Board of Directors
Paul Resnick
President
Paul co-founded an independent investment advisory firm in 1989, which was later acquired by Osborne Partners, LLC. He retired from a full-time role with Osborne at the end of 2019. He has been a member and officer of many non-profit boards over the years, including serving as board chair of seven prior to his current role as president of Legal Aid SMC. He is also the current treasurer of Foundation for a College Education, a member of the audit committee of Alta Housing, and a member of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s community advisory board. He is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College (Claremont Men’s College at the time he graduated) and UCLA Graduate School of Business.
Assad H. Rajani | Arnold & Porter
Vice President
Assad serves as Intellectual Property counsel in Arnold & Porter’s Silicon Valley office. His practice focuses on IP litigation and IP counseling for a wide range of medical device, technology, and life sciences clients in matters before various federal and state courts, the International Trade Commission, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), and in private arbitration. He has been an active pro bono volunteer with Legal Aid SMC for over 15 years, focusing on guardianships, limited conservatorships, and housing matters. During college, Assad served as a volunteer and on the Board of Directors for the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), leading several campaigns to address hunger and homelessness. Assad is a graduate of Syracuse University and UC Berkeley School of Law.
Sarah Slayen | Joby Aviation
Secretary
Sarah is a Deputy General Counsel at Joby Aviation, focusing on securities and corporate governance matters. She joined Legal Aid SMC’s annual “And Justice For All” Awards Luncheon Committee in 2007 while an associate at Latham & Watkins and became a member of Legal Aid’s board of directors in 2018. Sarah is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College and UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings).
Greg Regan, CPA | Hemming Morse LLP
Treasurer
Greg is a CPA and a partner at Hemming Morse, a firm specializing in forensic accounting and valuation services. Previously, Greg was with Ernst & Young and was controller of a public software company in Redwood City. He has been on the Board of Legal Aid SMC, also serving as its treasurer, since 2008. Greg graduated from Georgetown University and received his MBA from the University of San Francisco.
Jessica Arner | Lakin Spears LLP
Jessica is Of Counsel at Lakin Spears LLP, where her family law practice has focused on child custody issues. She began her legal career at Legal Aid SMC as a VISTA attorney. She wrote the chapter on custody evaluations in the Continuing Education of the Bar’s child custody treatise. Jessica also does pro bono legal work and volunteers as a writing coach for students who will be the first in their family to attend college. She is a graduate of Yale University and UC Davis Law School.
Joyce C. Chow
Joyce was formerly a Senior Director (Legal) at Apple, where she worked for 30 years and headed the Software Products and AI/Machine Learning legal team. While at Apple, she was involved in a variety of practice areas, including technology licensing, commercial transactions, copyright, AI/Machine Learning, regulatory matters, and Apple’s accessibility efforts. Prior to Apple, she worked in private practice at McCutchen Black in Los Angeles, Komatsu & Koma in Tokyo, and Cooley LLP in Palo Alto. She is a graduate of Mills College and UC Berkeley School of Law. Joyce is also a board member and past board chair of Parents Helping Parents, a nonprofit based in Santa Clara County that supports, educates, and inspires families and the community to build bright futures for youth and adults with special needs.
William S. Freeman | ACLU Foundation of Northern California
Bill is a senior counsel at the ACLU of Northern California, where he has litigated cases in a range of issues including immigrants’ rights, economic justice, and freedom of expression. He has had the privilege of co-counseling on litigation with Legal Aid SMC. Previously, he worked in the Civil Division of the U.S Justice Department, and was a partner with Cooley LLP and Jones Day. While in private practice, he maintained an active pro bono litigation practice. Bill is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He has served as board president of Samaritan House, a nonprofit serving low-income residents of San Mateo County, and of Peninsula Temple Beth El.
Christin Hinojosa-Kirschenbaum
Christin is an educator, artist, and activist. She graduated from Loyola University Chicago, has a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Chicago, and worked for many years as Director of Philanthropy at Solidarity Bridge, a nonprofit providing medical care to underserved communities in Bolivia and Paraguay. Christin has devoted her career in nonprofit management to organizations focusing on social justice, healthcare, poverty, and peace.
Alice Hsieh | Octant
Alice is the Vice President of Business Development at Octant, a start-up biotechnology company focused on drug discovery in rare diseases. Prior to Octant, Alice was at Genentech/Roche as a Business Development Project Leader in Pharma Partnering and Asst. General Counsel in the Business Law Group. At Genentech, Alice volunteered with FutureLab, a public-private partnership between Genentech and South San Francisco Unified School District to build STEM confidence in primary and secondary education, and Alice served as the project team leader and attorney for the design and build of the Science Garage, a 6,900 sq. ft. biotechnology building donated to the South San Francisco Unified High School District. Before Genentech, Alice was transactional counsel at the law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto and supported key partnerships and mergers and acquisitions for large pharmaceutical and small biotech companies. Alice received her B.A. from Stanford University in Human Biology and J.D. from Columbia University School of Law.
Davina Hurt
Davina is an attorney, elected official, former mayor, and board director on the California Air Resources Board and Bay Area Air Quality Management District. She has drafted documents for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; worked for Bay Area Legal Aid; and served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Judge James Ware in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose. Among other board leadership positions, she has served as President of Samaritan House, a nonprofit serving low-income residents of San Mateo County, and Chair of the Court Reporters Board of the California Department of Consumer Affairs. She is a member of the Charles Houston Bar Association and an advisory member of the Equity Forward Initiative of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. As a lifelong learner, she is a fellow of the American Leadership Forum (ALF) of Silicon Valley Class XLIII. Davina is a graduate of Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and Santa Clara University School of Law.
Joel Silver | Gilead
Joel is a Senior Associate General Counsel at Gilead Sciences, Inc. in Foster City, where he is lead counsel for the Development and Manufacturing organizations. Joel also serves as the Chair of Gilead’s Pro Bono program and represents survivors of domestic violence in their restraining order hearings through the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County. Joel earned his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law and is admitted to the California Bar, Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Janice S. Tam
Janice Tam is a tech attorney and business advisor who enables heavily regulated, high-growth companies to scale quickly and sustainably. She is currently the Vice President of Legal and Corporate Secretary of Rune Labs, a software company that aggregates and analyzes clinical neuroscience data. Previously, she founded a startup assisting people with the first legal and financial tasks after the loss of a loved one. She began her legal career at Sidley Austin in their estate and tax planning practice. She is a graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School.
Leticia G. Toledo | Aaron, Riechert, Carpol & Riffle, APC
Leticia is Senior Legal Counsel at Aaron, Reichert, Carpol & Riffle, APC. Her practice focuses exclusively on estate planning, probate and trust administration, and conservatorships. She has served on various committees and sections of the San Mateo County Bar Association, including the Legal Services Committee and Women Lawyers Section. Leticia is a longtime member and past president of Legal Aid SMC’s board, and has also been a pro bono volunteer with Legal Aid for many years. She received the 2017 Legal Aid Association of California’s Award of Merit in recognition of her work to expand access to justice for all Californians. Leticia is a graduate of Saint Mary’s College of California and UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings). She also received a Master’s of Law in Taxation from Golden Gate University School of Law.
Alison R. Watkins | Perkins Coie LLP
Alison is a partner at Perkins Coie LLP, where she counsels clients on compliance with privacy laws and regulations, and has represented clients in privacy-related litigation and government investigations. In addition to her privacy practice, Alison has successfully represented plaintiffs and defendants in patent cases in a range of technologies and industries including software, semiconductors, wireless networking, mobile communications, and recombinant DNA technology. Alison maintains an active pro bono practice with Legal Aid SMC. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and UC Berkeley School of Law.
Laurence A. Weiss
Larry serves as outside general counsel and litigation counsel to startups and other small businesses and individuals. He previously was a litigation partner at two global law firms, and in-house counsel at a "Big Four" accounting firm. Larry has been a member of the Legal Aid SMC board of directors for over 15 years. He currently also serves on an advisory board to a major not-for-profit hospital group. Larry is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of Chicago Law School. After many years in San Mateo County, he now resides in Southern California.
Adam J. Zapala | Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy LLP
Adam is a partner at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP. He focuses on complex litigation, including antitrust, employment, civil rights, privacy, cybersecurity, and consumer protection matters, and class actions generally, serving as lead counsel or in other court-appointed leadership positions. Adam formerly was a staff attorney with Bay Area Legal Aid, where he developed expertise in Medi-Cal, Medicare, and other publicly financed healthcare systems. While in law school, he worked on civil rights class action litigation at the public interest law firms of Public Advocates, Inc. and Public Justice. Adam also acquired legislative and policy experience on Capitol Hill as a policy aide for Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon). Adam graduated from Stanford University and UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings).