San Francisco's Legal Aid Society Elects New Board Members

(SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.) The board of directors of the Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center recently elected seven new members and named Board Officer positions for 2006. The new members are James M. Finberg, partner at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP; James H. Fleming, partner at Reed Smith LLP; Mark R. Levie, partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP; and Marc A. Lackner, Associate General Counsel at Bank of America; Steven M. Plevin, partner at Nixon Peabody LLP; and the Honorable Fern M. Smith, Retired Judge, United States District Court, currently with Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, "JAMS;" and Darin Snyder, partner at O'Melveny & Myers LLP.

The Officers of the Board of Directors: Robert M. Dell, Chair, of Latham & Watkins LLP; Richard W. Odgers, Executive Vice Chair, of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP; Jose R. Allen, Vice Chair, of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; Elizabeth Cabraser, Vice Chair, of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP; Mary Jo C. Shartsis, Vice Chair, of Shartsis Friese LLP, Lisa McCabe van Krieken, Secretary, of Folger Levin & Kahn, LLP, and Scott A. Fink, Treasurer, of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

James M. Finberg, partner at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, focuses on labor and employment law; he has an extensive list of legal publications and has served on the Board of Directors for several Bar Associations and public interest organizations. He received his J.D. from the University of Chicago in 1983 and his B.A. from Brown University in 1980.

James H. Fleming, partner at Reed Smith LLP, focuses on life insurance and financial transaction litigation and class action defense; he also has an active appellate practice handling free speech, election law and freedom of information. He received his J.D. from the University of Southern California in 1968 and his B.S. from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1964.

Marc A. Lackner, Associate General Counsel at Bank of America, manages and supports the Bank's Consumer Lending litigation team, and its work in Deposit Product, Corporate Real Estate and Communications. He received his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of Law in 1983 and his B.A. from the University of California, Davis in 1974.

Mark R. Levie, partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliff LLP, is Chair of the firm's Structured Finance Group and is a member of the firm's Executive Committee; his practice concentrates in corporate law, finance and securities law. He received his J.D., magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1976 and his B.A. from the University of Illinois in 1973.

Steven M. Plevin, partner at Nixon Peabody LLP, leads the firm's Regulated Financial Institutions team, and practices in several areas including corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, and securities law. He received his J.D., magna cum laude from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1975 and his B.A. from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1971.

The Honorable Fern M. Smith, Retired Judge, United States District Court, Northern District of California, is currently with Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, "JAMS." Judge Smith was a prominent litigator with Bronson, Bronson & McKinnon before her first judgeship at San Francisco Superior Court. She received her J.D. from the Stanford Law School in 1975 and her B.A. with Distinction, Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University in 1972.

Darin Snyder, Managing Partner of O'Melveny & Myers' San Francisco office, heads two of the firm's practice groups; his practice focuses on civil and criminal litigation with an emphasis on intellectual property and technology-intensive business sectors. He received his J.D., cum laude from the University of Chicago in 1988 and his B.A., cum laude from Georgetown University in 1985.



back to Media and Publications Archive