Author: Keith Kamisugi

Applications Due Feb. 2 for State Bar Environmental Section 2015 Summer Law Student Fellowship Program

/ Keith Kamisugi

The Environmental Law Section of the State Bar of California is seeking applicants for its 2015 Summer Law Student Fellowship Program. The program places law students in environmental law summer internship positions at participating public interest organizations and governmental agencies. Students are also paired with a practicing environmental lawyer to provide mentoring and are invited to participate in other environmental law related activities over the summer. Law Student Fellows receive a stipend of $5,000 for an 8-10 week summer internship. Further details can be found on the Section’s website.

Application materials and selection criteria are available on the website. Applications are due February 2, 2015.

Sandy Crockett
Chair, Law Student Fellowship Subcommittee
Environmental Law Section Executive Committee
State Bar of California

UCLA La Raza Law Students Assoc. Honors Norma Nava as Alumna of the Year

/ Keith Kamisugi

The La Raza Law Students Association of UCLA School of Law has selected Ms. Norma Nava, FPOC’s Vice President, as their Alumna of the Year. Norma’s achievements and contributions will be recognized during the organization’s annual alumni dinner.

Saturday, March 15, 2014 at 6:00 pm
Tamayo Restaurant and Art Gallery
5300 E Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles, California 90022
Click here for ticket information

Norma NavaNorma Nava is the Vice President of For People of Color, Inc. She is the author of “A Guide to the Judicial Clerkship Application Process For People of Color.” Norma is an attorney with the law firm of Lim, Ruger & Kim, LLP and focuses her practice on commercial and business litigation matters. She previously completed a prestigious fellowship with the ACLU’s Drug Law Reform Project.

Norma served as a law clerk for the Honorable Oliver W. Wanger, U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of California. She graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law where she was the Co-Chair of La Raza Law Students Association, Managing Editor of the Chicano/Latino Law Review, and served as the Chair of the inaugural board of the National Latina/o Law Students Association.

Norma has dedicated her academic and professional career to assisting underprivileged communities and communities of color. During law school, Norma was a Hewlett Foundation / American Bar Association Environmental Justice Fellow. Through this fellowship, Norma worked with the California Environmental Rights Alliance (“CERA”) on litigation projects brought on behalf of communities of color against major stationary source polluters in the Los Angeles basin. She also was a participant in UCLA’s Native Nation’s Law and Policy Program where she served as a clerk for the Hopi Indian Tribal Appellate Court Project. She assisted the Tule River Indian tribe in drafting a vital land assignment ordinance. She also assisted the Council on Native Hawaiian Advancement by conducting legal research regarding tribal and environmental sovereignty.

Norma is the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants and was born and raised in East Los Angeles, California. She was the first person in her family to attain a college degree and Juris Doctor. Norma received her B.A. in Political Science and Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Misty M. Sanford Appointed to LA Board of Recreation and Parks

/ Keith Kamisugi

Misty M. SanfordFPOC Founding Board Member and Treasurer Misty M. Sanford was appointed to the Board of Recreation and Parks by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and confirmed by the City Council on January 14, 2014.

The Department of Recreation and Parks oversees the operations of more than 400 sites throughout the city, including some of Los Angeles’ famed landmarks such as the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood sign. Misty is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson. She practices real estate and land use law and represents institutional investors, developers, multi-national corporations, nonprofits, public entities and individual entrepreneurs in various transactions.

Misty is a founder and vice chair of the board of directors of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, a nonprofit organization that converts blighted parcels of land into neighborhood parks, gardens and community centers. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Central City Association and served as president of the City of Los Angeles Environmental Affairs Commission for three years.

Misty graduated from UCLA School of Law, where she completed the program in public interest law and policy, was chair of the Public Interest Law Foundation and a Hagman Land Use and Planning Scholar. She received her undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Whittier College, where she now sits on the Poet Council that advises the president of the college.