Local
trial lawyer Alan R. Brayton of Brayton
v
Purcell in Novato, California, was elected President of
The TLPJ Foundation on July 16, 2006, at the
organization’s annual membership meeting in Seattle. The
TLPJ Foundation is the nonprofit parent of Trial Lawyers
for Public Justice (TLPJ), a national public interest
law firm dedicated to using trial lawyers’ skills and
resources to advance the public good.
"Al is one of our
nation’s preeminent trial lawyers and a tireless
advocate for public justice,” said outgoing TLPJ
Foundation President Thomas M. Dempsey of the Law
Offices of Thomas M. Dempsey in Los Angeles. “We are
thrilled to have him as our next president.”
Mr.
Brayton is an accomplished lawyer who specializes in
personal injury, products liability, and mass tort
litigation. He also has a national reputation as one of
the foremost attorneys representing victims of
asbestos-related disease. He has served on the Board of
Governors of the Consumer Attorneys of California, has
been active in the leadership of the Tort, Trial and
Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar
Association where he served on its leadership council,
as co-chair of the ABA Asbestos Task Force, Dean of the
National Trial Academy, chair of the Plaintiffs’
Involvement Task Force and in many other positions.
A 1971 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy,
he served 12 years on active duty in the USAF. He
received his J.D. from the University of California at
Berkeley in 1976, and an M.S. in Finance from the
University of California at Los Angeles in 1972.
Mr. Brayton has been an enthusiastic supporter of Trial
Lawyers for Public Justice for over 14 years, has served
on The TLPJ Foundation Board of Directors for nine
years, and has served on the Executive Committee of The
TLPJ Foundation since 2001.
Four other California
attorneys have served as Presidents of The TLPJ
Foundation:
•
Thomas M. Dempsey
of the Law Offices of
Thomas M. Dempsey in Los Angeles;
•
Joseph W. Cotchett
of Cotchett, Pitre,
Simon & McCarthy in San Francisco;
•
J.
Gary Gwilliam
of Gwilliam, Ivary,
Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer in Oakland; and
•
Sal
Liccardo of
The Liccardo Law Firm in Saratoga.
Also at the July 16
annual meeting, four other attorneys were elected new
TLPJ Foundation officers:
•
President-Elect
Sandra H. Robinson of Jack Olender &
Associates in Washington, D.C.;
•
Vice
President Gerson H.
Smoger, Ph.D., of Smoger & Associates in
Dallas;
•
Treasurer
Mona L. Wallace
of Wallace & Graham, P.A., in Salisbury,
North Carolina; and
•
Secretary
Harry G. Deitzler
of the Law Firm of Hill, Peterson, Carper,
Bee & Deitzler, PLLC, in Charleston, West Virginia.
Steven E. Fineman
of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, in San
Francisco, and Jack
Landskroner of Landskroner • Grieco • Madden,
Ltd., in Cleveland, Ohio, were also elected to the
Executive Committee.
Eight other attorneys
were also elected as new TLPJ Foundation Board members:
•
Janet G. Abaray
of Lopez, Hodes, Restaino, Milman & Skikos in
Cincinnati;
•
Mark
A. Chavez of
Chavez & Gertler, LLP, in Mill Valley, California;
•
Jeffrey L. Fazio
of Fazio | Micheletti LLP, in Pleasanton, California;
•
Richard A. Fisher
of the Richard Fisher Law Office in Cleveland,
Tennessee;
•
Ellen A. Presby
of Baron & Budd, P.C., in Dallas;
•
Lee
J. Rohn of
the Law Offices of Rohn and Cameron, LLC, in
Christiansted, St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands;
•
Frederick S. Schwartz
of the Law Office of Frederick S. Schwartz in Los
Angeles; and
•
C.
Andrew Waters
of Waters & Kraus in Dallas.
###
Trial Lawyers for
Public Justice is the only public interest law firm
dedicated to using trial lawyers’ skills and resources
to advance the public good. Founded in 1982, TLPJ
utilizes a network of more than 3,500 of the nation’s
outstanding trial lawyers to pursue precedent-setting
and socially significant litigation. TLPJ has a
wide-ranging litigation docket in the areas of consumer
rights, worker safety, civil rights and liberties, toxic
torts, environmental protection, and access to the
courts. TLPJ is the principal project of The TLPJ
Foundation, a not-for-profit membership organization
headquartered in Washington, DC, with a West Coast
office in Oakland, California. The TLPJ web site address
is www.tlpj.org.
