Members of the Board of Directors

Manuel (Manny) A. Abascal is a a partner at Latham & Watkins where he specializes in government and internal investigations, securities enforcement and litigation, and civil litigation. Prior to joining Latham he was an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles.

Hon. Paul L. Abrams is a United States Magistrate Judge, Central District of California.

Mary Carter Andrues is a partner in Arent Fox LLP, where she specializes in white collar criminal defense, export compliance, and SEC enforcement actions. Ms. Andrues is a former Assistant U. S. Attorney, where she served as the Chief of Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section; Deputy Chief of the Public Corruption and Government Fraud Section; and Health Care Fraud Coordinator.

Sharon Ben-Shahar is an attorney with Bird, Marella, Boxer, Wolpert, Nessim, Drooks & Lincenberg, specializing in white collar criminal defense and complex civil litigation. She is a graduate of Tel Aviv University ('98) and a former law clerk to the Hon. Robert J. Kelleher.

Mark Byrne is a principal of Byrne & Nixon and is a past president of the Los Angeles Chapter.

John Carson is the head of Fulbright & Jaworski's Los Angeles office Intellectual Property & Technology Department. His practice includes all phases of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret law, including licensing and litigation.

Cathy Catterson is the United States 9th Circuit and Court of Appeals Executive.

Hon. Jacqueline Chooljian is a United States Magistrate Judge, Central District of California.

Matthew W. Close is a partner in O'Melveny & Myers LLP and a member of the Securities Litigation Practice. He has a diverse litigation practice focused on representing corporations and their directors and officers in securities fraud, derivative, and breach of duty litigation. Matt also handles unfair competition, deceptive trade practice, and fraud class actions and Attorney General enforcement proceedings nationwide that involve financial services, loan servicing, mortgage-backed securities, and fiduciary duty issues.

Daniel M. Cislo is the Managing Partner of Cislo & Thomas, LLP. The firm specializes in patent, copyright, trademark filings, licensing and intellectual property litigation. A graduate of Loyola Law School and UCLA's School of Engineering, he is admitted to the U.S. Patent office as a patent attorney and is an inventor himself.  He is admitted to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the District of Columbia and numerous other Courts across the country.

Xiomara Costello is a Deputy Attorney General in the California Attorney General's Office, Criminal Law Division, Appeals, Writs and Trials Section, where she specializes in capital and non-capital federal habeas corpus cases.

Mike Emmick is a solo practitioner who specializes in white-collar defense. He also teaches white-collar crime and related subjects at Loyola Law School. He graduated from UCLA Law School and clerked for Judge Van Graafeiland on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. He was an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1982-2007, including Chief of the Public Corruption and Government Fraud Section from 1990-97; Deputy Independent Counsel in Washington D.C. from 1997-2000; and Special Counsel to the U.S. Attorney from 2001-07. He worked on the White Collar Defense Team of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton until 2012, when he set up his own practice near his home in Manhattan Beach.

Nicole Duckett Fricke is counsel at Milberg LLP where she specializes in securities fraud and antitrust class actions. Prior to joining Milberg she practiced complex business litigation, white collar criminal defense, and corporate internal investigations at Mayer Brown LLP. She is a City Commissioner for the Los Angeles Convention Center and related entities, serving as an advisor to the Mayor.

Hon. Dale S. Fischer is a judge of the United States District Court, Central District of California.

Hon. Michael W. Fitzgerald is a judge of the United States District Court, Central District of California.  Prior to this he was a partner at Corbin, Fitzgerald & Athey LLP, a firm that handles complex criminal and civil litigation.  Mr. Fitzgerald is a former Assistant United States Attorney.  He has also served as Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representative and on the Ninth Circuit Attorney Admissions Fund Committee.

Douglas Fuchs is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where he represents corporations and individuals in government investigations and related civil litigation. Mr. Fuchs is a former Assistant United States Attorney.

Hon. Dolly Gee is a judge of the United States District Court, Central District of California.

Joshua Hamilton is a partner in the Litigation practice of Paul Hastings and is based in the firm's Los Angeles office. As a member of the firm's Securities Litigation and Enforcement practice, he concentrates his practice on representing businesses and their officers and directors in investigations, securities and corporate governance litigation, defense of class actions, and other complex business litigation matters.

Brian J. Hennigan is a past President of the FBA, Los Angeles Chapter. He is a partner at Irell & Manella LLP, where he specializes in white collar criminal defense and federal civil practice. Mr. Hennigan is a former Assistant United States Attorney.

Evan A. Jenness is the principal of the Law Offices of Evan A. Jenness, and represents clients in criminal proceedings in Federal and State trial and appellate courts, and governmental investigations. She is a former Deputy Federal Public Defender, and graduate of Columbia University Law School ('88).

Daniel Benjamin Levin is of counsel at Munger, Tolles & Olson, LLP.  His practice focuses on complex litigation and appeals.  Before re-joining the firm in 2012, Mr. Levin served as an Assistant United States Attorney. He is a graduate of Yale Law School ('02) and a former associate in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP.

Janet I. Levine is a past President of the FBA, Los Angeles Chapter.  She is a partner in Crowell & Moring LLP, a national firm.  She specializes in white collar and regulatory enforcement matters. Ms. Levine is the chair elect of the American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section.

Hon. Ronald S. W. Lew is a Senior Judge of the United States District Court, Central District of California.

Gary S. Lincenberg is a past President of the FBA, Los Angeles Chapter.  He is a partner at Bird, Marella, Boxer, Wolpert, Nessim, Drooks & Lincenberg, specializing in white collar criminal defense and complex civil litigation. He is a 1985 graduate of Harvard Law School and a former Assistant United States Attorney.

Ron Maroko is an attorney with the United States Trustee in Los Angeles. He has an undergraduate degree from UCLA, a Masters in Business Taxation from U.S.C., a J.D. from UC Davis. He is a past chair of the national Bankruptcy Section of the FBA.

Yuri Mikulka is a shareholder of Stradling Yocca Carlson Rauth where she chairs the firm's Intellectual Property Department. She represents domestic and foreign companies in high-stakes litigation involving patent infringement, trademark infringement, trade secret misappropriation, and commercial litigation.

Terry Nafisi is the District Court Executive  of the United States District Court, Central District of California.

Angelo Paparelli is a partner in the Immigration Practice Group of Seyfarth Shaw LLP.  He is a Certified Immigration Law Specialist (CA) and is known among clients and peers for providing creative solutions to complex immigration law problems, especially those involving mergers and acquisitions.

Hilary Potashner is the Chief Deputy Federal Public Defender and has been with the Federal Public Defender's office since April 2001. She is a graduate of Duke University and UC Hastings College of Law.

Michael J. Proctor is a partner at Caldwell Leslie & Proctor, where he specializes in criminal defense and complex commercial litigation and co-chairs the firm's White Collar Crime and Corporate Compliance practice group. He is a 1990 graduate of The Yale Law School and a former Deputy Federal Public Defender.

Sandhya Ramadas is an attorney with Bird, Marella, Boxer, Wolpert, Nessim, Drooks & Lincenberg, specializing in white collar criminal defense and complex civil litigation. She is a graduate of the University of California Berkeley School of Law ('09), and a former law clerk to the Honorable A. Howard Matz of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and the Honorable Michael Daly Hawkins of the U.S Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Hon. Manuel L. Real is Chief Judge Emeritus of the United States District Court, Central District of California.

Fred A. Rowley, Jr. is a past President of the FBA, Los Angeles Chapter.  He is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, where he focuses on appellate litigation, complex civil litigation, and white collar criminal defense. Between 2002 and 2006, he left private practice to join the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, where he served in the Criminal Appeals Section.

Hon. Barry Russell is Chief Judge Emeritus of the United States Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California.

Jeffrey H. Rutherford is a partner with Crowell & Moring LLP, where he specializes in white-collar criminal defense. He is a former Deputy Federal Public Defender and a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School ('95).

Hon. Suzanne H. Segal is a United States Magistrate Judge, Central District of California.

Kenneth D. Sulzer is a partner at Proskauer Rose LLP representing management in Employment and Labor law matters, principally in class action litigation. His practice has particular emphasis in Wage and Hour, FLSA, employment discrimination, and California Labor Code and USDOL matters. He is nation-wide Co-Chair of the Complex Employment Litigation Practice and Co-Chair of the California Labor and Employment Practice at Proskauer.

Eric D. Vandevelde is an Assistant United States Attorney, where he serves as Deputy Chief of the Cyber & Intellectual Property Crimes Section. He is a graduate of UCLA School of Law and former associate at Irell & Manella LLP.

Jeff Westerman is a partner with Milberg Weiss LLP.

David Willingham is an attorney with Caldwell Leslie & Proctor and specializes in white collar criminal defense and complex litigation, and is Co-chair of the firm's White Collar Crime and Corporate Compliance practice group. He was the Deputy Chief of the Major Frauds Section of the United States Attorney's Office in Los Angeles before joining the firm, and served as an Assistant United States Attorney from 2001 - 2007.

Hon. Carla Woehrle is a Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court, Central District of California.