Speakers
Betty Williams
Betty Williams is the Managing Shareholder at the Law Office of Williams & Associates, P.C. in Sacramento, California. She specializes in civil and criminal tax matters, including appeals and settlements of income tax, employment tax, sales and use tax, and excise tax matters. She defends criminal clients and negotiates plea agreements in areas such as structuring and tax evasion. Betty has worked extensively on multi-state and residency nexus issues and works with clients in rapidly changing fields including Marijuana Related Businesses and Cryptocurrency. She has obtained penalty abatement relief for her clients into the millions. Betty has represented clients before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Tax Court, the International Chamber of Commerce, in Superior Courts, and before the California Office of Tax Appeals.
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Betty is the President of the California Lawyers Association; a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel; a member of the California Office of Tax Appeals’ external advisory committee, and serves on the CJA Trial Panel for the Office of the Federal Defender. Betty regularly presents articles and seminars in the United States on various tax controversy matters and has received numerous awards in her field.
Chris Nguyen
Chris Nguyen is the CEO of the California Lawyers Association (CLA) and the Executive Director of the California Lawyers Foundation (CLF). He brings over a decade of senior leadership experience to CLA in diverse industries such as Higher Education, Finance, and Energy. He has worked for a couple of multinational companies in his career and has worked overseas where he provided small business training to entrepreneurs in emerging countries in addition to helping lead an international university. Chris holds a BS, MBA, and JD.
Erika Doherty
Erika Doherty is the Program Director of the State Bar’s Office of Professional Competence, which focuses on ensuring that California lawyers are aware of, and in compliance with, their professional responsibility obligations. In her role as attorney to the State Bar’s Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct (COPRAC), she led the development and adoption of the Practical Guidance for the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Practice of Law, the first regulatory guidance for lawyers, approved in November 2023.
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Erika Doherty is the Program Director of the State Bar’s Office of Professional Competence, which focuses on ensuring that California lawyers are aware of, and in compliance with, their professional responsibility obligations. In her role as attorney to the State Bar’s Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct (COPRAC), she led the development and adoption of the Practical Guidance for the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Practice of Law, the first regulatory guidance for lawyers, approved in November 2023.
She has worked in a variety of capacities at the State Bar, including as Senior Attorney in the State Bar Court, Assistant General Counsel in the Office of General Counsel, and staffing the State Bar’s Ethics Hotline. She also was an attorney for the California Supreme Court’s Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions.
Ms. Doherty received her Bachelor of Arts from UC Santa Barbara and her Juris Doctorate from American University, Washington College of Law.
Jeremy Evans
Jeremy M. Evans is an award-winning attorney and industry leader based in Los Angeles and Newport Beach, California. Mr. Evans is an expert in best practices and negotiations in entertainment, media and sports. He represents entertainment, media, and sports clients in contractual and intellectual property negotiations with a focus on dealmaking. His clients range from Fortune 500 corporations to entrepreneurs, advertising and production companies, studios, agencies, talent, and more.
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Mr. Evans is the CEO, Founder, and Managing Attorney of California Sports Lawyer®. He writes a weekly column and hosts the California Sports Lawyer® Podcast with Jeremy Evans on the Bleav Network, which focuses on the latest topics and most interesting legal angles in entertainment, media, and sports law.
Within the community, Mr. Evans previously served as President of the California Lawyers Association (CLA), one of the largest voluntary bar associations in the world. He currently serves as President of the California Lawyers Foundation, the non-profit arm of the CLA, and as Chair of CLA’s Task Force on Artificial Intelligence. He is also a member of the Board of Advisors for the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation, a centennial campaign for the Rose Bowl Stadium. He serves as an advisor to entrepreneurs in entertainment, media, and sports for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and is a member of the faculty of law at the California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) Graduate Program in Sport Management.
Mr. Evans received his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California. Additionally, Mr. Evans holds a Master of Laws (LL.M) in Entertainment, Media, and Sports Law from Pepperdine University’s Rick J. Caruso School of Law, and a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) in Entertainment, Media and Sports Management from Pepperdine University’s George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management.
Judge Lệ Jacqueline Dương
Judge Lệ Jacqueline Dương was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger on May 23, 2007, and is the first Vietnamese American woman appointed to the bench in northern California. Judge Dương was born in Vietnam and fled by boat with her family to the United States after the fall of Saigon in April of 1975. As refugees, Judge Dương and her family resettled first in Butler, Pennsylvania, then moved to San Jose, California, in 1980. Raised by a single parent, Judge Dương is a graduate of the California public school system. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from San Jose State University in 1991 and her Juris Doctorate from UC Davis School of Law in 1994. She worked for Santa Clara County Office of the Public Defender for more than three years, then joined Santa Clara County Office of County Counsel where she worked for over eight years before her judicial appointment.
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Judge Dương currently serves in the civil division, handling the probate and mental health calendars, is Co-Chair of her court’s Intern Committee and Member of the Equality and Social Justice Committee, which she helped established in 2020. She has also served on statewide committees including Judicial Council committees involving Ethics and Fairness Curriculum, Access and Fairness, and Cultural Competency, and CJA Conference Planning Committee, and Criminal and Probate Committees. She has served as a member of the Executive Committee and as Presiding Judge of the Superior Court Appellate. Judge Dương has a long history of service to the community, having co-founded three organizations that continue to serve the community: Vietnamese American Bar association of Northern California, National Conference of Vietnamese American Attorneys, and Vietnamese American Professional Women of Silicon Valley.
Judge Dương has received awards and recognition from East Side Union School District Hall of Fame, Santa Clara County Bar Association Women Lawyers, San Jose State University Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi Distinguished Alumni, National Conference of Vietnamese American Attorneys Trailblazer, Asian Law Alliance Legal Impact, and Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California Trailblazer, and was named as one of the “Women of Influence in Silicon Valley” by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.
Judge Scott Schlegel
Judge Schlegel, a recent inductee into the Louisiana Justice Hall of Fame, was elected to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal in 2023. During Judge Schlegel’s decade on the trial court, he designed and managed “what may be one of the most advanced courts in the country for delivering justice online,” according to one leading legal tech journalist.
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Judge Schlegel currently serves as the Chair of the Louisiana Supreme Court Technology Commission and was recently appointed to the Advisory Council of the ABA Task Force on the Law and Artificial Intelligence. He is a past President of the Louisiana District Judges Association (LDJA) and serves on many other committees. Judge Schlegel has received numerous awards including the National Center for State Courts’ 26th Annual William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence, one of the highest judicial honors in the country. Judge Schlegel was also featured on the cover of the American Bar Association Journal and is a nationally recognized speaker on legal tech and the modernization of the justice system.
Prior to his election to the bench, Judge Schlegel was one of the top felony prosecutors in the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office. He practiced civil law with an emphasis in products liability before becoming a prosecutor. Judge Schlegel graduated with honors from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where he served as the President of the Student Bar Association. He has been married to his high school sweetheart, Representative Laurie Schlegel, for nearly 25 years and has one son in college.
Luis A. Céspedes
Judicial Appointments Secretary Luis A. Cespedes was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom on December 10, 2020. In announcing the appointment, Governor Newsom said, “Luis Cespedes has championed the cause of civil rights, equal justice, diversity, and inclusion throughout his storied legal career. From his days as a 15-year-old going on strike with the United Farm Workers alongside Cesar Chavez, to his time as a Capitol staffer and decades as a lawyer, Luis’ resilience and compassion have touched countless lives and earned the respect of countless others. I am proud to have him join our team and look forward to his counsel as we continue to build a bench that reflects the rich diversity of California.” (Governor Gavin Newsom’s Press Release – 12/10/2020).
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Mr. Cespedes received his B.A. in political science and M.A. in urban studies from Occidental College in Los Angeles. He is a graduate of the prestigious CORO Foundation Fellowship in Public Affairs. He received his Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. During law school, he was appointed to the Solano County Grand Jury and named by Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. to serve on the Medical Quality Review Committee, District 3 and was a graduate legal assistant for the Solano County Public Defender’s Office.
Secretary Cespedes was employed by the California State Legislature as senior consultant to the Assembly Office of Majority Consultants for Speaker of the Assembly, the late Leo T. McCarthy (D-San Francisco); Administrative Assistant to Assembly Member Vic Fazio (D-West Sacramento); and Principal Consultant to the Assembly Health Committee chaired by former State Senator Art Torres (D-Los Angeles). Secretary Cespedes was employed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles and his practice included litigating employment discrimination claims in state and federal court, Unruh Act civil rights violations, personal injury and wrongful death, criminal defense, including post-conviction relief to protect immigrant workers and families in federal deportation proceedings.
Mr. Cespedes chaired the Lawyers Advisory Committee to the Sacramento City Council’s Safe Haven Task Force, which established and funded the Family Unity, Education and Legal (FUEL) Network providing legal representation for parents facing removal and potential separation from their U.S. citizen minor children.
Secretary Cespedes was named “Distinguished Attorney of the Year” during the Sacramento County Bar Association’s centennial celebration in 2018. He has served as commissioner and chair of the Sacramento Housing & Redevelopment Commission and is a co-founder of the renown Sacramento Unity Bar Association and the Cruz Reynoso Bar Association. He was a member of the Board of Directors for Northern California Legal Services, Capital Unity Council and Valley Vision, among other community-based organizations. He was appointed by federal district court judge David Levi (ret.) to serve on the Civil Justice Reform Act Committee for the Eastern District and selected to serve as a civil settlement conference pro tem judge, juvenile court pro tem referee and judicial arbitrator for the Sacramento County Superior Court. Secretary Cespedes was named to the Sacramento County Bar Association’s Court Funding Task Force which was successful in helping finance the county’s new courthouse under construction in downtown Sacramento. Secretary Cespedes has been married to Ms. Laurrel Montoya Cespedes for 48 years who he met at Occidental College. She owned and operated an employment training company to assist managers and supervisors prevent sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. They have three daughters who are also graduates of the University of California, and six grandchildren – 3 boys and 3 girls who live nearby.
Mike Fury
Mike previously served as a technology leader in K12 education in northern California for over 20 years. His expertise is supporting digital learning, infrastructure, data systems, IT Service Management, and aligning IT with organizational strategy. He brings to California Lawyers Association a broad perspective being a current and former small business owner, with prior experience in retail, food service, construction, manufacturing support, and software development. He holds several professional certifications and was a mentor in a CTO leadership development program for 12 years. Mike enjoys the outdoors, traveling, music, guitar, home improvement, time with friends, family, and being a dad.
Rich Mize
Rich Mize is the Finance and Operations Director at the California Lawyers Association. Rich has a background in non-profit organizations and experience working in professional associations. Before CLA, he served as the Chief Financial Officer for the California Bankers Association and a Controller at the California Medical Association. Rich’s experience includes helping organizations improve their operations and internal controls to work with efficiency and effectiveness. Outside of work, Rich enjoys volunteering with a youth group, music, and spending time with family.
Shay Cleary
Shay Cleary is an accomplished court information technology professional and Managing Director of NCSC Court Consulting Services, responsible for overseeing technology, cybersecurity, and court space initiatives. With over 20 years of experience in the field, Shay has held various roles within the Minnesota Judicial Branch, including technical writer, business architect, information technology manager, and IT deputy director. He has led numerous projects focused on technical leadership, infrastructure, procurement, process improvement, and end-user support, and is passionate about leveraging technology to enhance court administration and outcomes.
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Before joining NCSC, Shay worked as a technology consultant and senior project manager at Mission Critical Partners, a firm specializing in government data, infrastructure management and cybersecurity in the public safety, justice, and utility sectors. Shay’s qualifications include a master’s degree in business communication and a bachelor’s degree in technical communication, in addition to certifications as a Certified Court Manager (CCM), ITIL Foundations Practitioner, ICS2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CCC), and membership in NACM, IJIS, and the Data Governance Institute (DGI). He was also appointed to the Advisory Council of the ABA Task Force on the Law and Artificial Intelligence, staffs the Conference of Chief Justices and Conference of State Court Administrators AI Rapid Response Team, and frequently speaks domestically and internationally on the impact of AI and the courts.
Shay’s expertise in court technology was instrumental in Minnesota’s statewide transition to an electronic environment, and his leadership continues to drive innovation and improve court systems across the country.
Tara Burd
Ms. Burd currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Representatives of the California Lawyers Association. She is a Shareholder at Klinedinst PC, Chair of their Trusts and Estates Department, and a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law by The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. Ms. Burd has served as a Representative of the CLA’s Real Property Law Section for four years after serving as its Co-Chair and Executive Committee Members. She is also active in the Health and Wellness Committee and a past chair of the Membership Engagement Committee, during which committees for Cannabis Industry Practitioners and ESG were established.
Terrance J. Evans
Terrance J. Evans is a Partner in the San Francisco and Los Angeles offices of Duane Morris LLP, where he serves as the Co-Leader of the firm’s Banking and Financial Services Practice. Mr. Evans is also the Co-Chair of the Duane Morris San Francisco Diversity and Inclusion Committee. His practice is focused on representing clients in federal and state trial and appellate courts across the United States including the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Evans also regularly counsels clients regarding racial justice and diversity and inclusion issues. He has led dozens of diversity trainings for judges, lawyers, law students, and members of the community around the United States.
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Mr. Evans is Vice Chair of the California Lawyers Association (“CLA”), the largest voluntary state bar association in the United States. He is Past President of the Charles Houston Bar Association, the oldest Black Bar Association in California. He is the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the CLA Racial Justice Committee; Past Chair of the Litigation Section of the California Lawyers Association; Co-Chair of the American Bar Association ICLC Diversity & Inclusion Committee, Member of the Bar Association of San Francisco Judicial & Finance Committees; Director of Region IX of the National Bar Association, and he is the first Person of Color elected to serve as an officer of the California Lawyers Association. Mr. Evans has spoken at more than 200 diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and civil rights programs in partnership with more than 65 law schools, bar associations, colleges, universities, high schools, law firms, churches, and other organizations. Mr. Evans also frequently appears on national and local television and radio discussing issues ranging from the United States Supreme Court and California courts to important legislation and civil rights issues.
In 2016, Mr. Evans was honored by the National Bar Association as one of the top African American attorneys in the USA under age 40. In 2017, he was honored by the Charles Houston Bar Association for his work promoting diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. In 2018, Mr. Evans was honored by the Minority Bar Coalition for his contributions to promoting diversity and inclusion throughout California. In 2019, Mr. Evans was honored by New Dawn Vallejo for his work promoting diversity and inclusion and pro bono legal services. In 2020, Mr. Evans was recognized by Chambers for his efforts to promote diversity and inclusion throughout the United States. In 2021, Mr. Evans was honored by the Bar Association of San Francisco and Justice and Diversity Center for his diversity and inclusion work in Northern California and throughout the United States. In 2021, Mr. Evans was also honored by American Lawyer Magazine as a Trail Blazer.
In 2022, Mr. Evans was also honored by the Minority Bar Coalition for a second time for his efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the United States. In 2022 and 2023, Mr. Evans was honored by the Los Angeles Times as being one of the foremost leaders on diversity, equity, and inclusion issues in the State of California. In 2023, Mr. Evans was named by the Recorder as one of the top 5 most influential attorneys in California on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion issues. During his legal career, Mr. Evans has raised more than $500,000 for scholarships for underprivileged students. Mr. Evans has also created five annual scholarship that have provided tens of thousands of dollars to under privileged students in the Asian, Black, Hispanic, Native American, and LGBTQ Communities. In 2023, the National Bar Association named Mr. Evans the Regional Director of the Year, and he was honored with a President’s Award by President Lonita K. Baker. In 2024, Mr. Evans received the Cunningham Award from the California Association of Black Lawyers for his DEI work.