Dear OCBA Friends and Colleagues,

I am very excited and honored to have been nominated for OCBA Secretary!  The September 1, 2015 election is fast approaching so I wanted to let you know about my experience and background, as well as my ideas for the OCBA, should I be elected Secretary.

I am a commercial and real estate litigator who practiced for nearly 20 years before going into teaching.  I am currently a professor and the externship director at Whittier Law School. In addition to mentoring students, this position has allowed me to get to know lawyers in every practice area, public and private, big and small, in every geographic region throughout Orange County.  As a current OCBA Board Member and Chair of the OCBA’s Law School Task Force, I also helped create a student membership program that brought all of the 2,000 students at the four Orange County law schools into the OCBA. 

I believe that the OCBA is most effective when it provides a platform to bring together all Orange County lawyers for the betterment of our profession and the community we proudly serve.  Following up on our success with the Law School Task Force, and as President of Orange County Women Lawyers, I want to see the OCBA reach out to embrace members from all of our constituencies.  Most importantly, the OCBA needs to serve all of its members with programs and benefits that enrich and improve our practices, developing activities for networking and community service, and constantly promoting fairness, justice, and the highest ethical standards in everything we do. 

I am proud to have served as an OCBA Board member over the past several years and to have been a part of its successes. The OCBA is a great organization, and together we can make it even better! 

I would be honored to have your vote for OCBA Secretary.

Sincerely,

Deirdre Kelly