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Meet Our Nominees: ABA candidates, in their own words

By Amanda Robert

June 1, 2023, 12:20 am CDT

Leading up to the ABA Annual Meeting in August, after which they will begin their terms in office, we’ve asked incoming leadership candidates the same four questions:

• What positive experiences have you had with the ABA?

• What would you like to accomplish during your term?

• What is something that not a lot of other ABA members know about you?

• Why would you encourage other lawyers and judges to join the association?

Their responses have been edited for length and clarity. An abbreviated version of their answers ran in the June-July 2023 issue of the ABA Journal.

Marvin S.C. Dang

Photo by Kathy Anderson/ABA Journal

Secretary-Elect

Managing member of the Law Offices of Marvin S.C. Dang in Honolulu. Former member of the Hawaii House of Representatives. Member of the Board of Governors, serving on the Profession, Public Service and Diversity Committee and as its liaison to the Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Senior Lawyers Division and Fund for Justice and Education. Member of the House of Delegates. Past chair of the Senior Lawyers Division. Past member of the Fund for Justice and Education Council. Past member-at-large of the Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division Council. Member of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association-Hawaii Board of Directors. Received JD from the George Washington University Law School in 1978.

Positive experience with the ABA: “During the 46 years that I’ve been actively involved with our ABA, I’ve had numerous positive experiences. Here’s three. First, I’ve made many friends from across the country. We initially met at in-person meetings of the Law Student Division, the Young Lawyers Division, the Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division, the Senior Lawyers Division, the Board of Governors, the House of Delegates, commissions and committees. Second, I’ve held leadership positions in four divisions (LSD, YLD, GPSolo and SLD). I was the first Asian-American attorney and the first attorney from Hawaii to be the chair the Senior Lawyers Division, which had about 60,000 members at that time. Third, beginning in 2007, I’ve participated in ABA Day in Washington, D.C. I’ve traveled to D.C. to meet with members of Congress on important issues, such as funding for the Legal Services Corp.”

Plans for term: “I’m currently on the Board of Governors as a minority member-at-large for the 2020-2023 bar years. As ABA secretary, I’ll continue on the Board during the 2023-2026 bar years. I want to educate ABA members about the role of the secretary. I plan to build on the wonderful service of outgoing Secretary Pauline Weaver and her predecessors. As secretary, I’ll serve on the Executive Committee, led in 2023-2024 by President Mary Smith. As part of the House of Delegates team headed by the chair of the House (currently Gene Vance), I’ll assist the Rules and Calendar Committee. As a Board member, I’ll work to ensure that diversity, equity and inclusion are paramount. And I’ll collaborate with other Board members and our new executive director to address our ABA’s financial and membership challenges.”

Something most members don’t know: “As a student at Punahou School in Honolulu, I participated in the high school ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) program for four years. I attained the officer rank of cadet major. As the Battalion’s S-1 adjutant, I was responsible for administrative and personnel matters.”

Reason to join: “The ABA proudly states that it is ‘the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.’ I’ve been an ABA member for over 47 years, beginning when I was a law student. My membership has benefited me immensely during my diverse legal career. It assisted me when I was a solo practitioner and it’s now benefiting my small-firm law practice. At the same time, I’ve been able to ‘give back’ by assisting other members and by working to improve our profession. When you join the ABA, you can similarly benefit and have the opportunity to help others.”

Thomas W. Lyons III

District 1

Partner at Strauss, Factor, Laing & Lyons in Providence, Rhode Island. Cooperating attorney of the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island. Member of the House of Delegates. Past member of the Task Force on the Future of Legal Education. Past American Bar Foundation Fellows state chair for Rhode Island. Past president of the New England Bar Association and Rhode Island Bar Association. Past member of the National Conference of Bar Presidents Executive Council. Past member of the Rhode Island Bar Foundation Board of Directors. Received JD from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1983.

Positive experience with the ABA: “Although I have been a member of the ABA since I started practicing law in 1983, I have been active in the association only since I became the Rhode Island state delegate to the HOD in 2021. I would say that my most positive experiences were actually through the Division of Bar Services when I was preparing to become president of the Rhode Island Bar Association and then serving on the Executive Council of the National Conference of Bar Presidents.”

Plans for term: “I hope to improve the ABA’s structural and financial processes and make it more appealing to the vast majority of lawyers who are not full dues-paying members.”

Something most members don’t know: “I was once the lifeguard at the Guam Hilton.”

Reason to join: “I think this is a difficult question because most lawyers would have their own individual reasons for joining any legal organization and so there is no one ‘why.’ Obviously, the ABA provides a lot of resources. I think we need to find out what discourages lawyers from joining. I have heard it is the expense and political reputation of the organization. If so, we need to address those issues.”

Thomas Christopher Rombach

District 2

Owner of the Law Offices of Thomas C. Rombach in New Baltimore, Michigan. Member of the House of Delegates. Member of the Center for Innovation Governing Council and chair of the Innovation Trends Report Committee. Past member of the National Conference of Bar Presidents Executive Council. Past president of the State Bar of Michigan and Macomb County Bar Association. Past Macomb County commissioner and charter commissioner. Past member of the Michigan Trial Court Funding Commission and Michigan Supreme Court Task Force on the Role of the State Bar of Michigan. Received JD from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 1987.

Positive experience with the ABA: “From the moment I entered law school, I have enjoyed the people associated with the ABA—the members, the staff and the volunteer leaders. As student bar association president, I enjoyed attending regional and national ABA Law Student Division events, an affinity which carried over to my service on the State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Section Executive Council. When I was elected to lead the Macomb County Bar Association, I was captivated by the Bar Leadership Institute, the Great Lakes Organization of Bar Executives meetings and the National Conference of Bar Presidents events. I continued my collaboration with the Division of Bar Services and the NCBP Executive Council as State Bar of Michigan president. I have benefitted from working with many ABA entities, particularly [during] my term on the Center for Innovation Governing Council. Perhaps my greatest honor was serving on the House of Delegates—drafting, debating and developing ABA policies.”

Plans for term: “The Board’s top priority remains increasing ABA membership. Our leadership has already taken some creative steps to stem the exodus of our members before and during the pandemic, by targeting the fastest growing segment of our legal community—solo and small-firm attorneys. Every new member will help stabilize ABA finances so we can continue to offer our panoply of valuable programs and services to the legal profession and the public. New streams of non-dues revenue must be created and unnecessary expenses eliminated. The Board also needs to maintain the ABA’s preeminent role as the voice of the legal profession and the convener for the most important public policy discussions. Particularly important now is advancing the rule of law throughout the United States and around the world.”

Something most members don’t know: “I served on the Macomb County Board of Commissioners, helping govern a county larger than five states, with a $500 million budget and thousands of employees. I was also elected charter commissioner and helped draft a home-rule charter for Macomb County. As chair of the Executive/Commissioner Committee, I led my 26 colleagues in designing the new executive branch—and reconfiguring the existing legislative branch—of county government. Personally, I have collected minerals and fossils for most of my life. My interest was piqued as a child when I visited my maternal grandparents’ ranch near the small town of Oelrichs, just south of the Badlands and the Black Hills in South Dakota. My grandparents had established a homestead claim on which they raised cattle and produced wheat and alfalfa. Because I was too young to help on the ranch, I often searched for interesting rocks in the fields and pastures.”

Reason to join: “Lawyers and judges should join the ABA to: No. 1. Enjoy the finest legal resources in the world from the ABA and its component groups, tailored to a practitioner’s own parameters; No. 2. Benefit from the wisdom and insights of many of the best lawyers and leaders in the nation; No 3. Exercise the collective voice of attorneys and judges in advocating for sound public policy; No 4. Help improve the legal profession; [and] No. 5. Provide input to important ABA policies, which influence local, state and federal laws and procedures.”

Tracy A. Giles

District 4

Partner at Giles & Lambert in Roanoke, Virginia. Past member of the Board of Governors. Member of the House of Delegates, serving on the Nominating Committee and previously serving on the Steering Committee of the Nominating Committee. Past chair of the Standing Committee on Membership. Member of the American Bar Endowment Board of Directors. Past American Bar Foundation Fellows state co-chair for Virginia. Past member of the Virginia State Bar Executive Committee and Council. Member of the Virginia Law Foundation Fellows Committee. Received JD from Mercer University School of Law in 1992.

Positive experience with the ABA: “The most positive experiences for me have been the friendships. I practice in a small firm in a small town. But through my volunteer work with the ABA starting in law school, I’ve met great lawyers from around the country and the world and made lifelong friends while working on worthwhile projects. I also treasure getting to know many incredibly talented ABA staff who work hard every day to improve the association and the legal profession. At one of my first Young Lawyers Division meetings, someone told me I would make some of the best friends of my life in the ABA. I told him he needed to get out more. But what he said turned out to be true, and we still laugh about it.”

Plans for term: “I would like to see the ABA increase its membership and remain on solid financial footing. I would like the ABA and everything it does to be more understandable and feel more relevant to more lawyers. And for more lawyers to feel they are relevant to the ABA.”

Something most members don’t know: “My first job in the Young Lawyers Division was to head up the volunteer disaster relief program. At that time, a new memorandum of understanding between FEMA and the YLD had just been signed, which allowed us to go directly into their [bases of operations] immediately after a disaster to participate in the response. The program was just getting up and running and there were a lot of details to be ironed out and training to be done. So, for two years, I kept a bag packed and went in with FEMA after every kind of disaster and devastation. My job was to help coordinate the response of volunteer lawyers with FEMA to help the victims. So many lawyers pitched in to help their communities recover. It was amazing to see lawyers volunteering to help, even after many of them had seen their own offices and homes destroyed. It was one of the most moving experiences of my life.”

Reason to join: “There are a lot of great organizations for lawyers to join. But I think it is important to have one legal organization every lawyer can join, no matter where they live or what type of law they practice. Too many forces are trying to pull our society and our profession apart. I believe lawyers are part of the glue that holds our society and our communities together, and I believe ABA should be something that holds lawyers together. There should be a national voice of the profession and all lawyers should be heard as part of that voice … If there is an issue you feel passionately about, chances are there’s a group in the ABA working on it and there is a place for you.”

Samuel Lester Tate III

District 6

Member of Akin & Tate in Cartersville, Georgia. Member of the House of Delegates. National treasurer of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Past president of the American Board of Trial Advocates’ Southeast Region and Georgia Chapter. Past president of the State Bar of Georgia and past member of its Board of Governors. Life fellow of the American Bar Foundation and fellow of the International Society of Barristers and International Academy of Trial Lawyers. Received JD from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1987.

Positive experience with the ABA: “I became involved with the ABA as a result of being president of the Georgia Bar over 12 years ago. ABA meetings and activities have allowed me to maintain the relationships I made with lawyers in other states during that time. What I particularly like is that the ABA brings me into contact with lawyers from all kinds of different practices. As a trial lawyer, I’ve been active in a lot of specialty trial bars. They are great, but they don’t offer the perspective of lawyers who practice in other areas and speak for the broader profession. I believe that the ABA occupies a unique position as a voice for all lawyers.”

Plans for term: “There are two things that are important to me, and I think they are interconnected. Membership is the main issue for just about every voluntary bar in the country and that’s even more true for the ABA. One of the ways to get and keep members is by making sure that they feel they have a voice and that the organization speaks for them. As a small-town southern trial lawyer, I feel like I’m part of a demographic that is not as numerous in the ABA as it once was. So, I’d like to look at issues that attract and maintain membership for this and other demographics; not just country lawyers like me.”

Something most members don’t know: “The first real job I ever had, between college and law school, was as the press secretary to a Democratic congressman from Georgia, George “Buddy” Darden. I was 21 years old and had graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in industrial management, so I was a pretty unlikely candidate for the job. But it was one of the best things I could have possibly done. I learned how to interact with people from all walks of life, how to talk to the press and how work gets done in the public arena. I also got a lifelong mentor in the form of my boss, who was also a lawyer. I learned more skills that I use in my law practice in those two-plus years in Washington than I ever did in law school.”

Reason to join: “Wherever two or more lawyers are gathered together, there is always going to be a disagreement! Different lawyers and different bar associations are going to have different views. But there are so many things in which we as lawyers need to speak to with one voice. I firmly believe that the ABA is an organization that can provide that voice. So, join the ABA so that you have input into what is said and so that your voice on these fundamental issues will be amplified.”

Frank X. Neuner Jr.

District 12

Founder and former managing partner of NeunerPate in Lafayette, Louisiana. Past member of the House of Delegates. Chair of the Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fundraising Committee. Special advisor to the Standing Committee on Public Protection in the Provision of Legal Services. Past American Bar Foundation Fellows state co-chair for Louisiana. Past president of the Louisiana State Bar Association. Past chair of the Louisiana Public Defender Board. Presidential appointee to the Legal Services Corp. Board of Directors. Chair of Innocence Project New Orleans. Received JD from the Louisiana State University Law Center in 1976.

Positive experience with the ABA: “I have made many special friendships and these friends have challenged me to improve access to justice, work towards a more equitable criminal justice system and advocate for the rule of law.”

Plans for term: “Make the ABA more affordable and increase the membership.”

Something most members don’t know: “I was a paper boy in high school and delivered over 1,000 newspapers every day for three years. Also, in the summer of 1970, I sold dictionaries and children’s books door to door in southern Ohio.”

Reason to join: “It will make you a better person, lawyer and citizen.”

Beverly A. Carroll

District 19

Attorney at Morton & Gettys in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Member of the House of Delegates. Past president of the South Carolina Bar and past member of its Board of Governors. Past president of the South Carolina Bar Foundation and past member of its Board of Directors. Past chair of the Rock Hill Economic Development Corp. and member of its Board of Directors and current member of its Business Recruitment and Expansion Committee. Chair of the Rock Hill Public Parks and Recreation Commission. Received JD from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1981.

Positive experience with the ABA: “During the time leading up to and during my service as South Carolina Bar president and South Carolina Bar Foundation president, I had the opportunity to attend numerous ABA events designed to help local and state bar leaders. I learned of the good work being done across the country by bar leaders seeking ways to impact their fellow lawyers in their home cities and states. In my more recent service on the ABA House of Delegates, I have been so impressed with the efforts of the numerous committees in putting resolutions to present to the House in hopes of bringing about positive change for all people.”

Plans for term: “I believe that as an organization, the ABA continues to try to identify how to best serve its members and how to bring more people into the organization, understanding that as a group we can work for change where needed. I hope to bring my own perspective of serving as a state bar leader and working with and through various local and state organizations that seek to have a positive impact on a community, a state and the nation as a whole. My sense is that this Board strives to follow the ideals of liberty and justice for all, while facing the challenge of doing so within the resources available, both in human endeavor and money. I certainly do not want to get ahead of myself in believing I know exactly what the ABA needs, but I am committed to put my efforts and ideas into helping to determine that course.”

Something most members don’t know: “I was a high school basketball coach and teacher before going to law school. I am a fan of most any sport, but especially basketball and particularly the South Carolina Lady Gamecocks.”

Reason to join: “Collectively we can have an impact on the profession, the people we serve locally and the people across this nation and world. The ABA brings together great minds with great ideas and fashions them into ‘things’ that mean something.”

Lucian T. Pera

Business Law Section

Partner at Adams and Reese in Memphis, Tennessee. Former ABA treasurer and member of the Board of Governors. Member of the House of Delegates, serving on the Resolution and Impact Review Committee. Past chair of the Center for Professional Responsibility Coordinating Council. Past member of the Ethics 2000 Commission. Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. President of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government’s Board of Directors. Past president of the Tennessee Bar Association and Southern Conference of Bar Presidents. Received JD from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1985.

Positive experience with the ABA: “Almost too many to count. Among the best have been my service on the Board of Governors as a young lawyer and my work in legal ethics with the Ethics 2000 Commission and the Center for Professional Responsibility in a number of capacities. Plus, my almost-continuous service in the House since 1991.”

Plans for term: “Fully representing the interests and views of the Business Law Section and other sections and improving the association’s membership and financial situation.”

Something most members don’t know: “I’m generally a fan of Elvis, including Presley, Costello and Mitchell.”

Reason to join: “To gain access to tools that help them be better lawyers and to support the ABA’s good work for the profession and the public.”

Linda L. Randell

Infrastructure and Regulated Industries Section

Attorney in Hamden, Connecticut. Former senior vice president and general counsel at UIL Holdings Corp. and former partner at Wiggin and Dana. Past member of the Board of Governors. Member of the House of Delegates, serving on the Committee on Scope and Correlation of Work. Member of the Standing Committee on Technology and Information Systems. Past chair of the Infrastructure and Regulated Industries Section and current chair of its Long Range Planning Committee. Co-chair of the Connecticut Bar Association Experienced Lawyers Committee. Received JD from Yale Law School in 1973.

Positive experience with the ABA: “Participation in the Infrastructure and Regulated Industries Section has made me a better lawyer, provided leadership development opportunities and led to long-time friendships. As a member of the ABA’s Committee on Scope and Correlation of Work, I have seen the importance of strategic planning and of collaboration among ABA entities.”

Plans for term: “I hope to contribute to the thought, development and implementation of solutions to the ABA’s membership and related financial challenges. Reversing long-standing trends requires a willingness to look at things differently, adapt and move forward.”

Something most members don’t know: “I am a great baker. My favorite two-word phrases are: Go Blue, play ball and let’s eat.”

Reason to join: “Any lawyer or judge can find a home in an ABA section, division or forum, which will make you better at what you do. Working with others within a strong national association helps promote the public interest and the profession.”

Theodore H. Davis Jr.

Section of Intellectual Property Law

Partner at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton in Atlanta. Adjunct professor at Emory University School of Law. Past member of the House of Delegates. Past chair of the Section of Intellectual Property Law and past member of the Section Officers Conference Awards Committee. Current Section of Intellectual Property Law parliamentarian and chair of the Books Editorial Board. Life fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Past editor-in-chief of the Georgia Bar Journal. Received JD from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1990.

Positive experience with the ABA: “My experiences since becoming active in the ABA over 30 years ago have been uniformly positive. The camaraderie with my fellow members and the association’s staff has played a significant role in those experiences, but a more fundamental component of them has been the opportunity to contribute to the profession as a whole. Although there are arguably comparable national organizations in other fields and industries, few play the mission-critical role the ABA does.”

Plans for term: “Like many other individual-membership-based organizations, the ABA faces certain challenges, some of them related to dues revenues. I hope to assist the association in addressing those challenges, including the need to demonstrate to younger and newly minted lawyers the value of ABA membership.”

Something most members don’t know: “I began my working life by selling jelly beans at retail.”

Reason to join: “As much as any professional association, the ABA is a meritocracy. Volunteers can expect to receive full credit for their contributions and every opportunity to make them. Of greater significance, those contributions will be not just to the legal system but instead to all those who depend on it, especially those who otherwise might lack advocates.”

Christopher Steven Jennison

Young Lawyers Division Member-at-Large

Acting headquarters team manager for employment and labor law in the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Chief Counsel in Washington, D.C. Past member of the Board of Governors. At-large member of the House of Delegates, serving on the Technology and Communications Committee. Member of the Standing Committee on Constitution and Bylaws. State membership chair for Maryland. Membership director of the Section of State and Local Government Law. Past speaker of the Young Lawyers Division and current member of its council. Past chair of the Standing Committee on Paralegals. Emergency medical technician and president of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad. Received JD from Syracuse University College of Law in 2016.

Positive experience with the ABA: “Well, an easy quick answer is I met my wife, Jo Bahn, through the ABA! When I represented New York State on the Law Student Division’s Council, she applied to be my right-hand person, and I didn’t select her. She didn’t like that and a few months later became my boss in the division as its vice chair, and we started dating shortly later.”

Plans for term: “I would like to work on pushing for a strategic plan for the association and pressing the need for deep, meaningful student debt reform. In an association the size of the ABA, with so many different entities, we can have vastly different interests and ‘pet projects.’ However, there still is a need for us to have a common strategic focus, as borne out through a strategic plan, to set a vision for the future of the association and the future of the profession. As for student debt, while I and other leaders of the YLD have drafted, advocated and gotten passed several resolutions on student debt reform, we as an association should be out banging the drum for reform every day if we care about access to justice.”

Something most members don’t know: “I am a movie buff, although with two little kids I don’t get to the movies as much as I would like to. My Pop Pop worked his way up from being a ticket-taker to manager and then owner of several movie theaters in New Jersey, including the Clairidge Theater in Montclair—which is where I think I get my love of movies from.”

Reason to join: “You’ll be a better lawyer because of it, especially if you show up—show up to calls, meetings, committees, calls for leadership, etc. You’ll perfect your craft; you’ll meet friends and mentors from across the profession and you’ll get to see the country while doing so! The ABA is also the voice of the legal profession. If you’re not part of the group having a say on the profession, then you don’t get to be upset if they don’t know or speak to your values.”

Eileen Sullivan

Goal III Woman Member-at-Large

Owner of Sullivan Law Firm in Phoenix. Former attorney in the Maricopa County Office of the Legal Advocate and Office of the Public Defender. Member of the Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fundraising Committee. Member-at-large of the Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division Council. Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Member-at-large of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Board of Governors. Past president of the Arizona Asian American Bar Association. Received JD from what is now the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law in 1999.

Positive experience with the ABA: “My first experience with the ABA was in the Law Student Division. The John Marshall Law School, now the University of Illinois Chicago College of Law, encouraged its students to get involved in the ABA. John Marshall also sent me to my first ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto. It was amazing to meet with law students, attorneys and judges from across the country and Canada. As a new attorney, I got involved in YLD and served as NAPABA national representative … I have remained involved through the Solo, Small Firm General Practice Division. The most memorable ABA trip was to London for the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. What keeps me involved are the people I have met through the ABA, those friendships and connections. The ABA has also allowed me the opportunity to make a difference participating in community service projects and speaking on CLE panels and to law students.”

Plans for term: “I will be serving as Goal III woman member-at-large. The ABA’s Goal III is to eliminate bias and enhance diversity. It has been argued there is no longer a gender gap, however, I believe women still have barriers to advancement in the legal profession. I want my work on the Board of Governors to promote full and equal participation in the ABA, the legal profession and the justice system by all and eliminate bias, conscious and unconscious, in the legal profession and the justice system.”

Something most members don’t know: “Something that not many other ABA members know about me is that I am the first and only attorney in my family and I worked full-time as a law clerk while attending law school. The ABA provided some of the mentors that have helped me navigate my career in the law.”

Reason to join: “I would encourage other attorneys and judges to join the ABA to serve their profession, to advance justice and promote the rule of law. The ABA provides networking opportunities with attorneys from across the country and other countries. The ABA also provides CLE, a career center and other resources to its members.”

Victor M. Marquez

Goal III Minority Member-at-Large

Partner in the Real Estate Practice Group at Nossaman in San Francisco. Special advisor to the Commission on Women in the Profession. Past chair of the Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Past member of the Rule of Law Initiative Board. Past member of the Section of State and Local Government Law Council. Recipient of the Spirit of Excellence Award. Past president of the Hispanic National Bar Association. Past president and general counsel of the San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association. Received JD from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1990.

Positive experience with the ABA: “Working with a tremendous group of legal professionals who are truly devoted to upholding the rule of law from the courtroom to corporate boardrooms and every area of our society, and of particular importance, within the wide range of civil and human rights advocacy at the state, national and international level. I have been fortunate to serve in the ABA Rule of Law Initiative Board, where I traveled to places like Guatemala, Peru and Morocco to advocate for the rights of judges, indigenous people, women, and LGBTQ+ rights in collaboration with local leaders. It has been a true honor to serve as chair of the Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Commission, to work with the Commission on Hispanic Rights and Responsibilities, to serve on the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Center and to currently serve as special advisor to the women’s commission.”

Plans for term: “I will always work on diversity, equity and inclusion matters in every room that I step foot in as a BOG member by simply being who I am and what I am as an openly gay, Latino attorney with deep experience in working now for over 30 years on racial and ethnic diversity, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation and disability issues and concerns. I am hopeful that this experience will bring a strong and additional voice to the BOG for us to expand on our membership recruitment efforts to expand our membership base. We must remain relevant to our current membership, but we must explore ways to become more relevant to sectors of our legal profession and to help connect the dots on how our tremendous resources could make a difference in their professional lives as well as in their respective communities and organizations serving those local communities.”

Something most members don’t know: “I served as executive director and a public interest lawyer for San Francisco La Raza Centro Legal, a community law center, for five years where I worked on immigration, landlord-tenant, youth law, senior law and housing advocacy. I also helped to develop and establish Centro del Pueblo in San Francisco, which is a community center that houses over 20 non-profit organizations that help the local community … On a personal level, I recently celebrated my 31st anniversary with my partner and husband, Dr. Matteo Garbelotto, a scientist and professor at U.C. Berkeley. We have been legally married since 2008. We are both art collectors focusing on local artists, and we love to travel and have been to 50 countries together. We are big hikers/trekkers and love to ski, but above all, we love our four-legged daughter, Saba.”

Reason to join: “The legal profession is a noble profession, and the ABA provides incredible opportunities to give back to our legal community through volunteer service. There are many substantive resources that are available to our member practitioners through our rich CLE programming and publications, and in particular, by joining one of our substantive law sections. The ABA has a strong Judicial Division, which is active throughout the organization. Along with invaluable resources made available to our judges, the ABA provides judges an opportunity to serve on committees and commissions working on an array of issues … I had the honor to serve along many judges from all levels of the judiciary, and it is truly inspiring to see the level of volunteerism from the judiciary within the ABA.”