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Women’s Initiative: Meet The Women Who Lead Practices at Meyers Nave

Meyers Nave is proud of our demonstrated commitment to recruit, train, mentor and advance women attorneys throughout our firm. Half of our attorneys are women, one of three executive committee members is a woman, five of our eight Diversity Fellowship Program participants are women, and Law360 highlighted our commitment to diversity as a key to our merger with Brown Law Group, a prominent woman- and minority-owned law firm.

Welcoming Women Attorneys
Meyers Nave proudly continues to increase the number of women attorneys throughout our firm, including the following who joined us this year.

Meet Our Women Leaders

To help introduce the women listed below who lead practice groups at Meyers Nave, below briefly describes each attorney’s areas of expertise.

  • Julia Bond – Writs & Appeals Practice
    Expertise: Trial and appellate court litigator focusing on complex land use and environmental law litigation, particularly for significant civil infrastructure projects on behalf of public agencies and large business expansion projects for private entities.
  • Stephanie M. Downs – Economic Development, Real Estate & Housing Practice
    Expertise: Economic development and public finance practice focuses on business incentive programs, mixed-use developments, affordable housing, purchase and sale transactions, leases and loan documents, and tax-exempt and taxable financings.
  • Deborah J. Fox – First Amendment Practice, Trial & Litigation Practice, Crisis Management Practice
    Expertise: First Amendment issues, particularly those involving the convergence of First Amendment, land use, and zoning laws and regulations. Trial and appellate work in state and federal courts, as well as administrative hearings and other regulatory agency proceedings.
  • Camille Hamilton Pating – Labor & Employment Practice, Workplace Investigations Practice
    Expertise: Independent attorney fact-finder for high-profile internal investigations, experienced litigator advising and defending employers, employers’ go-to counsel for labor and employment law advice, and thought leader on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives.

Minority Woman Managing Principal
In 2004, Meyers Nave became one of the first among very few law firms in the U.S. to name a minority woman, Jayne Williams, as Managing Principal. Jayne began her legal career in 1974 in the City Attorney’s Office for the City of Oakland. She eventually led the department and served as Oakland’s City Attorney for 14 years. In 2000, Jayne joined Meyers Nave and served as the Firm’s Managing Principal for two terms from 2004 to 2010. During her tenure in the chief executive position, Meyers Nave experienced significant growth by opening offices in Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco and Santa Rosa. Jayne has received numerous awards and recognitions, including being selected to The Recorder’s “Women Leaders in Law” list, being named UC Hastings College of Law’s “Black Alumni of the Year” and being honored by the California Association of Black Lawyers and the National Association of Black Public Administrators, among several others.

Awards and Recognition
Meyers Nave women attorneys have received recognition for their legal expertise and leadership, and have been featured in publications that cover the legal profession throughout California. For more information, visit our Awards page.

Sharing Their Stories to Help Lead the Way
The women who help lead Meyers Nave share their insight and experience at conferences that focus on professional development and career advancement for women in the legal profession. For example, Meyers Nave proudly served as a Gold Sponsor of the Daily Journal’s inaugural Women Leadership in Law conferences held in San Francisco and Los Angeles which brought together women who are leading all sectors of the legal profession, including in-house law departments, law firms and the judiciary. Deborah Fox, Chair of our First Amendment Practice, Trial & Litigation Practice and Crisis Management Practice, spoke at the Los Angeles event.

Camille Hamilton Pating, Chair of our Labor & Employment Practice and Workplace Investigations Practice, participated in the panel discussing “Overcoming the Imposter Syndrome” at the Women of Color Forum at the California Minority Counsel Program’s Annual Business Conference. Camille also participated on a panel discussing “Organizational Transformation: A Conversation on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion” for the Association of Women in Water, Energy and Environment.

Janice Brown, a Principal in our Labor & Employment Practice, spoke about “Building a Plan for Social Equity” at the Central San Diego Black Chamber of Commerce in association with The San Diego Union Tribune.

Supporting Change throughout the Legal Profession
Meyers Nave proudly supports the efforts of many organizations that help advance women in the legal profession. Our sponsorships include serving as a Gold level sponsor of the Daily Journal’s inaugural Women Leadership in Law conferences in Los Angeles and San Francisco, a Gold level sponsor of the No Glass Ceiling Conference created by the Women’s Impact Network of the Bar Association of San Francisco, a Silver level sponsor of the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Board Balance/Find Your Path to a Board Conference, a Silver level sponsor of Lawyers Club of San Diego, and a lead sponsor of the annual conference of the Association of Women in Water, Energy and Environment (AWWEE).