Monday, July 15, 2002
Page 3
Two Local Lawyers Elected to Lead California Young Lawyers Assn.
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Two Los Angeles attorneys and Loyola Law School graduates have been elected by the members of the California Young Lawyers Association to lead the organization for the next year, the State Bar announced Friday.
Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Anthony Paul Diaz was elected CYLA’s president for the 2002-2003 year and Margaret P. Stevens, a Los Angeles litigation attorney and president-elect of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Barristers, was selected as CYLA’s representative to the State Bar Board of Governors. The elections took place at CYLA’s June 22 meeting.
All California attorneys who are in their first five years of practice or are 36 years of age or younger are automatically members of CYLA. The State Bar established CYLA in 1935 to ensure the interests of young lawyers and new practitioners, two groups of attorneys who are normally active in Bar activities, were represented at the bar level.
Diaz is currently an attorney with City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo’s Neighborhood Prosecutors program, a project which assigns deputy city attorneys to particular neighborhoods to work with police officers and community members to identify “small” crimes. The neighborhood prosecutors join forces with the Citywide Nuisance Abatement Program to rid Los Angeles neighborhoods of quality-of-life crimes.
He completed his undergraduate work at Georgetown University.
Stevens, an associate with the Los Angeles law firm of Baker, Keener & Nahra, has been actively involved with the Barristers of the Los Angeles County Bar since she was an evening student at Loyola Law School, serving as the student liaison to the organization. Before joining Baker Keener & Nahra, Stevens worked for the The Morris Group Advertising Company. She graduated from University of Southern California.
Both Diaz and Stevens currently represent District Seven, which covers Los Angeles County.
San Diego attorney Craig M. Nicholas, who focuses his practice on business litigation and antitrust counseling, was elected first vice president and Sharon Nagle, a Walnut Creek litigator who handles eminent domain and real estate issues, was selected as second vice president. Nicholas represents District Nine and Nagle represents District Three.
Sacramento attorney Maralee MacDonald, who represents District Two, was elected secretary. MacDonald specializes in commercial litigation, intellectual property enforcement and unfair competition claims.
Michael L. Bury, a representative of District One, was elected to be the new CYLA’s treasurer. Bury, a family law attorney from Chico, also serves on the board of directors for the Community Action Agency of Butte County.
Copyright 2002, Metropolitan News Company