Press release
Press Releases
National Judicial College’s Board of Trustees elects two new trustees, officers

The Board of Trustees of The National Judicial College has two new members – a prominent attorney and the CEO of a national law school organization.

New Trustee Susan H. Briggs is a shareholder in Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is board certified in worker’s compensation law (one of her concentration areas) and a trial lawyer. Additionally, she works in appellate practice.

Her many accomplishments include being recognized by Best Lawyers of America in Workers’ Compensation Law since 2012, a 2009 “Women Extraordinaire” Honoree of Business Leader Media, and among the American Institute of Legal Counsel’s 2017–2018 “10 Best Workers’ Compensation Attorneys in North Carolina.”

The second new trustee, Kellye Testy, has served since 2017 as president and chief executive officer of the Law School Admissions Council, an international assessment, data and technology hub for law schools. Prior to her work at LSAC, she was the first woman dean of the University of Washington Law School from 2009–2017. As dean, she succeeded in raising $56 million for the school through a bequest from an alumnus. It was the largest gift in school history.

Her numerous accolades include the President’s Award from the Washington State Bar Association. She was named the second-most-influential leader in legal education by the National Jurist news organization in 2017. In 2018, she was one of the opening speakers at an NJC-organized roundtable in Washington, D.C., on undermining the courts and the media and the consequences for American democracy.

The two trustees were nominated by the board at its November meeting, in Austin, Texas. The new Trustees were formally elected by the members of the corporation at the midyear meeting of the American Bar Association in February. Also at that meeting, the board elected the following officers for 2022:

Chair Alan R. Brayton is a founding member of the Brayton Purcell firm in Novato, California. During his nearly 30 years as a lawyer, he has become one of the leading personal injury attorneys in the West. He is also co-owner, with his wife Lisa Brayton, of Thirty-Seven Wines in Sonoma, California.

Chair-Elect Edward R. Blumberg of Miami is a partner and founder at the Deutsch, Blumberg & Caballero law firm and past president of the Florida Bar. He specializes in personal injury, liability and medical malpractice cases.

Treasurer Leslie A. Hayashi is a retired judge of the O`ahu First Circuit District Court of Hawaii and served on the NJC faculty for more than 20 years. She was elected to a second term as treasurer.

Secretary Norma Barnes-Euresti has served as vice president and chief counsel for labor-employment, ethics and compliance at the Kellogg Company since 2007. Prior to her work at Kellogg, she served as an administrative law judge for the Illinois Human Rights Commission.

The Board also said farewell to Trustee Ann Thornton Field. She is a Philadelphia-based attorney and a partner at the Gordon & Rees firm. Among her many litigation skills is the area of aviation, product liability and business disputes.

She served as a trustee for three terms. She joined the board in 2012 and served as secretary during the 2020-2021 term.

NJC News