ACBA Installation and Distinguished Service Awards Night Program

ACBA VIRTUAL INSTALLATION AND DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARDS NIGHT BROUGHT TO YOU BY MORRISON & FOERSTER LLP

BOARD INSTALLATION Swearing-in Ceremony

AWARDS PROGRAM Hon. Gregory Syren Adrieannette Ciccone Charles Houston Bar Association Cooley LLP and Morrison & Foerster LLP Cheryl Poncini Ray Keller

INVITED SPEAKERS Lateefah Simon Assemblymember David Chiu Eva Paterson

JANUARY 21, 2021 5PM - 8PM ON ZOOM ALAMEDA COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

SCHEDULE 5PM - Socializing in Zoom breakout rooms, virtual photo booth 6PM - Lateefah Simon's remarks 6:15PM - Swearing in the 2021 Board of Directors Outgoing President's Message Incoming President's Message 6:35PM - Assemblymember David Chiu's remarks 6:40PM - DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARDS Judge: Hon. Gregory Syren Barrister: Adrieannette Ciccone Community Organization: Charles Houston Bar Association Law Firm: Cooley LLP and Morrison & Foerster LLP Government Attorney: Cheryl Poncini Attorney: Ray Keller 7:10PM - 10 min break 7:20PM - Eva Paterson's remarks 7:30PM - Reception/DJ'd Dance Party + More virtual photo booth

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ALAMEDA COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION 1000 Broadway, Suite 290 | Oakland, CA 94607 www.acbanet.org

INVITED SPEAKER LATEEFAH SIMON Lateefah Simon is the president of the Akonadi Foundation and an advocate for civil rights, racial justice, and juvenile justice. At 19 she became the youngest woman at the time to receive a MacArthur Fellowship for her leadership of the Center for Young Women's Development (now the Young Women's Freedom Center). Lateefah was previously the Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, where she launched successful community-based initiatives, including the Second Chance Legal Services Clinic. She spearheaded San Francisco’s first reentry antirecidivism youth services division, under the leadership of then-District Attorney Kamala Harris.

Driven by the death of Oscar Grant, Lateefah ran for and was elected to the Bay Area Rapid Transit Board of Directors in 2016, serving as its President, and was recently re-elected in 2020. Lateefah is also a member of California State University’s Board of Trustees, and state officials often turn to her for strategic advice on policy matters related to racial justice.

INVITED SPEAKER ASSEMBLYMEMBER DAVID CHIU As a member of the California State Legislature, Assemblymember David Chiu represents a half million constituents in the 17th Assembly District, which encompasses eastern San Francisco. During his first six years in the Legislature, David has authored 64 new laws addressing a wide spectrum of issues, including housing, homelessness, transportation, education, environment, health, public safety, and civil rights. He has served as Chair of the Assembly Housing & Community Development Committee and the California API Legislative Caucus. David previously served as a civil rights attorney, a criminal prosecutor, Democratic Counsel to the US Senate Constitution Subcommittee, a law clerk to a Ninth Circuit judge, General Counsel to a public affairs technology company, and President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He is married to Candace Chen, a public interest attorney who runs a refugee foster care youth program.

JUDGE GERGORY SYREN

After 25 years as a public defender, Judge Syren was appointed to the bench in 2012 by former governor Jerry Brown. He was assigned to the Family Law Bench in 2017 and became Supervising Judge of the Family Law Division in 2020. Judge Siren’s new assignment is with Collaborative Court Services.

Judge Syren believes strongly that indigent and low-income individuals should have help in navigating the court system, so it comes as no surprise that Judge Syren has been one of the biggest champions for Legal Access’ in-court family law programs, from our Family Law Day-ofCourt and Family Law Status Conference programs to our newest Shriver Pro-Per Custody program launching in early 2021. Judge Syren always welcomed and engaged our family law volunteers, supporting our efforts to help provide assistance to self-represented litigants.

During the pandemic, Judge Syren held monthly Town Halls for the family law bench. He was part of the court’s leadership team to open access to the courts during shelter-in-place orders and to draft and approve emergency rules of court.

Judge Syren has been a driving force on the ACBA Criminal Law Executive Committee for 5 years.

Judge Syren has coordinated several MCLE, mentorship and networking programs for the purpose of advancing the skills and professional growth of attorneys in Alameda County.

JUDGE SYREN HAS BEEN INTEGRAL IN FACILITATING COMMUNICATIONS AND COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE ACBA AND THE BENCH.

ATTORNEY ADRIEANNETTE CICCONE

Adrieannette Ciccone is a force of nature in the legal community. She has served on the ACBA Barrister's Executive Committee since being barred in 2014. Adrieannette also served on the Charles Houston Bar Association Board from 2016-2019; was selected by the National Bar Association as one of the Nation’s Best Advocates Under 40 in 2016; has been on the California Association of Black Lawyers Board since 2017; was selected as an Executive Committee Member of the Litigation Section of the California Lawyers Association; is the West Coast Chair of the Cornell Black Lawyers Alumni Network; was selected to serve as the Black Women Lawyers of Northern California’s Fundraising Chair for 2021; and most impactful of 2020, co-founded and serves as a Co-Chair of the California Lawyers Association Racial Justice Committee.

Adrieannette is also a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

Over the years Adrieannette has given back to the community through countless hours of volunteer service. On the Barristers Ex Comm she’s coordinated a multitude of beneficial programs including the Barristers Dine with a Judge Series, Annual Barristers Judges Social, and Barristers Mentorship Programs. This year Adrieannette has served on the Racial Justice and Equity Committee; in partnership with Charles Houston Bar Association; and has coordinated meaningful and impactful racial justice programming. She has been integral in facilitating partnerships amongst ACBA and the California Lawyers Association Racial Justice Committee, Charles Houston Bar Association, and California Association of Black Lawyers.

ALTHOUGH ADRIEANNETTE IS TERMING OUT ON THE BARRISTERS COMMITTEE, WE HAVE NO DOUBT SHE WILL REMAIN INVOLVED IN THE LEGAL COMMUNITY.

COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION CHARLES HOUSTON BAR ASSOCIATION

The Charles Houston Bar Association (CHBA), founded in 1955 and named after the legendary civil rights attorney Charles Hamilton Houston, works to address the unique challenges facing the African American Community in Northern California. The CHBA is known for its work in mentoring newer attorneys, offering scholarships to law students, and working to improve the community by joining in amicus briefs, and participating in community service. Members of the CHBA co-founded the California Association of Black Lawyers (CABL), the first statewide alliance of predominantly African American bar associations. The organization’s efforts have earned multi-year recognition from the National Bar Association as one of its Most Outstanding Affiliates.

The ACBA has had ties to CHBA for many years, but those ties deepened considerably this year.

After the killing of George Floyd, the ACBA joined with the CHBA and with its statewide counterpart the California Association of Black Lawyers to produce a series of programs on racial justice. This past year the Charles Houston Bar Association celebrated its 65th year. Please join ACBA in recognizing with distinction the Charles Houston Bar Association, and its tireless efforts to advocate against racial injustice, opening doors of professional opportunity, and to bring services to under-served Bay Area communities.

THE CHBA PLAYED A CRITICAL LEADERSHIP ROLE IN RESPONDING QUICKLY TO ISSUES OF RACIAL JUSTICE, AND IDENTIFYING AND RECRUITING SPEAKERS WITH DEEP KNOWLEDGE IN THESE AREAS.

LAW FIRM COOLEY LLP AND MORRISON & FOERSTER LLP

The law firms of Morrison and Foerster and Cooley have a long history of supporting pro bono work. In recent years, they have worked closely with Legal Access Alameda in responding to the recent wildfire disasters. As you may know, Tiela Chalmers and Legal Access Alameda play a leadership role in the legal response to the California wildfires statewide, creating systems and resources to deliver free legal services in areas ranging from housing and employment to insurance claims and FEMA benefits. Morrison and Cooley have been there from the beginning in 2015 – and not just mobilizing their attorneys to volunteer, but bringing their considerable knowledge to bear in creating those systems and resources. Morrison had created a 100-page manual for lawyers and the public, summarizing the law and resources available for the 2007 wildfire in San Diego. The firm subsequently committed to researching and reprinting this Helping Hands manual for every major wildfire in California – an enormous and time consuming commitment. Cooley stepped in to coordinate clinic design, creating and staffing FEMA appeals clinics, and building a tool kit for other communities to use for these much-needed clinics. Beyond this extensive work, though, both firms and their Pro Bono Counsel and Partners have been active partners in this work from the outset, supporting the legal services providers and bar associations and helping us to make things happen. They served as our connection to other large law firms across the state and nationally, and their steadfast support and hard work made a tangible and enormous difference in the lives of survivors of disasters.

TONIGHT WE RECOGNIZE THEIR KEY WORK IN FREE LEGAL SERVICES FOR DISASTER SURVIVORS.

GOVERNMENT ATTORNEY CHERYL PONCINI

Cheryl Poncini has been an active member of the ACBA Criminal Law Section and the former Senior Counsel Section, and was the co-founder and Chair of the ACBA Public Entity Law Section and the ACBA Wellness Section. Cheryl regularly helps organize MCLE programs, and serves as a presenter for Elder Abuse and Public Law topics.

Cheryl joined the ACBA Board of Directors in 2011 and was Board President in 2019. Her attention to detail and ability to dive deep into a topic served the ACBA well during our strategic planning sessions in 2013. Cheryl also also served as a member of the Legal Access Board of Directors and has been active in helping meet fundraising goals.

Most recently Cheryl helped create a civic outreach program with the Superior Court that gives presentations to Oakland schools on civics issues. If you hadn’t noticed, Cheryl is a busy woman! She is a Deputy District Attorney in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office where she has worked for over 40 years in a variety of assignments in both the juvenile and adult divisions. She is currently assigned to the Elder and Dependent Adult Protection Unit. Cheryl is also a member of the Fellowship Grants Board of Founder Region Soroptimists, a community-based non-profit that works to improve the lives of women and girls locally and internationally through education and economic empowerment.

CHERYL PONCINI HAS BEEN A MEMBER OF THE ACBA FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS, AND IN THAT TIME HAS HAD AN ENDURING IMPACT.

ATTORNEY RAY KELLER

After 32 years as a public defender, Ray Keller retired from the Alameda County Public Defender office and promptly began serving on the Court Appointed Attorney Program’s Advisory Committee. Ray has served on the Committee for the last 7 years, most recently Ray as the Chair of the Committee. His final term ended in December.

On the Committee, Ray was always willing to offer his invaluable institutional knowledges about the Court and our justice partners to help the ACBA successfully administer the Court Appointed Attorney Program. As Chair, he encouraged and promoted a respectful exchange of thoughts and ideas. Ray always had strong ideas and opinions but was also open to differing views and was not afraid of changing his mind.

Every month the Court Appointed Attorney Program’s Committee is given an agenda that is hundreds of pages long; in addition, once a year they participate in an all-day meeting to decide the panel membership for the following year.

Without fail, Ray was always prepared to talk about the items in the agenda. Additionally, from time to time, the Committee is tasked with a large project that involves going through hundreds of pages of data.

Ray was always willing to chip in on these projects.

Finally and most importantly Ray always made himself available to Staff when issues arose and they needed his advice and counsel. Ray will truly be missed on the Committee.

OVER THE YEARS, RAY HAS SELFLESSLY GIVEN COUNTLESS HOURS OF HIS TIME TO THE ACBA – BOTH TO THE COMMITTEE AND TO STAFF.

2021 ACBA BOARD OF DIRECTORS VINCENT TONG, PRESIDENT TONG LAW Vincent Tong is the owner of TONG LAW, an employment and business law practice in Oakland. He is an active member of the ACBA and its Barristers and Labor and Employment Sections, and served as the Chair for the Barristers section in 2015. Vincent currently serves as a member of the California Employment Lawyers Association’s Executive Board. He is a member of the Earl Warren American Inn of Court, Asian American Bar Association, Filipino Bar Association of Northern California, and California Lawyers for the Arts. Vincent has been selected for inclusion in the Northern California Super Lawyers Rising Stars List since 2015, and was the 2016 recipient of the ACBA Distinguished Service Award for New Lawyer.

PAMELA ROSS JR., PRESIDENT-ELECT All for the Family Legal Clinic, Inc. Pamela Ross is the founder and CEO of All for the Family Legal Clinic, Inc. She previously served as the Chair of the ACBA Family Law Section and regularly volunteers with Legal Access. She has been selected to the California Rising Stars list by Super Lawyers since 2016.

Since 2017 she has been selected as one of the Top 10 Family Law Attorney’s under 40 in Northern California by NAFLA. In May of 2015 she was honored by VLSC as their Volunteer of the Year and in March of 2014 she was honored by Assemblyman Bill Quirk’s office as the District 20 Woman of the Year in Law. ALICE CHENG, VICE PRESIDENT Law Offices of Vanessa Candelaria, P.C. Alice is a family law practitioner and an active member of the ACBA Barristers Section, and was its 2017 and 2018 Executive Committee Chair. Alice was the 2017 recipient of the ACBA Distinguished Service Award for Barrister. Alice also speaks Cantonese and basic conversational Mandarin.

2021 ACBA BOARD OF DIRECTORS VINCENT BROWN, DIRECTOR Oakland City Attorney’s Office Vincent Brown joined the City Attorney's Office in May 2017 as a Deputy City Attorney in the Real Estate Unit. Prior to joining the Office, Mr. Brown worked as an associate attorney at Downs Pham & Kuei LLP in San Francisco where he advised nonprofit and for profit affordable housing developers in acquiring and financing land and multifamily affordable housing developments. Mr. Brown was also an associate attorney at Goldfarb & Lipman LLP in Oakland where he counseled affordable housing developers and public agencies in the development, construction and operation of affordable housing and served as the lead attorney in many complex real estate finance transactions, including those funded with low income housing tax credits. In addition to his real estate experience, Mr. Brown has provided guidance to tax exempt organizations on issues concerning nonprofit governance. Mr. Brown earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley and received his law degree from University of California, Hastings College of the Law. YEN CHAU, DIRECTOR Donahue Fitzgerald LLP Yen Chau is a Partner in Donahue Fitzgerald’s Employment and Litigation practice group, and a registered patent attorney. An active member of the legal community, she has been involved in the leadership of the Contra Costa County Bar Association’s Employment Section. She has a strong scientific background and previously worked in biotech as a research associate for a gene therapy company.

H. GLENN KIM, DIRECTOR Alameda County District Attorney’s Office Glenn Kim has been a prosecutor for over 13 years. He currently serves as a Deputy District Attorney at the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. Glenn is currently assigned to the Felony Domestic Violence Unit, where he prosecutes DV homicides and other extremely violent DV cases. He has prosecuted 44 jury trials to verdict; including homicides, child sexual assaults, and domestic violence cases.

2021 ACBA BOARD OF DIRECTORS JO-ANNA NIEVES, DIRECTOR Nieves Law Firm Jo-Anna Nieves formed the Nieves Law Firm, APC in order to help those accused of crimes to navigate the complex and challenging legal process of the criminal justice system. A former member of the ACBA Barristers Section Executive Committee and current Vice-Chair of the ACBA Judicial Appointments Evaluation Committee, she also volunteers as a mock trial coach for El Centro Legal de la Raza’s Youth Law Academy and is a member of the Earl Warren Inns of Court.

AUTUMN PAINE, DIRECTOR Law Office of Autumn Paine Autumn Paine works with people charged with all kinds of crimes and juveniles in delinquency proceedings, as well as with people seeking post-conviction relief. Autumn has worked with in the Kern and Lassen County Public Defender’s offices and in private practice as a member of the ACBA’s Court Appointed Attorney Program (CAAP) panel. Committed to supporting the legal community, she currently sits on the Board of the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (CACJ), is a past board member of the Women Lawyers of Alameda County, has served as a CAAP Advisory Committee member, and is a long-time member of the California Public Defender’s Association.

PETER SHELTON, DIRECTOR Peter Shelton Law Peter Shelton is the owner of Peter Shelton Law, an estate planning and inheritance litigation firm in Berkeley. Peter is certified by the California State Bar as a Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law, and is a Past-President of East Bay Trusts and Estates Lawyers (EBTEL).

He has been named a Super Lawyer every year since 2015.

2021 ACBA BOARD OF DIRECTORS KRISTIN SMITH, DIRECTOR Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman, LLP Kristin Smith practices employment law in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. She has over 14 years of experience handling employment matters from wage and hour cases to discrimination and wrongful termination. She has litigated state, federal, and administrative employment actions. Ms. Smith has managed non-litigation transactions and alternative dispute resolution proceedings as well as advised clients on day-to-day human resource issues, compliance, policy updates, and employee trainings.

BYRON TOMA, DIRECTOR Office of the General Counsel, BART Byron Toma is an attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at BART where he works on transactional matters including public contracting, free speech, governmental transparency, and public health and safety issues. He also serves on the legal staff assigned to the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority where he works on marketing, real estate, environmental and telecom issues. Prior to working at BART, Byron served in county counsel’s offices, city attorney’s offices, and a DA’s office. He holds a JD from Santa Clara University (SCU) School of Law and an LLM in environmental law from Golden Gate University School of Law. LAUREN POWE, PAST PRESIDENT California Department of Justice Lauren Powe is a Deputy Attorney General with Department of Justice in the Employment and Administrative Mandate Section. She served as the 2014 ACBA Barristers Executive Committee Chair. Lauren was the 2015 recipient of the ACBA Distinguished Service Award for New Lawyer. Lauren is the 2018, outgoing Chair of the California Young Lawyers Association Board and Secretary of the Earl Warren American Inns of Court Board.

Distinguished Service Award for New Lawyer. Lauren is the 2018, outgoing Chair of the California Young Lawyers Association Board and Secretary of the Earl Warren American Inns of Court Board. Lauren was the 2018 outgoing Chair of the California Young Lawyers Association Board and Secretary of the Earl Warren American Inns of Court Board.

2021 ACBA BOARD OF DIRECTORS JAMES COOK, BARRISTERS CHAIR John Burris Law James Cook’s focus is Section 1983 civil rights litigation. His other practice areas include DUI – DWI Defense, Criminal Defense, Landlord Tenant – housing law, Personal injury law, contract law, and corporate entity formation for profit and non-profits. James volunteers for Legal Access Alameda and is an active member of the Earl Warren Inn of Court. Before becoming a lawyer, James was a professional competitor and decorated champion in Muay Thai Full-Contact Kickboxing who competed internationally and throughout the United States. He won Golden Gloves Boxing in two states and he competed in Mixed Martial Arts.

INVITED SPEAKER EVA PATERSON Civil rights attorney Eva Jefferson Paterson is cofounder and President of the Equal Justice Society and recently co-chaired the Yes on Proposition 16 campaign, a movement to restore affirmative action in California and eliminate discrimination in state contracts, hiring, and college admissions. She is co-chair of the California Civil Rights Coalition (CCRC), which she co-founded and previously chaired for 18 years.

As a 20-year-old student leader at a time of turmoil, Eva Jefferson Paterson was catapulted into the national spotlight when she debated then-Vice President Spiro Agnew on live television. Dubbed the "peaceful warrior" for fostering non-violent protest in the aftermath of the 1970 shooting of student demonstrators at Kent State University, she was named one of Mademoiselle's "Ten Young Women of the Year," featured on the covers of Ebony and Jet, and called to testify before Congress.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: TITLE SPONSOR

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PROGRAM SPONSORS

COMMUNITY SPONSORS Fried & Williams LLP Bonjour, Thorman, Burns, Dahm Minami Tamaki LLP FRIEND OF THE ACBA Q. Chen Law ALJ Dorothy Chou Proudfoot Zarate Dulany Law, P.C. Deborah Moss-West June Bashant

DID YOU KNOW THAT THE ACBA OFFERS FREE STREAMING OF PAST CLE PROGRAMS? WATCH AT YOUR CONVENIENCE!

For the foreseeable future, the Alameda County Bar Association will hold all programs and meetings virtually. Not only are we livestreaming 20-30 CLEs and social events each month (free as always for ACBA members), our back programming is also available for self-study credit.

If you already know your ProLearn account details, log in first.

ProLearn works best with Chrome. Contact cailin@acbanet.org if you have questions or if you want to know the status of a particular webinar. Usually programs are available starting 1 week after the program date. https://acbanet.prolearn.io/home

ALAMEDA COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION 1000 Broadway, Suite 290 | Oakland, CA 94607 www.acbanet.org