Our Team

President

Marie A. Barnes devotes herself to the practice of Criminal Defense and Family Law. In the area of Criminal Law Marie has prosecuted and defended Felonies and Misdemeanors. As a Certified Law Clerk in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office Marie prosecuted cases in the Misdemeanor Division and the Felony Narcotics Division.

Vice President

Claudia J. Castillo provides employment law representation to corporations, including not for profit organizations. Her practice includes counseling and defending employers facing claims of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, whistleblowing, disability and wage and hour. She handles employment litigation matters in both State and Federal Court and before the American Arbitration Association.

In her advice and counsel practice, Claudia conducts workplace investigations and provides management and employee trainings in both English and Spanish. She also prepares responses on behalf of employers with regards to charges/complaints filed by employees with government agencies, including the California Civil Rights Department, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement.

Secretary

Marisa Chaves has spent the majority of her more than 20-year career in litigation, practicing civil litigation most recently at an Am Law Top 10 firm before transitioning to family law. She now specializes in high-net-worth divorce at Hanson Crawford Crum Family Law Group, LLP, where she represents CEOs and other C-suite executives, venture capitalists, investment bankers, private equity partners, startup founders, and stay-at-home parents.

Originally from Texas, Marisa earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin and her law degree from Boston University School of Law. She is actively involved in the legal community, serving on the boards of the Marin County Bar Association and the San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association, in addition to her involvement in ALMA.

Treasurer

William W. Castillo Guardado is an attorney at the Joseph Saveri Law Firm, a Plaintiffs’ law firm focusing on antitrust and intellectual property litigation. Previously, he was a civil litigator practicing employment, real property, and commercial litigation. He also practiced international human rights law at the Danish Refugee Council in Afghanistan and Tajikistan, was an attorney at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, and handled appellate litigation and immigration law at Catholic Charities New York.

Will is admitted to the State Bar of California and State Bar of New York. He graduated from UC Law SF in 2013. During law school, he was president of the Government Law Organization, political chair of La Raza Law Students Association, and a senior articles editor for the Hastings Race & Poverty Law Journal. Will speaks fluent Spanish and advanced Japanese.

Mentorship Chair and Past President

Catalina Lozano has a private practice in Marin County and is also an adjunct professor at her alma mater, U.C. Law SF (f/k/a Hastings College of the Law). Ms. Lozano also holds an M.B.A. from U.C. Berkeley. She has received many awards for her work with Latinx law students, and for her public service with the State Bar of California. She currently also serves as a board member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Marin.