Committee Member Bios

Overview blurb about the volunteerism of the commitee members here...

line

Vic Otten

Mr. Otten's practice is primarily focused on the area of environmental law. He has been involved in hazardous waste litigation appearing before all state and federal courts, including claims brought under CERCLA, RCRA, OPA, and other environmental laws. Mr. Otten also has represented clients in toxic mold, mildew, chemical exposure and indoor air contamination litigation in state court civil suits. He is active in environmental compliance counseling and planning concerning local, state and federal regulations, and negotiation with and representation before government agencies (USEPA, DTSC, RWQCB, AQMD et al.) regarding environmental compliance inquiries, notices of violation, directives, clean up and abatement orders and various other compliance orders. Additionally, Mr. Otten handles counseling and analysis of Proposition 65 health risk exposure, notice duties, notice liability risks, product warnings and representation in related litigation. His practice also includes California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) counseling and representation in state superior court proceedings.

Mr. Otten is a Registered Environmental Assessor through the California Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Toxic Substances and Control.

Mr. Otten graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in economics. He graduated from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1992. Mr. Otten has earned a Certificate Environmental Management from the University of California at Irvine. [top]

line

Carrie Teasdale, M.D., ESQ.

Carrie Teasdale is a 1976 graduate of the University of California, Davis School of Medicine. She was in solo private practice for many years, and is an active member and Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. She is also the Treasurer of our local chapter.

She attended Chapman University School of Law, graduated in December 2003 and passed the Bar the first time she took this test. She has used her law degree in the family real estate business.

Carrie decided to practice law as medicine is practiced - taking cases in various fields and using consultants as needed to provide “quality care.” This approach is unheard-of in law. Thus far, in the past three years she has “rotated through” and learned general civil litigation; criminal defense; probate, including wills, trusts, and estates, and litigation in these areas; family law; and elder law.

Carrie began assisting senior drivers who were called into the Department of Motor Vehicles after both her parents were fraudulently reported to DMV by a neighbor with whom they had a boundary dispute. The legal mis-treatment of seniors by the DMV shortly after Santa Monica Farmer's Market accident appeared to be widespread in the DMV.

With the aid of a core group of activist seniors at Leisure World, and the backing of the Legal Aid Society of Orange County, Carrie successfully represented seniors at DMV hearings. She obtained fair hearings by researching the law and writing letters to DMV personnel, and obtained fair driving performance tests for her clients by videotaping from a following car. [top]

line

Tom Mauriello

Tom Mauriello is the principal of The Law Offices of Thomas D. Mauriello, APC, a professional law corporation headquartered in San Clemente, with an additional office in San Francisco. Tom's civil litgiation practice includes public interest land use and environmental litigation, administrative law, and appeals.

Tom has litigated environmental and land use cases in state and federal courts throughout California under various California statutes, including the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"), the California Endangered Species Act, and the Planning and Zoning Law, and under various federal statutes such as the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Federal Highways Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act. He has been actively involved in the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Litigation, a Clean Water Act suit against Southern California Edison involving the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, and other significant cases. He has represented, among other groups, the Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Preserve South Bay, Sierra Land Use Group, Spirit of the Sage Council, San Francisco Bay Institute, and North Hills Phoenix Association.

Tom has published articles on environmental law issues and, from 2001 through 2003, he lectured in environmental and land use litigation at California State University, East Bay (formerly Cal State University, Hayward). [top]

line

Adam Us

Adam Us is a paralegal and writer whose written work has appeared in newspapers, websites and on stage. A native New Englander, Mr. Us was drawn to California for its geographic diversity and potential for professional growth.

Mr. Us graduated Boston's Emerson College in 1994 with a degree in Communications. He transitioned to the legal profession after several years of working in both film production and talent management. He earned his Paralegal Certificate from Cerritos College in 2005 and is currently working for Trutanich-Michel, LLP, one of Southern California's premiere environmental law firms.

As an avid cyclist, Mr. Us has explored many of Southern California's communities from its foothills to industrial flood channels. This, combined with his work in environmental litigation, has afforded him the opportunity to witness the state's delicate balance between the wants of it residents and businesses and the needs of the natural habitats.

Adam Us' paralegal experience ranges from civil disputes relating to store-front real estate to complex multi-party Federal actions. He brings to the committee his training as a writer and paralegal as well as his proficiency for interfacing at a procedural level with the complex California Court system.

line

Dean Wallruff

Mr. Wallraff is currently a student at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, where he is co-president of the Environmental Law Society. He was one of the lead Sierra Club activists on the Canyon Hills campaign in Los Angeles, and on the Tejon Ranch campaign. He has chaired several Angeles Chapter committees including the Geographic Information Systems Committee, Trail Access Committee, and Conservation Legal Committee. He was recently Conservation Chair of the Angeles Chapter and served on the chapter's Executive Committee. Mr. Wallraff is currently a member of the Sierra Club's national America's Wild Legacy Committee. Upon graduation from Loyola Law School he expects to practice environmental law in the Los Angeles area.

Mr. Wallraff graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in (ancient Greek and Latin) classics. He is also a software development and computer security expert with a CISSP certification.

line

[top of page]

This page updated 11/05/07