Join the Ventura County Diversity Bar Alliance along with the SBCBA and the Equity and Inclusion Task Force for a Unity Mixer on February 15, 2023 at 6:00-7:30pm at Corktree Cellars in Carpinteria. this event is free to attend, but please register by February 13, 2023. Here is the link to register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeEG-skJ3wecX1X_gu7UrKz8BvvWdyzs4iiUn2uXRfXYTrhsA/viewform.

Please join us for our 14th Annual Scholarship Dinner. This special event will honor our Legacy Award Recipient and Keynote Speaker, Hon. Tari Cody and our Holly Spevak Award Recipient, Zoya Shenker.

Join us for an evening of hanging out, catching up, and celebrating Latinas and their accomplishments! Celebrate alongside Carmen Ramirez, first Latina member and now Chair of VC Board of Supervisors; Michele Castillo, first Latina Superior Court Judge of Ventura County; Claudia Batista, first Latina Public Defender of Ventura County; and other women with sway. Come re-connect with members and friends.

All are welcome.

RSVP to elvia@garcialegalservices.com

This 60-minute educational event will feature a panel of experts discussing the different areas of law dealing with pets. The program will provide a brief overview of the different laws and practices surrounding pets in family law, trusts & estates, and civil litigation.

Meet Ventura County’s new Public Defender and first Latina Public Defender in Ventura County’s history! Members can attend for free. Non-members are $10 which goes toward the VCWL scholarship fund.

Ventura County Diversity Bar Alliance & Women Lawyers of Ventura County

A Conversation On Race: Raising Awareness & Sensitivity in Our Profession (Zoom Webinar). Speakers: Gaye Theresa Johnson, UCLA Associate Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies and African American Studies; James Joyce II, Founder and CVO of Coffee With a Black Guy - an innovative social impact movement dedicated to the war on racism; Melissa Rodezno-Patrino, Co-Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Just Communities.

California’s 2019 legislative calendar has recently come to an end, and we’ve got all the employment law updates for you. This presentation features information for both employer and employee practitioners.

WLVC cordially invites you to its 13th annual scholarship dinner, honoring Legacy Award recipient and keynote speaker Hon. Melinda Johnson and Holly Spevak award recipient Karen Oakman, Esq. WLVC will also award scholarships to law students who have demonstrated a commitment to serving the public interest and/or advancing the interests of women and girls in society. The event includes wine and beer tasting, dinner catered by Main Course California, and a silent auction benefiting our student scholarship fund and local non-profit Girls Inc.

This panel presentation, led by moderator Charmaine Buehner, and including panelists Vanessa Frank, Kathryn Clunen, and Darren Goodman, will cover the rules, ethics, and practical implications of limited scope representation. Also known as unbundled legal services, this type of representation allows attorneys to provide single-task work or consultation on a specific issue while saving the client money or allowing client access to otherwise unaffordable legal services. Such representation is becoming more common place. Learn how you can offer or perfect this type of arrangement in order to expand your client pool and while helping to provide your community with greater access to justice.

This panel presentation will cover all of the ways the Court helps lawyers and litigants to settle their federal court cases.  Judge Gee, who heads the Court’s ADR Committee, will give an overview of alternative dispute resolution in federal court.  Mr. Wolfram, a volunteer mediator on the Court’s Attorney Settlement Officer Panel, with offices in Camarillo, will focus on the services that volunteer mediators provide. Judge LaMothe will discuss the services she provides as a settlement judge in Santa Barbara, where she handles a number of Ventura County cases for the Court. Q&A will follow the presentation.

Ayala Benefraim, Amber Lee, Rebekah Mathis, and Catherine Voelker have selected hundreds of Ventura County juries between them.  Learn the basics about how to conduct voir dire and gain insider tips about how to actually engage jurors (if they don’t talk, you don’t know anything about them) based on years of local experience — invaluable! *1 hour General MCLE credit

Space limits our seating capacity to 30. Please register early to ensure a seat!

WLVC invites you to join us for an invaluable evening of career mentorship. Whether you are looking for guidance in taking the next step toward a career goal, or feel that you can help others reach stepping stones that you have achieved, this event is focused on connecting with others and supporting your career - whichever stage you may be in. Please join us as a mentor or mentee. Dinner/drinks available for purchase.

Many of us endeavor to perform pro bono work but may not know where to be most useful and how to involve yourself without the worry of logistics. Join us for a discussion of the legal issues most often addressed at the Conejo Free Clinic, the legal training available to you, and ways in which you may donate your time & legal acumen effectively in your community. Information about county-wide pro bono opportunities will be presented as well.

*1 hour General MCLE credit

Join us for an evening of wine and cheese at Paradise Pantry to mix and mingle with other WLVC members and the Board. To show our appreciation for our members, this special event is open to members only and includes a glass of wine and appetizers on the house. Don’t miss this opportunity to network and connect, all while renewing your WLVC membership or joining WLVC for the first time.

Need to update your membership? Please visit https://www.wlvc.org/event-registration/2019-wlvc-membership, or purchase your membership at the door. Memberships are annual and will guarantee you discounted admission to all WLVC events in 2019.

WLVC cordially invites you to its 12th annual scholarship dinner, honoring Legacy Award recipient and keynote speaker Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin and Holly Spevak award recipient Danielle De Smeth.  WLVC will also award three law school students with scholarships for their commitment to working in the public interest and/or advancing the interests of women and girls in society.  The event includes live music, a silent auction, wine and beer tasting with Four Brix Winery and Poseidon Brewery, and dinner by Main Course Catering.  

Ret. Judge Melinda Johnson hosts panelists Judge Michele Castillo, Wendy Lascher, Laura McAvoy, and Carmen Ramirez for a discussion regarding the experiences and contributions of women lawyers and judges to Ventura County’s legal history. This event will include reflections from the panelists on their careers as women in the law as well as discussion about what has (and has not) changed for women lawyers and judges over the past several decades. Panelists will also answer audience questions in a brief Q&A following the panel discussion.

This event is free and open to the public. 1.0 hour of Elimination of Bias MCLE credit is available for $25.00. To register for MCLE credit, please contact Sandra at bar@vcba.org or (805) 650-7599 *210.

This 60-minute MCLE will highlight the prevalence and effects of intimate partner violence (IPV).  Dr. Lucas will discuss the topic from a policy and research perspective, while Ms. De Smeth will share related developments and application in the law.  Specific topics include the history and criminalization of IPV; battered women’s movement and its evolution in the law; the cycle of violence and the presentation of evidence at trial; and ways to redress this epidemic.

Many of us encounter elder care and health care issues as legal advisors and advocates as well as experiencing these events in our own lives.  Join us for a discussion of the legal issues and practical considerations that caregiving, aging and health care present today.