CaliforniaALL, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable entity, came about as a result of a San Francisco restaurant meeting between Ruthe Ashley (a Diversity Officer at CalPERS and Vice President of the State Bar of California) and Peter Arth, Jr., Chief of Staff to CPUC President Michael Peevey. Also present at that meeting was Professor Sarah E. Redfield.
CaliforniaALL’s alleged purpose was to award grants to entities that would increase minority participation in the "pipelines" that feed into various industries, such as finance, technology, and law.
Donations to CaliforniaALL came primarily from utility companies (including AT&T, Sempra Energy, and PG&E). In its brief existence from 2008 to 2010, CaliforniaALL collected close to $2 million, including an unusually large sub rosa contribution of $780,000 from the State Bar of California Foundation in 2008.
CaliforniaALL was abruptly dissolved in July 2010.
According to confidential sources, an ongoing multi-prong inquiry is continuing. A source maintains that one aspect of the inquiry involves a close and focused examination of Munger Tolles Olson's Jeffrey Bleich, CPUC, CCPF, Verizon, Judy Johnson, Starr Babcock, Marie Moffat, and Robert Hawley.
Mr. John T. Broderick Jr., dean & president of the University of New Hampshire School of Law. Broderick served on the New Hampshire Supreme Court for 15 years. Under Broderick's leadership, New Hampshire established an "Access to Justice Commission" to help enhance programs that provide low cost legal services to poor and low income citizens. Broderick wrote, along with Ronald George, Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, a 2010 New York Times op-ed lamenting the rise of unrepresented litigants and calling for an expansion of limited-scope representation. (Credit:Photo and Narrative from UNH http://law.unh.edu/johnbroderick/)
According to the sources, University of New Hampshire School of Law has been served with a cease & desist request, which as a service to the community we publish below.
Dear Dean Broderick:
Consistent with the University of New Hampshire School of Law's Statement of Values and commitment to integrity and adherence to the highest ethical standards, this is a request that certain inaccurate information be removed from the school's web-site. Specifically, this request relates to inaccurate and false material contained in Professor Sarah E. Redfield's CV, including that A) she "launched" the Saturday Academy of Law at U.C. Irvine and B) she was and is a member of the Saturday Law Academy's "Curriculum Committee."
For background, Professor Redfield was a visiting professor at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California from 2004 to 2008. While at McGeorge, Professor Redfield and McGeorge's Dean, Ms. Elizabeth Parker, established and otherwise engaged in activities to promote diversity within the student body. This included a series of "Wingspread" events, notable of which was "Wingspread -- Delivered and Deliverable."
Also while at McGeorge, Professor Redfield met Ms. Ruthe Ashley, who was serving as Assistant Dean in the Career Development Office.
In approximately 2007, Ms. Ashley left McGeorge for employment as a diversity officer at CalPERS, the California Employee Retirement System. In addition, Ms. Ashley served as the Vice President of the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California (alongside 3 other Vice Presidents). Serving as President of the State Bar of California at that time was Munger Tolles Olson's Jeffrey Bleich. (Bleich, a long time friend of President Barack Obama, now serves as the U.S. ambassador to Australia.)
In California, the California Public Utility Commission ("CPUC") is charged with the task of regulating utility companies (such as AT&T, Verizon Communication, and others). The CPUC is controlled by a president (Mr. Peevey) and 3 commissioners.
Much like McGeorge and the State Bar of California, the CPUC was and is interested in promoting diversity among the utility companies and their subcontractors, and in fact has issued numerous rulings, fines, and mandates to that effect. Most notable among those who have lobbied for and authored legislation to that effect is State Bar of California
Board of Governor member Gwen Moore.
Utility companies have demonstrated their willingness to abide by the mandates concerning diversity via contributions of huge sums of money to support diversity-related events, and to buy peace as part of fines and settlement imposed by the CPUC (mostly on Verizon Wireless, which was and is represented by Munger Tolles & Olson). Consistent with CPUC's desire to promote diversity, in approximately mid-2007, Mr. Peter Arth (Chief of Staff to CPUC's President Peevey) invited Ms. Ashley to a meeting held at a San Francisco restaurant to discuss matters allegedly relating to diversity. Professor Redfield also attended the meeting.
Out of that meeting, and consistent with their knowledge of the utility companies' desire to make contributions (particularly Verizon), the participants decided to create a Section 501(c)(3) entity known as "California ALL." This organization was intended to serve as an umbrella organization by raising funds that would go to support a more diverse workforce in California.
CaliforniaALL came into being towards the end of 2007. Mr. Victor Miramontes of San Antonio, Texas, a business partner of former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, served as Chairman of the organization's board. Professor Redfield served as CaliforniaALL's Interim Executive Director and consultant; according to data submitted to the IRS, Professor Redfield was paid $157,000 for those services as an independent contractor.
In approximately mid-2008, and after a "nationwide search," Ms. Ruthe Ashley was elected to serve as CaliforniaALL's permanent CEO. Ms. Ashley exited CaliforniaALL in approximately September 2009, and the entity was dissolved in or about June 2010.
During its brief existence, CaliforniaALL collected close to $2 million in contributions, mostly from utility companies (and primarily from Verizon which, again, is represented by Munger Tolles & Olson) and through a sub rosa transfer of $780,000 from the Foundation of the State Bar of California.
CaliforniaALL's only contributions were made to the U.C. Irvine Foundation (where State Bar of California Executive Director Joe Dunn served as trustee) to support the U.C. Irvine Saturday Academy of Law ("UCISAL").
Because CaliforniaALL needed to justify its existence, a massive campaign was put in place to credit it with the creation of UCISAL. In actuality, however, UCISAL was in existence as early as 2004 as part of a partnership between UCI and the Santa Ana School District in Orange County, California. Please see:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/saturdayacademy/archives/
Moreover, contrary to her representations, Professor Redfield was never and is not now a member of UCISAL's "Curriculum Committee".
Please see:
http://www.cfep.uci.edu/sal/curriculumcomm.html
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/saturdayacademy/3928801623/in/set-72157622397915742
and
http://www.cfep.uci.edu/sal/oversightcomm.html
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/saturdayacademy/3928784991/in/set-72157622397915742
I am also providing links to photos from UCISAL's flickr account which prove the existence of UCISAL as early as 2004.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/saturdayacademy/4519588348/in/datetaken/
Here, a visit by UCISAL to the law firm of Allen Matkins in 2007. Seated on the left is Karina Hamilton, a former associate at Allen Matkins who is married to Robert Hamilton, seated on the right, who is the managing partner of Allen Matkins.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/saturdayacademy/4518955439/in/set-72157623725500053
Karina Hamilton states on her linkedin profile that she was the person who "launched" the Saturday Academy of Law at UCI.
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/karina-hamilton/3/a46/6a8
In actuality, UCISAL was launched as a result of the joint efforts of Rob Vicario, Sara Lundquist, and Santana Ruiz.
For these reasons, I request that UNH cease and desist from making these false representations regarding Professor Redfield, and that these assertions be removed from the University's website within 30 days. If UNH elects to maintain the misleading material on its website, it will be the subject of legal proceedings.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
