WOMEN LAWYERS OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
2019 JUDGES’ DINNER Thursday, October 24, 2019 Scott’s Seafood, Jack London Square, Oakland
Keynote Speaker: Carol A. Corrigan, Associate Justice, California Supreme Court
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WOMEN LAWYERS OF ALAMEDA COUNTY 2019 JUDGES DINNER 2
Pillsbury proudly supports the Women Lawyers of Alameda County.
Congratulations to WLAC’s 2019 Honorees
Jurist of Distinction The Honorable Trina Thompson Woman Lawyer of Distinction Erin Scott, Esq. The “Velvet Hammer” The Honorable Barbara A. Dickinson Celebrating 40 Years on the Bench The Honorable Carol S. Brosnahan
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP Four Embarcadero Center | San Francisco, CA 94111 +1.415.983.1000 | pillsburylaw.com 3
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WOMEN LAWYERS OF ALAMEDA COUNTY 2019 JUDGES DINNER
In Apprecia�on of WLAC’s Commitment to Advancing Gender Equity and Equality. Congratula�ons to the Honorees! Jurist of Dis�nc�on
Woman Lawyer of Dis�nc�on
Hon. Trina Thompson
Erin Sco�, Esq.
The “Velvet Hammer”
Celebra�ng 40 Years on the Bench
Hon. Barbara A. Dickinson
Hon. Carol S. Brosnahan
Associate Jus�ce Hon. Ioana Petrou New Judges Hon. Eumi K. Lee | Hon. Karin S. Schwartz
FighƟng for your rights in the workplace and beyond.
www.levyvinick.com | (510) 318‐7700
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WOMEN LAWYERS OF ALAMEDA COUNTY 2019 JUDGES DINNER
We welcome our fellow bar association co-sponsors Queen’s Bench Bar Association of the San Francisco Bay Area Alameda County Bar Association Northern California Women Lawyers California Women Lawyers
WOMEN LAWYERS OF ALAMEDA COUNTY ~ A Voice for Women in the Law Since 1980 ~
2019 BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS Gina Boer, President Suzanne Nero, Co-Vice President Dorothy Chou Proudfoot, Co-Vice President Heather Melton, Secretary Maggie Calonge, Treasurer
CO-SPONSORS & 2019 BOARD
DIRECTORS
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Sharon Alkire Heather Chang Mika Domingo Emily Doskow J. Sterling Elmore Sylvia Harris Leslie F. Levy Maria Morga Kristin Smith
JUDICIAL LIAISON Honorable Barbara Dickinson
PASSION FOR JUSTICE
Boxer & Gerson, LLP salutes the WLAC, the Honorable Carol Corrigan, and the passion for justice and equal opportunity held in common by all tonight’s attendees. We are with you! Downtown Oakland The Rotunda Building Frank H Ogawa Plaza (510) 835-8870
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WOMEN LAWYERS OF ALAMEDA COUNTY 2019 JUDGES DINNER
2019 Program of Events RECEPTION AND NETWORKING Cocktail Hour hosted by Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP WELCOMING REMARKS Heather Melton, Dinner Co-Chair LAWYER OF DISTINCTION Erin Scott, Esq., Executive Director, Family Violence Law Center MARGARET A. GANNON STIPEND AWARD Christina A. Alvernaz, Equal Rights Advocates SCHOLARSHIP FUNDRAISER J. Sterling Elmore, Dinner Co-Chair 40TH ANNIVERSARY ON THE BENCH Honorable Carol Brosnahan, Alameda County Superior Court JURIST OF DISTINCTION Honorable Trina Thompson, Alameda County Superior Court VELVET HAMMER Honorable Barbara Dickinson, Alameda County Superior Court NEW APPELLATE COURT JUSTICE Honorable Ioana Petrou, Court of Appeal, First Appellate District NEW SUPERIOR COURT JUDGES Honorable Eumi Lee, Alameda County Superior Court Honorable Karin Schwartz, Alameda County Superior Court
PROGRAM OF EVENTS
KEYNOTE SPEAKER Carol A. Corrigan, Associate Justice, California Supreme Court
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WLAC/RHODA AND JUDGE STUART HING SCHOLARSHIP PRESENTATION Mariah Cooks, Golden Gate University
MEMBERSHIP VOTE ON INSTALLATION OF 2020 WLAC BOARD OF DIRECTORS Leslie Levy, President Heather Melton, Vice President Sterling Elmore, Treasurer Emily Doskow, Secretary Maria Morga, Board Member DIRECTORS Sharon Alkire Lacey Bangle Amy E. Blair Deb Graceffa Helen Hoeffel Jennifer C. Lee Crystal Matson Maria Morga Suzanne Nero Kristin Smith Mai Linh Spencer INSTALLATION OF 2020 BOARD Maria Morga, Board Member CLOSING REMARKS Leslie Levy, Incoming President
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Donahue Fitzgerald LLP is Proud to Sponsor WLAC’s
Annual Judges’ Dinner We Join WLAC in Celebration of 1st District Court of Appeal, Division Three Hon. Ioana Petrou Alameda County Superior Court Hon. Eumi K. Lee Alameda County Superior Court Hon. Karin S. Schwartz Alameda County Superior Court Hon. Trina Thompson Executive Director of Family Violence Law Center Erin Scott Alameda County Superior Court Hon. Barbara A. Dickinson Alameda County Superior Court Hon. Carol S. Brosnahan Trusts + Estates Employment Real Estate YOUR PARTNER Business + Corporate WITH EXPERTISE ALL Intellectual Property AROUND THE BAY Litigation Tax
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We commend the Women Lawyers of Alameda County for their dedication to public service and the highest ideals of the practice of law and congratulate all of the honorees.
BOIES SCHILLER FLEXNER LLP 44 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94104 Phone: 415 293 6800 www.bsfllp.com 13
WOMEN LAWYERS OF ALAMEDA COUNTY 2019 JUDGES DINNER
BIOGRAPHIES 14
Biographies Keynote Speaker HONORABLE CAROL A. CORRIGAN Justice Carol A. Corrigan was appointed Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court on January 4, 2006, having previously sat as an Associate Justice on the Court of Appeal, First District, Division Three from 1994 to 2006. She was a judge of the Alameda County Superior Court from 1991 to 1994, and of the Oakland Municipal Court from 1987 to 1991. She was a trial lawyer in the Alameda County District Attorney’s office from 1975 to 1987. She has been an adjunct professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law; the University of California, Hastings College of Law; University of San Francisco School of Law and the University of Puget Sound School of Law. She is currently an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at the University of Notre Dame. She was a member of the President’s Commission on Organized Crime and contributing editor to the Attorney General’s Task Force on Victims of Crime. She has served on the California Judicial Council and the Governing Board for the California Center for Judicial Education and Research. Justice Corrigan co-chaired the Judicial Council Task Force on Jury Instructions and the Commission on the Future of California’s Court System. She serves on the faculty of the California Judicial College and the Continuing Judicial Studies Program. She lectures widely and has taught for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) since 1982, receiving its Distinguished Faculty Award in 1997. In addition to her opinions on the court, she has published in the areas of criminal law, trial advocacy, ethics, evidence, and constitutional law. A 1970 graduate of Holy Names College, Justice Corrigan studied for a doctorate in clinical psychology before taking her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law where she was a Note and Comment Editor for the Law Review.
Jurist of Distinction HONORABLE TRINA THOMPSON Judge Trina Thompson currently presides over Felony Jury Trials at the RenÊ C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland. She has handled high profile homicide trials in private practice and most recently was the judge assigned to the Ghost Ship trial. Judge Thompson has previously served as the Presiding Judge of the Alameda County Juvenile Court. She was first elected to the Alameda County Superior Court in November 2002 and sworn into office in January 2003. Prior to her appointment as the Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court in 2010, Judge Thompson presided over felony jury trials, adult truancy court, and was responsible, along with one of her colleagues, for managing the domestic violence calendar for Alameda County. In 2001, Judge Thompson was appointed as a Juvenile Court Commissioner, responsible for hearing juvenile delinquency and dependency matters. Prior to her appointment as Court Commissioner, Judge Thompson managed a private criminal defense practice from 1991 to 2000 and served as a public defender in Alameda County from 1987 to 1991. Judge Thompson received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Legal Studies from the University of California at Berkeley and graduated from U.C. Berkeley’s School of Law. She currently teaches Race and the Historical Treatment of People of Color at U.C. Berkeley in the Ethnic Studies Department. She also teaches Juvenile Justice - The Color of Law and the Historical Treatment of Children of Color in the Juvenile Justice System at U.C. Berkeley in the Legal Studies Department.
Lawyer of Distinction ERIN SCOTT, ESQ. Erin Scott, Esq. has been working on domestic violence and sexual assault issues since volunteering as a rape crisis counselor in 1990. She currently is the Executive Director at the Family Violence Law Center in Oakland and sits on the Board of Directors of UnCommon Law. She is a former Board member of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence and the Family Violence Appellate Project. She has provided legal services for pregnant and parenting teens and represented a survivor who was imprisoned for killing her batterer. Erin received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Swarthmore College and a Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law. She is pursuing a Masters in History program with the University of Edinburgh this Fall.
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WOMEN LAWYERS OF ALAMEDA COUNTY 2019 JUDGES DINNER
40th Anniversary On The Bench HONORABLE CAROL BROSNAHAN Judge Carol Brosnahan attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts and Harvard University Law School. She received her LL.B. in 1959. She is currently a Superior Court Judge for the County of Alameda, serving in Oakland at the Wiley Manuel Courthouse. She initiated and continues to preside over Alameda County’s Behavioral Court. Two days a week, Judge Brosnahan serves as judge at the John George Psychiatric Pavilion in San Leandro. Before coming to Oakland, Judge Brosnahan was Supervising Judge at the Berkeley Courthouse presiding in Department 201 since 2001. Prior to becoming a Superior Court Judge, she served as a Municipal Court Judge for the former Berkeley-Albany Judicial District, Alameda County, from April 1979 to 1998, when she was elevated to a Superior Court Judge on July 31, 1998. Judge Brosnahan served as Supervising Judge for the Berkeley Court in 1998, 1991, 1990 and 1984-85. She was instrumental in beginning the court’s collaboration with Options Recovery Services in Berkeley. This collaboration continues to this day. She also presided over Berkeley’s first Drug Court. Judge Brosnahan was a member of the California State Fair Political Practices Commission from 1975-1977. She served as Program Director of Local Bar Relations, and Supervising Attorney in charge of litigation-related projects, Continuing Education of the Bar, Berkeley, California, 1964-1979. She was in private law practice in Phoenix, Arizona, from 1960-1964. She worked as an assistant investment counselor at a bank in New York, New York from 1955-1956.
Velvet Hammer
BIOGRAPHIES
HONORABLE BARBARA DICKINSON
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Judge Dickinson graduated from Hastings College of the Law where she was the Technical Editor of the International Law Journal, and a founding member of the Hastings Women’s Law Journal. Judge Dickinson joined the Alameda County Public Defender’s office in 1989 where she tried multiple jury trials and evidentiary hearings and served on their office wide appellate and training team. During her career as a public defender, Judge Dickinson also served as a consultant to the Institute for the Study of Developing Legal Systems and through them hosted study groups in Alameda County from Israel, Egypt, Turkey and India. She traveled to Cairo to give trainings to the Egyptian Supreme Court on indigent defense and to Istanbul to give trainings to the Turkish National Justice Institute on alternative dispute resolution.
At the time of her appointment, she was the managing attorney of the juvenile division of the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office. She was appointed by Governor Brown to the Alameda County Superior Court in 2017 and is currently sitting in the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in a criminal assignment that has included service in the Collaborative Courts.
Scholarship Recipients Margaret A. Gannon 2019 Legal Education Stipend Recipients Christina Ann Alvernaz is a graduate of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She was the Executive Articles Editor for the Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal. She earned her undergraduate degree in linguistics with honors, magna cum laude, from Wenham College, in Massachusetts, studying abroad at Oxford. Since August, she has been working at Equal Rights Advocates as a law clerk, researching Title IX issues and counseling clients on workplace and gender discrimination claims. Born and raised in the Bay Area, Christina intends to pursue a career in employment law, providing muchneeded assistance to low-income communities and communities of color. Throughout law school, she focused her studies on workers’ rights and employment discrimination. With her experience at the Homeless Advocacy Project in San Francisco, the EEOC in Oakland, and the National Domestic Workers Alliance in Oakland, Christina’s dedication to serving the community in this important area of law is apparent. Melissa B. Herrera is a graduate of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She was the Editor in Chief of the Hastings Women Law Journal, which published her article entitled: “Arizona Gamete Donor Law: A Call for Recognizing Women’s Asymmetrical Property Interest in Pre-Embryo Disposition Disputes.” She earned her undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Gender and Women’s Studies, with a specialization in Political Theory from the University of California, Berkeley. Melissa’s desire to become a voice for those who have been marginalized in society has propelled her work as a law clerk at the Solano County Public Defender’s Office and the Orange County Public Defender’s Office. She brings a multi-faceted perspective as a woman of color, raised in a low-income community, to her legal work in indigent defense and her goals of continuing to publish on issues pertaining to women.
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WOMEN LAWYERS OF ALAMEDA COUNTY 2019 JUDGES DINNER
Michelle Caylee Human is a graduate of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law with a concentration in International Law. She earned her undergraduate degree in journalism, magna cum laude, from Chapman University. She intends to pursue a career in public interest work, representing victims of domestic violence and children. Michelle worked as a legal researcher for the Centre for African Peace, Justice, and Human Rights at the Hague, addressing sexual violence in conflict zones. She also worked as a law clerk at the Children’s Law Center of California, representing abused and neglected children in dependency and delinquency proceedings. Through college and law school, she volunteered at the Autism Tree Project Foundation mentoring special needs children and providing informational sessions for parents. She also volunteers with the Queen’s Bench Juvenile Hall Project in San Francisco and performs as a Professional Princess on the weekends. Justine Joya is a graduate of the University of San Francisco School of Law. She earned her undergraduate degree in Sociology – Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies from the University of California, Davis. She is a firstgeneration law student. Since January, she has been working as a legal extern at the Family Violence Law Center and plans to pursue a career in family law. Justine’s work with the San Francisco Superior Court’s Unified Family Court as a judicial extern solidified her desire to practice family law. She also interned with Prisoner Legal Services and the Racial Justice Law Clinic during law school. She plans to fulfill her passion for assisting individuals within the criminal justice system by doing pro bono work for criminal defendants.
BIOGRAPHIES
WLAC/Rhoda and Judge Stuart Hing Scholarship 2019 Recipient
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Mariah S. Cooks is a third-year law student at Golden Gate University School of Law. Born and raised on the Central Coast of California, Mariah knew at a young age that she wanted to play Division I basketball and practice law. After years of hard work and dedication, Mariah received a full-ride scholarship to play basketball at Washington State University. Ms. Cooks made her mark at Washington State University, becoming one of the youngest elected team captains in program history. After she graduated, Mariah moved back to the Central Coast to work as a Case Manager and then Treatment Specialist for the youth in her parent’s group homes. Through her experiences growing up with and working in the group home, Mariah grew an unshakable passion for advocating and restoring hope and self-worth in underrepresented and forgotten populations - specifically, commercially sexually exploited children. In her 1L Summer, Ms. Cooks served as a Judicial Extern with the Judicial Intern Opportunity Program (JIOP) for the Honorable Susan
Breall in the Dependency Court of the San Francisco Superior Court. As a second-year law student, she was elected Co-President of the Black Law Students Association to provide support for minority students on campus. This summer, Ms. Cooks was a part of the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office 2L Summer Law Clerk Program, where she successfully conducted her first jury trial. Ms. Cooks hopes to join the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office post-bar and eventually join the HEAT Unit.
Incoming Jurists HONORABLE IOANA PETROU Justice Ioana Petrou was appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown to the First Appellate District in 2018. Prior to her appointment, Justice Petrou served as a judge on the Alameda County Superior Court, working in family, criminal, unlimited civil, and complex civil assignments. She also supervised the civil division, chaired her court’s judicial education and civil committees, and was a member of the executive committee. She served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California from 2004 to 2010 and was counsel at O’Melveny and Myers LLP from 2002 to 2004. Petrou served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York from 2000 to 2002. She was an associate at Foley and Lardner LLP from 1996 to 1999, at Weissburg and Aronson from 1995 to 1996 and at Proskauer Rose LLP from 1994 to 1995. Petrou served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Sheila Prell Sonenshine at the Fourth District Court of Appeal in 1992. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and two Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. Over the course of her career, Justice Petrou has taught a wide variety of programs including trial practice, litigation, family law, health care, and white collar matters to law, industry, and government groups. Since 2014, she has been teaching trial practice at U.C Berkeley School of Law.
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WOMEN LAWYERS OF ALAMEDA COUNTY 2019 JUDGES DINNER
HONORABLE EUMI LEE Eumi Lee has been appointed to a judgeship in the Alameda County Superior Court. Lee has been a clinical professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law since 2005, where she served as co-founder and co-director of the Hastings Institute for Criminal Justice from 2010 to 2012. She was an ethics trainer for San Diego Gas and Electric, Southern California Gas Company and Southern California Edison from 2009 to 2012 and of counsel and a consultant at Gonzalez and Leigh from 2006 to 2012. Lee was an associate at Keker and Van Nest from 2002 to 2005, a law clerk for the Honorable Warren J. Ferguson at the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit from 2001 to 2002, an associate at Thelen Reid and Priest from 2000 to 2001 and a law clerk for the Honorable Jerome Turner at the U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee from 1999 to 2000. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Pomona College. She fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Alison M. Tucher to the Court of Appeal. She is the first KoreanAmerican judge ever appointed to the Alameda County Superior Court. HONORABLE KARIN SCHWARTZ
BIOGRAPHIES
Karin Schwartz, of Sacramento, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Alameda County Superior Court. Schwartz has served as deputy director and chief counsel at the California Department of Public Health since 2013. She served in several positions at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 2003 to 2013, including as supervising deputy attorney general and acting senior assistant attorney general. Schwartz was a Supreme Court fellow at the National Association of Attorneys General in 2007. She was an associate at Munger, Tolles and Olson LLP from 2000 to 2003 and at Debevoise and Plimpton LLP from 1995 to 2000. Schwartz served as a law clerk for the Honorable Jack B. Weinstein at the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York in 1994. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bryn Mawr College. She fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Ioana Petrou to the Court of Appeal.
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, KAZAN, McCLAIN, SATTERLEY & GREENWOOD A Professional Law Corporation
Helping Asbestos Victims Since 1974
Salutes
Women Lawyers of Alameda County
2019 Judges' Dinner and congratulates
Hon. Trina Thompson
Jurist
of Distinction
Hon. Carol S. Brosnahan
Celebrating 40 Years on the Bench
Hon. Barbara A. Dickinson Velvet Hammer Award
Erin Scott
Family Violence Law Center
Lawyer
of Distinction
and welcomes
California Supreme Court Associate Justice Carol Corrigan Keynote SReaker
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Women Lawyers of Alameda County Annual Judges’ Dinner and
California Supreme Court Associate Justice
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________________________ 650 California Street San Francisco, CA 94108 (415) 981-7210 www.WalkupLawOffice.com
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proudly sponsors
WLAC’s Annual Judges’ Dinner Accolades to our partner, Gina Boer, outgoing WLAC Board President. We are proud of your accomplishments and pleased to sponsor the 2019 WLAC dinner. We take great pleasure in supporting the women lawyers of Alameda County who tirelessly dedicate themselves to the pursuit of empowerment, community and justice. 1939 Harrison Street, Suite 800 Oakland CA 94612 www.htalaw.com 510-763-2324
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Congratulations to this year’s Honorees: Jurist of Distinction- The Honorable Trina Thompson Lawyer of Distinction- Erin Scott, Esq. The “Velvet Hammer”- The Honorable Barbara A. Dickenson And a special congratulations to The Honorable Carol S. Brosnahan, for celebrating 40 years on the bench.
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Offices in Pleasant Hill, Oakland, and Fairfield (925) 906-1880 www.AcunaRegli.com
proud sponsor of Women Lawyers of Alameda County’s 2019 WLAC Judges’ Dinner Congratulations to this year’s Honorees: Honorable Carol A. Brosnahan Honorable Trina Thompson Honorable Barbara A. Dickinson Erin Scott, Family Violence Law Center (925) 933-9000 ● www.foxandbank.com Intelligent strategy. Wise counsel. Fierce advocacy for your family and your future.
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WOMEN LAWYERS OF ALAMEDA COUNTY 2019 JUDGES DINNER
THANK YOU Thank you all for joining us this evening in recognizing and honoring local women in the legal profession. We are especially grateful to the following for their much-appreciated sponsorship and support:
DIAMOND SPONSOR
PLATINUM SPONSOR
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
GOLD SPONSORS
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SILVER SPONSORS LLP
Is Proud to Sponsor the Women Lawyers of Alameda County Annual Judges Dinner and extends its congratulations to this year’s honorees: The Hon. Trina Thompson The Hon. Barbara A. Dickinson
Erin Scott, Esq. The Hon. Carol S. Brosnahan
The Hon. Ioana Petrou Associate Justice, First District Court of Appeal
A boutique law firm focused on complex litigation nationwide. Oakland, CA / New York, NY
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WOMEN LAWYERS OF ALAMEDA COUNTY 2019 JUDGES DINNER 28
WOMEN LAWYERS OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
2019 JUDGES’ DINNER SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!