The American Bar Foundation (ABF) has elected four new board members to its Board of Directors. Hon. Dolly M. Gee, Hon. Eileen A. Kato (Ret.), Darrell Mottley, and Paul M. Smith were elected to serve a five-year term, beginning September 1. They all bring years of experience in law and extensive histories of leadership to the board.
The ABF board will enter the 2024-25 fiscal year guided by a new cohort of officers. Sandra J. Chan succeeds Jimmy K. Goodman as President. Michael H. Byowitz will serve as Vice-President, Harold D. Pope will serve as Treasurer, and Lauren K. Robel will serve as Secretary.
Paula E. Boggs, Robert J. Grey, Jr., and Hon. Sophia H. Hall have retired from the board after years of dedication to the ABF’s mission of expanding knowledge and advancing justice. Jimmy K. Goodman will continue to serve the ABF Board of Directors in the special capacity as Advisor to the Board through the upcoming fiscal year.
The ABF’s Board’s ex-officio members will consist of ABA President Bill Bay, Chair of the ABA House of Delegates Jonathan Cole, ABA President-Elect Michelle Behnke, and ABE President Hon. Lora Livingston.
“We look forward to the contributions of these exceptional new board members,” said ABF Executive Director Mark Suchman. “Their experience and expertise will play a crucial role in guiding the mission of the ABF forward.”
Honorable Eileen A. Kato (Ret.) (she/her) was appointed to the King County District Court (Seattle) in June 1994 and retired in March 2016. She had worked as a special assistant to the U.S. Attorney for the Western Washington District and as a senior trial attorney with the Department of the Treasury before joining the bench. She has served as an advisor or member of multiple organizations, including the American Bar Association, the National Judicial College, the National Center for State Courts, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), the NAPABA Judicial Council, the King County Bar Association Neighborhood Legal Clinics, and the International Organization for Judicial Training. She has also served as an ABF Fellows Chair (2020-21) and is a Patron Fellow.
Honorable Dolly M. Gee (she/her) is the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Upon her unanimous confirmation in 2009, Judge Gee became the first Chinese American woman to serve as an Article III U.S. Federal Court Judge. Since joining the federal bench, Judge Gee has issued several significant rulings, including a landmark decision requiring legal representation for immigrants with severe mental disabilities who are detained for potential deportation. Before her time on the federal court, she was a partner at Schwartz Steinsapir Dohrmann & Sommers LLP, where she worked in the fields of labor law, workplace harassment, and employment discrimination.
Darrell G. Mottley (he/him) is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Clinic at Suffolk University Law. Professor Mottley’s scholarship explores the intersection of intellectual property law between design patents, trade dress, copyright, and utility patent law, including Web 3.0 virtual and cryptographic environments. As a registered Patent Attorney and Of Counsel of the BannerWitcoff law firm, Professor Mottley has advised on the intellectual property aspects of multiple technologies. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Professor Mottley was an engineer in private practice, in the federal government and a commissioned officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserves. He has also served as the ABF Fellows Chair (2022-23) and is an ABF Life Fellow.
Paul M. Smith (he/him) has four decades of experience in litigation, including 21 arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court, often in cases advancing civil rights, civil liberties, and voting rights. Smith currently serves as the Senior Vice President of the Campaign Legal Center, which seeks to protect and advance American democracy through innovative litigation and advocacy. He is also a Visiting Professor from Practice at Georgetown Law and an ABF Patron Fellow.
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About the American Bar Foundation
The American Bar Foundation (ABF) is the world’s leading research institute for the empirical and interdisciplinary study of law. The ABF seeks to expand knowledge and advance justice through innovative, interdisciplinary, and rigorous empirical research on law, legal processes, and legal institutions. To further this mission the ABF will produce timely, cutting-edge research of the highest quality to inform and guide the legal profession, the academy, and society in the United States and internationally. The ABF’s primary funding is provided by the American Bar Endowment and the Fellows of The American Bar Foundation.