Trustees

Aaron Baker, UC Hastings College of the Law, ‘08

Aaron was born in San Diego. He received his B.A. from U.C. Berkeley, and his M.A. from the University of Chicago. Aaron first found his interest in water law and policy, as have so many others, in the pages of Marc Reiner's "Cadillac Desert." Today Aaron continues to pursue this interest, practicing water law at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.

 

 

 

Priscillia de Muizon, UC Berkeley, Boalt Hall ‘06

Priscillia de Muizon is a Research Attorney at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. She was previously an associate at Morrison & Foerster in the Land Use and Environmental Law practice group. She earned her J.D. in 2006 from Boalt Hall, where she served as an Articles Editor for the Ecology Law Quarterly and helped found the annual student-organized Water Law Symposium. In 2005, Priscillia published an article entitled "'Meaningfully Distinct' Waters, the Unitary Waters Theory, and the Clean Water Act (South Florida Water Management District v. Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, 541 U.S. 95, 2004)." 32 Ecology L.Q. 417-451 (2005). Prior to law school, Priscillia was a paralegal for three years, primarily assisting with the financing of construction and energy projects nationwide. She grew up in the Napa Valley and attended U.C. Davis as an undergraduate.

 

Jason Fellner is an attorney at Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney in San Francisco. He co-chaired the 2006 California Water Law Symposium and has served as a trustee of the California Water Law Symposium since February, 2006. He currently serves as Chairman of the City of Millbrae’s Parks & Recreation Commission and volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) to represent the best interests of abused and neglected children in the San Francisco Juvenile Dependency Court system. Mr. Fellner is a graduate of the University of San Francisco School of Law and the University of California, San Diego. Immediately after law school, Mr. Fellner worked as a Legal Research Attorney for the Honorable Peter J. Busch in the San Francisco Superior Court’s Law & Motion Department. Recently, Mr. Fellner published an article titled, “Lawyers are Hungry – Too Hungry, Perhaps,” as appeared in the June 15, 2009 issue of the National Law Journal.

 

Thomas Hicks, University of San Francisco School of Law ’05

Thomas Hicks is a graduate of the University of San Francisco School of Law where he chaired the inaugural California Water Law Symposium in 2005. He is an attorney and water law advisor. During law school he initiated the California Water Law Symposium for Bay Area law students and clerked for the San Francisco Office of the City Attorney (Public Utilities Commission and Energy & Telecommunications Teams), the California State Water Resources Control Board (Office of Chief Counsel), and a private firm representing municipalities and state water exchange contractors. Before law school he worked at the Natural Heritage Institute (hydro-energy and water policy) and founded the Headwaters Institute (watershed education seminars for professional guides). He also instructed at the Colorado Outward Bound School and worked as a whitewater rafting guide across the United States. More recently, he co-authored 43 C.F.R. Part 417 Does Not Authorize Federal Agency Adjudication of IID Beneficial Use of Colorado River Water, 14 Hastings West Northwest J. of Envtl. L. & Pol’y 1499 (2008).

 

Beth Koh, UC Hastings College of the Law ‘06

Beth Koh is an associate in Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean LLP's environmental practice group. Koh has clerked for the Natural Resources Defense Council where she was involved with National Environmental Quality Act (NEPA) and Endangered Special Act (ESA) claims, worked on pesticide testing and mercury release issues, and assisted with wilderness preservation programs.  She also clerked for the California Office of the Attorney General in the Natural Resources Section, assisting in litigation for state agencies, such as the Department of Forestry, State Water Resources Control Board, Air Resources Board and Department of Pesticide Regulation. Koh earned her J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of Law in San Francisco (2007) and her B.A. in molecular and cellular biology from University of California, Berkeley (1997).  She is a member of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden, California Native Grasslands Association, California Native Plant Society and California Oak Foundation.

Diana Kruze, UC Hastings College of the Law ‘06

Diana Barrett Kruze joined the litigation department of Morrison & Foerster in 2006. Her practice primarily focuses on patent and copyright litigation. Ms. Kruze’s practice has encompassed a wide array of technology, primarily in the biomedical and electrical arts. Her litigation experience includes questioning witnesses (including an inventor and invalidity expert) at trial, conducting and defending depositions, writing claim construction briefs, and coordinating discovery. Ms. Kruze graduated from New York University, magna cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Russian Studies. Ms. Kruze received her Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, graduating in the top 5% of her class. While at Hastings, Ms. Kruze served as the senior symposium editor for the Hastings Law Journal. Ms. Kruze was also an active participant in the school’s moot court program, where her team won first place and best brief in the 2005 BMI/Cardozo Entertainment Law Competition. In the final round, Ms. Kruze argued in front of Justice Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit and Judge Patel of the Northern District of California. Ms. Kruze received Witkin and CALI awards in several subjects, including California Civil Procedure and Evidence. She also served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Saundra Brown Armstrong, United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

 

Josh Maltzer, UC Hastings College of the Law

Josh Maltzer (class of ‘09, Hastings College of the Law) hails from Sacramento, CA . After receiving his B.A. from Tulane University , he went on to serve in AmeriCorps and found the relief agency, Joint Partnership for Antigua Cooperation in Antigua, Guatemala. During law school, Josh has interned in the Office of General Counsel at THX Ltd. and for the litigation department in the San Francisco City Attorney's Office. He has also externed for the East Bay Municipal Utility District, where he worked on legal issues regarding water rights, transfers, administrative agency authority, and trends in prior water rights litigation. Josh first found his interest in water law while digesting Norris Hundley Jr.’s The Great Thirst, in which he discovered that the history of California can be found in its lakes, rivers, and streams.

 

Erin Stagg, UC Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law '07

Erin Stagg graduated from Boalt Hall in 2007 where she served as co-chair for the Third Annual California Water Law Symposium. She is currently a commercial litigation associate at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and has continued to support the California Water Law Symposium. Previously, she interned at the California Attorney General’s office and was a summer associate at Steefel, Levitt & Weiss, where she had the opportunity to participate in a number of different water law projects.

 

Megan Walsh, University of San Francisco School of Law '08

Megan graduated from the University of San Francisco School of Law with the class of 2008 and was admitted to the State Bar of California later that year. Currently Megan works for Chevron U.S.A. Inc. in the Environmental Practice Group specializing in water and remediation issues. Prior to graduation she held extern positions at the California Department of Justice and with the First District of the California Court of Appeals. Before her studies at USF Megan was an environmental scientist consulting on water quality projects. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Michigan. Megan is originally from Piedmont, California.

 

Lucas Williams, Golden Gate University School of Law

Lucas Williams is a Graduate Fellow at the Environmental Law & Justice Clinic at Golden Gate University School of Law. In law school, Lucas clerked for Lawyers for Clean Water and the Center for Food Safety. He received his B.A. in Philosophy from California State University Sonoma. Lucas is originally from Fresno, California.