Member Profiles

Natalia A. Minassian, Concertmaster. Senior Associate at Bruce A. Hatkoff, A Law Corporation (commercial litigation, creditors’ rights and real estate litigation). Violinist since age 7; trained at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Hon. Aviva K. Bobb, violin, is a retired Judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court, where she was Supervising Judge of the Family Law Courts and then the Probate Courts.  She was previously Presiding Judge of the Los Angeles Municipal Court. She is now engaged in private dispute resolution and also serves on the Board of Directors of the Beverly Hills Bar Foundation, Bet Tzedek Legal Services and Levitt & Quinn.  She began studying the violin at the age of 5, after attending a Yehuda Menuhin concert.

Judy Garf, violin, is a hearing representative who advocates at administrative hearings before the State of California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board.  She has played violin and viola since her childhood, having studied with Mehli Mehta  and Louis Kievman.  She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from UCLA.

Tim Hummel, violin. 30 years in the California Bar as sole practitioner as a certified specialist in probate, estate planning and trust law (state bar of California board of legal specialization). Tim is currently concertmaster of the Crown City Symphony Orchestra of Altadena/Pasadena and studies under Dr. Svetlana Oganesian, in La Canada. He is married to Catherine Hummel, violinist. Their three children are professional grade string musicians.

Alison Kleaver, violin, business trials associate in the Los Angeles office of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP. Violinist since the age of 4.

Gerald Lewinson, violin, president of Samuel Edwardson, LLC, a legal marketing firm. Member of the Jr. Philharmonic Orchestra for more than 40 years and former member of the Burbank Symphony Orchestra. Studied violin under Ivan Shapiro and Eudice Shapiro of USC Thornton School of Music.

Lisa Mahlum

Helen Wu

Erica Yen, violin, associate at Reed Smith LLP; alumna of the Columbia University Orchestra and The Colburn School of Performing Arts; former concertmistress of the Pasadena Young Musicians Orchestra.

Lydia Yun, violin, graduate of the UCLA School of Law; studied violin from age 4, and later piano, at the Cleveland Institute of Music; former member of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and University Circle Symphony Orchestra.

Paul Shin, violin, is an attorney in the business & legal affairs department of Concord Music Group.

Ronald Canter, violin; The Law Office of Ronald M. Canter, practicing exclusively workers compensation law; playing violin since age 9; studied at the Settlement School of Music; also plays string bass and electric bass guitar. Co-wrote “My Last Goodbye” recorded by Tom Jones in 1982 on Polygram Records. Married to Ellen—3 children, Preston, Brent & Danielle.

Heather Bennett Cibula, violin

W. Justin Clark, violin, graduated from the Brandeis School of Law and also received his Masters degree in Political Science. He has worked for both public and private entities, and in various areas of law, including contract, tax, property, social security, family, personal injury and toxic torts.  Justin is currently an associate attorney for the Law Offices of Geordan Goebel, practicing with a primary emphasis in insurance subrogation and products liability.

Denise Kane

Kathryn Mitchell

Andrea Schrack, violin, is a 2010 graduate of UCLA School of Law.  A violinist since age 6, Andrea was concertmaster of the UCLA Symphony Orchestra and Boston University All-Campus Orchestra as an undergraduate.  In addition to her classical music studies, she has also played with rap artist Kanye West and recently wrote and played violin tracks on a pop/rock record.

Avi Schwartz, violin, is an attorney at Pruetz Law Group LLP practicing intellectual property law. He received his MS and BS in chemistry from Emory University and JD from USC Law School. Avi has performed in the USC Concert Orchestra, Emory University Symphony Orchestra and San Diego Youth Symphony

Katie Williams, violin, attorney at Waters, Kraus & Paul; former violinist with The University of Texas at Austin’s University Orchestra.

Carol Wong

Roberta Burnette, viola, Managing Attorney of the Burnette Law Firm, practicing employment law, business litigation, cyberspace law and Entertainment Law. Adjunct Professor of Business Law, Cyberspace Law and Human Resources Management; Chair of the Employment Law Section of the Ventura County Bar; Past Chair of State Bar of California Solo & Small Firm Practice Section. She also plays the violin and harp, and is currently a violist with the Moorpark Symphony Orchestra.

Hon. Helen Bendix, viola, is a judge presiding over a civil settlement court for the Los Angeles Superior Court. She is immediate past Chair of the LASC’s ADR Committee and is a member of the Judicial Council’s Civil and Small Claims Committee.  Prior to her judicial appointment in 1997, she was Senior VP and General Counsel of KCET. Judge Bendix has authored several articles and treatises on federal practice and procedure, ADR, and international law, and taught at the UCLA and American University Law Schools. She is also a member of the American Law Institute and the Chancery Club. In addition to being a violist in the Lawyers Philharmonic, she plays violin and viola in the Palisades Symphony Orchestra and is a member of a string quartet.

Martha Farwell

Catherine Faulds

Terence Geoghegan, viola, is a sole-practitioner civil and probate litigator in Westlake Village.  He received his B.A. in Viola Performance from Cal State Hayward, where he studied with Nathan Rubin and Dennis DeCoteau. He is an alumnus of the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra under Jeffrey Evans, the Ventura County Symphony under Frank Salazar, the UCSB Symphony under Varujan Kojian, the Mouvement Douze opera orchestra in Toulouse, France, and a founding member of the orchestra of the Santa Barbara Civic Light Opera. Formerly the principal second violinist of the Santa Barbara City College Symphony, he has been the principal violist there for many years.

Courtney Ketchersid

Tuyet Nguyen, viola, labor and employment attorney at Gleason & Favarote LLP. She was a violist with the La Jolla Symphony while earning her bachelor’s degree at the University of California, San Diego.

David Waller, principal cello. After turning down a music scholarship at USC in 1953, Waller went on to UCLA as an undergrad and then law school; Order of the Coif; primarily practiced Family Law with emphasis on mediation until 2001. Now, semi-retired, mentors students as well as his 10 year old grandson on cello; helps preserve historic buildings in Long Beach as a Board Member of Long Beach Heritage; helps save the trees of Long Beach as co-Chair of the Long Beach City Tree Committee; married to Susan. Before joining the Lawyers’ Philharmonic, he played in a number of community orchestras, including the Vietnamese-American Philharmonic in Westminster.

Raquelle de la Rocha, is a law, policy and ethics scholar.  She began her legal career as an employment lawyer at O’Melveny & Myers before joining the faculty at UCLA School of Law.  An active policymaker, she served as President of the L.A. Police Commission, President of the L.A. Ethics Commission, Vice Chair of the California Parks Commission.  She also enacted ethics regulations as a Commissioner on California’s Fair Political Practices Commission.  An active community volunteer, Raquelle has served on the Boards of TreePeople, UCLA Law Alumni, and Encino/Tarzana Hospital.  Raquelle has played with the UCLA Chamber Orchestra, the El Camino Community Orchestra and the Brentwood Symphony.  She currently studies with cellist Rachael Lonergan and her instrument was crafted by luthier Eric Benning.

Cassie English

Katherine Kehr, cello, is an attorney at Selman Breitman whose practice focuses on insurance coverage litigation.  Katherine graduated from USC Law School in 2002 and Bryn Mawr College in 1999.  She has been playing cello since age 10, and previously played with the Main Line Symphony Orchestra in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Bryn Mawr-Haverford Bi-College Orchestra, and the Orchestra da Camera at the Colburn School of Performing Arts.

Jiyoung Moon, cello, is an attorney specializing in entertainment, complex litigation and procedural issues with the firm of Sasik + Moon.  She has consulted on multi-million dollar technology development projects and has served as counsel in international business and employment matters. Jiyoung holds a Doctorate degree from the University of Southern California in Cello Performance and performed throughout Asia, Europe and in the US.

Karin Oyadomari, cello, is a corporate attorney.  Ms. Oyadomari graduated from UCSD in 2000 and the USF School of Law in 2003.  Growing up in LA, Ms. Oyadomari played in various youth symphonies and continued to perform throughout college and law school with the UCSD Music Department and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Danna Schilling

Mei-lan Stark, cello, graduated from Yale Law School.  She is Senior Vice President, Intellectual Property for Fox Entertainment Group.  Mei-lan began playing the cello at age 8.  Growing up in Denver, Colorado, she played in several youth symphonies and was Assistant Principal Cellist with the Young Artists Orchestra of Denver under the baton of David Lockington.  Mei-lan also played with the Civic Orchestra of New Haven.

Yujin Yi

Jack Lipton, string bass, Partner and Chair of Education Law Group @ Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP; BA @ UCLA; Ph.D. in Psychology @ UC Riverside; JD @ University of Arizona; adjunct faculty @ Southwestern Law School and @ Graduate School of Education and Psychology; former member of UCLA Symphony Orchestra, UC Riverside Symphony Orchestra, and Jr. Philharmonic Orchestra.

Rami Yanni, professional bassist, is a partner at Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger LLP, where he chairs the firm’s Trademark Practice Group. He specializes in intellectual property transactions, e-commerce and media matters, and represents clients in the entertainment, e-commerce, apparel, cosmetics, consumer products, food and beverage, software, toy and sporting goods industries. Rami received his BA from UCLA and JD from Loyola Law School. In his music career, Rami has performed and recorded with a variety of Latin and jazz artists including Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Marisela, Juan Carlos Quintero, Ciro Hurtado, Kenny Burrell, Bill Watrous, Susie Hansen, Orquesta La Palabra and Bobby Matos.

Louis Fantasia

Eric Schaefer, double bass, 2nd year student at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. Studied under Peter Lloyd and Daxun Zhang, and received his degree in Music Performance from Northwestern University.

Phil Smith

Sheri Guerami, flute, graduated Loyola Law School, Los Angeles with a JD in 2009. She is employed at Epport Richman & Robbins, LLP. Sheri received her BA in Music Performance from UCLA as well as a BA in Psychology. She performed in the UCLA Philharmonic, Symphonic Orchestra, Wind Ensemble and Marching Band.

Sherry Hackney Cade

Melanie Cristol, flute, is an associate at O’Melveny & Myers LLP and a graduate of Columbia Law School.  She received her B.A. from Columbia College, where she completed music coursework and played in the university’s orchestra.

Sherry Hackney Cade

Ryan D. Golds, Oboe/English horn, Attorney at Law, PLC; graduate of the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music (CCM).

Michelle Correll

Hillary Drennan Patton, oboe and flute, is an associate at Hanger, Steinberg, Shapiro & Ash. She graduated from Southwestern Law School, M.B.A. from Westminster College of Salt Lake City and Bachelor of Arts degree from Westminster College of Salt Lake City.

Bryan Tallevi, oboe and English horn, is a media law/First Amendment attorney at E! Entertainment Television; graduate of University of Pennsylvania Law School and Brown University, trained at Westchester Conservatory of Music.

Margaret P. Stevens, clarinet, is the principal of Stevens Law in Century City, practicing general tort litigation (consumer rights, employment, personal injury), and an Assistant Vice-President of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. She trained at USC Thornton School of Music, is former member of the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra (conductor Kent Nagano), the American Youth Symphony (conductor Mehli Mehta) and the Santa Monica Symphony.

Miguel Duran

Mike Farkas, clarinet and alto sax, is a champion of justice and no stranger to the parking lots of the LA County Courts, Michael Farkas began his musical training at age 9. His performance credits include engagements with Elmer Bernstein, David Raksin, Henryk Gorecki, Louie Bellson, and the Farkas Brothers Winds of Change Band.

Adam Feit, bass clarinet, is a plaintiff’s attorney with the firm of Mardirossian & Associates, where he represents injured individuals in complex products liability and personal injury actions. Before studying law, Adam earned a Bachelors degree in Music from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, and Masters degree in Clarinet Performance from California State University, Fullerton. His principal clarinet teachers were Håkan Rosengren, David Howard, Mitchell Lurie, and Mary Gale. While in graduate school, Adam performed as principal clarinetist of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Monterrey, in Monterrey, Mexico. A graduate of Loyola Law School, Adam clerked for a year for the Honorable William F. Highberger, before entering private practice.

Charles Koster

David E. Altschul, bassoon, is partner in the law firm of Altschul & Olin, LLP where his practice is focused upon representing clients in the music industry. Previously and for many years he was General Counsel and Vice Chairman of Warner Bros. Records. He is a graduate of Amherst College and Yale Law School. He also currently plays with the Kadima Conservatory Philharmonic as principal bassoonist.

Steven M. Ellis, bassoon, is the Press Freedom Adviser for Europe and the Americas for the Vienna, Austria-based International Press Institute (IPI), the world’s oldest global press freedom organization representing editors, media executives and leading journalists. An attorney in Michigan and Illinois, he is a former staff writer for Los Angeles daily newspaper The Metropolitan News-Enterprise and a former bankruptcy practitioner with Kalamazoo, Mich. firm Rayman & Stone. He served as a law clerk to then-Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm while attending Michigan State University Detroit College of Law and is the son of musicians.

Joseph Di Giulio

Mike Farkas, alto sax, clarinet and flute, is a champion of justice and no stranger to the parking lots of the LA County Courts, Michael Farkas began his musical training at age 9. His performance credits include engagements with Elmer Bernstein, David Raksin, Henryk Gorecki, Louie Bellson, and the Farkas Brothers Winds of Change Band.

Brett Klein, trumpet, is a former law professor and superior court judge. He has played orchestral and chamber music since he was a teenager.

Stephen Farkas, trumpet, is an associate in the Los Angeles Office of K&L Gates, LLP and was recently recognized by Los Angeles Magazine as a Southern California “Rising Star.” Mr. Farkas attend the University of Southern California and Emory University School of Law. Having played the trumpet since he was eight, Mr. Farkas has performed with several orchestras, chamber music and jazz ensembles.

Jason Axe

Mark S. Eisenberg, trumpet, principal of Eisenberg & Associates with 20 years of experience in business, commercial, personal injury and real estate transactions, litigation, trials and appeals in state and federal court.  Mr. Eisenberg has played in a variety of musical groups, performing at the Hollywood Bowl, the Greek Theater, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the Disney Concert Hall, as well as the Super Bowl, Rose Bowl and Rose Parade.  Music director and drum major of the Pacific Palisades Oom Pa Pa Marching Band and a long-time member of the UCLA Alumni Band and funk/soul cover band Slave to Rhythm.

Martin S. Reed

Christine Hoeffner, French horn, is a certified specialist in appellate law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization, and is senior counsel at the labor and employment firm of Ballard Rosenberg Golper & Savitt, LLP. She played French Horn in the University of Connecticut orchestra and wind ensemble.

Frank Koppala, French horn, attended Southwestern University School of Law, and is a consultant and Site Development Specialist in wireless telecommunications with SureSite Consulting Group, LLC. Frank began playing the French Horn around the age of 12, and later was selected for membership in numerous Honors Orchestras and was a  member of his University Symphony Orchestra. He is also an alumnus of the famed Jr. Philharmonic Orchestra of California.

Sarah Legg

Hanneke Verschoor

Alexander Plitt, principal trombone, 3rd year student at UCLA School of Law. BSBA degree in finance and music from Washington University, St. Louis; post-graduate studies in jazz performance/arranging at Berklee College of Music, Boston.

Richard Lomeli

Peter Hoeffner, bass trombone, received his Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from the University of Connecticut, where he played trombone in the University of Connecticut Wind Ensemble, stage band and other ensembles. He has also consulted and provided photographic evidentiary support in litigation

Marc Sallus, baritone trombone, trust and estate litigator, partner at Oldman, Cooley, Sallus, Gold, Birnberg & Coleman, LLP; former president of the Beverly Hills Bar Association.

Michael Margulies, tuba, member of the Israel Bar; Graduate degree in Music Performance from U.S.C.

Adam Summerfield, tympanist/percussionist; graduated from Loyola Law School; associate at Baute & Tidus LLP; percussion performance major at UCLA, graduated as a musicology major where he was honored as the University’s 2004 Research Scholar of the Humanities for his thesis on the music of Aaron Copland and lectures on 20th Century American opera. He has performed with national orchestras and ensembles in Carnegie Hall in New York and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. He is principal tympanist of the Jr. Philharmonic Orchestra.

Michael R. Diliberto, drums, percussion and vocals. Full-time Mediator and Arbitrator with ADR Services, Inc.; part-time Administrative Law Judge with the Office of Administrative Hearings. Through the U.S. Department of State, he has trained judges and lawyers in Macedonia and South America on mediation skills and consulted with Macedonian government agencies about increasing the use of mediation in the Macedonian judicial system. Degree in Studio Music and Jazz from the University of Miami School of Music, where he performed in the Concert Jazz Band, Studio Jazz Orchestra, percussion ensembles, and other groups. He has performed and toured in the United States, Europe, Asia, Middle East and South America with prominent rock, jazz, and rhythm and blues artists.

Greg Victoroff, percussionist, is a partner with Rohde & Victoroff handling intellectual property and entertainment transactions and litigation, trials and appeals in state and federal courts. He is a certified California CLE provider and a frequent author and lecturer on IP, music and art law. He is the Editor and co-author of “The Visual Artists Business and Legal Guide” (Prentice Hall 1995), a co-author of “The Musicians Business and Legal Guide” (Prentice Hall 2008), “How To Make and Sell Your Own Recording” (Prentice Hall 1999), and “A Music Business Primer” (Prentice Hall 2003). As an orchestra percussionist Mr. Victoroff has performed with artists including Santana, Journey, Jefferson Starship, Huey Lewis and the News, Bobby McFerrin and Graham Nash; more recently as congero for Ernie Watts and Barbie Benton and in his own trio, the Princeton Quilliams Jazz ensemble.

Hon. Stuart Waxman, percussion, is a federal administrative law judge assigned to the Social Security Administration and a former administrative law judge with the State of California.  Stuart played his first musical notes at the age of 3, and played his first professional job at 14.  He is a Jr. Philharmonic Orchestra alumnus.  Stuart also played in a 12-piece rock band at Disneyland and toured with The Sandpipers.  He has worked with artists including Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Elvis Presley, Sammy Davis, Jr., Debbie Reynolds and Wayne Newton.

Jess Whitehill, percussionist, is a solo practitioner in Encino with emphasis in civil litigation. He is also a mediator on the Superior Court’s panel. Jess began playng drums at age 10 after watching the Surfaris play “Wipeout” in the parking lot of the old Melody Records in Studio Ciry. In addition to the Lawyers Phil, he plays drums in the LA Valley College Jazz Band and has also played in college jazz bands at Glendale College and San Francisco CIty College where he performed drums and percussion in Brecht/Weil’s opera “Mahagony.”

Sara Katz

Linda Echegaray, piano, is an Associate Attorney with the Law Offices of Olaf Landsgaard.  She practices general civil litigation and personal injury.  She has been playing the piano for more than 22 years; studied one year with Michael Gurt at Louisiana State University; studied one year under Dr. John Murphy at Loyola University, New Orleans. She wrote keyboard tracks for Shadrack Weathersby (Behold the Light, 2002) and was pianist for a performance of Amahl and the Night Visitors in Woodland Hills, California in December 2008.