Class Notes

Professor Bill R. Slomanson ’74—Professor Slomanson wrote an article “Is copyright law the best tool for responding to student cheating” that was featured in the Los Angeles & San Francisco Daily Journals. The article provides insight on the current state of affairs regarding academic integrity, confidentiality, and technology; particularly, viewed through the lens of copyright law.

The Honorable Judith L. Haller ’75—Fourth District Court of Appeal Justice Judith Haller is retiring from the bench after 28 years. The Honorable Judith Haller has served nearly 30 years on the San Diego-based 4th District Court of Appeal. She has been on the Court of Appeal since being appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson in 1994. Before that she was a San Diego Superior Court judge for five years, appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian.

Jamie B. Fox ’80—Jamie has been named as a partner at the law firm of Stockwell, Harris, Woolverton & Fox. Based in the Los Angeles office, Jamie is the first woman to be named to the banner of this firm since its inception in 1957. Jamie joined the firm in 2012 representing international corporations, insurance carriers, third party administrators and governmental entities defending against workers compensation claims, Labor Code 132(a) and serious and willful allegations. She also represents her clients in civil subrogation matters.

The Honorable Mary (Missy) Medary ’89—Texas Gov. Greg Abbott reappointed Judge Medary to the Governing Board of the Texas Indigent Defense Commission for terms set to expire on February 1, 2024. The commission provides financial and technical support to counties to develop and maintain quality, cost-effective indigent defense systems. Judge Medary is the presiding judge of the Fifth Administrative Judicial Region and judge of the 347th District Court. She is a former board member of the Corpus Christi Bar Association Board of Directors, a lifetime member of the Texas Bar Foundation, and an appointed member by the Supreme Court to the Judicial Council.

The Honorable Michael P. Villani ’82—District Judge Michael Villani is retiring after more than 15 years on the bench, effective July 14, 2022. Judge Villani was appointed to the Eighth Judicial District Court in Nevada in April 2007. Before he was appointed to the bench, Villani served as an alternate municipal court judge, justice of the peace pro tempore, small claims court judge and certified court arbitrator. He plans to continue doing legal work and spend more time with his family following his retirement. Wayne C. Mineo ’85—Wayne was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Pinellas County Housing Authority. Wayne, of Safety Harbor, is the owner of Mineo and Associates, P.A. He is a veteran of the Marine Corps, a member of the Federalist Society, and the President of the Rotary Club of Safety Harbor.

The Honorable William S. Zidbeck ’90—William has been appointed to serve as a judge in the Orange County Superior Court. William has served as a commissioner at the Orange County Superior Court since April 2022. He served as a deputy district attorney at the Orange County District Attorney’s Office from 1990 to 2020.

Walter C. Chung ’92—Walter has been appointed city attorney by the Vista City Council. Walter had been serving as acting city attorney since June 2022 following the retirement of former City Attorney Darold Pieper. The city attorney provides legal advice to the city council, commissions, boards, and city staff. Walter will also lead a team of assistant and deputy city attorneys who perform the various functions of the city attorney’s office.

Kathleen A. Sweitzer ’94—Kathleen has joined national employee benefits provider Trustmark as senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary. She will lead Trustmark’s legal, compliance and government affairs functions. Kathleen’s legal career of more than 25 years includes leadership roles at Maestro Health, where she served as chief legal officer and corporate secretary; at Aon, where she was associate general counsel, health solutions; and Tressler, LLP, where she was a partner and built and served as co-chair of the firm’s ERISA/Life and health practice group.

Michelle T. Harrington ’94—Michelle has joined Fox Rothschild LLP in Los Angeles, CA, as counsel in the labor and employment department. Michelle has extensive experience defending and advising a variety of businesses, from mom-and-pop shops to international corporations, in workplace matters and litigation involving harassment, discrimination, retaliation, wage and hour violations, breach of contract, wrongful termination, FMLA/CFRA violations and class actions, including those concerning the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). She also handles administrative proceedings before the EEOC, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing as well as the California Labor Commissioner.

David Joanson ’95—David was selected as the executive director, University of Pennsylvania, Center for Ethics & The Rule of Law (CERL), Annenberg Public Policy Center. In this capacity, he will lead CERL and its team on research projects, publications, conferences and symposia, advocacy projects, and the summer internship program.

Cindie L. McMahon ’95—Cindie has been appointed Carlsbad’s next city attorney. Cindie has been Carlsbad’s assistant city attorney since 2019, where she has worked with city departments and leadership on a variety of legal issues, as well as serving as acting city attorney when needed. She also managed the city’s civil litigation, including determining legal strategies and representing the city in mediations and settlement conferences.

Brandon T. Nichols ’96—Brandon has been selected to serve as the new director of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. Brandon will lead a workforce of nearly 9,000 staff members in 20 regional offices who provide family-centered and child-focused protective services to more than 29,000 children. A Los Angeles County employee for more than 25 years, Brandon has worked for several departments, including DCFS where he previously served as chief deputy director for three years.

Monica Lopez Reinmiller ’98—Monica assumed the role of head of global compliance & ethics, assistant general counsel for Panasonic Avionics/ N.A. A current ABA Foundation and Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow, she is an active Washington State Bar member serving on the diversity committee and corporate counsel executive committee. She also currency serves as secretary of the Hispanic National Bar Association’s Compliance & Ethics Section.

Virginia E. Lopez ’99—Virginia joined Klinedinst PC in their San Diego office. Virginia joins as senior counsel with a practice focused on handling complex insurance defense litigation matters. She is frequently called upon to handle premises liability, HOA and landlord/tenant matters, motor vehicle accidents, personal injury, lemon law, collection, and general negligence matters. She defends clients in employment litigation, including wage and hour, real estate, and professional license defense. She is also a real estate broker and maintains a current license with the California Department of Real Estate.

The Honorable Rebeca M. Esquivel-Pedroza ’01—Rebeca has been appointed to serve as a judge in the Santa Clara County Superior Court. Rebeca has served as a commissioner at the Santa Clara County Superior Court since 2020. She was lead staff attorney at the Santa Clara County Superior Court’s Self-Help Center/Family Law Facilitator’s Office from 2019 to 2020, where she was a Staff Attorney from 2011 to 2020. Rebeca was a staff attorney at Bay Area Legal Aid from 2008 to 2011 and in private practice from 2003 to 2007. She was a staff attorney at the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program from 2002 to 2003.

Jennifer D. Barrera ’02—Jennifer has been included in Capital Weekly’s Top 100 of 2022. Jennifer is president and chief executive officer of the California Chamber of Commerce. She has been with the Chamber for 12 years and has worked on key Chamber concerns and led the advocacy on labor, employment, and taxation, serving as a senior policy advocate.

Gregory Garland ’03—Gregory started a new position as analyst in the Office of Biological Policy Staff at the U.S. Department of State. The Biological Policy Staff manages a wide range of policy issues at the intersection of national security, public health, and science. Gregory has had an extensive and fulfilling foreign service career representing the U.S. on four different continents. This experience gave Gregory a deep understanding of U.S. foreign policy, sharpening his analytical skills, with expertise in assessing political, security, and economic risk in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

Stacy H. Rubin ’03—Stacy has joined the Holley Driggs law firm in Las Vegas. Stacy is an experienced business lawyer, helping clients across the country in both state and federal jurisdictions with difficult bankruptcy and related commercial litigation. She represents financial institutions, creditors, and related entities on commercial litigation matters involving consumer finance, mortgage banking, bankruptcy, and real estate finance.

Jennifer M. Small ’05—Jennifer has been elected to serve on the board of directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) at the association’s annual meeting. Jennifer is a criminal defense attorney in Riverside California. She is currently in private practice. Before that she served as a deputy public defender in Riverside for 15 years. She is a member of NACDL’s diversity committee.

Nina R. Targovnik ’03—Nina received the Sharon A. Fullmer Award Legal Aid Attorney of the Year from the Arizona State Bar on June 27, 2022. The award recognizes the Arizona legal-services lawyer who shows aggressive advocacy on behalf of low-income clients in extreme need. Nina works for Community Legal Services in Phoenix, AZ.

Ashley J. Ratliff ’06—Ashley was hired as a judicial officer in Adams County Colorado as a district court magistrate. Prior to working for Adams County, Ashley was a juvenile defense attorney in private practice. She had a court appointment contract with Colorado Alternate Defense Counsel to work on complex juvenile defense cases and for youth at risk of adult criminal prosecution.

Jasper T. Ballard ’04—Jasper has joined the law firm of Ghitterman, Ghitterman & Feld in their Santa Barbara office. Jasper served as a federal public defender in San Diego and a deputy public defender in Riverside County. He also worked as a deputy district attorney in Riverside and, most recently, as a chief trial deputy for the Santa Barbara Public Defender’s Office for five years.

The Honorable Charles E. Bell, Jr. ’07—Charles has been appointed to serve as a judge in the San Diego County Superior Court by California Gov. Gavin Newsom. He has been the city attorney at the city of National City, office of the city attorney since 2020. He served as an assistant city attorney at the San Luis Obispo city attorney’s office from 2019 to 2020.

Rebecca G. Church ’08—Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca Church has been promoted to Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney at the United States Attorneys’ Offices.

Kristina M. Cherevas ’10—Kris has been named office managing partner for Cozen O’Connor’s San Diego office. As an attorney in the firm’s Subrogation & Recovery Department, Kris represents insurance company clients in the pursuit of large loss real property subrogation claims, including actions for negligence, product liability, government claims, and breach of contract.

Ralph A. Enriquez ’10—Ralph has started a new position as director, refugee & immigrant services at Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego. Ralph joined CCDSD as a volunteer attorney in 2019. Prior to his new role Ralph was supervising attorney for the organization. Dana N. Meyers ’10—Cozen O’Connor San Diego attorney, Dana, has been promoted to member. She focuses her practice on subrogation. She has conducted more than 20 civil bench trials to verdict as sole chair in subrogation and consumer collection actions. She has litigated hundreds of state and federal cases throughout California from inception to settlement or trial, covering a broad range of legal issues including subrogation, construction defect, product liability, and consumer collections.

Maya M. Pinchman ’10—Maya was recently quoted in the San Diego Union Tribune in an article titled “Big Changes in Medi-Cal Rules Opens the Door to More Seniors.” The article details how recent changes (as of July 1, 2022) to Medi-Cal eligibility laws will enable more individuals to qualify for Medi-Cal benefits and what this means for them.

Constance J. Harper ’11—Constance has been promoted to vice president of policy, advocacy, and strategic initiatives at Deaconess Foundation. She has the strategic and operational responsibility to articulate policy priorities developed in partnership with impacted communities in Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois and formulate strategies to advance those priorities.

Agustin R. Peña ‘12—Agustin was featured in “Commitment to their Communities” in El Latino. The article also included Martin S. Núñez ‘17 and Marco A. Garcia ’21, who, although they come from different backgrounds and paths, today have a common goal that goes beyond friendship: to contribute to the improvement of communities in the ones that they grew up in.

Erica L. Rozetti ‘12—Erica has been appointed president of Whole30. She started as a consultant in 2018 and worked her way up to general counsel and then president. She has a decade of experience in the health, wellness, and sports industry.

Haera Fronjian ‘14—Haera has joined the Los Angeles office of Klinedinst as an associate attorney. Haera handles litigation cases in state, federal, and arbitral forums, and has extensive experience handling cases in all stages of litigation from intake to resolution. She is passionate about helping others and effectively works with clients to communicate case objectives, strategy, expectations, and recommendations.

Anne R. Nash ’14—Anne became president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s (LACBA) barristers/young lawyers’ section for the 2022-2023 term in July. LACBA was founded in 1878 and is one of the largest voluntary metropolitan bar associations in the country, with more than 16,000 members.

Vianey Prado ’16—Vianey has started a new position as staff attorney at Disability Rights California in San Diego. Vianey will provide representation at administrative hearings for mono-lingual Spanish speaking regional center consumers as part of Disability Rights California’s (DRC) legal advocacy unit - fair hearing project (FHP).

Stefanos Y. Georgousopoulos ’17—Stefanos, founder of SYG Law Firm, has opened an office in Temecula, California. SYG Law Firm, Inc. is a law firm committed to helping individuals navigate the complex immigration laws of the United States. Stefanos founded the law firm after an inspiration from his grandfather, who was resilient enough to create roots for his family in the United States.

Camila V. Moreno ’17—Camila finished her clerkship with the Honorable Judge Cecilia M. Romero of the United States District in April and started a position as an associate with Denver-based regional firm Holland and Hart in their Salt Lake City office. She assists clients in both California and Utah across a variety of labor/employment and commercial litigation matters.

Jake A. Novack ’17—Jake began a new position as Associate Counsel at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services headquarters in its Office of the Chief Counsel, Adjudications Law Division.

Martin S. Núñez, Jr. ‘17—Martin was featured in “Commitment to their Communities” in El Latino. The article also included Agustin R. Peña ‘12 and Marco A. Garcia ’21, who, although they come from different backgrounds and paths, today have a common goal that goes beyond friendship: to contribute to the improvement of communities in the ones that they grew up in.

Cecilia Ambrosio ‘18—Cecilia has joined The Legal Aid Society of San Diego as immigration staff attorney. The Legal Aid Society of San Diego, Inc. is a nonprofit law firm that provides free legal services to low-income San Diego residents. James D. Carraway, Jr. ‘18—James has joined Gomez Trial Attorney’s San Diego office. Since law school, James worked at the San Diego City Attorney’s Office where he took over 30 criminal jury trials to verdict as a deputy city attorney. He was a team lead in the general trial unit and was one of two attorneys in San Diego County prosecuting drug DUI cases. He finished his prosecutorial career in the special prosecution unit, specializing in all cases involving fatal traffic collisions and high-profile misdemeanors.

Christopher C. Surh ‘19—Christopher has joined Goldberg Segalla’s Transportation group in Orange County. He was previously with Bremer Whyte Brown and O’Meara in Newport Beach. Christopher counsels and defends clients in complex civil litigation matters, with particular focus on clients in the transportation industry. His experience ranges from matters involving personal injury, workers’ compensation, and employment law to insurance defense, subrogation, contract disputes, construction defects, and real estate.

Jasmine J. Dwerlkotte ‘20—Jasmine joined the probate litigation division of Antonyan Miranda. Prior to joining Antonyan Miranda, Jasmine gained experience in all aspects of civil litigation as an associate attorney for a mid-size Southern California civil litigation firm. Prior to her admission to the California State Bar, Jasmine served as a judicial extern for the San Diego Superior Court, Probate Division.

Matthew D. Batista ‘20—Matthew has had an article entitled “Contextualizing the SEC’s Proposed Environmental Disclosure Rule” published by the American Bar Association. The article was co-authored by Colin Myers. Matthew is a transactional attorney with Klinedinst in San Diego, practicing in corporate law, M&A, contracts, real estate, intellectual property, and other transactional areas.

Gurjinder Dosanjh ‘20—Gurjinder has been appointed to the Imperial Beach Community Clinic’s board of directors. The Clinic provides women’s, behavioral, pediatric, and adult care to more than 10,000 patients, serving those who may not otherwise have access to healthcare. Gurjinder is an Associate Attorney at the Potente law firm in San Diego where he assists clients with all aspects of forming and operating entities.

Bret A. Zaccaglin ‘20—Bret has joined Gomez Trial Attorneys’ Temecula Office. Bret’s relationship with Gomez Trial Attorneys first began over a decade ago. Bret’s father, Anthony Zaccaglin, was previously a client of GTA. The Firm’s advocacy and relentless pursuit of justice for his father inspired Bret to pursue a career in law.

Cindy E. David ’21—Cindy has joined Goldberg Segalla’s workers’ compensation group in Orange County. Cindy focuses her practice on counseling and defending insurance carriers, self-insured employers, and third-party administrators in complex workers’ compensation matters. While attending California Western, Cindy worked as a law clerk, gaining experience preparing and drafting legal pleadings, opening and closing arguments, memoranda, various motions, and declarations.

Marco A. Garcia ’21—Marco was featured in “Commitment to their Communities” in El Latino. The article also included Agustin R. Peña ‘12 and Martin S. Núñez Jr. ‘17, who, although they come from different backgrounds and paths, today have a common goal that goes beyond friendship: to contribute to the improvement of communities in the ones that they grew up in.

Edward S. Grichanik ’21—Edward has started a new position as an associate attorney with San Diego-based HHJ Trial Attorneys. Edward joined HHJ as a post bar law clerk in January 2021, passing the California Bar Exam in February 2022. His practice focuses on personal injury and employment law.

Parker Kindley ’21— Parker has joined the San Diego office of Wood, Smith, Henning and Berman as an associate. In his practice with the firm, he handles a wide variety of complex civil litigation in both state and federal courts. Parker’s particularly adept in his handling of transportation, professional liability, and toxic torts cases.

Emani S. Lawrence ’21—Emani has started a new position as deputy public defender at the San Diego Public Defender’s Office. During law school, Emani interned at the San Diego County, Office of the Public Defender, was a clinical intern for the California Innocence Project, and interned with the Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc.

Elizabeth Mireles ’21—Elizabeth has joined Cozen O’Connor as an attorney in the firm’s Subrogation and Recovery Department in their San Diego office. Prior to joining the firm, Elizabeth was a housing justice fellow with the Inner-City Law Center in Los Angeles. There, she worked with staff attorneys to represent indigent tenants facing eviction.

Gracie A. Pollard ’21—Gracie has started a new position as deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice in San Diego. Prior to that Gracie was an associate attorney at Balestreri Potocki & Holmes, a San Diego law firm, where her practice encompassed both transactional matters as well as litigation, serving a broad range of clients in the areas of business law, employment law, construction law, transportation law, and intellectual property.

Caleb N. Raspler ’21—Caleb has joined the American Society of Landscape Architects as manager, federal government affairs, based in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the ASLA, Caleb worked on environmental legislation and policy for the office of Congressman Scott Peters (CA-52) in Washington, D.C.

Kayla R. Sealey ’21—Kayla has joined Pettit Kohn Ingrassia Lutz & Dolin’s San Diego office as an associate attorney. Kayla focuses her practice on professional liability and business litigation.

Lationa D. Simpson-James ’21—Lationa joined Selman Breitman’s San Diego office as an associate and is a member of the firm’s trucking and transportation practice group. She represents insurance companies in insurance coverage and uninsured/underinsured motorist claims, including cases arising out of rideshare motor vehicle accidents. Lationa’s clients include rideshare and transportation companies. She also has experience in representing businesses in general liability claims in disputes that involve complex medical damages claims.

Jasmine F. Young ’21—Jasmine has started a new role as a policy analyst at the National Health Law Program’s Los Angeles office. Jasmine is involved in a broad range of policy and administrative advocacy on California’s health care programs and policies. She also works on reproductive justice, and health equity for black, indigenous, people of color, and other underserved, low-income, and systematically impacted individuals.

Nathan A. Chisholm ’22—Nathan has joined Pettit Kohn Ingrassia Lutz & Dolin’s San Diego office as an associate attorney. Nathan’s practice will focus on business litigation and professional liability matters. Prior to joining Pettit Kohn, Nathan volunteered as a legal intern for California Western’s Community Law Project where he assisted on an array of legal issues for low-socioeconomic communities.

IN MEMORIAM

John G. Emerson ’67 Debra Linn ’79 Wesley W. Lee ’81 Thomas W. Lively ’92 Marc E. Guyot ’03 Eric D. Fager ’11

225 Cedar Street San Diego, CA 92101 619.239.0391 cwsl.edu alumni@cwsl.edu