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New members of the State Bar Board of Governors
and the board of the California Young Lawyers Association, as well as
new presidents of both groups, took office this month. Although few of
the races were contested and the majority of winners have been active
in bar affairs, the new faces are sure to bring new perspectives to
both boards.
Leading the State Bar in the coming year is Los
Angeles attorney KAREN NOBUMOTO, the organization's first
female African-American president. A deputy district attorney in the
career criminal unit of the DA's target crimes division, Nobumoto,
49, succeeds Contra Costa County arbitrator Palmer Madden.
     Nobumoto will preside over the 23-member board of
governors, where five attorneys begin three-year terms. The biggest
name, former California Attorney General JOHN VAN DE KAMP, will
be one of two Los Angeles representatives, along with MATTHEW
CAVANAUGH, who won a seat without the endorsement of the Breakfast
Club, an L.A. group whose recommendations have long influenced who
represents the southland. The other new board members hail from
northern California: WINDIE O. SCOTT of Sacramento represents
the 10-county District 2; MARIE SETH WEINER of Burlin-game will
represent the four Bay Area counties in District 3; and RUSSELL S.
ROECA will represent San Francisco and Marin counties.
 Fresno attorney JAMES C. SHERWOOD will
serve a one-year term as the CYLA representative to the board.
Scott, Roeca and Van de Kamp ran unopposed and
were automatically elected.
Scott, 48, is chief counsel for the California
State Workforce Investment Board, was president of the Sacramento Bar
Association and is a member of the conference of delegates executive
committee.
Like Scott, Roeca has an extensive history of bar
and civic activities on his resume, including a current position as
vice president of the San Francisco Fire Commission and four years on
the board of the Bar Association of San Fran-cisco. A partner in the
small niche firm of Roeca Haas Hager, Roeca, 47, specializes in
professional liability matters, as well as real estate and some
commercial litigation.
Weiner, 42, a partner at Cotchett, Pitre &
Simon in Burlingame, defeated three other candidates for the District
3 seat, running on a platform that touted efficient use of limited
resources and increased help from the bar for solo and small firm
practitioners. She specializes in investment fraud and consumer fraud
and handles a variety of business litigation and some intellectual
property matters.
In the other contested race, Cavanugh defeated
one other candidate for District 7's office one. Although he belongs
to two county bar associations, Cavanaugh, 38, said the board of
governors needs the perspective of an outsider without a history of
State Bar connections.
Van de Kamp, 65, said he ran for the board
primarily to give a voice to large law firms, whose former dominance
of the bar board has diminished
in recent years. He is now of counsel to Dewey Ballantine LLP, a
Washing-ton, D.C.-based firm with more than 50 lawyers in Los Angeles,
where he handles a variety of cases.
Sherwood, the new CYLA representative, practices
with Dowling, Aaron & Keeler in Fresno, where he handles complex
business litigation cases. Sherwood, 35, received his law degree from
the University of San Diego.
Taking office in the young lawyers group are:
president, STEVEN KAUFHOLD of San Francisco; first vice
president, ANTHONY PAUL DIAZ of Los Angeles; second vice
president, THEODORE BYRNE of Los Angeles; third vice president,
CRAIG NICHOLAS of San Diego; and secretary/treasurer, MICHAEL
BURY of Chico.
New members of the CYLA board are MARALEE
MacDONALD of Boutin, Dentino, Gibson, DiGiusto, Hodell & West
in Sacramento (District 2); SHARON M. NAGLE, Law Offices of
Thomas C. Nagle in Walnut Creek (District 3); JOHN W. CALKINS
of McCutchen Doyle Brown & Enersen in San Francisco (District 4);
and JENNIFER A. ROTH of Morrison & Foerster in Los Angeles
and MARGARET P. STEVENS of Baker Keener & Nahra in Santa
Monica (both representing District 7). |
