Back in season

Football, friendship, and OCTLA’s fall lineup

2026 October

It’s fall, which means the return to school, the return to our regularly scheduled programming and, most importantly, the return of football. Whether you’re living and dying with your fantasy team, cheering on your college alma mater, or planted in front of the TV every Sunday for your NFL team, the excitement and anticipation this time of year is real.

As many of you know, I’m a dedicated Rams fan, and I’m walking into this season with big expectations and even bigger hopes. The offseason acquisition of Myles Garrett seemed almost too good to be true, and it was followed by the unretirement of Aaron Donald, which had fans like me daring to dream a little. But if there’s one thing football teaches us year after year, it’s that anything can happen on any given Sunday. That mix of optimism, uncertainty, and shared anticipation is part of what makes this season so much fun, and it’s also the perfect backdrop for something OCTLA has planned this month.

To continue our football theme, I’m thrilled to share that we have a great joint event planned for Monday Night Football on October 19th with the Hispanic Bar Association and Filipino American Bar Association in Irvine! We can’t wait to gather, mingle, and get to know each other better! We hope to see you there! This event is a chance to spend time together outside of depositions, briefs, and courtrooms, and what better way to build that camaraderie than with football, good food, and a little friendly rivalry between fan bases.

Partnership and building relationships – teambuilding!

If you go back to the foundation of who we are and what we do as trial lawyers, so much of it comes down to relationships. The connections we build, the people who show up for us, and the communities we choose to be part of shape not just our careers, but the kind of lawyers and leaders we become. Teambuilding! 

One of the best parts of serving as president of OCTLA has been building relationships with other legal organizations and the women who lead them. That is exactly what will be on full display on Monday, October 19th, in Irvine, when OCTLA co-hosts a joint Monday Night Football event at Hangar 24 with the Hispanic Bar Association and FLOC, the Filipino American Bar Association.

Getting to know other female attorneys who have stepped into leadership roles across our legal community has given me an entirely new support network. These are incredible people doing incredible work. They are logging countless hours of pro bono service, mentoring younger attorneys, and building organizations that are making a real difference in Orange County. And on top of all of that, many of them have started their own firms and are running organizations of their own, all while showing up for each other and for the broader legal community, again and again. These incredible leaders include Heidi Plummer, Liz Hernandez, Laura Hassan, Melonie Jordan, Natalie Holm, Antoinette Naddour, Shirin Forootan and Tina Hanley.

Our partnership continues with our sponsorship of the OCWLA Women’s Gala on October 15th, which has a fun Roaring ’20s theme, complete with flapper dresses. That event honors the Honorable Adrianna Marshack, attorney Kelly Galligan, and Crowell and Moring LLP for their advancement of women in the legal profession. It is also a great moment to celebrate President Heidi Plummer and her amazing work.

These partnerships also lead to our exciting new conference with Consumer Attorneys of San Diego “CLE by the Sea” in Oceanside July 8-11th, 2027. If you are interested in speaking at this event, please reach out to us. Yet another great opportunity to spend quality time and get to know other great organizations! Check out our website for details including more information about the incredible resort, and new signature summer conference! Get your CLE in style and have plenty of time to visit the beach!

I would love to partner with other organizations across Orange County and throughout the state. The more we get to know, support, and learn from each other, the better we all become. If your organization is interested in a joint event, even one in 2027, please reach out to me or our 2027 president, Michael Jeandron. We would love to plan more events like this!

Event recap

I also had the pleasure of attending, and OCTLA proudly sponsored, the annual FLOC Gala on September 18th, a fun filled evening honoring the board and raising funds for an incredible organization and its charitable work. It was a great night.

Join us

So, as I raise a toast to the season, to camaraderie, and to a little friendly rivalry, I hope many of you will join us on October 19th at Hangar 24. I also hope to plan many joint events in the future. For more details and OCTLA’s full fall lineup check out our website!