Staff
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Tom Gordon, Executive Director
Tom co-founded Responsive Law in 2010 and has been serving as its Executive Director since 2012. He has worked on behalf of consumers of legal services for over two decades, including several years as Senior Counsel and Policy Director at HALT. He has testified hundreds of times before state legislatures, federal administrative panels, state bars, and the American Bar Association. His commentary has been featured in national media, including the Wall Street Journal and USA Today, In 2017, Tom was named to the Fastcase 50 as one of "the law's smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries, and leaders." Tom received his JD from Northwestern University School of Law and his BA from the University of Pennsylvania. He is admitted to practice law in Maryland and the District of Columbia. |
Board of Directors
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Deno Himonas, President
Constandinos "Deno" Himonas was a justice of the Utah Supreme Court from 2015 to 2022, when he stepped down to join the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati. As a justice, he led the Court’s establishment of the nation's first regulatory sandbox for legal service providers, which allows innovative business models for legal service delivery to serve consumers. Among his accolades, Deno has been named a "Legal Rebel" by the American Bar Association and has received the Judicial Excellence award from the Utah State Bar, and the Rebuilding Justice Award from the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System. Before his appointment to the Utah Supreme Court, Deno served as a trial court judge for 11 years and a litigator in private practice for 15 years. He received his JD from the University of Chicago and his BA from the University of Utah. |
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Sara Akbar
Sara Akbar is a seasoned government affairs professional with over a decade of experience advocating for the tech industry. She is currently the head of Government Affairs for Recorded Future, the world's largest intelligence company with complete coverage across adversaries, infrastructure and targets. She was Director of Government Relations for Oracle, covering a range of public policy issues from education, workforce and immigration to procurement. Prior to her work as a tech advocate, she was a contract and business development specialist for information technology firms. Ms. Akbar is a Washington, DC area native. She earned a BA in International Relations from American University and a MA in Public Policy from the University of Maryland. She also sits on the board of the Women’s High-Tech Coalition and the Emergent Leaders Network. |
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Sonja Ebron
Sonja Ebron is chief executive and cofounder at Courtroom5, an automated legal toolbox for pro se civil litigants handling complex claims. She is a PhD electrical engineer and former college professor with a background in utilities and artificial intelligence. Sonja has represented herself in court many times and has made it a personal mission to empower others in their pro se litigation experiences. She serves on the Leaders Council of the Legal Services Corporation, the nation's primary funding source for legal aid programs. |
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Josh King
From 2007 to 2018, Josh was the Chief Legal Officer for Avvo, the web’s largest and most heavily-trafficked consumer legal destination. At Avvo, he was responsible for Avvo's legal, government relations, and customer service functions, and spoke and advocated frequently on interactive media and professional ethics issues. Prior to joining Avvo in 2007, Josh spent over a decade in the wireless industry, in a mix of legal and non-legal roles including Vice President, Corporate Development at AT&T Wireless and General Counsel for Cellular One of San Francisco. Josh is a graduate of the University of California Hastings College of the Law and the University of Oregon. |
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Fritz Mulhauser
Fritz Mulhauser was a staff attorney for 22 years with the ACLU affiliate in Washington, DC, where he specialized in litigation and policy advocacy concerning police misconduct and law enforcement use of technology, as well as speech, assembly and due process rights of students. With years of experience using public records access tools as part of advocacy and litigation, he serves on the board of the DC Open Government Coalition, where he co-chairs the Legal Committee and blogs for their website on Freedom of Information, open meetings, and open data issues in the government of Washington, DC. As a board member of the DC Council for Court Excellence, Fritz has begun a project to make DC a leader in online access to court records. He has been active in advocating for access to justice reforms through the DC Bar Section on Courts, Lawyers & the Administration of Justice which he chaired for several terms. Fritz earlier worked on a committee staff in the House of Representatives, led evaluation and policy research at the GAO and served on the founding staff of the U.S. National Institute of Education in the executive branch. Fritz holds a BA from Harvard and a JD from Georgetown. |
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Lucian T. Pera
Lucian T. Pera is a partner with the Memphis, Tennessee, office of Adams and Reese LLP. His practice includes legal ethics, media law, and commercial litigation. He represents lawyers, law firms, and others on issues of legal ethics and lawyer professional responsibility. The ABA Center for Professional Responsibility bestowed on him the prestigious Michael Franck Award, their highest award for work in the field of ethics and professional responsibility over his career. A Memphis native, he is a graduate of Princeton university and Vanderbilt University School of Law and served as a law clerk for U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Judge Harry W. Wellford. He served for five years on the ABA "Ethics 2000" Commission, which rewrote the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. From 1995 through 2009, he led the Tennessee Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility. Lucian served as president of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (ARPL), the national membership organization of lawyers who work in the legal ethics area. He has chaired the governing board of the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility. Lucian is a former Treasurer of the American Bar Association and has served as a member of its Board of Governors, Executive Committee, and House of Delegates. He is also a past President of the Tennessee Bar Association. |
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Chas Rampenthal
Chas Rampenthal served as General Counsel and Head of Industry Relations at online legal document provider LegalZoom from 2003 to 2021. Before joining LegalZoom, he was a partner at Belanger and Rampenthal, LLC, and an associate at Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, LLP of Boston, Massachusetts and the Los Angeles office of Thelen Reid & Priest LLP. Chas also served as an officer and aviator in the United States Navy. He is the former host of "Legally Bound," a weekly legal call-in advice talk show in Los Angeles. He received a B.S. in Economics and Math Studies from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and a J.D. from the University of Southern California. |
Joan Vollero
Joan Vollero is a Managing Director at ICR Strategic Communications and Advocacy, overseeing Litigation Communications within its Special Situations practice group, For more than 11 years, Joan ran communications and external affairs for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where she served as Director of Communications and a senior adviser to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. during his three terms in office.
Earlier in her career, Joan worked as a journalist at NY1 News. She is a graduate of Tufts University, and received her Masters from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
Joan Vollero is a Managing Director at ICR Strategic Communications and Advocacy, overseeing Litigation Communications within its Special Situations practice group, For more than 11 years, Joan ran communications and external affairs for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where she served as Director of Communications and a senior adviser to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. during his three terms in office.
Earlier in her career, Joan worked as a journalist at NY1 News. She is a graduate of Tufts University, and received her Masters from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
Shoshana Weissmann
Shoshana Weissmann is digital director and a fellow at the R Street Institute, where she manages R Street's online presence and automation while also researching occupational licensing reform and other policy. She has written for various publications, including The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
Shoshana Weissmann is digital director and a fellow at the R Street Institute, where she manages R Street's online presence and automation while also researching occupational licensing reform and other policy. She has written for various publications, including The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.