What Have You Done For Me Lately?
As Chair of CELA, I get the opportunity to answer the question: “What have you done for me lately?” I take great pleasure in responding: Quite a lot, and to acknowledge those CELA members who recently went the extra mile on behalf of all of us.
CELA has remained at the legislative forefront, pushing forward legislation on behalf of workers rights and halting legislation harmful to workers. CELA members have been called as experts to testify before the legislature and have helped shape the direction of current legislation. As the legislative session is coming to a close, we expect to have a lot to celebrate and will keep you posted. Special thanks to CELA political Director Mariko Yoshihara for her outstanding leadership, Barbara Figari, Jean Hyams, Toni Jaramilla and Elizabeth Riles for being part of the strike force to harness the #metoo movement and energy into legislative action.
In April, CELA co-sponsored a San Francisco Judicial Candidates Forum with the Bar Association of San Francisco, Golden Gate Law School, National Lawyers Guild—San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, Queen’s Bench Bar Association and San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, at Golden Gate University Law School. The Forum was moderated by Hina Shah from Golden Gate University Law School.
The Diversity Outreach Committee in conjunction with FAIR presented their Seventh Annual Diversity Leadership Summit in Southern California in April and in Northern California in June. The Summit is a program attended by plaintiff and defense attorneys as well as judges, non-profits organizations, government employees, and law students. The event focuses on expanding diversity in leadership in the employment bar. The speakers were from both sides of the v. and included from Southern California – J. Bernard Alexander, Kiran Preet Dhillon, Hon. Teresa Sanchez Gordon, Toni J. Jaramilla, Andrea N. Jones, Citadelle B. Priagula, Angela J. Reddock-Wright, Jane Y. Tanimura, and keynote speaker Hon. Rupert A. Byrdsong. In Northern California the speakers included: Katina Ancar, Pankit Doshi, Phil Hernandez, Jean Hyams, Lisa P. Mak, Elizabeth Riles, William B. Tamayo, and Political Director of CELA Mariko Yoshihara. The keynote speaker was Hon. Hernaldo Baltodano.
Also in April, the CELA Board met for a retreat to finalize CELA’s Strategic Plan. This is a culmination of study over the last year covering literally everything that CELA does, with feedback from our members, every committee, and the Board. The Strategic Plan will inform us about the direction of CELA for years to come. We will provide a full report for members regarding the Strategic Plan process, findings and what’s to come.
In May, Practice Management Committee presented a SuiteTalk on toxic opposing counsel in May. Carol Gillam was the moderator. This was not recorded.
In May, June and July, Immigrant Employee Rights Committee presented a 3-part nuts and bolts webinar on representing immigrant and undocumented workers in California state courts. Speakers included: CELA members Amelia Alvarez, R. Michael Flynn, Christopher Ho, Laboni Hoq, Jessica Juarez, Rebecca Kagin, Sandra Muñoz, Ruth Silver-Taube and Martha Gomez from the Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
Wage & Hour Committee’s 14th Annual Advanced Wage & Hour Seminar in May in San Francisco. Speakers included: Louis Benowitz, Katharine Chao, Laura Ho, Aaron Kaufmann, Jennifer Kramer, Jennifer Liu, Cynthia Rice, Michael Rubin, Kevin Ruf, Brandon Ruiz, Peter Rukin, Christian Schreiber, Michael Singer, Mariko Yoshihara, and an interview with California Labor Commissioner Julie Su conducted by Cornelia Dai. This is a must attend seminar for wage and hour litigators of all skill levels. As with many of CELA’s CLEs and webinars, the Wage & Hour Seminar materials are available for purchase by CELA regular members.
The 5th Annual Trial College at Loyola Law School occurred May 31 through June 2, 2018. Presenters and trainers included: J. Bernard Alexander, Michael Baltaxe, Lawrance Bohm, Craig Byrnes, Dustin Collier, Jim DeSimone, Kathy Dickson, Tamara Freeze, Victor George, Paul Glusman, Brian Hannemann, Rob Hennig, Laura Horton, Renuka Jain, Toni Jaramilla, Cindy Pánuco, Lisa Peck, Timothy Sottile, Richard Stavin and Dan Stormer. The Trial College covers all aspects of how to present a trial from veteran CELA trial attorneys.
The Diversity Outreach Committee presented their Southern California and Northern California law clerk orientations. The law clerk orientation is for law clerks who are working at CELA firms to learn the ins and outs of employment litigation, from discovery drafting, brief writing and more. Speakers included: SoCal — Christina M. Coleman, Cornelia Dai, Tilak Gupta, Toni Jaramilla, Dolores Y. Leal, and Sandra C. Muñoz. NorCal — Wendy Musell, Bryan Schwartz, and Katherine Smith.
The Barristers Committee presented another Trial Story Hour in July with R. Michael Flynn and Jessica Juarez who shared their trial war story.
I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge Bryan Schwartz. Bryan stepped down as a CELA Board member in May, after serving many years on the CELA Board. Bryan will be missed on the Board, as he could always be counted on to get to the heart of an issue swiftly and with grace, a sense of humor and laser like focus. We already miss you.
Lastly, I personally wanted to thank CELA’s Administrative Director, Christina Krasomil. If you ever wonder how CELA moves its agenda forward and how every event comes to beautiful, timely and within budget fruition, the answer is: Christina. Thank you Christina. We could not do this without you.