Practice Areas
In The Community
Individually, and collectively, we enjoy devoting a significant amount of time and effort to improving our community. Aside from sponsoring numerous events, our partners devote countless hours to organizations that hold a special meaning to them, and more importantly, make a difference in the lives of others in our community.
Below are some of the organizations in which our attorneys have intimate involvement:
The Public Law Center (PLC), Orange County’s pro bono law firm, is committed to providing access to justice for low-income and vulnerable residents. Founded in 1981, PLC’s 42 staff members work with over 1,600 Orange County lawyers, paralegals, law students and other volunteers annually to provide free civil legal services, including: counseling, individual representation, community education, and strategic litigation and advocacy to challenge societal injustices.
Norma García Guillén has served on the Board of Directors since 2019 and currently serves on the Executive Committee.
The Orange County Justice Fund (“OCJF”) is dedicated to generating support for transformative and effective legal representation for some of the most vulnerable members of the Orange County community. In 2017, OCJF was created through a collaboration of attorneys, law professors, and grassroots leaders to ensure that no Orange County resident is forced to defend themself from deportation without an attorney, and to provide support so that those individuals eligible to be released from detention can do so without being financially devastated.
Norma García Guillén is a founding Board member and Vice President of the Board.
Boys & Girls Club of the South Coast Area
The Boys & Girls Club of the South Coast Area serves those who otherwise would not have opportunities for academic success-struggling students from low-income, disadvantaged backgrounds in San Clemente, Dana Point, Camp Pendleton areas, and beyond.
Tabitha Rainey Pullara served on the Board of Directors. She remains a committed supporter of this organization as a board advisor.
Community Lawyers Inc. (“CLI”)
Community Lawyers, Inc. was incorporated in California in May 2005. Community Lawyers, Inc. was formed to formalize mentoring opportunities for first-generation pre-law and college students to expose them to opportunities in, and the challenges of the legal profession and the needs of low- and moderate-income clients.
Norma García Guillén has served on the advisory council since 2009.
Constitutional Rights Foundation-Orange County ("CRF-OC")
CRF-OC is a local non-profit, non-partisan education organization dedicated to promoting civic literacy, youth leadership and career awareness among Orange County teens. CRF-OC runs a high school mock trial program for Orange County schools.
Jeff Blank has served as the attorney coach for Trabuco Hills High School for the past four years. In 2014, he was named as the CRF-OC “Attorney Coach of the Year.” Norma García Guillén previously served as the attorney coach at her alma mater Santa Ana Valley High School for eight years from 1998 to 2004.
In partnership with the Orange County Department of Education, CRF-OC organizes the Orange County Career Forum, which is a one-day conference where high school students attend various career panels. Jeff Blank currently serves on the Orange County Career Forum planning committee. He organized and participated on the sports panel for the 2014 Orange County Career Forum.
Hispanic Bar Association of Orange County
The Hispanic Bar Association of Orange County is a not-for-profit association that represents the interests of Hispanic attorneys, judges, law professors, legal assistants, law students, and legal professionals in the Orange County community. Norma García Guillén proudly served as president of the Hispanic Bar Association of Orange County in 2008 and remains actively involved.
Our Firm has been a proud sponsor of the organization since our founding.
KidWorks
KidWorks is a non-profit in central Santa Ana serving at-risk youth and their families. Norma García Guillén has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2007, serving as Chair of the Board since 2012. Jeff Blank and Laura Noroski have served on the Advisory Committee for the past two years. Our attorneys are actively involved in events and fundraisers for Kidworks, including their annual Foundation for Success Luncheon, which raises hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in "WINGS" an auxiliary group founded to support all aspects of Kidworks.
Orange County Bar Association
The Orange County Bar Association provides a wide variety of programs, services and opportunities for its attorney members, the judiciary, and the community.
John Bowerbank was recently elected as the Secretary/Treasurer for the Real Estate Section. Jeff Blank currently serves as an arbitrator for the Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program, which resolves fee disputes between clients and attorneys. Norma García Guillén served as an appointed member of the Administration of Justice Committee in 2007 and 2008. Tabitha Rainey Pullara participated in the Orange County Bar Association’s community outreach program “Teenage Legal Survival Skills,” instructing teenagers about their rights and responsibilities as they near adulthood; this program sparked her interest and continued involvement with the Boys& Girls Club of the South Coast Area (discussed above).
Technology, Entrepreneurship, & Cultural Mexican Association ("TECMA")
TECMA is a nonprofit organization, formed as part of the Mexican Professionals Network living outside of Mexico (Red de Talentos en el Exterior "RTM"), to promote relationships and activities among the members of RTM and its Mexican counterparts. The purpose of TECMA is to develop entrepreneurial projects involving science and technology that result in profitable business between Mexico and Orange County, and to promote cultural exchanges.
Norma García Guillén has been a member of the TECMA Board of Directors since 2009.
UC Irvine School Of Law
Norma García Guillén has served as a member of the Dean’s Executive Board since 2011. Norma García Guillén also served on the advisory committee for UCI’s Saturday Academy of Law since its founding in 2009 and remains an active supporter of the Academy.
Laura Noroski is part of the UCI Law mentoring program and currently mentors a 1L student. Jeff Blank has served as an adjunct professor at UCI Law, teaching Sports Law during the fall semester of the 2013-2014 academic year.
USC Latino Law Alumni Association
Andrea Hattemer is one of the founding members of the USC Latino Law Alumni Association (“LLAA”). The USC LLAA advises current members of the USC Latino Law Students Association (LLSA) regarding law school and job searching strategies. The USC LLAA also assists the LLSA to plan its renowned annual fundraiser and awards ceremony, Judges and Lawyers Night.
In addition, Andrea Hattemer and Norma García Guillén, along with other prominent USC Latino Law Alumni, are part of the steering committee to raise funds for the first USC Latino Law Students Association Endowed Scholarship Fund.
William P. Gray Legion Lex Inn of Court
The William P. Gray Legion Lex Inn of Court aims to promote the preservation of the highest standards of excellence in professionalism, ethics, civility and legal skills in the legal profession. Laura Noroski currently serves as a Board Member. Jeff Blank is a long-standing member.