COMMUNITY news nThis year’s San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program annual “Justice For All Celebration” is slated for September 13 at the San Diego Museum of Man in Balboa Park. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for networking, generous hors d’oeuvres and a no host bar. The program begins at 7 p.m. The event will feature awards for outstanding pro bono contributions as well as a presentation by a SDVLP client about the services they received. AMY FITZPATRICK SDVLP’s 2012 Pro Bono Service Award recipients are: Pro Bono Attorney of the Year: Gary Holt; Law Firm of the Year: Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP; Community Service Award: August Larsen, AJL Litigation Media Inc. “SDVLP is only as strong as the volunteers who give so selflessly of their time and expertise,” states Amy Fitzpatrick, executive director of SDVLP. “These honorees are tremendous examples of why our program has been able to provide such high quality legal representation for our county’s most vulnerable citizens; these honorees are some of our region’s most talented legal professionals.” nBest Best & Krieger LLP has the nation’s fourth-highest percentage of women equity partners, placing it among only five of the largest law firms across the country whose percentage is above 25 percent, according to the National Law Journal. Women at BB&K, which has about 200 attorneys working in nine offices across California and in Washington D.C., make up 26.7 percent of the firm’s equity partners, more than 12 ARLENE PRATER percentage points above the average. Women equity partners at BB&K oversee the firm’s two largest offices: Cynthia M. Germano is the managing partner for the Riverside office and Arlene Prater is the managing partner for the San Diego office.
CHRISTOPHER TODD
nWingert Grebing Brubaker & Juskie LLP congratulates its partner, Christopher Todd, on his election to the State Bar Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees meets approximately eight times a year to debate organizational, policy and professional issues affecting the legal profession. Trustees are elected to three-year terms. Wingert Grebing is confident Chris will be an excellent and effective representative for District 4 and is
14 Attorney Journal | Volume 109, 2012
proud of his leadership within our community. In addition to his service on the Board of Trustees, Chris maintains an active litigation practice focused on business, real estate, insurance/ bad faith, professional malpractice and injury disputes. Craig R. McClellan received the Daniel T. Broderick III Award on August 10, 2012 at the Red Boudreau Dinner, which brings together legal professionals from all areas of San Diego’s civil justice system. Each year, the award is presented to an accomplished San Diego trial attorney who “upholds the highest standards of civility, integrity, and professionalism.” nWilson Turner Kosmo LLP has hired three new associates, bringing the total number of attorneys at the firm to 26. Carolina Bravo-Karimi, James Leonard and Christina Tapia will practice in the firm’s employment law group. Bravo-Karimi comes to Wilson Turner Kosmo after being a law clerk to the Honorable Louisa S. Porter in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. CAROLINA BRAVO-KARIMI She also teaches appellate advocacy at University of San Diego School of Law. She received her J.D. from the USD School of Law, a Masters in gender studies from the London School of Economics andPolitical Science and her B.A. in government from Harvard University. Leonard was formerly with Paul, Plevin, Sullivan & Connaughton. In addition to employment litigation, he has extensive experience with First Amendment issues, including JAMES LEONARD California’s anti-SLAPP statute. Leonard was a Rose Foundation Fellow for the First Amendment Project in 2008. He earned his J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law and his B.A. in European history from University of California, San Diego. Tapia was most recently in Gordon & Rees’s San Diego office employment practice group and previously was a deputy attorney general in the Correctional Writs and Appeals CHRISTINA TAPIA Section of the Attorney General’s Office. She has represented clients at trial and administration hearings. She earned her J.D. from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law and her B.A. in political science from the University of California, San Diego.