Distinguished Fellows Program

Jennifer Friend, J.D.

CEO, Project Hope Alliance

Michael Barsom, M.D.

Executive Director, Metropolitan State Hospital

John Manly, J.D.

Partner and Founder | Manly, Stewart and Finaldi Lawyers

Biography:

John obtained a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and a certificate in defense and strategic studies from the University of Southern California. In 1990, John received his J.D. from Pepperdine University Law School, and thereafter served as a law clerk to the General Counsel of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in Washington, D.C. John also served 10 years in the United States military, as a U.S. Navy intelligence officer. A member of the California, Arizona, New York and Alaska Bar Associations, John is admitted to practice in numerous federal district courts.

Named one of California’s “Top 100 Attorneys” and one of California’s top 30 Plaintiff Lawyers by the Los Angeles Daily Journal John C. Manly is California’s preeminent attorney representing victims of sexual abuse. Over the past decade, John and his legal team have been heavily involved in the most significant sexual abuse actions litigated across the nation, assisting in the recovery of nearly two billion dollars—through trial and settlement—on behalf sexual abuse victims. Additionally, Manly, Stewart & Finaldi’s litigation has effectuated significant non-monetary changes to the policies and procedures of religious, youth educational and charitable organizations, helping to keep kids safe.

Mr. Manly has devoted his time to assembling a powerful team of attorneys who specialize in litigating sexual abuse civil cases on behalf of children and vulnerable adults, firmly establishing Manly, Stewart & Finaldi as the nation’s preeminent law firm in the field. Manly, Stewart & Finaldi specializes in litigation of molestation, sexual harassment and exploitation actions in religious, employment, educational, familial and other settings.

Manly, Stewart& Finaldi successfully litigated more than one thousand cases on behalf of Catholic clergy abuse survivors including the $660 million global settlement of 508 sexual abuse claims against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Los Angeles.

The firm has also represented hundreds of survivors of sexual abuse by teachers, coaches and school employees. These cases include the $140 million global settlement of 81 child sexual abuse claims against Los Angeles Unified School District resulting from the sexual abuse of students at Miramonte Elementary School by Mark Berndt. This is the largest child sex abuse settlement against any public agency in the United States

John Manly’s recent high-profile cases have included a 500-million-dollar settlement with Michigan State University on behalf of the survivors former Olympic Women’s Gymnastics Team doctor Larry Nassar.

Mr. Manly’s work was prominently featured in the 2005 documentary “Deliver Us From Evil,” which centered around the civil prosecution of notorious predator priest Oliver O’Grady and the church officials who protected him.  Interviews with John are regularly featured in national media including CBS 60 Minutes, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

Jackie Lacey, J.D.

District Attorney of Los Angeles

Biography:

District Attorney Jackie Lacey has spent most of her professional life as a prosecutor, manager and executive in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. On Dec. 3, 2012, she was sworn in as the 42nd District Attorney. She was re-elected four years later without opposition. She is the first woman and first African-American to serve as Los Angeles County District Attorney since the office was established in 1850. District Attorney Lacey’s top priority is keeping the streets of Los Angeles County safe from violent and dangerous criminals. She is committed to safeguarding our children from human sex traffickers, our seniors from financial elder abuse and our communities from environmental crimes that threaten our health and our livelihood. District Attorney Lacey established the Conviction Review Unit to assess claims of actual innocence based on newly discovered evidence. She also appointed the office’s first Professional Responsibility Advisor. As chair of the Criminal Justice Mental Health Project for Los Angeles County, District Attorney Lacey leads a multidisciplinary working group devoted to diverting people who are mentally ill out of the criminal justice system for nonviolent offenses. She initiated an ambitious plan within her office to provide free training to first responders on how to safely de-escalate incidents involving people in a mental health crisis. A Los Angeles native and graduate of the University of Southern California Law School, she leads the largest local prosecutorial office in the nation, with a workforce of approximately 1,000 lawyers, 300 investigators and 800 support staff employees.

Joseph Dunn, J.D.

Former California State Senator

Biography:

Joseph Dunn served as a member of the California State Senate from 1998-2006 for the 34^th district, located in Orange County. In this position he chaired several key committees, including the Senate Investigation Committee, which looked into the 2001 California energy crisis.

In addition to his election to the state Senate, Mr. Dunn served as CEO and Executive Director of the California Medical Association, an organization with the mission to promote medicine and the well-being of patients.

He is a founding partner of The Senators (Ret.) Firm, LLP, a law firm dedicated to counseling individuals who have been injured, abused or defrauded. The Senators Firm is located in Santa Ana, California.

Senator Dunn received his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the Minnesota School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from the College of St. Thomas. He currently lectures at the UC Irvine School of Law.

Kate Corrigan, J.D.

Attorney at Law | Corrigan, Welbourn, Stokke

Biography:

Kate Corrigan is a former prosecutor, and is currently a member of Corrigan, Welbourn, Stokke, APLC, a criminal defense practice.  Her practice is dedicated to the representation of individuals and entities under criminal investigation and facing prosecution in federal courts around the USA and the California state courts.  Her firm prides itself in client centered representation and has successfully defended its clients hundreds of misdemeanor and felony cases.

Ms. Corrigan is listed on the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, and was included as one of the top 50 lawyers on the 2015 Orange County Super Lawyers List. She was also a founding member of the Orange County Criminal Defense Bar Association, and served three terms as President.  She is currently the Chair of the OCBA Criminal Law Section.  She has also served as President of the FBA/OC Chapter.

Park Dietz, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D.

President, Park Dietz & Associates Inc.

Biography:

Dr. Dietz founded Park Dietz & Associates, a forensic consulting firm, and Threat Assessment Group, the world’s first workplace violence prevention company. In 2009, Dr. Dietz was named one of the “Top 25 Most Influential People in the Security Industry” by Security magazine. In 2010, he was awarded the “Seymour Pollack Award for Distinguished Contributions to Education in Forensic Psychiatry” by the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. In 2014, Biography.com listed Dr. Dietz among the 10 most famous psychiatrists in history.

 Dr. Dietz has testified and/or consulted in all 50 states, participating in such notable cases as those involving the assassination attempts on President Reagan and on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Jeffrey Dahmer and more than 25 other serial killers, the Unabomber, the DC sniper cases, the school shootings at Columbine, and civil suits against churches, schools, and youth-serving organizations for the sexual abuse of children.

Educated at Cornell and Johns Hopkins, Dr. Dietz simultaneously earned an M.D., a master’s degree in public health, and a Ph.D. in sociology. He was a psychiatry resident at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Chief Fellow in Forensic Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. He served as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School and as Professor of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry and Professor of Law at the University of Virginia. He is currently Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the UCLA School of Medicine.

Dr. Dietz is a Past President of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Trauma Research and the U.S. Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography. He has served as a forensic psychiatrist for both the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit and the New York State Police Forensic Sciences Unit. He has authored more than 100 publications on sex offenders, mentally disordered offenders, violent criminals, and forensic psychiatry. He directed a five-year study for the National Institute of Justice on mentally disordered offenders who threaten and stalk public figures and headed a two-year privately funded study of risks to the children and families of executives and other public figures.

Hon. Maria D. Hernandez

Juvenile Court Presiding Judge, Superior Court of Orange County

Biography:

The Honorable Judge Maria Hernandez was appointed Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court for Orange County on January 1, 2014. Prior to her appointment she was responsible for both dependency and delinquency inventories, presided over Juvenile Drug Court, Dependency Drug Court and the Boys Court program, and chaired the task force relating to Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC). Currently, Judge Hernandez also serves as a member of Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye’s “Keeping Kids in School and Out of Court Initiative”, the Judicial Council of California’s “Advisory Committee on Providing Access and Fairness” and serves as faculty for the Judicial Council of California’s Center for Judiciary Education and Research (CJER). Judge Hernandez worked as a senior deputy public defender for the County of Orange as a trial lawyer until she was appointed to the bench as a Commissioner in 2006, and appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger as a judge in 2009. Since 2011, she has served as adjunct Professor of Juvenile and Domestic Law at Western State College of Law. Judge Hernandez is a University of California, Irvine alumni, having graduated with her undergraduate degree from UC Irvine in 1986 and law degree from Western State University-Fullerton in 1991. Before receiving her law degree, Judge Hernandez was a police dispatcher, accident investigator, and public safety officer with the City of Santa Ana Police Department and University of California, Irvine Police Department. Judge Hernandez enjoys maintaining a small inventory of cases while working with juvenile justice partners in the daily administration of juvenile court.