Board & Staff

Staff

Johanna Hartwig

Executive Director

Johanna Hartwig joined NJCHS as the Executive Director in July of 2024. Johanna brings quite a range of experience to the job, having practiced at two international law firms, worked as a law school administrator in charge of career planning, and served as the founding board chair of a civil legal services start-up. Johanna clerked on the Ninth Circuit for two years for Judge M. Margaret McKeown, serving as her appellate clerk and also as her ethics clerk for the federal judiciary’s ethics committee. Johanna grew up in Livermore, California and has had many glorious adventures throughout her life exploring the states of the Ninth Circuit. She left California to attend college at Yale, work in New York City, and then earn a joint law and policy degree from the University of Michigan. While she loved her chapters on the East Coast and the Midwest, Johanna’s heart belonged in the west, and so she returned to California to begin her law career.

Johanna would love to hear from you with ideas for NJCHS programs and collaborations. Reach out by email (johanna.hartwig@njchs.org) or through LinkedIn!

Georgia Johnson

Communications and Programs Associate

Georgia Johnson is the Communications and Programs Associate at NJCHS, a position she has held since July 2024. She specializes in content marketing and project management. Georgia graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2024 with dual Bachelor’s degrees in English and Political Science, and she is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Communication Management from the University of Southern California.

Passionate about community engagement and justice, Georgia is dedicated to initiatives that build community power and advance opportunities. She focuses on enhancing communication and marketing efforts to support meaningful projects and increase stakeholder engagement.

Email: georgia.johnson@njchs.org

Board

Jeff Portnoy

Chair

Jeff is a partner at the Cades Schutte firm in Honolulu, practicing in the area of litigation. He previously served as Chair of the firm’s Litigation Department, and has practiced law as a civil litigator at the firm since 1972. Jeff has served two three-year terms as a Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit, and was Chairman of the United States District Court Advisory (Biden) Committee. He was President of the Hawaii State Bar Association in 2007. He is also a past President of the Hawaii Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and he served a three year term as Hawaii’s representative to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Advisory Board.

Corey R. Weber

Vice Chair

Corey is a partner at BG Law LLP. He is a litigator with over 20 years of experience in bankruptcy, business and commercial litigation. His practice includes investigating and litigating cases involving complex financial issues, including fraud, Ponzi schemes, fraudulent transfers/voidable transfers and breaches of fiduciary duty. Corey also serves as an advisor on the California Lawyers Association (CLA) Business Law Section Executive Committee, is a past Chair of the CLA Business Law Section, and has served as a commissioner on the State Bar of California Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE Commission) and as Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference. Corey received his law degree from the University of Southern California Law School, his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Notre Dame and his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Irvine.

Lilian Tsai

Treasurer

Lilian is a Senior Corporate Counsel for Oracle Corporation. She is a corporate attorney with over 15 years of experience in corporate transactions, including technology and commercial deals, and matters involving the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, with a background in mergers and acquisitions. Lilian is the former lead in-house counsel on technology transactions at the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives. She is a board member for the BRAVO! Club of the San Francisco Opera and a San Francisco Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and a Bachelor of Arts degree in mass communications from the University of California, Berkeley, and her law degree from American University.

Kathleen O’Sullivan

Secretary

Katie is a partner at Perkins Coie in its Seattle office. A veteran litigator and firm and community leader, Katie helps businesses with critical legal matters. With more than 25 years of practice, Katie O’Sullivan represents businesses facing high-stakes litigation, including trial court cases and appeals. Katie began her career as a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Harold H. Greene and for Ninth Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown.

Sonia Martin

Immediate Past Chair

Sonia Martin is CEO of Dentons US and is also a member of Dentons’ Global and US Boards, the Global Management Committee and the US Region Management Committee. She is a litigator with extensive experience defending consumer class actions, including claims for alleged violations of California’s Unfair Competition Act, Business and Professions Code Section 17200, et seq. Sonia is a former lawyer representative to the United States District Court, Northern District of California.

Board

Hon. Stanley Bastian, US District Court for the Eastern District of Washington

Hon. Marsha Berzon, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Hon. David Carter, US District Court for the Central District of California

Hon. Richard Clifton, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Hon. Michael Daly Hawkins, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Hon. Michael Fitzgerald, US District Court for the Central District of California

Hon. Debora Kristensen Grasham

Hon. M. Margaret McKeown, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Hon. Mary Murguia, Chief Judge, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Hon. William Orrick III, US District Court for the Northern District of California

Hon. Mary Schroeder, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Hon. Milan D. Smith, Jr., Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Hon. Christina Snyder, US District Court for the Central District of California

Hon. Sidney Thomas, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Seth Aronson, Esq., Phillips ADR

Ryan Bounds, Esq., Boeing

George Brewster, Esq., Office of County Counsel, County of San Diego

John Carson, Esq., Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP

David Casey, Jr., Esq., Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield LLP

Matthew Close, Esq., O’Melveny & Myers

Caroline Djang, Esq., Buchalter

Dale A. Danneman, Esq., Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP

Robert Fairbank, Esq., Phillips ADR

Jeffrey Fisher, Esq., Farella Braun + Martel LLP

Margaret Foley, Esq., Foley Law Center

Paul Friedman, Esq., Morrison & Foerster

Rita Haeusler, Esq.

Cynthia Jones, Esq., Jones Legal Group

Ron Maroko, Esq, Office of the U.S. Trustee

Tracy Morris, Esq., Federal Civil Rights Clinic

James Sigel, Esq., Davis Wright Tremaine

Robert J. Pfister, Esq., Pfister & Saso

Heather Richardson, Esq., Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, LLP

Marc Seltzer, Esq., Susman Godfrey LLP

David Steuer, Esq.

Gail Migdal Title, Esq., ADR Services, Inc.

Claire Wong Black, Esq., Dentons

Advisory Council

Hon. Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha, US District Court for the Central District of California

Hon. Stanley Boone, US District Court for the Eastern District of California

Hon. Magdalena Reyes Bordeaux, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California

Hon. Daniel A. Bress, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Hon. Morgan Christen, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Hon. A. Marisa Chun, Superior Court of California

Hon. Steve Cochran, Los Angeles Superior Court

Hon. Haywood Gilliam, US District Court for the Northern District of California

Hon. Philip Gutierrez, US District Court for the Central District of California

Hon. Robert Johnston, U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada (Ret.)

Hon. Robert Lasnik, U.S. District Court for the District of Western Washington

Hon. Eric D. Miller, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Hon. Troy L. Nunley, US District Court for the Eastern District of California

Hon. Richard Seeborg, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Professor Katherine Ball, University of Idaho, College of Law

Daniel Bergeson, Esq., Bergeson LLP

Ben Feuer, Esq., Complex Appellate Litigation Group

Robert Flennaugh, Esq., Flennaugh Law

Peter Habein, Esq., Crowley Fleck Law

Laura Hurtado, Esq., Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman

Robert A. James, Esq., Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman

Matthew Jarvey, Esq., Snell & Wilmer

Steven Kenyon, Clerk of Court, District of Idaho

Rachel Lee, Esq., Stoel Rives LLP

Courtney Linn, Esq., Golden 1 Credit Union

Robert Lowry, Esq., Law Offices of Rob D. Lowry

Sarah MacDonald, Esq., Oracle

Sean McAvoy, District Court Executive and Clerk of Court, Eastern District of Washington

Jonathan Patchen, Esq., Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

Nora Puckett, Esq., Google

Fred A. Rowley, Jr., Esq., Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Kelli Sager, Esq., Davis Wright Tremaine

Roger Townsend, Esq., Breskin Johnson & Townsend

Douglas Young, Esq., Farella Braun + Martel

Caitlin Sinclaire Blythe, Esq., Morrison Foerster

Hon. Anthony Johnstone, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Hon. Michael Liburdi, U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona

Len Simon, Esq., Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP

Adam Hofmann, Esq., Office of California Governor Gavin Newsome

Board Emeritus

Hon. Christine W. Byrd, Los Angeles County Superior Court

Hon. Diarmuid O’Scannlain, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Jerome Braun, Esq., Farella Braun + Martel LLP

Gareth Evans Esq., Redgrave LLP

Kenneth Klee, Esq., Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP

Dean Ziehl, Esq., Pachulski, Stang, Ziehl & Jones