Law Briefs

California Western School of Law professors James M. Cooper and Justin P. Brooks will help launch Red Inocente, an Innocence Network in Latin America, this week in Santiago, Chile.

Modeled on the success of the California Innocence Project, Red Inocente is a public education and advocacy program dedicated to the release of wrongly convicted people and the reform of laws that lead to wrongful conviction in Latin America.

The launch of Red Inocente will coincide with the inaugural conference for innocence projects in Latin America. Cooper and Brooks also will help to establish innocence projects in Argentina, Chile, and Peru later this year.

McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP partner Bill Earley has been elected president of the San Diego State University Alumni Association, effective July 1.

A 1986 alumnus and long-time supporter of the school, Earley follows Jeff Marston, president of Marston & Marston.

Sullivan Hill Lewin Rez & Engel associate Jenny Goodman has been elected president of the Rotary Club of San Diego Downtown Breakfast for 2012-2013, effective July 1. She has been actively engaged in Rotary since 2004, serving on numerous committees and has been on the board of the Rotary Club of San Diego Downtown Breakfast for the last two years.

Omar T. Passons, a former Caltrans deputy attorney, has joined Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz APC as special counsel. He focuses on construction law, land use and general tort litigation with an emphasis on public agency related matters.

Stoel Rives LLP received a Gold Standard Certification from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum, a leading organization for women in law dedicated exclusively to women from the Amlaw 100, Second Hundred and Fortune 1000 Corporate Law Departments.

The certification process focused on whether women were significantly represented in top leadership positions and among the top-earning attorneys.

Alexander Maniscalco has joined Gerson Law Firm APC as an associate. He has a broad background in real estate and business transactions as well as land use entitlement. He will serve the firm in these areas as well as its commercial and multifamily finance practice.

University of San Diego School of Law Professor Frank Partnoy will discuss his new book, "WAIT: The Art and Science of Delay," on Tuesday, July 17, at a breakfast sponsored by USDís Master of Science in Executive Leadership program. He will talk about how taking control of time and slowing down our responses yields better results in almost every arena of life.

Breakfast is set for 7:15-8 a.m. and Partnoy will speak from 8-9 a.m. in the Warren Auditorium in Mother Rosalie Hill Hall on the USD campus. The event is free but seating is limited.

Those interested in attending should RSVP by July 13 at sandiego.edu/msel. Attendees also can email gfascilla@sandiego.edu for more information.