Our Board
The Orange County Coalition for Diversity in the Law (OCCDL) is a collaborative effort of professionals from leading Orange County law firms and other community partners committed to achieving cultural diversity in recruiting and retaining law students and attorneys in Orange County.
– Our Mission Statement
Mark Lezama
President
A partner at Knobbe Martens, Mark Lezama focuses on trials and appeals in patent disputes. He has handled patent cases in numerous jurisdictions across the country; and everywhere he has litigated, the need for more diversity in the intellectual property bar has been apparent. Committed to advancing DE&I in the law, Mark serves on his firm’s Diversity Committee, participates in community outreach programs, and has joined the OCCDL Board because he has seen firsthand the local impact OCCDL has had.
Anurita Varma
Vice President
Anurita Varma defends employers in wage and hour class action disputes, PAGA actions, discrimination and harassment suits, and against wrongful termination allegations. She also helps clients implement and prepare company policies and draft and negotiate executive and business formation agreements. Anurita prides herself on paying special attention to the needs and concerns of each client she represents and has a history of securing early dismissals, favorable settlements and early resolutions, as well as summary judgment victories.
Prior to joining Fisher Phillips, Anurita served as an employment attorney for a regional litigation firm in Newport Beach, California where she focused on class action and wage and hour disputes, along with a variety of other employment-related claims.
During law school, she served as a board member of Moot Court and as the Senior Interview Editor for the U.C. Davis Business Law Journal. Additionally, Anurita was one of few law students selected for the Diversity Fellowship Program.
Mike Olsen
Treasurer
Mike Olsen is an Associate Attorney at Kading Briggs LLP, where he exclusively represents management and employers in litigation before state and federal agencies, courts, and in arbitration—including class actions, individual claims of discrimination and harassment under civil rights laws, and trade secret disputes.
Immediately before joining Kading Briggs, Mike was in-house legal counsel, serving as the sole Labor & Employment Counsel for North America for a publicly traded e-commerce and logistics company with two thousand employees. Before his role in-house, Mike was an associate who began his career at the international and national law firms of Ogletree Deakins, Bryan Cave, and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP.
During law school, Mike held roles as an extern for U.S. District Judge Thelton E. Henderson in the Northern District of California, extern in the U.S. Attorneys’ Office for the Central District of California, and as a research assistant at the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. Mike graduated manga cum laude from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 2015, and his article on the Americans with Disabilities Act, Disabled but Unqualified, was published the same year.
Mike has provided a wide range pro bono legal services, including representing foster parents in adoption proceedings, preparing an amicus brief on behalf of the Family Equality Council, obtaining immigration relief for juvenile immigrants in a class action suit against the federal government, preparing an amicus brief filed before SCOTUS in support of upholding DACA and serving at various legal clinics supporting low-income individuals.
Since 2018, Mike has served on the Board of Directors and as an officer of the Orange County Lavender Bar Association, Orange County’s LBTQ+ bar association, and he presently serves as its President.
Andrea Levenson
Secretary
Andrea Levenson handles complex civil litigation matters and trials, particularly those involving intellectual property issues. Her practice focuses on complex patent litigation before U.S. district courts, the International Trade Commission (ITC), and on appeal before the Federal Circuit. Andrea has stand-up jury trial, evidentiary hearing, and appellate argument experience in multiple forums, including United State District Courts, the International Trade Commission, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She regularly represents clients involved a wide array of technologies including solid state memory, computer networking, mining technology, medical devices, underground asset mapping, and many more.
In addition, Andrea has litigated a variety of other commercial matters, including trademark infringement, copyright infringement, trade secret, and general commercial disputes in district courts throughout the country and on appeal.
Andrea also maintains a robust pro bono practice, including civil rights/prisoner rights litigation in California and Louisiana, defense of unlawful detainer proceedings for indigent clients, and coordinating the office’s involvement in the federal pro se clinic for pro bono representation in the Central District of California.