Board
Our Board of Directors consists of a dedicated group of professionals from the community who believe in and work toward achieving the mission of our agency. Our current board members are:
Teresa A. Cunningham, Co-Chair, Chair of the Board's Committee on Directors, is a director with the Napa law firm Gaw, Van Male, Smith, Myers & Miroglio, specializing in labor and employment counseling and civil litigation. She became a director of Legal Aid in 2004. An experienced trial lawyer, Teresa has practiced law since 1988. She is a member of the Napa County Bar Association, The Richard Sanger Inns of Court, and the Napa County Women Lawyers Association, serving as its president in 1999. Teresa also serves on the Board of Directors of Napa Solano SANE/SART.
Michael J. Holman, Co-Chair and President is a partner in the Napa law firm Holman Teague Roche Anglin LLP Attorneys at Law and has been a director of Legal Aid since 2002. Michael specializes in business law, real estate law, land use law, and climate change law. During 2003 and 2004, Michael chaired Legal Aid's Steering Committee, coordinating efforts to maintain an active legal service effort in Napa. A volunteer pro bono attorney since 2000, Michael received the 2003 Wiley W. Manuel Award, given by Legal Aid of the North Bay for outstanding pro bono service.
Bret Blyth, Treasurer, is a partner in the St. Helena based accounting firm of Brown Holder Alfaro & Co LLP. Bret became a director of Legal Aid in January 2006 and is chair of the Finance Committee. He has practiced in all areas of public accounting and is a member of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. A volunteer with the Napa Valley Wine Library Association, Bret is also a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West and Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP).
Naomi Dreskin-Anderson, Director , is a sole practitioner whose practice emphasizes issues of the elderly and their families. A director of Legal Aid since 2002, Naomi currently serves as Chair of the Napa County Commission on Aging. A graduate of Leadership Napa Valley, Naomi has served as Vice Chair of the Advisory Council for Napa's Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, and was Vice President of Napa County Legal Assistance Agency before its merger with Legal Aid of Marin. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Naomi was executive director of the California Long Term Care Ombudsman Association. She also served as executive director of a nonprofit agency that delivered ombudsman and legal services in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties.
Kevin D. DeBorde, Director, is a partner in the Napa Law firm Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty and has been a director of Legal Aid since 2010. Before joining DP&F he worked at international law firms in San Francisco and Orange County, California as well as in-house with a closely held corporation in Southern California. Kevin's practice includes general business, real property, and wine law matters. Kevin has counseled many of the wineries, resorts, restaurants and other wine industry companies throughout California. When he is away from his office, Kevin enjoys traveling with his wife, sailing and rifing his road bike or motorcycle throughout Napa Valley and beyond. He is also Secretary and outside general counsel to the Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition, which is working to improve the quality of life of Napa Valley residents and visitors through the creation of a safe system of trails for bicycling, walking, recreation and transportation.
Anne Arns, Director, is a life-long educator who has made her focus students with special needs including autism and other learning disabilities, as well as at-risk teenagers, adult high school dropouts and migrant students. She earned her teaching degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara and St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California. Throughout her teaching career she worked with at-risk populations or populations with special needs, beginning in inner-city Oakland and continuing on to work with autistic students in the San Ramon Unified School Districts, adults working towards their G.E.D. with the San Francisco Conservation Corps and Spanish-speaking students learning English through the Napa Valley College’s Migrant Education “Adelante” Program. The daughter of an undocumented immigrant who became naturalized during his service in the military during World War II, Ann learned from her father to value her roots and serve her community. Ann and her husband, Robert Arns, own Tournesol Wine in Napa, where she serves as CEO.
Kathryn Walt Hall, Director, began her public career as assistant city attorney in Berkeley, California, then joined Safeway Stores, where she was responsible for developing and administering one of the nation’s first and largest affirmative action programs. Subsequently she worked as an attorney in private practice and as president of Walt Management, an inner city development company. Ambassador Hall has been involved in the California wine industry since her family first purchased a vineyard in 1971 and is currently, with husband Craig Hall, co-owner of HALL Wines, a premier vineyard and winery company in Napa, California. From 1997 to July 2001, she served as the United States Ambassador to Austria where she led the Embassy team in the negotiation of resolutions relating to holocaust restitution. She also led a successful effort to enhance opportunities for American businesses operating in Austria. Ambassador Hall has served on numerous non-profit and institutional boards. She co-founded the North Texas Food Bank and served on the U.S. House of Representatives Hunger Advisory Committee. She has served on the National Advisory Council for Violence Against Women and as a trustee of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Currently, she is trustee of the University of California, Berkeley Foundation and a director of the Northern California World Affairs Council. She holds an A.B. in Economics and a J.D from the University of California, and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University. She is married to Craig Hall and is the mother of two children and two stepchildren.
Robert L. Lieff, Director, was the founder as well as principal architect and visionary in the development of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP. Under his direction, Lieff Cabraser has become one of the largest plaintiffs’ law firms in the world, with 75 lawyers and 200 employees in San Francisco, New York and Nashville. Mr. Lieff managed the mass torts practice group at Lieff Cabraser and has been a key player in landmark cases including Exxon Valdez, Holocaust litigation and the National Tobacco Settlement. In the past seven years, he has focused his practice on international litigation including hemophiliac tainted blood, representing two-thousand plaintiffs from 24 countries, and created an aviation department within Lieff Cabraser. Mr. Lieff has been recognized by Law & Politics magazine as a “Northern California Super Lawyer” in 2005 – 2008, and Lieff Cabraser has been recognized by The National Law Journal as one of the top plaintiffs’ firms in the country for the last six years, one of only two such firms to be so honored. Mr. Lieff and his wife, Gretchen, have a home in Rutherford. They also operate Lieff Wines, LLC producing wine in Rutherford and operating vineyards at Alamo Creek Ranch, their 2,500 acre property in San Luis Obispo, California.
Brian C. Russell, Director, is an attorney for Francis Ford Coppola Presents, LLC. Brian’s work focuses on land use and wine related issues for the Coppola properties. Prior to joining FFC Presents, LLC, Brian worked with Porter, Scott, Weiberg & Delehant, a civil litigation firm in Sacramento. Brian is also involved with Rancho Chimiles, a working ranch in Napa that produces high quality wine grapes. Brian is a member of the Napa County Bar Association and the Napa County Farm Bureau.
Susan Schwegman, Director, is a lawyer in the Napa law firm of Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty, specializing in employment, general business law and civil litigation. Susan previously served as in-house counsel for an international engineering and construction company in San Francisco. An experienced public interest lawyer, Susan has provided pro bono services to the Homeless Advocacy Project in San Francisco, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, the First Appellate Project and the American Bar Association. She also conducted legal aid clinics for Legal Aid of Marin. Susan previously served as Supervising Attorney of Legal Aid's Baseline Legal Services Program.
Hon. W. Scott Snowden (Ret.), Director, currently serves as a mediator/arbitrator for JAMS, the largest alternative dispute resolution company in the nation, where he maintains an active and diverse ADR practice. His practice emphasizes agribusiness and wine law, real estate and business litigation. Prior to joining JAMS, Judge Snowden served as a Judge of the Napa Municipal Court for 5 years and as a Napa Superior Court Judge (often Presiding Judge) for more than 20 years. He has been a trailblazing leader in case management, modern court administration, and early resolution. During his tenure, the Napa Superior Court resolved more than 90% of civil actions within 12 months of filing for over 15 years. Judge Snowden, with his brother, Randy, owns and operates Snowden Vineyards. Located in the hills overlooking the Napa Valley between St. Helena and Rutherford, Snowden Vineyards farms 23 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. It produces and sells three wines, including Snowden Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. The current vintage of Snowden Reserve received 95 points from wine critic, Robert Parker.
