Board of Directors

Ms. Belcher served as the first President and Chairman of the Board following the death of the Fellowship’s Founder, Francesca Turner, in 1999. Many years prior to her death, Ms. Turner had selected Ms. Belcher to serve as Ms. Turner’s replacement in the Fellowship organization. Ms. Belcher was the first Fellow invited to join the Fellowship’s Board of Directors, where she has served from 1985 to the present. Ms. Belcher worked closely with the Founder on the infrastructure of the Fellowship program and served on the Fellowship’s Screening, Selection, and Renewal Committees. Ms. Belcher kept the Fellowship alive, operational, and flourishing during the critical years following the Founder’s death. Ms. Belcher served as the President and Chairman of the Board of the Fellowship from 1999 to 2008. Ms. Belcher currently serves as the Chairman Emerita and Chairman of the Selection Committee for all three law schools.

Outside the Fellowship, Ms. Belcher served as the Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Corporate Secretary of Compu-Link Corporation, dba Celink (2017 to 2022). At Celink, Ms. Belcher built a 12-person in-house legal team from the ground up. Other in-house positions held by Ms. Belcher include acting as the Senior Vice President and Chief Counsel for Consumer Finance and Banking at CIT Bank, N.A. (2015 to 2017), the Executive Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of OneWest Bank, N.A. (2009 to 2015), and the Senior Vice President and Secondary Marketing General Counsel at IndyMac Federal Bank, FSB (2007 to 2008). Ms. Belcher also worked at Fannie Mae as its Regional Counsel (Vice President and Deputy General Counsel) in Pasadena, California (1996 to 2007).

Ms. Belcher’s earlier career was spent as a Partner at Arnold & Porter (1991 to 1996), Of Counsel and an Associate at McKenna & Fitting (1985 to 1991), and as an Associate at Epport, Kaseff & Mirman (now Epport, Richman & Robbins) (1983 to 1985).

Ms. Belcher is a 1983 Fellow from University of California Law San Francisco.

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.

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 is a technology company founder, CEO, director, and thought leader. Nathan previously founded Mineral, Inc., the leader in HR software for small and mid-sized businesses in the United States, growing it from inception to serve more than 1M customers. Nathan now serves as an Executive Chair, director, and advisor for mission-driven software companies across a range of industries.

Nathan’s articles on leadership, technology, human resources strategy, and public policy have appeared in publications such as The Washington Post, Fast Company and Forbes, and he’s the co-author for the book “The Next Great Company,” which will be published by Wiley in 2026.

Nathan is also an adjunct professor of law at Lewis & Clark Law School and helped found the Center for Business Law & Innovation there. Nathan is also managing director for PLEDGE, a project launched at Stanford University to reduce gun violence among America’s children.

Before founding Mineral, 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 Chair-Elect.

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.

Kate Kalstein provides governance, research and planning services to non-profit clients through Kate Kalstein Consulting. Engagements include complex project management and interim leadership; strategic planning; work to develop improved board structure and meeting practices through enhanced board governance; comprehensive research and policy development; leadership coaching; and meeting facilitation. All services include practical, concise tools customized for each organization to support implementation and capacity building. An attorney with more than 20-years professional experience, Kate has devoted her entire career to strengthening nonprofit organizations through leadership, advocacy, and the law to enable them to focus on progress.

Prior to becoming an independent consultant in 2009, Kate served as Legislative Counsel to the California Judges Association and Director of Policy and Planning at the Edgewood Center for Children and Families in San Francisco. She received her law degree from the University of California Law San Francisco.

Today Kate is based in Denver, Colorado where she remains actively involved with the community through her professional practice, volunteer activities, and ongoing leadership development. Appointed by Governor John Hickenlooper in fall 2015, Kate proudly served as Commissioner to the State Commission on Community Service, Serve Colorado for three years. Kate received the Certificate of Nonprofit Board Consulting from BoardSource in 2016. Most recently Kate was selected to the 2023-2024 Colorado Governors Fellowship cohort.

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.

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.

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 is a Partner in the San Diego office of CDF Labor Law LLP, a statewide 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 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 Law SF, where he served on the school’s 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. 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 as Co-Chair of the Screening Committee for UC Law SF, Chicago, and Columbia Law Schools. Kent also co-founded the Tony Patiño Fellowship mentoring program at UC Law SF.

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 2016-2026, Super Lawyers (Northern California) for 2016-2025, 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.