Fellows Officers
Darrell G. Mottley serves as Chair of the Fellows and is a current Life Fellow. Mr. Mottley practices in the Washington D.C. office of the Banner & Witcoff, Ltd. law firm. Mr. Mottley is noted as a strategic advisor and counselor who analyzes global intellectual property issues from legal and business perspectives. He has worked extensively with starts-ups, privately and publicly held companies as virtual in-house counsel and as lead counsel on a wide array of intellectual property issues. He advises on disruptive innovation and high-technology intellectual property matters in a wide variety of fields, such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, telecommunications, internet-related technology, medical devices, and electro-mechanical technologies. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Mr. Mottley was an engineer in private practice, in the federal government and a commissioned officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.
Mr. Mottley is a Past President of the District of Columbia Bar in Washington D.C. During his term as President, he emphasized lawyers should do more for access to justice and pro bono service for those in need. Mr. Mottley chaired the DC Bar Global Legal Practice Task Force studying the impact of globalization on the legal profession.
Mr. Mottley is currently a board member of the Council for Court Excellence; and a board member of Rising For Justice (formerly DC Law Students in Court). Mr. Mottley is a former Chair of the American Bar Foundation DC Fellows. He is a former Chair of the ABA Standing Committee for Trade in Legal Services. His past leadership and community service positions include: Executive Council, National Conference of Bar Presidents; Council of American Bar Association, Section of Intellectual Property Law; Chair, Editorial Board, American Bar Association, Landslide IP Law Magazine; and Industrial Advisory Council, Virginia Tech, College of Engineering.
Mr. Mottley is an Adjunct Faculty member of The George Washington University Law School and Howard University School of Law. Mr. Mottley is also contributing author to the Thomson Reuters published book, Navigating Fashion Law: Leading Lawyers on Exploring the Trends, Cases, and Strategies of Fashion Law, in which he authored the section “The Tools for Protecting Fashion Law Clients.” Mr. Mottley has been rated a SuperLawyer by Thomson Reuters in 2020-2022. Mr. Mottley has been named an IP Star in the United States and in the District of Columbia by Managing Intellectual Property in 2013-2022. Mr. Mottley is listed in the World’s Leading Patent Professionals for 2017-2022. He holds a law degree, with honors, from The George Washington University; a Masters of Business Administration, and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Science and Mechanics from Virginia Tech.
Contact Mr. Mottley:
Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.
1100 13th Street NW, Suite 1200
Washington, DC 20005
Office: (202) 824-3000
Email: dmottley@bannerwitcoff.com
Laura V. Farber serves as the Chair Elect of the Fellows and is a current Patron Fellow. Farber is a partner in the Pasadena law firm of Hahn & Hahn LLP. Farber practices civil litigation with an emphasis in employment disputes and also counsels clients in employment and a variety of other matters.
Additionally, Farber is a member of the American Bar Association, where she serves as the State Delegate for California in the House of Delegates, Chair, ABA House of Delegates Committee on Rules & Calendar, past Co-Chair of the Coordinating Group on Practice Forward, past Chair of the Latin America and Caribbean Initiative Council, former member of the Rule of Law Initiative Board, a former member of the Steering Committee of the Nominating Committee, a former member of the Board of Governors representing the State of California, past chair of the Commission on Youth At Risk, past chair of the Solo Small Firm and General Practice Division, past chair of the Young Lawyers Division and past member of the ABA Journal Editorial Board. She has also served as member of the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and as a member of the Minorities in the Legal Profession Committee, and she served as President of the Barristers, the LACBA’s young lawyers division. She is also a member of the State Bar of California, California Women Lawyers, Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, National Association of Women Lawyers, Mexican-American Bar Association, Latina Lawyers Bar Association and the Hispanic National Bar Association.
The Los Angeles Business Journal has named Farber one of the top 50 women lawyers in Los Angeles. In 2003, she received the American Bar Association’s Commission on Ethnic and Racial Diversity in the Profession – Spirit of Excellence Award and, in 2004, she received the YWCA San Gabriel Valley Women of Excellence in the Law Award. Ms. Farber was named 2022 National Latina Woman of the Year by the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation (MAOF), Woman of the Year 2022 selected by U.S. congressional Representative Judy Chu representing the 27th Congressional District of California, Woman of the Year 2019 representing the 41st Assembly District of California, was a KTLA 2019 Honoree, Hispanic Heritage Month Visionaries, received the NAACP Pasadena Branch President’s Award 2019, Ruby McKnight Williams Awards Dinner, the Judge Harry Pregerson Award, 2019 Roybal Legacy Gala, Edward Roybal Foundation, the League of Women Voters Pasadena Area, 2020 Power of Leadership Award, the Aspires-West Pasadena, Aspires Role Model Award 2020 and received the Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s 2020 Trailblazer Award
Tournament of Roses® Immediate Past President Laura V. Farber provided leadership for the 131st Rose Parade® and the 106th Rose Bowl Game® on January 1, 2020. Farber has also been named chairman of the Rose Bowl Management Committee from 2020-2025. Farber has been a volunteer member of the Tournament of Roses Association since 1993. She was appointed a Tournament Chairperson in 2004 and a Tournament Director in 2010. Throughout her extensive Tournament career, Farber has served on and chaired various committees including Decorating Places, Formation Area, Judging and Membership Development. She was elected to the Executive Committee in 2012.
In addition to her many years of service in the Tournament of Roses, her civic activities include being a member of the board of directors of the non-profit Clazzical Notes, previously, a four-year member of the board of directors for the YWCA, a member of the school site council for Marengo Elementary School in South Pasadena from 2007-2010, and an officer of the South Pasadena Middle School Booster Club from 2009-2013. Farber also serves as a member of the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation Advisory Board and the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation Museum Committee.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Farber's native language is Spanish. She earned her bachelor’s degree, cum laude, with departmental highest honors, in 1987 from University of California, Los Angeles and her juris doctor, cum laude, in 1990 from Georgetown University. She is admitted to the bars of California, the District of Columbia, Ninth and D.C. Circuits and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Farber and her husband, Tomás Lopez, reside in South Pasadena and have two children, Christopher and Jessica. Her hobbies include music, tennis and reading.
Contact Ms. Farber:
Hahn & Hahn LLP
301 E. Colorado Blvd, Suite 900
Pasadena, CA 91101-1916
Office: (626) 796-9123
Email: lfarber@hahnlawyers.com
Frank X. Neuner, Jr. serves as the Secretary of the Fellows and is a current Patron Fellow. Mr. Neuner is a founder and the managing partner of NeunerPate, a local corporate defense firm. Neuner has shown an unwavering commitment to leadership and service to his community and profession. As a past chairman of One Acadiana, he led the charge to grow the Acadiana region’s business climate which in turn created economic opportunities for all. He also served as chairman of the board of Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center, president of United Way of Acadiana, the Lafayette Bar Association, and the Lafayette Bar Foundation and continues to remain involved in these organizations. Through his example and encouragement, NeunerPate has developed a culture of dedication to community service and providing pro bono legal services and NeunerPate was awarded the State Bar Association’s Pro Bono Publico Award in 2017.
Neuner’s leadership roles and volunteerism extend beyond Acadiana to the state, national, and international stage. As President of the Louisiana Client Assistance Foundation since 2001, he oversees reimbursement of funds to clients who lose money due to lawyer misconduct. To date, almost $2.5 million has been paid to claimants. He served as president of the Louisiana State Bar Association in 2005 and 2006 during the tumultuous Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In 2013, Neuner was invited to present at The World Justice Forum in the Hague, Netherlands and share his experience in restoring the legal system after a natural disaster. During his six-year tenure as Chair of the Louisiana Public Defender Board, he spearheaded the drive for legislation to provide legal protection and access to justice for the indigent defendants.
Neuner received a Juris Doctor in 1976 from Louisiana State University. In 2008, he was named the LSU Law School’s Distinguished Alumnus, and in 2013, he was honored as the Louisiana Bar Foundation’s Distinguished Lawyer. In April of 2018 Neuner was awarded the ABA Solo and Small Firm Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a member of Louisiana, Texas and American Bar Associations; the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel; the Defense Research Institute; the Maritime Law Association of the United States; and the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel. He is also a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers and of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, serves as the ABA State Delegate for Louisiana and is a past Chair of the ABA Client Protection Committee. He has been married to Tracy Owens Neuner for fifty years, and they have four children and five grandchildren.
Contact Mr. Neuner:
Neuner Pate
1001 W. Pinhook Road Suite 200
Lafayette, LA 70503-2451
Office: (337) 272-0311
Email: fneuner@neunerpate.com
Cynthia E. Nance (Cyndi) serves as Immediate Past Chair of the Fellows and is a current Patron Fellow. She is Dean and Nathan G. Gordon Professor at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville School of Law, earned her B.S. degree, magna cum laude, from Chicago State University. She holds a J.D., with distinction, from the University of Iowa College of Law and an M.A. from the University of Iowa College of Business. She joined the Arkansas Law faculty as an assistant professor in 1994 and served as dean of the law school from 2006-2011. Her teaching and scholarship focus on labor and employment law, workplace legislation, poverty law and Lawyers as Leaders, and she was the law school's first director of pro bono and community engagement.
Dean Nance’s articles appear in journals including the Iowa Law Review, Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law, Rutgers Law Review, and Brandeis Law Journal. She has given presentations on various legal and educational issues nationally as well as in Mexico, Brunei, Singapore, and Ukraine. She served as keynote speaker for the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas’ inaugural Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration.
She is the former Eighth Circuit Member of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary and represents the ABA Labor and Employment Law Section in the House of Delegates. Nance is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, and an elected member of its Board of Governors. She is also an elected member of the American Law Institute and The Labor Law Group and serves on the Arkansas Advisory Committee to the United States Civil Rights Commission.
Dean Nance is a member of the Arkansas Bar Association Commission on Diversity and the Arkansas Bar Foundation Trust Committee. Nance also previously served on the American Bar Association Commission on Homelessness and Poverty, the Council of the ABA Section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, the National Association of Law Placement Foundation Board and the Arkansas Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program Committee. Nance is a member of the Harold Flowers Law Society, an affiliate of the National Bar Association, the International Women's Forum, Arkansas Forum and a Board Member of the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame. She formerly served on the boards of WelcomeHealth and Bikes, Blues and Barbecue of Northwest Arkansas.
A member of the Phi Alpha Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Dean Nance currently serves on the Graduate Advisor’s Council for the Kappa Iota Chapter. She previously served in leadership roles including the positions of Vice President and President and is a charter member of the Phi Alpha Omega Chapter. Additional examples of her commitment to service include her past roles as a member of the Law School Admissions Council Board of Trustees, the Interfaith Worker Justice Board, the Advisory Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and as an Anti-Racism Trainer for the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
She has received various awards for her outstanding service, including the University of Iowa Hancher-Finkbine Medallion, the American Bar Association Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, Arthur A. Fletcher Award of the American Association for Affirmative Action, the American Bar Association Spirit of Excellence Award, Arkansas Bar Association Outstanding Lawyer-Citizen Award, and the University of Arkansas, Faculty Distinguished Achievement Award in Public Service.
She is a recipient of the Northwest Arkansas Martin Luther King Commission Individual Achievement Award and was recognized as one of Diverse Issues in Higher Education magazine’s “25 Women Making a Difference,” as a “Woman of Influence” by Arkansas Business, and as one of the most influential lawyers on Twitter by On Being a Black Lawyer. She has been featured as one of Arkansas’ 12 Most Powerful Women by AY Magazine and Talk Business Quarterly. Nance is also the inaugural recipient of the Harold Flowers Association's Judge Andree Layton Roaf Award of Excellence, and a recipient of the University of Arkansas Women Law Students' Gayle Pettus Pontz award.
Contact Dean Nance:
University of Arkansas School of Law
WATR 225 University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Office: (479) 575-2403
Email: cnance@uark.edu