” bill, to improve abortion access by increasing the types of trained health professionals who can provide firsttrimester abortions. And this year we have joined the coalition sponsoring the College Student Right to Access Act to guarantee that if students need to access abortion care, they can access medication abortion right on campus, instead of facing the added burden of seeking care off campus.
What is the status of abortion laws in other states?
About 23 states are poised to make abortion illegal immediately. They have trigger laws that go into effect when Roe is overturned. Other states have pre-Roe bans that will automatically become active. Others have legislative intent to ban abortion. In other words, they
have the votes in the legislature and governor’s office to make abortion illegal.
Even with Roe still on the books, we’re seeing laws that seek to ban abortion. For example, “heartbeat bills” ban abortion at the point when a heartbeat can be detected. That is usually around six weeks, before most women even know they are pregnant. A recent heartbeat bill proposed in Ohio would send women and doctors to jail if they violate it.
When legislators pass laws banning abortion, it means that women and doctors will go to jail. We’re already seeing the criminalization of women related to the loss of a pregnancy. In Indiana, Purvi Patel was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for taking pills ordered online to end her pregnancy. In Arkansas, Anne Bynum was convicted for “concealing a birth” and sentenced to six years in prison after she experienced a stillbirth.
Women are going to jail for ordering pills online or using drugs when pregnant. Bodily autonomy is being taken away from women. That’s what currently happens in El Salvador and we’re seeing the same thing starting to happen here.
Some states are moving to protect abortion rights in the absence of Roe. New York just passed a law to codify current Roe law.
Where does the American public stand on abortion?
Poll after poll, whether it’s NARAL or the New York Times or Gallup, show that more and more Americans believe that women should be able to access abortion.
Polling shows that 7 out of 10 Americans support it. It’s not that everyone identifies as pro-choice. Many say that they wouldn’t access it themselves, but at the same time, they believe that abortion should remain safe and legal, and would not tell anyone else what to do.
There’s compassion out there and an understanding that women not the government will make good
Does support for abortion vary based on demographics, such as age, geography, socioeconomic status, religion, race/nationality, or political party?
Support for abortion rights is strong across all sectors. It transcends race, ethnicity, religion and party. People who identify as strong conservatives still support abortion rights by more than 50%. Support among AfricanAmericans is 89%.
Millennials tend to be very supportive of reproductive rights. For them, it’s not all about abortion. It’s about bodily autonomy and the government not telling them what to do.
We often discuss abortion in moral or ethical terms. But abortion has an economic impact as well. Can you describe that connection?
When women and families are deciding to have children, it has a huge economic impact. Six in 10 women who seek abortion care are already moms. They choose abortion so they can support the children they already have.
You can’t have economic security if you can’t control when and how you choose to have or expand a family. Decisions about what jobs you can have and what educational opportunities become limited. If you can’t afford to access abortion care you can’t afford to have economic freedom
What does the future hold for reproductive rights in America?
For a long time, people took reproductive freedom for granted. What we are seeing in the last few years is women focusing on their rights. Now women are running for office. The far right has gone too far and they’re running into pro-choice America, who are linking arms and pushing back. The peril that Roe is in is motivating more support.
Note: MCBA welcomes the expression of differing viewpoints and the views expressed in this article are those of the author and interview subject. They are not intended to reflect those of MCBA or its members.
This article can be viewed online at Marinbar.org.
President Coolidge posed with Women's National Law Fraternity, on lawn. 1924. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress
NONPROFIT PROFILE
ANNA PLETCHER
Family & Children's Law Center
In 1983, the Marin Women’s Commission conducted a needs survey and learned that women getting divorced were not able to afford attorneys. The Commission, with the help of Supervisor Hal Brown, created the Family Law Center for Women and Children now the Family and Children’s Law Center to fill that critical gap.
Today, FACLC has an annual budget of $550,000 and employs six staff members who provide high-quality, low-cost legal representation to approximately 1,200 clients per year. Seventy percent of those clients are women; 95% are very-low or low-income; and most are White (50%) or Latinx (37%). Its staff offers a range of services, from divorce and child custody to adoption and guardianships. They will also represent any victim of domestic violence in obtaining a restraining order, regardless of income. In 2018, FACLC added immigration legal assistance.
Every client attends an intake clinic. During the 30minute consultation, they receive legal advice, an action plan detailing the recommended legal steps, the cost for each step, and an appointment to start the process. FACLC then provides full representation, including negotiating with opposing counsel, attending settlement conferences, and representing clients in court. Fees are charged on a sliding scale, from free to $250. Executive Director Kris Cirby has been at the helm since 2014: “Our clients come to us at the most emotional and difficult time of their lives. They are forced to share some of the most personal aspects of their lives with us as part of their family law case…. Our clients want stability and safety for their family.”
Ms. Cirby shared the story of a representative recent
client, a mother of three named Linda (name changed to protect her identity):
Linda finally found the courage to contact the police about the abuse she and her children had endured. She had a seven-day Emergency Protective Order issued by the police that was set to expire soon and would leave the family unprotected. She was ready to pursue a Domestic Violence Restraining Order with the court but needed help. In her initial meeting, Linda described a very lengthy history of physical abuse. She had never made any prior reports because the family depended on the father’s higher income to survive in Marin County. During the appointment with us, Linda provided photographs of her injuries and damage to the home caused by the father. The children also feared their father and had experienced physical abuse by him as well. We prepared the 31 pages of Judicial Council forms and a detailed declaration to obtain a Temporary Restraining Order and set a hearing for a permanent order. We represented Linda through a lengthy hearing that included testimony about the abuse. Once granted, we represented Linda in a follow-up hearing to obtain sole custody orders. After this, our staff made referrals to other agencies to ensure the family obtained counseling to heal from years of trauma. The family is now healing and finally living in their home without daily fear.
FACLC is often the only opportunity that some Marin families have to obtain affordable access to legal services. “Family law and immigration law are two areas of law that impact a person’s day-to-day life,” said Ms. Cirby. “Every court decision affects a family’s financial and emotional stability. Having an enforceable child support order may be the difference between paying the rent and becoming homeless. Having a Restraining Order translates to a client not living in perpetual fear. Becoming a citizen provides security and can fulfill a lifelong dream. Outlining a visitation schedule allows
children to have contact with both parents while limiting exposure to damaging parental conflict. These are things we do every day.”
How can MCBA members help?
FACLC is currently looking to grow its board of directors. MCBA members who are interested in serving on the board, please contact Kris Cirby
It also offers the opportunity for attorneys and law students to volunteer. Finally, it relies on the generosity of individuals.
Donations can be made at faclcmarin.org, at the FACLC Poker Tournament on April 27, 2019, and its annual Bocce Ball Tournament in the fall. 2020 marks the organization’s 35th anniversary and planning for the celebration is already underway.
This article can be viewed online at Marinbar.org
THANK YOU TO OUR 2019 MCBA SPONSORS
Interested in sponsorship? Contact Mee Mee Wong at 415-499-1314 or mwong@marinbar.org
GENDER BIAS
JEANNE GROVE
Gender Bias and Law Practice in Marin
What do you do when you observe or experience gender discrimination? Speak up and do something about it! That was the overarching lesson from the Gender Bias Roundtable on October 3, 2017, cohosted by the MCBA Diversity Section and the Marin County Women Lawyers. Six Marin County Superior Court Judges Judges Stephen Freccero, Paul Haakenson, Geoffrey Howard, Sheila Lichtblau, Kelly Simmons, and Mark Talamantes as well as numerous MCBA and MCWL members participated, including a good percentage who were men.
Assembled in small groups of about five people per table, all attendees actively participated in discussions of gender bias and its manifestations in the legal profession. Topics included personal examples of gender discrimination, overcoming male/female stereotypes in our practice, and tips for working parents. Everyone clearly had a lot to say about these topics as we had difficulty keeping the discussions within the two-hour timeframe allotted for the event.
To no one’s surprise, the roundtable discussions quickly revealed that gender discrimination is still prevalent in the law, although perhaps some of the men were taken aback by how many personal examples participants were able to provide. It was clear that work is needed to properly address these issues across all sectors of the profession. We also learned that members of our community genuinely want to remedy discrimination, even when they are causing it, and the first step for men and women alike is to recognize the biases in ourselves. Attendees concluded that it was advisable to speak up when a discrimination incident occurs, as many times our peers are unaware of their behavior or did not intend to offend.
To encourage work/life balance, many recognized the value of technology to allow work outside a physical office along with the need for flexible schedules to accommodate working parents. Some proposed collecting data in Marin County to survey issues like the gender wage gap, female attrition in the law practice, and the percentage of women at higher levels in the profession.
Did we close the gender wage gap or eliminate gender bias in Marin that night? Of course not. But having the conversation was an important first step toward addressing the problem. Many of us feel that we do not have the time to stop and think about gender bias in the law, much less how we can handle the issues in our everyday practice. As officers of the court, we should be conscious of biases and proactively work to overcome them. Attendees left empowered and inspired to tackle these issues one day at a time through their own practices, setting positive examples for others, and sharing what they learned with their peers.
Whether or not you attended the roundtable, the MCBA Diversity Section would like to hear your suggestions on programs we can launch, particularly in our local community, to better address gender bias in the profession. If you have ideas or want to get involved, please contact MCBA
This article was originally published in the November 2017 issue of the Marin Lawyer.
Jeanne Grove is a Partner at Goldstein Gellman Melbostad Harris & McSparran, LLP in San Francisco. She is the former Chair of the MCBA Diversity Section. EMAIL WEBSITE
Visit MCBA or email volunteer@marinbar.org to learn more and to get involved.
BEST FOR WOMEN
MARIE BARNES
What’s “Best for Women?” Soroptimist Has an Answer
I recently had the honor to attend, “Marin Women of Change,” an event honoring women who have made a difference in Marin County. The event was hosted by Soroptimist International of Marin County. In 1921, in Oakland California, a time and place with communities plagued by poverty, women were not permitted to join male service organizations. A group of 80 women who wanted to volunteer to make a difference in their own communities decided to form the first Soroptimist club so they could do just that.
Today, Soroptimist is a global organization with nearly 1,275 clubs in 21 countries and territories, all working to improve the lives of women and girls facing poverty, violence, and teen pregnancy. They have their work cut out for them:
known as the Dream Programs. These programs are designed to ensure that women and girls not only have access to education and training but also to mentors and career education resources. Investing in women’s lives with the goal of producing a sustainable and measurable change in each of their lives is the mission of the Soroptimist organization.
In addition to the Dream Programs, Soroptimist also offers cash grants to fund local projects designed to assist women and girls in their own
countless women and girls overcome poverty, domestic violence, and substance abuse.
Women represent 40 percent of the world’s labor force but hold just one percent of the world’s wealth. One in three women have been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused.
More than 110 million children today are not in school and approximately 60 percent of them are girls. Soroptimist strives to change these facts. Soroptimist means “best for women” women at their best, working to help other women to be their best. Soroptimist values gender equality, empowerment, education, and diversity. In the year of the #metoo movement, where the movement for gender equality is rapidly accelerating, shedding light on what has gone on in the shadows for too many years, I was inspired to explore the work of this organization through my local Marin chapter.
Soroptimist’s local chapters participate in programs
One does not have to look far to observe the unique difficulties facing women and young girls. Right here in Marin, women still face domestic violence, poverty, substance abuse, and gender inequality. On the night of the event I attended, Soroptimist honored three women with its 2018 Ruby award. Each honoree had a story. Their stories showed how each had forged the way for other women like them within our own community. Women helping women what Soroptimist is all about.
Visit www.marinsoroptimist.org for more information. Women who are interested in joining their local Marin Soroptimist club can contact siahq@soroptimist.org and reference this article.
This article was originally published in the May 2017 issue of the Marin Lawyer.
JUDGE’S CORNER
HON. VERNA ADAMS
Reflections on the Court's Evolving Role in Our Community
As I approach the twenty-year anniversary of my swearing-in, I have been thinking about how the Marin County Superior Court’s work has expanded and evolved as we strive to fulfill our mission: “To ensure fair and equal access to justice and serve the public with dignity and respect.”
I became a judge in 1999, a time of great change for our court. Court consolidation had just been implemented in Marin, eliminating Municipal Court and folding all of its functions into the Superior Court. Three of our muni court judges automatically became superior court judges as a result. Trial court funding had become law two years before, with the result that the new consolidated court’s budget came directly from the state, and not from the county.
Another change profoundly affected our judicial work, but it did not come from the voters or the legislators. That was the increase in the number of self-represented litigants. That trend continues to this day. I estimate that in more than 75% of the family law cases currently assigned to me, at least one of the parties is a selfrepresented litigant.
In response to this increase, the Legal Self-Help Center of Marin opened its doors in 2003. Currently, the LSHC is funded primarily by the court and staffed by two bilingual attorneys and two dedicated court clerks. It is entirely free of charge and it serves about 4,500 clients per year. The Court as a whole and all of the judges are alert to the needs of our growing number of self-represented litigants.
When I was sworn in, we had one specialty court: Adult Drug Court. It has been a stunning success and it is still up and running, currently under the guidance of Judge Paul Haakenson.
In 2004, the Superior Court convened Mental Health Court, which we call STAR (support and treatment after release) court. Its purpose is to identify criminal defendants whose criminal conduct appears to be caused by mental health challenges, and to assist them with treatment in an effort to reduce recidivism and improve the quality of these defendants’ lives. STAR Court was initiated with no funding but with the support of the District Attorney, the Public Defender, Probation, and the Department of Health and Human Services. Judge Lichtblau currently presides over STAR court.
Domestic Violence Court started sometime in the mid2000s. This post-plea court is designed to closely supervise those convicted of misdemeanor domestic abuse and includes a strong element of mental health treatment where appropriate, anger management and batterers’ treatment in an effort to reduce recidivism and to make our community safer. Judge Howard is in charge of Domestic Violence Court.
Judge Beverly Wood began Community Court in 2011, and she has presided over it ever since. Community Court meets at St. Vincent de Paul in downtown San Rafael, and is staffed entirely by volunteers, including attorneys, court clerks, and a bailiff (and Judge Wood, who does this on her own time). The effort here is to give low income people convicted of minor infractions
and traffic offenses an opportunity to discharge their fines and to receive appropriate community services. It has been a great success and has received many awards and much recognition.
Our court also supports YMCA Marin County Youth Court, begun as an alternative to the traditional juvenile justice system, based on the principles of restorative justice. Currently Judge Chernus serves as the Youth Court judge (again, on his own time), with backup from Judges Howard and Wood.
We judges have not forgotten that our core function is to adjudicate controversies, settle cases if possible, and try cases if settlement cannot be achieved. However, we are aware that sometimes a litigant’s legal problem
may be a manifestation of other, personal, challenges, such as substance abuse. The growth of specialty courts and the Legal Self-Help Center show the Marin County Superior Court’s creativity and resilience in finding ways to serve the needs of our county’s residents even in these times of budgetary cutbacks. Of course, we could not do what we do without the support and volunteerism of the Bar Association, and we are always mindful of and grateful for our collaboration with all of you.
from Stanford University.
and
Lawyers in the Library is a collaboration between the Marin County Law Library and the Marin County Bar Association, offering free legal advice for self-help litigants.
Volunteer MCBA lawyers meet with litigants in 20 minute intervals in the areas of family law, probate, civil and small claims, and landlord tenant matters. The clinic is held the second and fourth Thursday of each month with the exception of holidays.
VOLUNTEER SIGN UP
Thank you for your service to the community!
This article can be viewed online at Marinbar.org.
Judge Verna A. Adams was appointed to the Marin County Superior Court in 1999. She earned her bachelor's degree from Wellesley College
her law degree
Women’s March Washington, DC January 2017. Photo by roya ann miller on Unsplash
Harris & Ewing, Washington, D.C. Pennsylvania on the Picket Line 1917. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress
GENDER BIAS
#METOO MOVEMENT
BARBARA MONTY
Thoughts on the #metoo Movement
Sexual abuse is directly related to gender bias because many women have been sexually abused but have remained silent about it for most of our lives. We have done so because in our families, schools, and work we learned that we must just accept the unequal treatment and abuse and then not cause a stir about it or else we would be seen as troublemakers or as weak. So, many of us kept silent. Those of us in the legal profession are no exception.
RBG
Recently, my friend Eileen Barker and I were discussing “RBG,” the documentary film about Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Eileen remarked about how we women have been brainwashed to accept our unequal status of secondclass citizens and how deep rooted this acceptance is. Our acceptance has silenced us. I also found disturbing how much was made about Justice Ginsberg’s husband being supportive of her and his respecting the work of women. Why is this so unusual? Why is it not the norm that both genders are treated with equal respect and have equal opportunities? It is because gender bias and the resultant sexual abuse are part of the fabric of our society.
#METOO
In 2006, civil rights activist Tarana Burke began using the term, “Me Too,” on Myspace to promote “empowerment through empathy,” particularly among young women of color who had experienced sexual abuse. Her intention was to raise awareness of the per-
vasiveness of sexual abuse and assault in society. Burke was particularly moved when a thirteen-year-old girl with whom she worked confided to Burke that she had been sexually assaulted. Burke later regretted that she had not simply said to the girl, “Me too, I too was sexually assaulted.” Instead, Burke kept silent.
In October 2017, following the publicity of Harvey Weinstein’s serial abuses, actress Alyssa Milano encouraged using the hashtag, “#metoo,” on Twitter and encouraged women to speak out about how they were victims of sexual harassment and rape in the entertainment industry to “give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.” Early high-profile posters with stories of sexual abuse included: Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd, Jennifer Lawrence, Uma Thurman, Lady Gaga, Debra Messing, Elizabeth Warren, Angelina Jolie, Laura Dern and Ellen DeGeneres.
Milano tweeted the phrase, “Me Too,” around noon on October 15, 2017 and by the end of the day, it had been used more than 200,000 times and tweeted more than 500,000 times by the following day. On Facebook, more than 4.7 million people used “Me Too” in 12 million posts during its first 24 hours. The platform reported that 45% of users in the United States had at least one friend who had posted using the term. Since then, the hashtag has trended in over 85 countries.
Since October 2017, at least 211 celebrities, politicians, sports stars, judges, athletes, CEOs and other wellknown men have been accused of sexual misconduct. Allegations include: rubbing their genitals against women, touching women’s breasts and buttocks, groping women, even penetration of children. These men were accused of drugging women, forcing women to mastur-
bate them, and to perform oral sex. These were men of power, talent, accomplishments, and many had made significant contributions to society.
Could this really be? Could sexual harassment be so pervasive? Could even Dr. Huxtable have been drugging and raping women for years? For many of us, the allegations themselves are not a surprise. What is astonishing is how widespread the sexual abuse is. Information has come out that over 60% of U.S. female medical trainees and students experience harassment during training though most do not report the incidents and over 55% of U.S. female government workers have reported being sexually harassed at work.
EARLY RESULTS
As a result of this movement, institutions and agencies have made commitments to change. Promised steps include:
• Processing all untested rape kits.
• Closer vetting of teachers.
• Better protecting children at school.
• Updating sexual harassment policies.
• Improving training in workplaces, places of worship and schools.
• Strengthening federal and local laws for processing and prosecuting sexual assault.
Time Magazine chose the #metoo Movement as “Person of the Year” for 2017.
PERSONALLY
My dad, a homicide detective, taught me never to show weakness or talk about hardship, and to remain tough at all costs. Although many bad things have happened to me, I have not spoken about them because I did not want to appear weak and because, honestly, I felt somehow responsible for letting those things happen to me. However, I have come to believe that real strength comes from being vulnerable and honest.
I have been sexually harassed at work since my first waitress job at 16. I said nothing about being “ordered” to wear my uniform tighter and shorter, or being groped by the boss, because I needed the work and did not want to appear to be a “troublemaker.” When I was a law clerk in a large firm, a name partner came very close to raping me after weeks of making sexual comments and my dodging his invitations to dinner “work” sessions. He only stopped when one of his partners walked in while he had me pinned to the conference table. One of the female associates to whom I had confided told me that he just gets “frisky” before trial and the firm cuts him slack because he is a great rainmaker and successful trial attorney. I found another job and remained silent.
MEN
Personally, I like many men and even love some. I enjoy working with men, and I feel no need for revenge or punishment. I realize that some men are confused, and feel persecuted as a result of the #metoo movement. That’s a terrible place to be. It makes one feel misunderstood, defensive and powerless. It’s a place, however, where most women live all the time. Perhaps it would be beneficial now for men to go deep into those feelings and learn from those feelings how profound gender inequality is and what they can do to change it. Men may realize that they too are products of the culture and that much of their past, and even present behavior, perpetuates the culture of harassment and abuse. We need men as allies, as teachers of other men, as role models for boys and as supporters of women.
WOMEN
How many women feel:
We feel demeaned and diminished. We feel judged and shamed. We feel afraid of losing our jobs and of not being believed.
We feel guilty that we were not able to stop the abuse. We feel angry.
What we want:
• We want to be heard and understood.
• We want change in society, families, schools, jobs, and religious institutions.
• We want to stop being demeaned and harassed.
• We want respect.
Women and men from all backgrounds can help bring about this change. Women and men in the legal profession can bring about this change not only in our own profession but have many tools at our disposal to help bring about broader change.
Perhaps for all women, now is the time for us to step forward, to end our silence about what has happened to us, even if it is uncomfortable. It is uncomfortable. It is also empowering to show one another, and particularly our daughters, that it is not weak to speak out and break
the silence. It is truly brave. In that spirit, I can now say, “Me too.”
Eileen Barker and I are planning a #metoo discussion for women in the legal profession who have been sexually mistreated. The purpose is to share our stories and to explore what we might need to move on in our lives.
Women interested in participating are invited to contact us at bmonty@montywhitelaw.com
This article was originally appeared in the June 2018 issue of the Marin Lawyer.
Barbara Monty is a partner at Monty White LLP and mediator with Resolution Remedies. EMAIL WEBSITE
RESOURCES
Me Too Movement www.metoomvmt.org
Center for Domestic Peace, Marin www.centerfordomesticpeace.org 415-924-6616
Marin County District Attorney www.marincounty.org 415-473-6450
Association for Lesbian, Gay Bisexual & Transgender Issues in Counseling www.algbtic.org
National Center for Transgender Equality www.transequality.org 202-642-4542
National Online Resource Center on Domestic Violence www.vawnet.org
National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline www.loveisrespect.org 866-331-9474
National Women’s Law Center www.nwlc.org 202-319-3053
Workplaces Respond to Domestic and Sexual Violence
www.workplacesrespond.org/resource-library
MARIN COUNTY WOMEN LAWYERS
MARI-ANN RIVERS
“Nevertheless,
She Persisted”
1976, two hundred years since the pronouncement of equality and inalienable rights for all in the Declaration of Independence, and yet:
• A Sears TV repairman felt free to demand “Honey, let me talk to your husband;”
• A Sonoma County superior court judge admittedly found civil rights “kind of an amorphous field” and inquired in open court if it was “appropriate” for a woman lawyer to use “Esq.” on her letterhead;
• A major bank refused a $500 business loan to a Marin County woman lawyer establishing her own practice because she was “probably just going to spend it on clothes anyway;”
• A renowned San Francisco jurist prohibited women from wearing pantsuits in his courtroom;
• A divorced woman couldn’t obtain a credit card or homeowner’s loan in her own name; and
• A married woman employed full-time was denied a check-cashing card by a local grocery store because “your husband is a college student.”
This is the atmosphere in which one Marin County attorney realized that only two women served in a judicial capacity in all of Northern California - from San Francisco north. Ollie Marie Victoire sat as a Municipal Court Judge in San Francisco. In the tiny mining town of Columbia California near Yosemite National Park, a woman served as Justice of the Peace. No women lawyer organizations existed north of San Francisco, and never had. It is Lois A. Prentice, founder of the Marin County Women Lawyers, who in 1976, invited every
woman attorney she could find listed in the telephone books of Marin, Napa, Sonoma, Solano, and Mendocino Counties to join her in forming an association of women attorneys.
Nineteen women attorneys responded, gathering together in Ms. Prentice’s small Sausalito law office to form the North Bay Women Lawyers’ Association. Its purpose: to improve the position of women lawyers and women litigants by electing more women to the Bench, eradicating prejudice against women lawyers and litigants in court, and achieving parity for women lawyers in large law firm hiring practices. Ninety percent of the North Bay Women Lawyers members were sole practitioners because almost no women were hired by large law firms, regardless of academic standing or professional achievements. Most women lawyers then had little recourse but to open their own law offices and build their practices from the ground up.
Among its innumerable credits, The North Bay Women Lawyers Association aided the California State Bar Association in collecting critical data and statistics on women in law practice, responded to the State Bar’s request to train local law enforcement on obtaining emergency restraining orders in domestic violence cases, and volunteered pro bono legal assistance to individuals, non-profits, and women’s organizations.
Ultimately, The North Bay Women Lawyers grew large enough to sustain individual county-based organizations. The North Bay Women Lawyers transformed into the Marin County Women Lawyers (MCWL) of today, its membership expanded to include men, and its mission statement similarly evolved to encompass today’s issues:
The specific purpose of the Organization is as follows: (1) To promote and protect the interests of women attorneys so that they may achieve full participation in the legal profession; (2) To support and expand the fundamental rights of all women, including freedom of reproductive choice, and gender equality; (3) To eliminate all forms of violence and economic oppression against women; and (4) To serve as a conduit for the dissemination and exchange of information and ideas among women attorneys.
MCWL actively supports judicial appointees, judges, and elected officials who demonstrate alignment with the MCWL goals and objectives. Candidate Night socials and endorsements of judicial and elected official candidates with views reflective and supportive of its mission are integral to MCWL’s goals. Because of the politically active nature of its mission, MCWL intentionally eschews the fiscal benefits of a 501(c)(3) taxexempt status and maintains an identity separate and independent from the Marin County Bar Association. However, both organizations regularly collaborate, coordinate, and communicate cooperatively. As a California State Bar Association Mandatory Continuing Legal Education provider, MCWL co-sponsors the Annual Marin County Bar Association MCLE Fair, and provides MCLE-eligible presentations throughout the year on issues including reproductive rights, human rights, domestic violence, and elimination of bias. A comparatively small organization, MCWL maximizes its influence by active collaboration with other organizations, including the Minority Bar Coalition, other women lawyer organizations, the Marin Teen Girls Conference, and as a voting affiliate of the California Women Lawyers.
But MCWL is not all hard-driven, mirthless work! A fundamental function of its founders continues in the opportunities for camaraderie, networking, mutual support, mentorship and connection. The annual Business and Professional Women’s Dinner has brought speakers with a wide range of professional experience, including scientists from the Buck Center on Aging and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the founder of Roots of Peace, writers, volunteers working in Nepal and at Greek asylum camps, non-profit organizations, local
business women, and Chief Justice Rose Bird. The Holiday Party is an eagerly anticipated annual highlight, and regular socials throughout the year bring a variety of opportunities and experiences to its membership like the pre-show gathering and group attendance at the RBG biopic, and a February Happy Hour at the Seahorse in Sausalito. Information on past and upcoming events is accessible on the MCWL website.
March is Women’s History Month, the perfect time to reflect on contributions of women to history, contemporary society, and into the future. MCWL has been an integral part of establishing fair and equal participation for women in our legal community and is dedicated and committed to continuing this mission. We appreciate, thank and honor the women and men who have paved the way as role models and mentors. Yes, there are more women in law school, more women elected and appointed judges, and more women in government. Laws, regulations and court rules have changed to improve equality in the courtroom for women litigants, lawyers, and judges. Women now serve on the highest court of our land. But the unremitting and escalating assault on reproductive rights and intrusion into women’s health care decisions, the continuing underrepresentation and disparity of women in key governmental and legal positions, and the epidemic revelations of gender-based assaults must stir us all, women and men, from complacency to action.
Over this next year, MCWL celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing all American women the right to vote, adopted by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920. This year is also the anniversary of a less auspicious event in women’s history. Forty years ago, The Equal Rights Amendment failed to obtain the needed approval of three-fourths of the states by the 1979 deadline. The proposed amendment simply states: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.” True, various forms of federal and state legislation provide some protection of legal rights for women. But to date, only the right to vote is specifically
guaranteed to women by the United States Constitution gender equality is not. Clearly, we need to continue to embrace last year’s theme of Women’s History Month:
“Nevertheless, she persisted.”
This article can be viewed online at Marinbar.org.
Mari-Ann Rivers has been a Deputy County Counsel for the County of Marin since 1987 and served as President of Marin County Women Lawyers in 2016 and 2017. She graduated from Cal State East Bay with a BA in Human Development and has a JD from University of San Francisco School of Law.
The Marin Lawyer encourages our readers to also be our writers. If you have something you’d like to write about, get in touch with us. We also encourage our readers to be our critics. If there’s something you’d like to see (or not see) in the Marin Lawyer, let us know. If you’d like more articles on practical law firm topics, tell us. More book reviews? Let us know. All feedback is welcome. info@marinbar.org
Silver
Interested in sponsorship? Contact Mee Mee Wong at 415-499-1314 or mwong@marinbar.org
MCBA Legal Education Scholarship
The MCBA Legal Education Scholarship program provides scholarships up to $5,000 to financially disadvantaged students from Marin pursuing a law school degree. Funded with contributions from the MCBA, it is a collaboration with 10,000 Degrees and the Marin Community Foundation, which administer the fund. The scholarship was established in 2010. Throughyourgenerousannualdonations,we awardedscholarshipstofourdeservinglawstudents forthe2018-2019academicyear.(Meetthe2018 MCBALegalScholars.)
Help us reach our 2019 fundraising goal of $16,000 and support financially disadvantaged students pursuing a law school degree. Please make your tax-deductible donation today.
RECOLLECTIONS
PEGGY BENNINGTON & MADELEINE SIMBORG
1975 MCBA President: Ann Diamond
Our friend and partner Ann Diamond became the 28th president of the Marin County Bar Association in 1975. She was also the first woman president of the Marin County Bar. Ann was born in 1912 in Pecs, Hungary, and immigrated to the United States with her family in 1929, in time for the great depression and avoiding the Holocaust which decimated Hungary’s Jewish population. She quickly learned English, which she spoke with a Hungarian accent she never lost. At a time when women did not go to law school, Ann graduated from Case Western Reserve law school in Cleveland, Ohio with honors in 1937. When she graduated, she could not find a job with a law firm so she went to work in Washington at the Office of Price Administration. While working there she supervised a young lawyer who became infamous, Richard Nixon. Working with Nixon, Ann learned how to be “one of the guys.” She became involved in a regular poker game that was all men, including Nixon. She always said he was not only a lousy poker player, but also untrustworthy.
She came to California to work as a lawyer with the National Labor Relations Board and was admitted to the California Bar in 1945. An innovator and leader in family law practice, she founded one of the first all women law firms in the United States. Ann became President of the Bar after her then law partner, retired Judge Bev Savitt, accepted the nomination on her behalf. Ann was out of the country, and, without consulting her, Judge Savitt agreed that it would be wonderful for Ann to head up our Bar Association. Little did the Bar know, that it was not only electing its first woman president, but also, the first “card carrying Communist” (and probably the last). She famously avoided a subpoena to testify at the McCarthy hearings by managing to be pregnant each and every one of the five years that she was served with a notice to appear. (At
that time, pregnancy was a valid excuse to avoid a subpoena.)
In deference to Ann, the Bar meetings were moved from the Elks Club, which did not admit women members during her tenure as President. As a family lawyer, she promoted and supported the “no fault” divorce provisions of 1970, and she developed the model for statewide child support guidelines. She also pioneered the development and use of mental health training as an essential tool for family lawyers. She was instrumental in elevating family law to its current status as an important area of legal specialization in California.
She held monthly salons in her palatial Ross home and recklessly drove her beautiful silver Jaguar, to the general concern of everyone in her path. She was a friend and mentor of countless family lawyers and judges including the previously aforementioned Judge Savitt, her law partner, Judge Verna Adams, Cecilia Lannon, and Sharon Mah. Ann made unique and invaluable contributions to the Marin County Bar Association and to the practice of family law throughout California. She died in 2007 at age 94 and is sorely missed.
If we could channel Ann, these are some of the things we think she might have said during her inaugural speech:
• Many of our clients could benefit from seeing a therapist. Refer them to a therapist because you are
not one. It will make your work as a lawyer easier.
• Don’t sleep with your clients or opposing counsel.
• We have an obligation to represent poor people and crazy people, but not necessarily at the same time.
• Parties and counsel should always meet face to face in the same room to attempt to settle. It will happen more often than not.
• History has proved I was right about Richard Nixon.
This article was originally published in the May 2015 issue of the Marin Lawyer.
WOMEN PRESIDENTS
Peggy Bennington is a Family Law attorney in Mill Valley, CA.
Madeline Simborg is a Family Law attorney in Corte Madera, CA.
NEW MEMBERS
Welcome to the Marin County Bar Association!
Rosanna Chenette
Attorney at Law rosanna@chenettelegal.com 877-657-8639
California attorneys are now governed by a new set of Rules of Professional Conduct. Join us to learn about the key changes and how they may affect your practice.
• What is New (and not so new) in Conflicts?
• What is a “True Retainer” and Can You Demand One?
• What Are Your Duties to Prospective Clients?
• How Do the New Rules Address Discrimination in the Law Practice?
• Can You Have Sexual Relations with A Client?
• How Other Changes to the Rules May Affect Your Practice
1.0 CLE | ETHICS
INFO & REGISTRATION
TUE | MAR 19 | 12:00-1:30P
SECTION MEETING: FAMILY LAW
Pension Division Malpractice and QDROs
SPEAKERS
John Madden | Moon, Schwartz & Madden
Louis Nixon, Esq. | QDRO Benefits Law Group
John Newmarker | QDRO Counsel
Retirement benefits are often the major asset in most divorce cases. There are approximately one million divorces per year and yet only about 40 pension division experts to assist family law attorneys and judges. A new web based platform enables a paradigm change and empowers family law attorneys with added ability to best represent their clients and meet the duty of competence.
From this ethics talk, participants will understand the family law attorney’s duty of competence regarding retirement benefit division in divorce which requires (1) understanding and use of technology and (2) not to commit malpractice.
1.0 CLE | ETHICS
INFO & REGISTRATION
UPCOMING EVENTS
WED | MAR 20 | 12:00-1:30P
SECTION MEETING: PROBATE & ESTATE PLANNING
Anticipating and Addressing the Dilemma Posed by a “Fading” Trustee
SPEAKERS
Andrew R Verriere | Hartog Baer Hand, APC
Brian G. Fredkin | Hartog Baer Hand, APC
This program will address issues that attorneys face when representing trustees with diminished or diminishing capacity. It will explore issues in both litigation and administration, and how an attorney can professionally and ethically handle the situation.
Legal Specialization Credit: Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law
1.0 CLE | GENERAL
INFO & REGISTRATION
WED | MAR 27 | 11:45A-1:30P
GENERAL MEETING
Honoring Pro Bono Volunteers and Leadership
Co-hosted by MCBA and Legal Aid of Marin
The Annual Pro Bono Awards Luncheon honors our community’s outstanding pro bono legal providers of the past year. This year, we celebrate our many attorney and community volunteers. Seven are recipients of the Wiley W. Manuel Award, issued by the State Bar of California for 50 or more hours of pro bono services. Honoring Marin County Superior Court Judge Paul M. Haakenson
Award presentations by: Jonathan Gertler, Founding partner, Chavez & Gertler, LLP and President, Board of Directors, Legal Aid of Marin.
Speakers include:
Hon. Beverly K. Wood, Presiding Judge Marin County Superior Court
Charles Dresow, Ragghianti Freitas, LLP and President, Marin County Bar Association
Legal Aid of Marin has been serving the community for 60 years. What started as a group of Marin County Bar Association volunteers now has a staff of eight serving over 2,000 households each year.
INFO & REGISTRATION
UPCOMING EVENTS
WED | APR 24 | 11:30-1:30P
GENERAL MEETING
Cash Bail Bond Reform
SPEAKERS
Matt Sotorosen | Deputy Public Defender for San Francisco County
Alisha Krupinsky | Marin County Probation Department
Marisa Lagos | KQED News
Dorilyn Ahana | Chief Deputy District Attorney, Marin County
Join us for a panel discussion on the SB-10 Referendum. Panelists will discuss the multifaceted issue of cash bail bond reform.
Understand and connect with the issues surrounding bail reform in California. One of the most heavily debated subjects in criminal justice and for our greater society is whether or not cash bail should be eliminated, and if so what will replace bail. Attendees of this dynamic lunch program will learn how bail and pre-trial release currently works in California and what various stake holders are trying to change. The goal of this panel based program is to present views from all sides of the issues surrounding bail in California so attendees can be better educated and aware of a critical change that is occurring in our criminal justice system.
1.0
CLE | GENERAL
INFO & REGISTRATION
2019 LEADERSHIP CIRCLE MEMBERS
CHARLES D. DRESOW, ESQ. COBLENTZ PATCH DUFFY & BASS LLP
ROBERT F. EPSTEIN, ESQ. THE FREITAS LAW FIRM
RICHARD WATSON & GERSHON
The Leadership Circle is an elite group committed to and acknowledged for the vitality of our Bar Association. Leadership Circle contributions permit MCBA to better address and expand community programs such as Teens in the Law and Marin County’s Mock Trial Program, among others. Leadership Circle contributions also provide much needed capital to underwrite our MCLE initiatives and keep current with technology advances. Leadership Circle members receive expanded visibility throughout the year at Membership Meetings, monthly email newsletter, and at special events.
Contact MCBA to join the Annual Leadership Circle.
sponsorship@marinbar.org
415-499-1314
MISSION STATEMENT
To involve, encourage and support Bar Association members, to serve as a liaison to the Marin County courts, and to educate the community and enhance access to legal services.
