Board of Directors
Martha Belcher
UC Law SF, 1983
Chairwoman Emerita
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Martha is Of Counsel in the Business practice group at Foster Pepper PLLC. She represents banks and financial institutions with issues related to risk management, mortgage and consumer lending, mortgage servicing and wealth management. Martha has significant experience in secondary marketing, bank products and private banking. She also has experience representing financial institutions before federal financial institution regulators.
Prior to joining Foster Pepper, Martha was an in-house attorney at numerous banks including CIT Bank, OneWest Bank, Bank of the West and IndyMac Federal Bank.
Martha is a Tony Patino Fellow from Hastings College of the Law, where she graduated cum laude. Martha has served on the Board since 1985, served as Chair of the Board from 1999 to 2008, and now serves as Chairwoman Emerita.
Stephen P. Van Liere
UC Law SF, 1991
Chairman
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Steve Van Liere is Vice President, Business Development at Intensity, where he drives new business development with AmLaw 100/200/elite boutique law firms and corporate legal departments. Mr. Van Liere has worked as a lawyer, executive search consultant, and professional services provider to the legal industry for over 25 years. He has founded and built a legal recruiting company, achieving profitability in its first year of operation, built and managed a legal services sales operations, and led a regional office of an ADR company, where he increased revenue by 44%. He raised the office’s profitability from 36th to 6th highest in the company.
Mr. Van Liere joined Intensity from a global legal consulting firm. He previously worked to expand the legal industry’s use of Technology Assisted Review (TAR) at the industry’s leading TAR services provider. Prior to that, Mr. Van Liere conducted national searches for general counsels, chief compliance officers, law firm partners, and law firm executives as a partner in one of the largest executive search firms in the world, after founding and building his legal industry recruiting company. A former San Francisco-based business litigator, Mr. Van Liere worked for many years as the Northern California/Hawaii regional vice president for the world’s largest provider of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services.
Mr. Van Liere is a proud Wolverine, having earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he was an editor of the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review and a Tony Patino Fellow.
Douglas Weinberg
Chicago, 1993
Vice-Chair
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Doug is the founder and CEO of Cobius Healthcare Solutions, LLC, a Chicago-based healthcare information technology company. Cobius provides advanced solutions for the revenue cycle, compliance, and health information management. The company works with many of the nation’s top hospitals and healthcare systems, commercial payers, government agencies, and other stakeholders.
Prior to founding Cobius, Doug was an attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom, LLP. He specialized in corporate, technology, and international transactions. Doug worked with US- and foreign-based clients in a variety of industries. His projects included a World Bank-funded program to assist former member countries of the Soviet Union draft new legal codes.
Earlier in his career, Doug was a consultant at McKinsey & Company, helping Fortune 1000 companies on matters of strategy and organizational effectiveness. His clients spanned many industries, including retail, finance, healthcare, consumer products, and manufacturing. Doug staffed several newly-opened McKinsey offices in the US and Europe. He also co-authored articles for a book about cross-border alliances and acquisitions and their impact on global collaboration.
Outside of work, Doug is involved with several charitable groups. He is a Tony Patiño Fellow from the University of Chicago Law School, where he received his J.D. in 1993. He received his A.B. in political science from Princeton University.
Doug has been on the Tony Patiño Fellowship Board of Directors since 2005. He serves as the Vice-President of the Board, and is a member of the Finance, Renewal, and Screening Committees. He is also the Chicago co-chapter leader.
Nathan Christensen
Chicago, 2008
Treasurer
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Nathan is the CEO of Mammoth HR, which serves over 80,000 small businesses nationwide. In 2014, Nathan was named a “Game Changer” by Workforce magazine, and Mammoth’s unique and dynamic culture has earned it honors as one of the country’s best places to work by Fortune magazine and one of the Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America by Entrepreneur magazine. Nathan’s articles on management, human resources strategy, and public policy have appeared in publications such as The Washington Post, Fast Company and Workforce, and he’s been a featured speaker at numerous conferences and events, including the Wharton School of Business, Intuit Quickbooks Connect, the Sage Summit, and Ignite Portland.
Nathan is also an adjunct professor of law at Lewis & Clark Law School and serves on the Lewis & Clark Center for Entrepreneurship Advisory Board. Before joining Mammoth, Nathan practiced as an attorney with Perkins Coie LLP and as a management consultant with The Boston Consulting Group. He is a Teach for America alumnus, and after law school served as a law clerk for the Honorable Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Nathan is a Tony Patiño Fellow from the University of Chicago Law School, where he graduated with High Honors and Order of the Coif. Nathan also holds a BA in Public Policy with Honors from Stanford University.
Nathan joined the Board of Directors in 2011. He serves as Treasurer and is on the Finance Committee.
Mainon Schwartz
Columbia, 2008
Secretary
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Mainon is an Assistant United States Attorney in the Appellate Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico. She handles both civil and criminal appeals for the district, filing briefs and presenting oral arguments before the First Circuit Court of Appeals. She is Secretary of the Board of Directors of the San Juan Community Library and a member of the San Juan Rotary Club. In her spare time, she is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from New York University, which she expects to complete in January 2019.
Mainon is a Tony Patiño Fellow from Columbia Law School, where she graduated as a three-time Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar in 2008. During her time in law school, she served on the board of the Journal of Gender and Law and as a staff member of the Human Rights Law Review. Mainon spent her summers working for a women’s rights organization in Tel Aviv, for Sullivan & Cromwell in New York, and for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Chicago. From 2008-2009, Mainon clerked for Alaska Supreme Court Justice Daniel E. Winfree in Fairbanks, Alaska. After her clerkship, Mainon returned to the New York, where she worked first as an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn, and then as a litigation associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore from 2010 to 2013.
Before accepting her current position in Puerto Rico, Mainon served as Senior Corporate Counsel to Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, an Alaska Native corporation and the largest private employer in the State of Alaska. In that capacity, she managed a wide range of litigation, benefits, labor, contract, insurance, Indian law, and environmental matters for the company, including multi-billion dollar litigation in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. During that time, she also served as Vice President of the Anchorage Library Foundation.
Prior to law school, Mainon managed a team of caseworkers and volunteers at Refugee & Immigration Services of South Bend, Indiana, where she supervised the resettlement of dozens of refugees from around the world. She graduated magna cum laude in 2004 with a degree in Anthropology and minors in Middle Eastern and European Studies from the University of Notre Dame.
Mainon has been on the Board of Directors since 2013. She currently serves on the Selection Committee for Columbia Law School.
Alexandra Grayner
UC Law SF, 2012
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Alexandra Grayner (“Lexa”) is a board member of the Tony Patiño Fellowship and a progressive prosecutor in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. She formerly worked at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office for Chesa Boudin, and continues to be a progressive activist in San Francisco.
Since becoming a prosecutor, Lexa has taken on multiple criminal corruption cases against current and former public officials, and also targets corporations for unlawful and unfair business practices, including ghost gun manufacturers, flavored tobacco manufacturers, and large environmental polluters.
Lexa previously worked in private practice at Buchalter, PC, Covington & Burling, LLP, and Fenwick & West LLP, during which time she was recognized as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers Magazine for three consecutive years in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Lexa started her legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Joseph C. Spero, a Magistrate Judge in the Northern District of California.
Karlyn J. Hunter
Columbia, 1999
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Karlyn J. Hunter serves as Counsel in the Bank Activities Unit of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) Legal Division’s Supervision, Legislation and Enforcement Branch where she provides advice and counsel on bank mergers, banking legislation and analysis, branching matters, and de novo bank applications, among other matters. Before joining the Bank Activities Unit, Karlyn served as the Special Assistant-Counsel to then Senior Deputy General Counsel (now General Counsel) of the FDIC’s Legal Division, providing advice and counsel on matters impacting corporate operations.
Previously, she served as a Senior Attorney in the Office of Financial Institution Adjudication (OFIA), advising its administrative law judges on enforcement actions brought by the FDIC, Federal Reserve Board, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the National Credit Union Administration. Prior to joining the FDIC, Karlyn served both as an Assistant United States Attorney and as a Trial Attorney with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) for over14 years, prosecuting a variety of cases from human trafficking and international narcotics matters to white-collar crime, including bank fraud, money laundering and violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.
Karlyn was also the first DOJ Resident Legal Advisor to serve in the U.S. Embassy in Ghana, advising the U.S. Ambassador and providing training to Ghanaian law enforcement officials and their judiciary on investigating and prosecuting their human trafficking cases.
Karlyn began her career in the District of Columbia as a DOJ Honors Program Attorney. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Hampton University, received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, and earned her law degree from Columbia Law School as a Tony Patiño Fellow.
After law school, she served as a law clerk to the late Hon. William B. Bryant, United States District Court, District of Columbia.
William P. Keane
UC Law SF, 1986
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William P. Keane is a partner in the 125-attorney San Francisco law firm of Farella Braun + Martel LLP. Mr. Keane chairs the firm’s Complex Litigation Department. He practices complex criminal and civil litigation. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and was an Assistant United States Attorney in San Jose for more than six years. He received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley in 1982 and his J.D., cum laude, from U.C. Hastings in 1986. At Hastings, he was Editor-in-Chief of Volume 37 of the Hastings Law Journal. After law school, Mr. Keane served as a law clerk to the now-retired Honorable Eugene F. Lynch, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. He has been on the Patiño Fellowship board since the late 1980s and has long served as the chair of the Fellowship’s application Screening Committee.
Robert A. Magnanini
Columbia, 1993
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Bob is a Managing partner at Stone & Magnanini, LLP in New Jersey. He has extensive experience in prosecuting and defending complex civil and criminal matters, and represents clients in civil commercial, environmental and False Claims Act cases. He has tried, arbitrated and mediated cases in federal and state courts and before numerous administrative bodies.
Bob was previously a Litigation partner at Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, and was Of Counsel at Latham & Watkins, LLP. Prior to that he was an Associate at Archer & Griener.
Bob recently retired from the U.S. Army as a Colonel in the New York Army National Guard where he served as the J-2 for N.Y. State as the Director of Security and Intelligence. He previously served in several senior staff positions at the 42nd Division, and as a special Assistant to the senior military and civilian officials at the Pentagon. He was also the Army Ground Commander at the World Trade Center in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and again in New York City after the London and Madrid bombings.
Bob is a 1993 Tony Patiño Fellow from Columbia University Law School, where he was also a Governor Robert B. Myner Scholar, and the student speaker at Commencement. He received a B.A. in Soviet Studies and a B.A. in History from Fordham University in 1984. He has lectured on various topics and is currently a NITA instructor.
Bob has been on the Board od Directors since 2005. He is currently the chapter leader for the Columbia Fellows, the Chairperson of the Finance Committee, and serves on the Selection and Renewal Committees.
Betty Hansen Richardson
UC Law SF, 1982
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Betty graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Idaho in 1976 and her Juris Doctorate from Hastings College of the Law in 1982. At Hastings, Betty was a teaching assistant for the Legal Education Opportunity Program and wrote for the Constitutional Law Quarterly. Upon graduation, she was named a Tony Patino Fellow. Betty has served on the Tony Patino Fellowship Board of Directors for many years and currently serves as Chair of the Fellowship’s Renewal Committee and as a member of its Selection Committees at Hastings and the University of Chicago.
Following law school graduation, Betty clerked for the Criminal Division of the San Francisco Superior Court, and then returned to Idaho to work as a judicial law clerk for former Idaho Supreme Court Justice Robert C. Huntley. Betty also worked as a law clerk for the Honorable B. Lynn Winmill, chief U.S. District Judge, District of Idaho.
Appointed by President Clinton, Betty was the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho (1993-2001). As U.S. Attorney, she served on the U.S. Attorney General’s Subcommittees on Native American Issues and Environmental issues and received the Harold Hughes Exceptional Service to Rural Communities Award from the National Institute on Alcohol and Drug Abuse in recognition of her innovative community outreach program. In 2011, Betty worked as an Attorney-Advisor for the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys in Washington, D.C.
Betty was the first woman to serve as chair and member of the Idaho Industrial Commission (1991-1993), the state agency responsible for adjudicating workers’ compensation disputes and administering the state’s workers’ compensation system. Betty has been engaged in private practice with the firm of Richardson Adams PLLC and been actively engaged in the legal education arena. She has served as program planner for the Idaho State Bar’s Continuing Legal Education Program and been an adjunct professor at Boise State University. Currently, she is an adjunct professor at Concordia University School of Law.
Betty has received the Idaho Women Lawyer’s Kate Feltham Award, which honors individuals who have made extraordinary efforts to promote equal rights and opportunities for women and minorities within the legal profession in Idaho. She has also received the ACLU’s Dave Judy Civil Rights Service Award, which recognizes an Idahoan who exemplifies commitment and service to advancing civil rights in the state. Betty has also received the Idaho State Bar’s awards for Pro Bono Service and Outstanding Service. She has been named an Idaho Business Review Woman of the Year and as one of Idaho’s “100 Most Influential Idahoans” by Ridenbaugh Press.
Betty is a member of the Frank Church Institute Board of Directors and is active in a number of other civic organizations. Betty and her husband Pete live in West Boise. They are the proud parents of two adult children.
Grisel Ruiz
Chicago, 2009
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Grisel Ruiz is a Senior Managing Attorney at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center where she focuses on the intersection between immigration law and criminal law. This includes advising attorneys and advocates on the immigration consequences of criminal offenses, training on removal defense, and supporting local and statewide community-based campaigns. In addition to technical assistance, training, and campaign support in these areas, Grisel helps lead the ILRC’s state legislative work.
Prior to working with the ILRC, Grisel was a litigation associate at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and a Stimson Fellow housed at the UC Davis Law School Immigration Clinic and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation. As a legal fellow, she co-founded “Know Your Rights” programs at local immigration detention centers, for which she received an award from Cosmo for Latinas. Grisel is the previous Board Chair of Freedom for Immigrants.
Grisel is a Patiño Fellow from the University of Chicago, 2009. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame. Grisel has been on the Board since 2022 and servers on the screening committee.
Kent J. Sprinkle
UC Law SF, 2003
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Kent is the Managing Partner of the San Diego office of CDF Labor Law LLP, a state-wide labor and employment defense firm representing global, national, and local employers in California state and federal courts. Kent represents employers in class action litigation and defends against a variety of employment law claims. He has extensive trial and appellate experience in employment class actions, resulting in multiple published decisions that have shaped the landscape of current wage and hour class action litigation in California.
Kent was a recipient of one of California Lawyer magazine’s 2015 California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year (CLAY) Awards for his work in the area of class actions. Kent previously worked for a national law firm in San Francisco in the employment law group and then spent nine years in his current firm’s San Francisco office before relocating to the San Diego office in 2015.
Kent is a 2003 Tony Patiño Fellow from UC Hastings, where he served on the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly. During law school, Kent served as an extern for former U.S. District Court Judge (and now California Supreme Court Associate Justice) Martin J. Jenkins and also worked as a law clerk at the San Mateo District Attorney’s Office where he argued multiple preliminary hearings and other criminal court proceedings. Prior to law school, Kent attended the University of San Francisco, where he graduated cum laude in 2000, obtaining a B.A. in English Literature.
A member of the Board of Directors since 2008, Kent also serves on the Screening Committee for UC Hastings, Chicago, and Columbia Law Schools. Kent also co-founded and continues to oversee the Tony Patiño Fellowship mentoring program at UC Hastings.
Fellowship Coordinator
Janice Warren
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Janice has served as the Fellowship’s Coordinator since 2007. In her role, she serves as a primary point of contact for Patino Fellows-Elect and Fellows, organizes Fellowship events nationwide, facilitates the Fellow-Elect application, selection, and onboarding process, coordinates with law school deans, administrators, faculty, and other contacts, and generally ensures that the organization is running smoothly. Janice also works as a Legal Assistant for the law firm Hill Farrer & Burrill, and is a licensed Real Estate agent specializing in working with seniors. In her spare time, Janice enjoys traveling and spending time with her daughter and grandchildren.
General Counsel
Brian Malloy
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Brian Malloy is with The Brandi Law Firm in San Francisco, where he represents plaintiffs in state and federal courts in cases involving product liability (involving aviation and aircraft, motor vehicles and pharmaceuticals), wrongful death, serious personal injury, elder abuse, consumer fraud and protection, employment matters, class/collective actions, and appeals.
Brian is admitted to the bars of California, Nevada, Arizona, and Washington, D.C., along with several federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court. Brian has represented clients in all aspects of litigation, including trials to verdict in California and Nevada state courts as well as federal court, post-judgment enforcement proceedings, and appeals. He is certified as an Appellate Law Specialist by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization and was a 2021 Finalist for Consumer Attorney of the Year from the Consumer Attorneys of California. Brian has been selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers for 2016-2025, Super Lawyers (Northern California) for 2016-2024, and Super Lawyers’ Rising Stars for 2010-2014. He frequently authors articles on various aspects of litigation and trial practice.
Prior to joining The Brandi Law Firm, Brian served as a law clerk to the Honorable Melvin Brunetti of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2004-2005.
Brian is a Tony Patiño Fellow from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings College of the Law), where he earned Order of the Coif, was a member of the Hastings Law Journal and graduated as Valedictorian. Brian is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Oregon, Robert D. Clark Honors College, where he graduated summa cum laude.
Brian serves as the Fellowship’s General Counsel, a position he has held since 2012.