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
Andrea Levenson
President
Andrea Levenson handles complex civil litigation matters and trials for Haynes Boone, 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.
Melissa Mikail
Vice President
Melissa Mikail is an Associate at Sheppard Mullin in the Business Trial Practice Group. She serves on the firm’s Pro Bono Committee, Sustainability Committee and is a member of OC’s Diversity & Inclusion Working Group.
She represents clients in a range of commercial and business litigation matters. She has litigated claims in both state and federal court involving breach of contract, fraud, unfair competition, class action, data breach, false advertising, breach of fiduciary duty, defamation, and trademark and copyright disputes. Her securities litigation practice includes shareholder derivative claims, class actions, SEC enforcement actions and internal investigations. Melissa provides comprehensive litigation services for every stage of the litigation, including pre-lawsuit advisement and negotiation, discovery, law and motion, settlement, mediation and pre-trial preparation.
Melissa is a committed pro bono attorney and has an extensive record of giving back to her community. She represents parents in adoption proceedings, handles asylum cases, and volunteers at the Federal Pro Se Clinic in Santa Ana, California, providing legal advice to individuals representing themselves in federal civil actions.
Melissa also serves as an adjunct professor of law at Chapman University School of Law where she teaches civil procedure lab to first year law students.
Arash Pia
Treasurer
Arash Pia focuses his practice on providing patent prosecution and litigation services for his clients at Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear, LLP.
Arash received his J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles while he was working full time as a Civil Engineer. At law school, he worked as a mentor for incoming law students. He also worked as a mentor for the award-winning Judge Stephen O’Neil Trial Advocacy Mentoring Program.
Arash received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. He later received his Master of Science degree also in Civil Engineering from the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering in Los Angeles. Before joining the firm, Arash worked on a variety of multi-million-dollar civil design and construction projects, including port facilities, educational buildings, and gas transmission systems. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of California.
Jesse Maxwell
Secretary
Jesse Maxwell is a Partner at Everett Dorey. His practice focuses on the defense of municipalities, businesses, and property owners in complex civil litigation with an emphasis on general liability and public entity liability.
Jesse received his Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, with a concentration in corporate law. While at Loyola, he was a member of the Transactional Negotiation Team and finished as a semi-finalist in Loyola’s Negotiations Tournament. Jesse attended the University of California, Santa Barbara where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.
Jesse served as a Committee Member for the Veteran’s Legal Institute from 2021 – 2024.
Tiffany Aguiar Brennan
Director At Large
Tiffany Aguiar Brennan is an Associate in Crowell & Moring’s Antitrust and Competition and Advertising and Media groups.
Tiffany represents clients in matters related to investigations brought by the Federal Trade Commission and State Attorneys General. She is also a litigator with a practice that focuses on representing Fortune 500 companies across various industries in complex antitrust litigation.
In addition, Tiffany maintains an active pro bono practice, representing clients in consumer law matters and assisting individuals experiencing elder abuse.
Tiffany received her J.D. from the University of California, Irvine School of Law. While in law school, she was a judicial extern to the Honorable Christina A. Snyder. Tiffany maintained an active role on campus and served as a research assistant, co-founded the Christian Law Student Association, served on the executive board of the LatinX Law Student Association, and competed as a finalist in UC Irvine’s 2019 Moot Court Competition.
Prior to law school, Tiffany worked in the Los Angeles fine dining industry and collaborated with former college classmates to teach a hospitality curriculum for international high school students. Tiffany received her B.S. in hotel administration from Cornell University, where she was awarded the Joseph Drown Prize award for academic excellence and a strong commitment to community service. She remains actively involved in the local Cornell Hotel Society alumni organization.
Crispin Collins
Director At Large
Crispin Collins is a litigator in Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP’s Orange County office, with significant experience handling a wide variety of matters in state and federal court, before state and federal administrative agencies, and in various forms of alternative dispute resolution. Crispin is the associate lead for Sheppard’s Transportation Team, and his transportation-related work includes representing large motor vehicle manufacturers in areas such as dealer franchise law, class action defense, and high-stakes breach of warranty cases. In addition, Crispin frequently represents large, national retailers facing commercial lease disputes and a range of clients facing condemnation (e.g., eminent domain and inverse condemnation) issues.
Crispin is an Orange County native and alumnus of St. Catherine of Siena Parish School in Laguna Beach and Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana. He is dedicated to serving his home community, particularly through his pro bono work. In 2021, in recognition of his work representing indigent clients in Orange County who have been denied Social Security disability benefits, the California Lawyers Association awarded Crispin the Wiley W. Manuel Certificate for Pro Bono Legal Services.
