Class Notes

Brian Landsberg has authored a new book, Revolution by Law: The Federal Government and the Desegregation of Alabama Schools. Published by the University Press of Kansas, it is the third in a trilogy about the work of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.

William Capps, a partner at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell, was again named one of the 500 most influential people in the Los Angeles business community by the Los Angeles Business Journal. This is his fourth consecutive year on the list.

Alan Brayton was elected as chair of the National Judicial College’s Board of Trustees, the country’s top education center for judges. A renowned personal injury attorney and founding member of Brayton Purcell in Novato, Calif., Alan has spent nearly 30 years as a lawyer. He also co-owns Thirty-Seven Wines in Sonoma with his wife Lisa Brayton.

Emily Vasquez (second from right) retired from the Superior Court of California (Sacramento County) after 20-plus years on the bench. She writes, “It has been a most rewarding career and journey — one that I could never have imagined as a child. I want to express my gratitude to Berkeley Law for the excellent education that it provided to me.” This year she received the American Board of Trial Advocates’ Judge of the Year Award and the Cruz Reynoso Bar Association’s first Defensora de Justicia Award. Also, the Schwartz-Levi Inn of Court and UC Davis School of Law created the first Judge Emily E. Vasquez Community Service Award, honoring her accomplishments to the Inn of Court, judiciary, legal profession, and community.

Stuart Brotman wrote a new book, First Amendment Lives On: Conversations Commemorating Hugh M. Hefner’s Legacy of Enduring Free Speech and Free Press Values. A University of Tennessee law and journalism professor, Stuart presents enlightening interviews with nominators, judges, and Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award recipients. Dean Erwin Chemerinsky calls the book a “wonderful collection of conversations with the top experts on the First Amendment” and a “terrific exploration of some of the hardest and most important legal issues of our day.”

Constance de la Vega attended a UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva in March with six students from the Frank C. Newman International Human Rights Law Clinic at the University of San Francisco, where she is a law professor. Three students made oral interventions before the full council and several took part in resolution- drafting sessions.

Cynthia Giles has a new book, Next Generation Compliance: Environmental Regulation for the Modern Era. A senior advisor for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Air and Radiation and former head of its Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assistance, Cynthia dispels two myths: that compliance with environmental rules is good, and that enforcement is responsible for making compliance happen. She says that widespread violations of environmental regulations can cause myriad issues that affect human health and the planet, and land hardest on already overburdened communities. Her book outlines how to build better compliance into regulations and avoid the compliance calamities that plague many environmental rules today.

Michael Coffino transitioned to a writing and editing career in 2016 and since has authored and co-authored eight published works, including his multiple-award winning debut novel Truth Is in the House. He is working on his next piece of fiction.

Mark LeHocky, who also teaches the course Being General Counsel at Berkeley Law, was recognized as 2022 Mediator of the Year for the San Francisco region by The Best Lawyers in America.

Kerry White and his brother Terry White published For The People: A True Story of the Los Angeles Criminal Justice System by Two African American Prosecutors. The book recounts high-profile cases they came across over their 30-year careers, including the O.J. Simpson trial, the Rodney King beating, the UCLA body parts scandal, and other dramatic cases involving celebrities, human trafficking, drug mafias, and serial killers.

Laura Clayton McDonnell, senior vice president of sales for the East, Canada, and Latin America regions at ServiceNow, Inc., gave commencement speeches in April to the full-time MBA program graduating classes of 2020 and 2021 at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. In January, she was appointed to the board of directors at the public company Zuora, Inc., a software leader in the subscription economy.

Kenneth Wainstein was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security. With decades of government experience in both Democratic and Republican administrations, he was a litigation partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Davis Polk & Wardwell, a law school adjunct professor for 12 years teaching national security laws, a commissioner on the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, and a member of several other national security organizations.

Neha Sampat was quoted in a Harvard Business Review article, “I’m Not an Imposter — So Why Do I Feel Like One?” The founder and CEO of BelongLab, an organization focused on creating a culture of belonging for all employees, Neha gives workshops and keynotes on imposter syndrome and describes it as a form of internalized bias for racialized people.

Ana de Alba, a new federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, was mistakenly described as the court’s first Latinx judge in our last Transcript issue (she is the court’s first Latina judge). We apologize for the error.

Joshua Lerner joined WilmerHale’s San Francisco office as a partner. He often serves as lead counsel for top technology companies in trade secret, class action, and commercial litigation matters. Joshua has been named a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation in intellectual property, employment law, general commercial litigation, and products liability, and also a Star by LMG Life Sciences in general patent litigation.

Hernaldo Baltodano was appointed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom as an associate justice in Division 6 of the state’s Second District Court of Appeal, located in Ventura. He spent the past five years on the San Luis Obispo Superior Court, serving as the supervising criminal judge for nine months, and spearheaded efforts to create mental health diversion treatments and implement a misdemeanor diversion program. Before that, he was a founding partner and senior litigation partner at Baltodano & Baltodano (now The Baltodano Firm) in San Luis Obispo, which specializes in employment law for a diverse range of workers. The child of immigrants from Nicaragua, Hernaldo’s family received American citizenship when he was 19.

Carolyn Boies recently completed 12 years at the Seattle City Attorney’s Office, where she supervised and handled political and constitutional litigation, including multiple matters against the Trump Administration. She is now an associate general counsel at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Eric Broxmeyer was named general counsel for the U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms in August 2021. He was previously general counsel of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board from 2015 to 2021, and also served as executive director from 2020 to 2021.