Boards/Committees

Former Chief Judge Richard Posner (1993-2000)
US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circ. and Honorary Board Member

Following his graduation from Harvard Law School, Judge Posner clerked for Justice William J. Brennan Jr. From 1963-65, he was assistant to Commissioner Philip Elman of the Federal Trade Commission. Prior to going to Stanford Law School in 1968 as associate professor, Judge Posner served as general counsel of the President's Task Force on Communications Policy. He first came to the Law School in 1969, and was Lee and Brena Freeman Professor of Law prior to his appointment in 1981 as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He was the chief judge of the court from 1993 to 2000.

Judge Alex Kozinski
US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circ.

Judge Alex Kozinski (born July 23, 1950) is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan on November 7, 1985, Kozinski has won supporters from the left and the right with his common-sense decisions and libertarian instinct. His writing is clear and often humorous, and has been featured in mainstream publications such as Forbes and Slate.

Justice Carol A. Corrigan
Supreme Court, California

Carol A. Corrigan (born August 16, 1948, in Stockton, California) is a Justice of the California Supreme Court. On December 9, 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger nominated her to the Supreme Court of California to replace Justice Janice Rogers Brown, who resigned to accept an appointment to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She was confirmed in this position January 4, 2006.

Justice James D. Ward
Justice, California Court of Appeal, retired

Justice James D. Ward of the California Court of Appeal served from 1996 to 2005. He was also a Judge on the Riverside Superior Court from 1993 to 1996. Previously, he practiced law for 33 years, mainly in the field of civil litigation. He also represented media clients on First Amendment issues and successfully argued cases before the United States Supreme Court. In 2003 he was named California Jurist of the Year by the California Judicial Council.

William C. Burton
Partner, D'Amato & Lynch

William C. Burton is a partner in the renowned law firm of D'Amato & Lynch, New York, New York and London. His practice is devoted to lobbying at the federal and state levels. He has served as a New York State Assistant Attorney General and an Assistant New York State Special Prosecutor. For fifteen years he was Director of Government Affairs for Continental Insurance in New York City. He is the author of Burton's Legal Thesaurus, a nationally known legal reference tool . The book is now in its fourth edition and celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Dr. Rubens Medina
Law Librarian of Congress

Rubens Medina has been Law Librarian, Library of Congress, since 1994. He holds a law degree from the National University of Ascunción, Paraguay, and a Ph.D. in Law and Sociology from the University of Wisconsin. He has practiced and taught law in Paraguay and Chile and supervised research and publication on Latin American law in the Law Library, Medina is Project Director of the Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) currently centered in the Law Library, Library of Congress.

Stephen R. Mysliwiec
Partner, DLA Piper

Stephen Mysliwiec has more than 25 years of trial and appellate experience in the federal and state courts, arbitration, and mediation. He has extensive experience in insurance coverage, suretyship, construction defect, and product liability litigation. Mr. Mysliwiec is active in the firm's litigation, real estate, and construction training programs, and he has written and lectured on a number of construction and insurance topics. He is a frequent lecturer on litigation and insurance issues.

Nancy Schultz, Esq.
Representative, Association of Legal Writing Directors

Ms. Schultz practiced with two of the largest law firms in Philadelphia, then went into general practice for a year. She became Director of Legal Research and Writing at the George Washington University Law School, where she remained for seven years before coming to Chapman University Law School. Professor Schultz coaches teams for interscholastic competitions in trial and appellate advocacy, negotiations, and client counseling.

Dennis Smith
Former Senator and Member of the Judiciary Committee, Missouri Legislature

Dennis W. Smith has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance since its inception in May 1994. He is responsible for the strategic development of the company, as well as overall management and business implementation, and serves as chief spokesman.

Geralyn M. Presti

Geralyn M. Presti is the General Counsel, Senior Vice President and Assistant Secretary at Forest City Enterprises, Inc., one of the nation's largest and publicly traded real estate companies as rated by "Fortune" magazine. For her many successes she was named a Legend in Law at the 2007 Burton Awards function. Geri has also been given the prestigious ranking of "Ohio Super Lawyer" for the last four years.

Geri Presti is A-V rated by Martindale-Hubbell, and she was elected to the Society of Benchers by the Board of Governors of the Case Western Reserve University Law School. Her present professional affiliations include serving on the Board of Trustees of the L.L.M. Program for U.S. Legal Studies, the School of Law Dean's Advisory Counsel, and on the Executive Committee at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

Patricia L. Groff, CLM

Ms. Groff is Director of Administration for Butz Dunn & DeSantis in San Diego, California. She is the 2007-2008 President of the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) and serves as the ALA member on the Burton Awards program. Ms. Groff taught Legal Ethics and Risk Management at UCSD Extension and serves on the UCSD Extension Paralegal Advisory Board. She has acquired the designation of Certified Legal Manager (CLMSM).

Virgina Wise, Esq. Chair

Virginia Wise, Chair of the Board, is presently a lecturer on law at Harvard Law School and an adjunct professor at Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Ms. Wise previously taught at the University of Michigan School of Library and Information Science, Boston University Law School, and as a visiting professor at the University of Washington.

Anne E. Kringel, Esq. Vice Chair

Anne E. Kringel is Senior Lecturer on Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She is also the Legal Writing Director. She serves as a member of the Academic Board on the Burton Awards and is also the Chair of the "Outstanding Contributions to Legal Writing Education Committee" which selects one individual who has had a demonstrable impact on legal writing.

Grace Tonner, Esq.

Grace Tonner is a clinical professor of law and director of the Law School’s Legal Practice Program. She earned a B.A., magna cum laude, in political science at California State University at Long Beach, and then went on to earn her J.D., cum laude, at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Her emphasis in law school was commercial law and she backed up her interests with honors and activities to broaden her understanding.

Judge Forstenzer

Honorable Edward Forstenzer, judge on the Superior Court of California;

William Ryan

William Ryan, member of the Department of Homeland Security, former Chair, White House Plain Language Committee, and direct descendant of Noah Webster.