President
Jennifer Gillon Duffy
Firm
Rimon Law
Education
University of California at Los Angeles (B.A.)
University of San Francisco (J.D.)
Experience & Practice Areas
Jennifer Gillon Duffy grew up in Santa Barbara and specializes in employment and family law matters (Certified Family Law Specialist). Jenn attended UCLA and then the University of San Francisco, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review and a Judicial Extern to the California Supreme Court for the Honorable Joyce Luther Kennard. Ms. Duffy is a partner in the international firm Rimon Law.
Community Involvement
Jenn is a passionate community volunteer, paying it forward in appreciation for the people who have helped her on her own journey. She is a member of the Santa Barbara Chapter of the National Charity League with her three daughters, on the Board of Storyteller Children’s Center, and was Dream Foundation’s Volunteer of the Year in 2018. She has been named in the “Top 50 Women in Business” and “Who’s Who in Professional Services” for multiple years by the Pacific Coast Business Times. Jenn is Group Leader of one of the Santa Barbara groups of ProVisors and a member of The W Source (both national networking organizations).
President- Elect
Stephen Dunkle
Firm
Sanger Swysen & Dunkle
Education
Pomona College (B.A.)
University of Southern California (J.D.)
Experience & Practice Areas
Stephen K. Dunkle is an attorney at the law firm of Sanger Swysen & Dunkle. He is a graduate of Pomona College and received his law degree from the University of Southern California Law School. His practice includes representing defendants in trials and appeals in state and federal court. He is an Appellate Law Specialist, certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. He is the chair of the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice Amicus Committee. He is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and California Appellate Defense Counsel. Mr. Dunkle’s career highlights include being part of the team of attorneys who successfully defended Michael Jackson and being one of the leaders of a group of criminal defense attorneys who volunteered their time to defeat a proposed gang injunction in Santa Barbara.
Secretary
Erin Parks
Firm
Attorney at Law
Experience & Practice Areas
Erin R. Parks is a transactional attorney and a civil litigator based in Santa Barbara. She serves as a personal attorney; a family attorney; and general counsel for small business owners in a myriad of transactional and civil litigation arenas: California Employment Law, Estate Planning, Immigration, Probate, Trust Administration & Litigation, Real Estate, and Small Business Formations.
Erin started her Santa Barbara legal career in 1988. Her solo practice has succeeded because of her fierce tenacity, compassion for clients, attention to detail, superior writing acumen, and knowing that being a peacemaker, and an ethical officer of the court, take precedence.
She is an active member of the Santa Barbara County Bar Association (SBCBA) and the State Bar of California. Erin returned to serve on SBCBA’s Board of Directors in 2020. In 2021, she led the editorial team of SBCBA’s Santa Barbara Lawyer. Erin has been a member of the State Bar’s Labor & Employment Law Section and served on the State Bar’s Committee on Women in the Law. Erin’s fight for the progression of women’s rights is borne out by her longstanding membership in Santa Barbara Women Lawyers (SBWL), service as a past SBWL board member, and continuing SBWL mentoring committee membership.
Chief Financial Officer
Michelle Roberson
Firm
Sierra Property Group
Experience & Practice Areas
Michelle is a former complex civil litigator that now acts an advisor and legal consultant on select matters. She is the President/CEO of Sierra Property Group, Inc. that manages real estate assets from Carpinteria to Goleta where she acts as its inhouse counsel. She also is an officer in other companies including, but not limited to, Environmental-Safety Consultants that helps businesses get OSHA/EPA compliant.
In 2018, Michelle was originally appointed by City Council to the Santa Barbara Rental Housing Mediation Board where she serves as the Vice Chair providing mediation services to resolve rental housing disputes out of court. Prior to this, she was a board member of Santa Barbra Women Lawyers, Santa Barbara Women Lawyers Foundation, and her local PTA where she helped raised thousands for the public school her two daughters, Reese (10) and Elliot (6),
attend. She provides various seminars and lectures on housing matters for both private and non-profit organizations in both English and Spanish, including the most recent workshop on Tenant Rights and Responsibilities at Housing Santa Barbara Day.
Michelle grew up in Los Angeles and earned her undergraduate degree in Business Economics and Law & Society with an emphasis in Criminal Justice from the University of California, Santa Barbara where she received the Alyce Marita Whitted Memorial Award in recognition of endurance, persistence, and courage in the face of extraordinary challenges while in pursuit of an academic degree. She attended Rutgers Law – Camden and litigated cases in New Jersey and Pennsylvania before returning to California to start her own practice.
Past President
Eric Berg
Firm
Berg Law Group
Education
UC San Diego (B.A.)
University of Southern California (J.D.)
Experience & Practice Areas
Eric Berg is the Founding Partner of Berg Law Group, a boutique trial firm representing emerging and established companies and individuals in high-stakes disputes throughout California. Prior to founding the firm, Eric served as the Chair of the Litigation Department of Hatch and Parent and as a Litigation Shareholder with Hatch and Parent’s successor, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.
Eric obtained his BA in Political Science from the University of California San Diego in 1984, where he was selected as Student Commencement Speaker. He obtained his law degree from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law in 1987.
Community Involvement
Eric is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, an invitation-only national trial lawyer organization, where he holds the rank of Associate. He is an Arbitrator for the American Arbitration Associations National Roster of Arbitrators as well as its Panel of Construction Arbitrators. Eric also serves as Chairperson of the Bar’s Fee Arbitration Committee.
Eric is the Past Board Chair of the Tri Counties Region of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), as well as the former Chair of the ADL’s Civil Rights Committee. In 2012 Eric was presented with the ADL’s Harter-Myerson Award in recognition of his service as an outstanding community leader. He also currently serves on the Board of the Santa Barbara Jewish Federation.