Sirena Castillo, Partner and Pro Bono Director, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
What made you interested in becoming a member of the OneJustice Board of Directors?
I was drawn to OneJustice because of their mission to support legal aid across the entire state of California. I appreciate OneJustice’s mission of supporting the work of organizations providing a wide range of legal services and believe that it is so important to have a functioning back bone to support the good work of so many wonderful organizations across the state.
What is your professional role and how do you hope to use your perspective in your work with OneJustice?
I am a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP and I also serve as the firm’s Director of Pro Bono. As Manatt’s director of pro bono, I manage firm pro bono matters and develops the firm’s pro bono and community partnerships nationwide. I also maintains my own active docket of pro bono cases focused on immigration matters. I’ll bring the perspective of an active attorney engaged in pro bono work as well as someone who manages others engaged in pro bono work, and also bring a perspective of what we do on a national basis.
What would you like to accomplish as a Board member?
I am excited to help shape this new phase for OneJustice. The pandemic has really forced organizations to pivot and reevaluate the way that they provide services and OneJustice is no exception.
Tell us about yourself – interesting facts or what do you like to do for fun?
I have two young children and I love traveling with my family (really looking forward to be able to do that more!) and cooking. I’m a pop culture junkie and I’m almost always listening to a podcast.
Andrea Fitanides, Pro Bono Counsel, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
What made you interested in becoming a member of the OneJustice Board of Directors?
I’ve have the good fortune of working with OneJustice for years. First, as a support center when I was an attorney at a legal services organization, and then in my experiences on the law firm side through partnering on pro bono projects, the quarterly statewide pro bono forum, and the annual conference that OneJustice runs, among other projects. The statewide footprint of the organization was compelling to me both because my job involves work across California, and because OneJustice offers a way to provide support to the network of legal services organizations serving those in need through the state, including in rural areas. My experiences with OneJustice have always impressed me, particularly because of the professionalism of the staff and their genuine passion for access to justice issues.
What is your professional role and how do you hope to use your perspective in your work with OneJustice?
I am Pro Bono Counsel at Morgan Lewis, so I have the good fortune of working on access to justice issues on a daily basis in my role. I hope to bring my experiences working on closing the justice gap, both at a large firm and previously at a legal services organization, to help inform the best way to support OneJustice’s mission moving forward.
What would you like to accomplish as a Board member?
In my work I have seen both the incredible dedication of legal services across the state to try to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, as well as the challenges of serving millions of low-income Californians with inadequate legal services resources. In my Board role, I hope to help move the needle on transforming the legal aid system, and to think creatively about how to best leverage existing resources (as well as expand existing resources) to address the significant justice gap in our system.
Tell us about yourself – interesting facts or what do you like to do for fun?
An unusual fact about me is that I grew up in a one-room cabin, without electricity, in the Sierra Nevada Foothills and I was homeschooled until my sophomore year of high school.