Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

 

Page 3

 

Outgoing Governor Taps Three Local Attorneys for State Panels

 

By a MetNews Staff Writer

 

In the waning days of his administration as governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the reappointment of local attorneys to the Uniform Law Commission, California Board of Accountancy and Little Hoover Commission.

Encino practitioner Marshal A. Oldman was tapped for another term on the California Board of Accountancy on Sunday. The appointments of Daniel E. Robbins, associate general counsel for the Motion Picture Association of America Inc., to the Uniform Law Commission and Century City attorney David A. Schwarz to the Milton Marks “Little Hoover” Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy were also announced by Schwarzenegger on Friday.

Oldman, 59, has served on the California Board of Accountancy since 2007. The board is charged with regulating the accounting profession for the public interest. Appointment to the board does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem.

He has been a partner at Oldman, Cooley, Sallus, Gold, Birnberg & Coleman since 1978 practicing in the areas of probate and trust administration, litigation, conservatorships and estate planning.

The attorney is an occasional contributor to the MetNews Legal Community page and has served as chair of the State Bar’s Trust and Estate Section, chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Probate Section, and as president of the San Fernando Valley Legal Foundation.

A graduate of USC and UCLA Law School, Oldman was admitted to practice in 1976.

Robbins, 43, has served as a commissioner for the ULC, formerly known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Law, since 2007.

Non-Partisan Body

The ULC describes itself as a non-partisan body comprised attorneys and judges who have been appointed by state governments as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to research, draft and promote enactment of uniform state laws in areas where uniformity is desirable and practical. Appointment to the ULC does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem.

Since 2000, Robbins he has been the vice president, associate general counsel and chief technology counsel for the Motion Picture Association of America, where he previously served as domestic counsel from 1996 and 1999. Robbins was an attorney for the Los Angeles office of the law firm of Graham & James from 1992 and 1996 and for Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz in 1992.

Robbins graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Vanderbilt University before attending law school at UCLA and joining the State Bar in 1991.

Schwarz, 50, has served as a member of the Little Hoover Commission since 2007.

The commission describes itself as an independent state oversight agency created in 1962 to investigate state government operations and issue reports, recommendations and legislative proposals to promote efficiency, economy and improved service. Commissioner appointments do not require Senate confirmation and there is no salary.

For the past decade, Schwartz has been a partner with Irell &Manella. He served as special assistant to Ambassador Morris Abram, U.S. permanent representative to the European Office of the United Nations, from 1989 to 1991.

Prior to that, Schwarz served as a law clerk to Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski, now chief judge. Schwartz graduated from Columbia University and Duke law school before joining the State Bar in 1992.

Schwarzenegger also announced the appointment of Roy Ashburn, 56, to the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board on Sunday. This quasi-judicial position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $128,109.

Ashburn has served as a member of the California State Senate, representing the 18th District, from 2002 until last month. Ashburn was a member of the California State Assembly, representing the 32nd District from 1996 to 2002. He was a member of the Kern County Board of Supervisors from 1984 to 1996.

Hollingsworth Named

Schwarzenegger made a final appointment to the CUIAB on Sunday, naming another termed-out lawmaker, Dennis Hollingsworth, 43, of Murietta. The former Senate Republican leader represented the 36th District From 2002 to 2010, and was assemblyman from the 66th District for two years before that.

Other appointments announced by Schwarzenegger on Friday include the reappointments of Pamela Winston Bertani of Sacramento and David Clark of Lafayette, and the appointments of Sacramento attorney Martin D. Carr and San Clemente practitioner John G. Cruz, to the ULC.

Cynthia E. Bryant, also of Sacramento, was named to the California Exposition and State Fair Board of Directors, and Dorene D’Adamo of Modesto was appointed to the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley.

Bertani, 56, has served as a member of the ULC since 2007 and worked for the Law Offices of John P. Costello since 2006.

From 2000 to 2006, Bertani was an associate attorney for Weintraub, Genshlea & Chediak Law Corporation. She was an associate attorney for Dillingham & Murphy from 1997 to 2000 and a products liability technical analyst for Crosby, Heafey, Roach & May from 1995 to 1997. Bertani worked as an Intellectual property prosecution and licensing legal intern for Bayer in 1994 and an associate research immunologist for Wiles Laboratories from 1988 to 1992.

Bertani attended UC Berkeley and the Arizona State University School of Law before being licensed in California in 1996.

Clark, 61, has served as a member of the ULC since 2008 and as managing director for Boerio and Company since 1998.

He worked as a consultant for Coopers & Lybrand from 1996 to 1998 and was a senior advisor for Barents Group in 1997. Clark was a senior staff attorney for Mitretch Systems in 1996 and was an instructor of law for the University of San Francisco Law School in Cambodia in 1996.

Clark was a self-employed tax consultant from 1987 to 1994 and a senior tax manager for Arthur Anderson and Company from 1977 to 1986.

Prior to joining the State Bar in 1977, Clark attended the University of San Francisco School of Law. He also worked as an IRS field agent from 1971 to 1974 after graduating from Stanford University.

Carr, 39, he has been a partner at Belzar & Carr since 2004. Prior to that, Carr was an associate attorney for Livingston & Mattesich Law Corporation from 2001 to 2002.

He was the student director of the Housing and Community Development Clinic at his alma mater, Yale Law School, from 1996 to 1998.

Carr completed his undergraduate education at Stanford University and joined the California State Bar in 2000.

 Cruz, 59, had served as Schwarzenegger’s appointments secretary since 2007. Previously, Cruz was a commissioner for the California Gambling Control Commission from 2005 to 2007.

He practiced law for Daehnke & Cruz from 1992 to 2005. Cruz is a co-founder and member of Hispanic 100 and a member of the Santa Ana Education Foundation Board of Directors.

The graduate of CSU Fullerton and the University of Michigan Law School was admitted to practice in 1979.

Chief Deputy

Bryant, 52, has served as chief deputy director in the Department of Finance since January 2010. From 2006 to January 2010, Bryant was deputy chief of staff and director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research and, from 2003 to 2006, she served as chief deputy legislative secretary in the Office of the Governor.

She served as the director for the Senate Republican Office of Policy from 2000 to 2003, where she previously was lead policy advisor to the Senate Republican Caucus from 1999 to 2000.

Previously, Bryant served as legal counsel to the Assembly Republican Caucus from 1997 to 1999 and deputy chief administrative officer and legal counsel to the Assembly Rules Committee from 1996 to 1997.

Prior to that, Bryant worked for the public affairs firm Russo, Marsh & Rapper as vice president from 1993 to 1996 and as an account executive from 1986 to 1993.

She attended Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore. and UC Hastings Law School. Bryant was admitted to practice in 1995.

Appointment to the position on California Exposition and State Fair Board of Directors requires Senate confirmation and there is no salary.

D’Adamo, 50, has served as a member of the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley since 2007. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no salary.

The appointee has served as senior policy advisor for Congressman Dennis Cardoza since 2003. Prior to that, D’Adamo was legal counsel and legislative director for Congressman Gary Condit from 1994 to 2003 and an attorney in the Law Offices of Perry & Wildman from 1992 to 1994.

Previously, she was a visiting lecturer at CSU Stanislaus from 1992 to 1998 and a consultant to the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau from 1991 to 1992.

D’Adamo is chair of the California Air Resources Board Agricultural Air Quality Advisory Committee and a member of the Northern District Regional Coordinating Committee, Merced Junior College, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Department Advisory Committee and Merced County Board of Supervisors High Speed Rail Citizens Advisory Committee.

A graduate of UC Davis and the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law, D’Adamo was admitted to the State Bar in 1986.

 

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