Class Notes

Irving Tragen wrote a novel, Mañana is Yesterday, at the age of 100. His first novel, after decades of writing technical papers on political, social, and economic issues, delves into human motivation through the story of a powerful woman who betrays her convictions and watches her country’s “mañana” turn into “yesterday.”

Jeremiah Hallisey was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to a four-year term on the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. A senior partner at Hallisey and Johnson in San Francisco, Jeremiah has served as a UC regent for 12 years and as a California Transportation Commission member for eight years.

Michael Tigar was appointed to a three-year term on the District of Columbia Bar Board on Professional Responsibility, which consists of seven lawyer members and two public members appointed by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. The board adjudicates cases of lawyer misconduct and disability, and administers the disciplinary rules and procedures. Michael had spent five years as a volunteer hearing officer for the board.

James McManis joined the advisory board of Sinotalks, a repository of knowledge about Chinese law and policy that helps professionals, businesses, policymakers, and others craft evidence-based strategies for China-related issues. Founder and partner at McManis Faulkner in San Jose, James and his firm hosted the International Association of Trial Lawyers China Program and he served as the program’s chair from 2010 to 2017.

Alex Krem is a retired international investment banker who spent 40 years with the U.S. government, Bank of America, NZI Bank, and his own company, Admiralty Investment Group. He came home to Berkeley to rescue Camping Unlimited for the Developmentally Disabled, founded by his father in 1957, and established the related nonprofit Living Unlimited, which so far has created four communities housing 55 adults with special needs and 15 caregivers.

Bill Capps, a partner at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell, was named one of the 500 most influential people in the Los Angeles business community by the Los Angeles Business Journal. This marks the fifth consecutive year he has received this honor.

Ted Kitada received the Western Bankers Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the first such award granted by the organization. The award honors Ted’s “incredible commitment and dedication to the legal profession serving our industry.”

José Padilla has retired after 44 years with California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA), the last 38 as its executive director. In that role, he expanded advocacy to Indigenous farm workers and LGBTQ clients. Recent legal victories included $1 million-plus settlements for women farm workers sexually harassed on the job, a practice area he introduced to CRLA. José’s honors include the Ohtli Award, given by the Mexican government to Latinx people in the U.S. who help Mexican citizens, and last year’s California Lawyers Association Loren Miller Legal Services Award for his work on behalf of the rural poor.

Martin Regalado published his second novel, Only the Dead, in the style of classic noir detective thrillers, about a detective who must deal with his own demons as he searches for the truth. Martin practiced law in the Bay Area before becoming an FBI special agent. He retired in 2011 after serving over 29 years in several offices across the country and overseas as an investigator, legal instructor/advisor, and firearms/tactics instructor.

Carl Douglas received the California Association of Black Lawyers’ Benjamin Travis Lifetime Achievement Award with classmates Duane deJoie and Judge Kelvin Filer in attendance at the ceremony. In June, Carl was inducted into the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles Hall of Fame, which honors those in the field who have been “pioneers of the trial bar.”

Cathy Costantino capped her 30th year as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, and her 10th year teaching at Fordham Law School. She teaches Negotiation, Mediation, and Conflict Management Systems Design, and has also taught at George Washington University Law School, Vermont Law School, Columbia University, and George Mason University. Counsel at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Cathy was recently honored for 35 years of federal service.

Paul Krekorian was unanimously elected president of the Los Angeles City Council. A Council member since 2010 who chaired its Budget and Finance Committee since 2012, Paul is promoting fundamental changes to the Los Angeles City Charter and other ethics reforms to restore the public’s confidence in its city government.

David Callaway joined Glenn Agre Bergman & Fuentes in San Francisco as a partner in its complex commercial litigation and white-collar litigation & investigations practices. He previously worked as a partner at Goodwin Procter and as an assistant U.S. attorney and deputy district attorney. David was chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division for the Northern District of California.

Peter Reich, a UCLA School of Law lecturer since 2017, was voted outstanding teacher of the year by this year’s graduating class. Previously a professor and associate dean for academic affairs at Whittier Law School, Peter has been teaching Constitutional Law, Evidence, and Law of the U.S.-Mexico Border, and publishing his research on Latin American environmental laws.

Markéta Sims joined the Orange County Alternate Defender in writs and appeals in December. She previously served as the Los Angeles County Independent Defender Program’s writs and appeals and directing appellate attorney, a Los Angeles County deputy public defender, and a Western District of Pennsylvania assistant federal public defender.

John McCoy was sworn in as general counsel for California’s Orange County Superior Court. He had spent the previous two years running his own law office.

Jo-Anne Henry unveiled a portrait of her mother at the University of Calgary’s law school and spoke about her legacy as a trailblazer last spring. The late Violet King Henry was Canada’s first Black female lawyer and the first Black person to graduate from law school in Alberta and to be admitted to the Alberta Bar. Law school Dean Ian Holloway LL.M. ’92 led the unveiling with Jo-Anne, who practices law in Washington, D.C. The school’s Black Law Students Association commissioned Edmonton-born Black artist Keon Courtney to craft the rendition of King Henry, and created a scholarship to honor her legacy.

Bryan Schwartz gained a legal victory for disabled workers that will allow people with disabilities to access careers in the U.S. Foreign Service. The $37.5 million settlement with the U.S. Department of State overhauls a medical clearance system in place for decades, which led to unlawful disability discrimination at the agency.

Emily Gunston was promoted to first assistant attorney general at the District of Columbia’s Office of the Attorney General. She serves the district’s children by supervising the office’s Public Safety, Family Services, and Child Support Services divisions. Emily previously served as deputy attorney general for policy and legislative affairs and senior counsel to the Attorney General.

Richard Hardack published Your Call Is Very Important to Us: Advertising and the Corporate Theft of Personhood with Rowman & Littlefield. Exploring the corporate form’s history, the book argues that corporate personhood is part of a zero-sum game, in which not just wealth but human rights and traits — including privacy, legal entitlements and exemptions, and forms of familial connection and continuity — are in systematic ways transferred from people to corporations, which are part of a teleology that ends in, and are themselves forms of, AI.

Lisa (Lee) Kim was honored as the first ever California Privacy Lawyer of the Year by the California Lawyers Association’s Privacy Law Section for her work drafting regulations implementing the California Consumer Privacy Act/California Privacy Rights Act. She was also featured in Attorney at Law magazine during Women’s History Month (March) and moved from the California Attorney General’s office to the newly created California Privacy Protection Agency, where she is the senior privacy counsel and advisor.

Quyen Ta received the American Jewish Committee of San Francisco’s Judge Learned Hand Award, which recognizes Bay Area distinguished legal profession members who embody the principles of justice, freedom, and fairness. A litigation partner at King & Spalding, Quyen has represented victims of hate crimes in the Bay Area and devoted significant time and effort to advancing people of color and women working in the law.

Julia Clayton joined London & Stout in July. She represents clients in government investigations, civil litigation, and health law matters, bringing unique substantive and procedural expertise regarding state government gained during her long career with the California Attorney General’s Office. Because London & Stout’s office is located next to Lake Merritt in Oakland, Julia is also excited to be working so close to Berkeley Law.

Araceli Martínez-Olguín was confirmed as a U.S. District Judge in the Northern District of California. She had worked at the National Immigration Law Center since 2018, was a lawyer for three nonprofits and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, and won the 2010 Social Justice Prize from Berkeley Law’s Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice.

Andrea Gilliam, who works as a leadership coach and trainer for attorneys and other professionals, says she would “love to stay more connected with our alumni community.” She recently wrote an article in the ABA Journal about ways to shift from harmful to productive mindsets, including from analysis to mindfulness, from perfectionism to a growth mindset, and from winning to listening.