WLALA's Executive Committee with Supervisor Holly Mitchell (from left to right): Jeannine Taylor, Noelle Natoli, Mary McKelvey, Supervisor Holly Mitchell, Janet Hong, Jennie Wang VonCannon and Farah Tabibkhoei
I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane from approximately thirteen thousand feet above the earth a couple of weeks ago. This was voluntary on my part. A dear friend and mentor had a transformative experience with his first jump a couple years ago and his enthusiasm after several more jumps was both infectious and inspiring. Thus, I was persuaded to my “yes.” We boarded a small plane and sat on a hard bench with ten or so others. As the plane ascended, I watched the surface of the earth get smaller and more distant through the open door of the plane.  When the plane reached 12,500 feet we began edging towards the open door. Terror was one of the many emotions flooding my system at that moment. Crouched on the edge of the plane with nothing between me and the wide-open sky, my instructor and I jumped!
WLALA's Holiday Party
We are excited to invite you to our holiday party honoring the newest members of our judiciary on Wednesday, December 15, 2021, from 5:30pm to 8:30pm outside at Redbird in Downtown Los Angeles.
WLALA Foundation's Annual Holiday Dessert Contest
When: Submit a photo or short video of your holiday dessert by Wednesday, December 22, 2021.

Categories: Any sweet treat such as cakes, cookies, pies, or candy

Cost per Entry: $25 minimum donation to WLALA’s Charitable Fund. 

Directions: Register at the link below and make your donation. Submit by email your photo or a short video (under 10 seconds) to info@wlala.org by the deadline. In your email, please include (1) your name and the name of any helpers, and (2) the name of your dessert with an optional brief description. Entries will be judged by an esteemed WLALA Executive Board Panel based upon visual display and creativity. 

Prize: Winners will be featured in WLALA’s January Newsletter and will receive exclusive “bragging rights” as the 2021 champions.

Questions: Email Charitable Fund Co-Chair Sarah Quist.

All proceeds go to WLALA Foundation’s Charitable Fund for scholarships, fellowships, the Power Lunch mentorship program, and other community partnerships. By submitting your entry, you grant WLALA permission to use your photo/video in its newsletters, emails, and/or social media pages.
WLALA Members: Take Our Survey!

WE NEED YOUR VOICE. We want to make WLALA better—more inclusive, more responsive, and more in line with our mission. To do so, it is absolutely critical that we hear from each and every member of the WLALA community. Please take 3 minutes to complete this survey. Because if we don’t know better, we can’t do better. 
Over the last year, WLALA has doubled down on its efforts to promote equality, belonging and anti-racism in the Los Angeles legal community and beyond, but we need to know whether our efforts are having an impact and what else our members expect from us. To that end, WLALA’s Equity, Belonging, and Anti-Racism Committee (EBAR), co-chaired by Merle Vaughn, Meena Patel, and Ariella Simonds, has launched the 2021 WLALA Member Survey. The survey responses will give us important visibility into who WLALA’s members are and how we can best serve them. We also plan to repeat the survey annually so we can hold WLALA accountable to its commitment to constant improvement. 

However, we can’t do this without you. If we don’t hear from a representative selection of WLALA members, we won’t be able to accurately assess how WLALA is doing and the ways we can improve. Even basic demographic information about WLALA’s membership will be skewed if too few members respond. That’s why it is up to each of you to participate in the survey. The great news is that taking the survey is quick and easy: several members have reported it takes no more than 3 minutes to complete!

Each respondent will also be entered into a raffle to win an assortment of prizes.
 
Survey responses will be anonymous but if you have any feedback you would like to share directly with the EBAR committee, please contact us at info@wlala.org and indicate in the subject or body of your email that it is intended for EBAR.
Leveraging Individual Donations for Broader Impact: Strategies for Welcoming New Donors to the WLALA Foundation
The WLALA Foundation annual Charitable Fund campaign officially started in October and runs until January 2022. During this year’s campaign, we are featuring fellowship and scholarship recipients sharing in their own words why the Foundation’s support is so critical. The campaign’s theme – Sowing the Seeds of Social Justice – reflects on how these recipients impact our community far beyond one summer or semester. Not only do they work on important legal issues, which is continued by our community partners, but many WLALA fellows and scholarship recipients also go on to have careers in public interest. 
 
The holiday season demands even more of our time and resources. However, a small commitment of your time can result in a huge impact to the WLALA Foundation. One way to build continued support for WLALA Foundation this campaign season is through personalized asks to your network.
 
For example, Brigit Greeson Alvarez, co-chair of the WLALA Foundation Charitable Fund along with Sarah Quist, asked several friends via text to support the WLALA Foundation with a gift of $100. She arrived at that amount since they likely spend at least $5 a day, five days a week, on breakfast items; over one month this could total over $125. But for less than the cost of their favorite daily joe, they could invest in law students moving our communities forward.
 
As a result, WLALA Foundation is proud to add the following new donors to its impressive roster of contributors:
Cindy Vivanco
Staff Attorney, Central American Legal Resource and Education Center (CARECEN)
Whittier Law School
Maribel Reynoso Blunt
Owner and Principal
Law Office of Maribel Reynoso
University of Kansas School of Law
Pearl Lough
Vice President, Novi Business Integration, Meta/Facebook
UCLA School of Law
Angelica Sedgwick
Staff Attorney, USC Gould School of Law, Immigration Clinic
Berkeley Law School
As WLALA President Mary McKelvey stated at the Awards Dinner in September, we indeed are stronger together. Making the pitch to our own networks for individual donations builds a larger base of individual donors. In this way, we ultimately build broader support for the WLALA Foundation and more importantly the students that benefit from its programs.

Invite your friends and network to support WLALA Foundation today!
Tell them to text “Give” to (213) 262-2638, donate online, or by mail to WLALA; 634 S. Spring St., Ste. 617; Los Angeles, CA 90014
WLALA Foundation and Inner City Law Center
Summer 2022 Fellowship Opportunity
Inner City Law Center (ICLC) and the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles Foundation (WLALA Foundation) are partnering for the fifth year in a row on a law student fellowship program. The WLALA/ICLC Fellow will work with ICLC’s Homeless Veterans Project during the summer of 2022 on issues and cases impacting women veterans and survivors of sexual trauma, and receive a stipend of up to $6,000 from the WLALA Foundation. Students will engage in legal research, draft legal briefs, review medial and military records, work directly with clients and their healthcare providers at the VA, and assist with all aspects of ongoing cases.
Member News
Proud WLALA Board Member and Mentor Laura Jane Kessner helped to facilitate a special ceremony for her WLALA mentee, Leora Ghadoushi, who was sworn in as a member of the California Bar by the Hon. Kimberley Baker Guillemet in November 2021.
Request for Attorney Mentors
Has a mentor impacted your career? Now is the time to pay it forward with WLALA's Law Student Mentor Program! WLALA has over 100 women law students seeking a mentor like you. Click on the button below to show your interest and share how much time you’d be willing to commit... no amount is too small and the rewards are unlimited!
WLALA Facebook Networking
We are excited to announce that WLALA has created a Facebook page for members called WLALA Networking where you can connect with other members. 

Please note that you must be a member to join. Before posting, please be sure to read the Rules
and Guidelines.
WLALA Postcard Designed by Polk Paper
WLALA Immediate Past President Jessica Kronstadt has donated these beautiful postcards, which were specially designed for WLALA by Schuyler Polk of Polk Paper and Grace Cope. Only a limited number of sets of these postcards are available. All proceeds will benefit the WLALA Foundation. 
Welcome to Our New Members
Shannon Aminirad
Elorm C. Augustt
Karin Bachar
Lauren Bashir
Cory Batza
Tamany Bentz
Tiana Boback Carriedo
Michelle Choe
Meleana Chun-Moy
Karissa Cotton
Nicole Davidson
Evelyn Escamilla
Jillian Goodman
Cameron Hammel
Melissa B. Jaffe
Hannah Kim
Holly Lake
Bibiana S. Lee
Sophia Newhouse Brown
Astrid Saenz Huynh
Daisy Sanchez
Stephanie Schestag
Megan Smith
Katherine Takakjian
Melanie E. Walker
Michelle Watkins
Free WLALA Membership
WLALA is offering one complimentary year of membership to WLALA's local sister bar organization members at APAWLA, BWL, and LLBA; New Admittees (those who passed the bar after January 1, 2021); and Law Students!

Offer is good until December 31, 2021. Membership will be good for one year after you register.
WLALA Webinar Recordings
WLALA webinars have been recorded and are available for purchase. Following your purchase, access to the recording will be sent via email. If MCLE credit applies, the materials will be sent after we receive confirmation that the video has been viewed.
Podcast: 19th Amendment Speaker Series
The 19th Amendment Speaker series features interviews with successful, inspirational, and impactful women in entertainment, sports, politics, law, academia, and business. Originally recorded in Summer/Fall 2020 as part of the 19th Amendment Speaker Series, this podcast is presented in conjunction with the National Association of Women Judges and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. Here are six ways to listen to the podcast:
iDepo will make a donation to WLALA if you schedule a court reporting or videotaped deposition with them as follows:

  • $20 donation to WLALA for each court reporting services of at least 100 pages per day.
  • $50 donation to WLALA for each videotaped deposition with at least 100 pages per day.

When scheduling, please email or call and mention code "WLALA." 
Email Calendar@iDepoReporters.com or call 323-393-3768. 

iDepo will send donations to WLALA within 90 days after receipt of payment of invoices.
Marni Barta
Marni Barta is passionate about finding a cure for Rett syndrome, a lifelong neurological disorder that affects mostly girls and women because it is caused by a gene mutation on the X chromosome. Inspired by her cousin who has Rett syndrome, Marni is active on the Junior Committee of the Rett Syndrome Research Trust (RSRT), which is responsible for planning the annual Reverse Rett Los Angeles Gala. Together with the organization, Marni helped raise over $2.3 million at RSRT's recent gala in October 2021—95 percent of which goes directly to fund research. Gene therapy research and other approaches show great promise in curing Rett syndrome, as well as having positive outcomes for disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Outside of trying to find a cure for Rett syndrome, Marni has been an associate in O’Melveny’s Labor and Employment group for the last five years. She is part of its Colleges and Universities group as well, which provides advice to and litigates on behalf of institutions of higher education regarding topics ranging from Title IX to COVID-19 to human resources issues. A Los Angeles native, Marni is excited to join the Board of WLALA, where she is co-chair of the Labor and Employment Committee, and hopes to inspire other young attorneys to get involved with WLALA—particularly for the wonderful networking benefits as more events are being held in person.
APAWLA Young Lawyers and Law Students (YLLS) is having an ongoing Resume Review Workshop. To participate you must be an active APAWLA member. Please send in a Word copy of your resume and/or cover letter to apawla.ylls@gmail.com. You will be assigned an APAWLA board member who will review and suggest revisions in the document with track changes. The anticipated turnaround for feedback is one week. Please be sure to maintain prompt communication. This is an ongoing workshop open until the end of the pandemic.
Seeing Long Careers and Burnout Ahead, Many Young Lawyers Want to Work Less
from The American Lawyer Magazine
JALBCA's Monthly Breast Cancer Support Group
Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert ("JALBCA") is pleased to announce that it has established a Support Group for legal professionals and their loved ones who have been touched by breast cancer. The group will meet by Zoom from 6-7 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month beginning Thursday, December 2, 2021. Upcoming Support Group meetings will be on January 6, 2022, February 3, 2022, March 3, 2022, April 7, 2022, May 5, 2022, and June 2, 2022.

Please join us to share your experiences and feelings in an inclusive and confidential environment with JALBCA members and other legal professionals and their loved ones who recently have been diagnosed with breast cancer and/or are breast cancer survivors and/or have otherwise been touched by breast cancer.

If you plan to attend the December meeting, please email JALBCA’s Executive Director, Claire Gutekunst, by clicking below by noon on December 2, 2021, and she will send you the Zoom link.
NCWBA's Men in the Mix and GOOD Guys:
Bar Leaders Edition
The National Conference of Women's Bar Associations' GOOD Guys (Guys Overcoming Obstacles to Diversity) program educates male lawyers about the benefits everyone in the profession reaps from Diversity Equity and Inclusion. GOOD Guys is a program designed to break the impasse in women’s advancement by engaging people who have been missing from the conversation for too long. It is a model program designed for replication by member organizations. Acting in unison, we can make a bigger impact.
LABF, WLALA, & IWIRC's Paying It Forward: A Fireside Chat
The Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum, the International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation, and WLALA are proud to offer the following free virtual event, which has been approved for 1.5 hours of elimination of bias MCLE.
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