Board of Directors, 2022-2023

Chair/Vice Chair

Chief Justice
Supreme Court of Indiana
Indianapolis, IN

Chief Justice Loretta H. Rush serves on the NCSC Board of Directors in the capacity of President of the Conference of Chief Justices. She was appointed to the Supreme Court of Indiana in 2012 and became Chief Justice in 2014. Before her appointment she was a Superior Court judge for 14 years and spent 15 years in private practice. Chief Justice Rush joined the Board of Directors in February 2020.

Executive Secretary
Supreme Court of Virginia
Richmond, VA

Karl R. Hade serves on the NCSC Board of Directors in the capacity of President of the Conference of State Court Administrators. He became the state court administrator of Virginia in 2005 after serving as Director of the Department of Judicial Information Technology. He joined the Board of Directors in August 2020.

Chief Judge
Court of Appeals
Washington, DC

Chief Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby serves on the NCSC Board of Directors in the capacity of President-Elect of the Conference of Chief Justices. She became Chief Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals in March 2017.  She has served on the Court of Appeals since 2006 and on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia from 2000-2006. Chief Judge Blackburne-Rigsby joined the Board of Directors in August 2021.

State Court Administrator
Unified Judicial System
Pierre, SD

Greg Sattizahn serves on the NCSC Board of Directors in the capacity of President-Elect of the Conference of State Court Administrators.  He became the state court administrator for South Dakota in 2013 after being in private practice and serving as Legal and Legislative Counsel and Director of Policy and Legal Services for the South Dakota Unified Judicial System.  He joined the Board in August 2021.

Directors

President
National Center for State Courts
Williamsburg, VA

Mary C. McQueen serves ex officio as a non-voting member of the NCSC’s Board of Directors in her capacity as President of the National Center for State Courts. Ms. McQueen served for over 18 years as the State Court Administrator of Washington. She assumed the position of President of the National Center for State Courts in August 2004.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher
Washington, DC

Barry P. Barbash serves on the NCSC Board of Directors in the category reserved for an at large non-judicial branch member. He is a Senior Counsel with Wilke Farr & Gallagher and co-head of the Asset Management Group. Mr. Barbash has been a practitioner in asset management for over 35 years and served as the Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management. Mr. Barbash joined the Board of Directors on August 2018.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Washington, DC

Reginald J. Brown works for Kirkland & Ellis LLP.  Previously, he was with the WilmerHale law firm where he was the chairman of the firm's Financial Institutions Group and also led the firm's congressional investigations practice as vice chair of the firm's Crisis Management and Strategic Response Group. He joined the firm in 1997 and served as special assistant to the President and associate White House Counsel from 2003 to 2005. Mr. Brown provides counsel on issues affecting the intersection of government, law, media and public policy. He joined the Board of Directors in August 2020.

Court Administrator
Cleveland Municipal Court
Cleveland, OH

Russell R. Brown, III serves on the NCSC Board of Directors in the category reserved for an at-large member. He is a trial court administrator for the Cleveland Municipal Court. He has been with the court for over twenty years, initially joining as a magistrate, then mediation coordinator in 1997 after having served as an assistant city prosecutor in Cleveland. Mr. Brown joined the Board of Directors in August 2017.

Senior Advisor
Fieldstone Africa

Ambassador Christopher W. Dell serves on the NCSC Board of Directors in the category reserved for an at-large, non-judicial branch member. He is the Senior Advisor to Fieldstone Africa and has served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Kosovo from 2009 to 2012. In addition, Ambassador Dell served as Deputy Chief of Mission at U.S. Embassy in Kabul, 2007 to 2009, then Ambassador to the Republic of Zimbabwe, 2004 to 2007, and to the Republic of Angola, 2001 to 2004. He joined the Board of Directors in August 2022.

Chief Justice
Supreme Court of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT

Chief Justice Matthew B. Durrant serves on the NCSC Board of Directors in the capacity of First Vice President of the Conference of Chief Justices. He was appointed to the Utah Supreme Court in January 2000 where he served as a trial judge until he became Chief Justice in 2012. Previously he clerked with the U.S. Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit under Judge Monroe G. McKay, and was an adjunct professor at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School. Chief Justice Durrant joined the Board of Directors in August 2022.

Lashly & Baer, P.C.
St. Louis, MO

Jimmie M. Edwards serves on the NCSC Board of Directors in the category reserved for an at large member. He is a former general jurisdiction trial court judge in St. Louis, Missouri, and was previously the Director of Public Safety for St. Louis. He now works for Lashly & Baer, P.C. Mr. Edwards joined the Board of Directors in August 2017.

Executive Vice President & General Counsel
Selective Insurance Group
Branchville, NJ

Michael H. Lanza serves on the NSCS Board of Directors in the category reserved for an at-large non-judicial member.  He is Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Selective Insurance Company of America, with oversight of the legal department, as well as the regulatory, ethics and compliance functions and legislative and government affairs. He also serves as Selective’s Chief Compliance Officer.  Mr. Lanza joined the Board of Directors in August 2021.

Executive Director
Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute
Dallas, TX

Yolanda L. Lewis serves on the NCSC Board of Directors in the category reserved for an at-large, non-judicial branch member.  Ms.   Lewis is the Executive  Vice President  for  Justice &  Health, and  Executive Director,  Center  for Justice  &  Health, with the Meadows Mental Health  Policy  Institute. Most recently,  Ms.  Lewis was Senior  Director,  Safety and  Justice  with The  Pew  Charitable Trusts, and before  joining  Pew, she served  as  the district  court  administrator for  the  Atlanta Judicial  Circuit.   Ms. Lewis  joined  the Board  of  Directors in  August 2022.

Michael Maguire & Associates
Costa Mesa, CA

Michael P. Maguire began his legal career as a Deputy District Attorney in Orange County, California. He then was a founding partner of Nyman, Johnson and Maguire. Later he became the Managing Attorney of State Farm Insurance staff counsel. Today he is with Michael Maguire and Associates. In 2019-2020 Mr. Maguire served as national President of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He joined the Board of Directors in August 2020.

Appellate Judge
Fourth District Court of Appeal
West Palm Beach, FL

Judge Melanie G. May was appointed Judge, Fourth District Court of Appeals in Florida in 2002. She served as Chief Judge of that Court from 2011 until 2013. Prior to being appointed to the Court of Appeals, she was Judge of the 17th Judicial Circuit Court from 1991 until 2002. She was in private practice from 1982 until 1991. She is Past President of the Council of Chief Judges of State Courts of Appeal. Judge May joined the Board of Directors in August 2020.

Justice
Fifth Court of Appeals, Place 13
Dallas, Texas

Emily Miskel serves on the NCSC Board of Directors in the category reserved for an at-large member. Justice Miskel was appointed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Place 13, in December 2022 after serving as judge of the 470th District  Court of Collin County, Texas since 2015. She is a member of several legal committees and organizations such as the Pattern Jury Charge Oversight Committee, the Computer & Technology Law Council for the State Bar of Texas, the Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists, and the Collin County Bar Association. Judge Miskel joined the Board of Directors in August 2022.

Vice President and General Counsel
ExxonMobil Corporation
Irving, TX

Craig S. Morford serves on the NCSC Board of Directors in the category reserved for an at-large, non-judicial branch member. Mr. Morford has been Vice President and General Counsel of ExxonMobil Corporation since November 1, 2020. He was appointed as Deputy General Counsel when he joined ExxonMobil in 2019, after working with the United States Department of Justice and in private industry. In 2007, he was appointed as Acting Deputy Attorney General by President George W. Bush, and from 2008 until joining ExxonMobil, he served as the Chief Legal and Compliance Officer for Cardinal Health. Mr. Morford joined the Board of Directors in August 2022.

Crowe & Mulvey
Boston, MA

Elizabeth N. Mulvey serves on the NCSC Board of Directors in the category reserved for an at-large non-judicial member.  She is a founding partner at Crowe & Mulvey, LLP.  Ms. Mulvey has a special interest in personal injury law pertaining to patient safety and electronic health records. Ms. Mulvey is a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, elected as an Advocate of the American Board of Trial Advocates, Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and International Academy of Trial Lawyers.  Ms. Mulvey joined the Board of Directors in August 2021.

Professor of Law
Susan Gurley Daniels Chair in Civil Advocacy
Director, Civil Justice Program & Journalist Law School
Los Angeles, CA

John T. Nockleby is director of the Civil Justice Program, the Journalist Law School and has been a professor at Loyola Law School since 1989. Professor Nockleby received his B.A. from the University of Montana, and his J.D. from Harvard Law School where he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. From 1993-95, Professor Nockleby served as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School. He has also taught at the Northeastern University School of Law, and the Southwest Institute of Law and Political Science in Chongqing, China. Professor Nockleby joined the Board of Directors in August 2020.

Administrator of Courts
Judicial Branch of the Virgin Islands

St. Thomas, VI

Regina deChabert Petersen serves on the NCSC Board of Directors in the capacity of Vice President of the Conference of State Court Administrators. She was appointed Administrator of Courts of the unified Judicial Branch of the Virgin Islands in December 2016. Before this appointment, she served as the Administrative Director of the Virgin Islands Supreme Court. Ms. Petersen joined the Board of Directors in 2023.

Ciresi Conlin, LLP
Minneapolis, MN

Kathleen Flynn Peterson is Partner with Ciresi Conlin LLP. Her practice focuses on medical negligence cases. She serves as a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Board of Trial Attorneys, the International Society of Barristers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American Bar Foundation. She is past president of the American Association for Justice, the nation’s largest plaintiffs’ trial bar association. Ms. Peterson joined the Board of Directors in August 2019.

Judicial Programs Administrator
Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts
Harrisburg, PA

Richard “ Rick”  J. Pierce serves on the NCSC Board of Directors representing the National Association for Court Management. He is the Judicial Programs Administrator of the Judicial District Operations and Programs Department at the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.  He served as the President of the Mid-Atlantic Association for Court Management from 2005-2006 and previously served on the MAACM Advisory Board from 1997-2005. Mr.  Pierce joined the Board of Directors in  August 2022.

President
Volcker Alliance, Inc.
New York, NY

Thomas W. Ross serves on the NCSC Board of Directors in the category reserved for an at large, non-judicial branch member. He is currently President of the Volcker Alliance having previously served as President of the University of North Carolina and Davidson College. He also served as North Carolina Superior Court judge for 17 years and as the North Carolina state court administrator. Mr. Ross joined the Board of Directors in 2018.

Judge
Queens Criminal Court
Kew Gardens, NY

Toko Serita serves on the NCSC Board of Directors in the category reserved for an at large member. She is a limited jurisdiction trial court judge serving the New York City Criminal Court in Queens County, New York. She presides over the Human Trafficking Intervention Court as well as the drug treatment and mental health courts in Queens. Judge Serita joined the Board of Directors in 2018.

State Court Administrator
Minnesota Judicial Branch
St. Paul, MN

Jeff Shorba became the Minnesota state court administrator in 2012 after spending 10 years as the deputy administrator. Prior to joining the judicial branch, he worked as general counsel and associate general counsel for the Minnesota Department of Corrections and U.S. Department of Justice’s Federal Bureau of Prisons, respectively. He is a past president of the Conference of State Court Administrators.  Mr. Shorba joined the NCSC Board of Directors in 2019.

Chief Justice
Supreme Court of Rhode Island
Providence, RI

Chief Justice Suttell joined the Rhode Island Supreme Court in 2003 and became chief justice in 2009. Before his appointment to the state Supreme Court, he was a family court judge for 13 years. Chief Justice Suttell also served in the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1983 to 1990. He is a past president of the Conference of Chief Justices. Chief Justice Suttell joined the NCSC Board of Directors in 2019.

Judge
Superior Court Santa Clara County
San Jose, CA

Erica R. Yew serves on the NCSC Board of Directors in the category reserved for an at-large member.  She is a general jurisdiction trial court judge serving on the Santa Clara County, California Superior Court since 2001 presiding over a dependency drug treatment court and problem-solving courts.  Judge Yew joined the Board of Directors in August 2021.