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Attorney and Staff Profiles
Diane
M. Fishburn
Lance
H. Olson
Deborah
B. Caplan
N.
Eugene Hill
Richard
C. Miadich
Richard
R. Rios
Rebecca
J. Olson
William
B. Tunick
Administration
Diane M. Fishburn
Diane M. Fishburn is the managing partner at Olson, Hagel & Fishburn LLP, with over 20 years of experience in political, administrative, and election law.
Ms. Fishburn advises private, public and nonprofit clients on federal and state campaign reporting obligations as well as financial disclosure, ethics, lobbying and conflicts-of-interest requirements. She has expertise and experience in state and local ballot measure campaigns, and she also defends enforcement cases before the Federal Election Commission, the California Fair Political Practices Commission and other administrative agencies.
Ms. Fishburn oversees the firm’s practice in advising and assisting major donor contributors with compliance with federal and state contribution limitations and reporting requirements.
She regularly presents seminars on various aspects of political and ethics laws before unions, trade associations and other tax exempt organizations as well as associations of public officials and candidates. She is co-author of two publications addressing the involvement of public charities and private foundations in the California ballot initiative process.
Ms. Fishburn is past President of the California Political Attorneys Association and currently serves as a member of the Sacramento County Bar Diversity Hiring and Retention Committee.
Ms. Fishburn was an attorney with the Fair Political Practices Commission for five years, and spent another five years as staff counsel in the California Air Resources Board Office of Legal Affairs.
She received both her B.A. and law degrees from the University of California,
Los Angeles. She clerked with the New Mexico State Supreme Court and received
the Order of the Coif and Distinguished Advocate Awards.
Lance H. Olson
Lance H. Olson is the founder and senior partner of Olson, Hagel & Fishburn, LLP. He specializes in the practice of election and political law.
He earned a B.A. degree in political science from California State University, Sacramento in 1972. Mr. Olson received his law degree from the University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law in 1977. While attending law school, he worked for a statewide legislative consulting firm. He edited and wrote publications monitoring legal activities of the Fair Political Practices Commission, Public Employee Relations Board, Agricultural Labor Relations Board, and the California Coastal Commission.
He founded the law firm in 1977. The firm's clientele includes candidates, elected officials, PACs, ballot measure committees, lobbyists, lobbyist employers and major donors, as well as individuals, labor organizations, businesses and government agencies involved in the political process.
Mr. Olson is counsel to statewide elected officials, members of the California Congressional Delegation and California Legislature, and many local elected officials. He has served as general counsel to the California Democratic Party since 1982 and regularly advises the Speaker of the Assembly and President pro Tem of the Senate. At the request of the State Legislature, Mr. Olson drafted Proposition 34, the comprehensive campaign finance reform measure adopted by the voters in November 2000.
He routinely lectures and conducts training on campaign and political law developments. Mr. Olson served as an adjunct professor of law at McGeorge School of Law from 1995 to 2003 where he taught election law. He is also a consultant to the CEB publication, Advising California Nonprofit Corporations.
His other credits include co-founder and past president of the California
Political Attorney's Association. He has served on many government bodies,
including the California Bipartisan Commission on the Political Reform
Act of 1974, Sacramento County Civil Service Commission, Sacramento County
Parks and Recreation Commission and Sacramento County Charter Reform Committee.
Beginning in 2002 he served three years as a Lawyer Representative for
the Eastern District of California to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference.
Deborah B. Caplan
Deborah B. Caplan is a partner with Olson Hagel & Fishburn. Ms. Caplan currently manages the litigation practice area of the firm, although she also plays a role in political advising, particularly in the area of conflicts of interest. She argued the constitutionality of the “McCain-Feingold” campaign finance law before a three-judge panel of federal judges in Washington, D.C. and briefed the matter before the U.S. Supreme Court. She has also been involved in litigation on issues including state-mandated local costs, campaign finance and other campaign regulation, education audits, the permissible uses of initiative and referendum, and the State’s obligation to make payments to the State’s teacher retirement system. She has argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals (District of Columbia), the U.S. District Court (Eastern District of California), the California Supreme Court, the District of Columbia Court of Appeal and several California Courts of Appeal.
Ms. Caplan received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola Marymount University and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. in 1979. Ms. Caplan was a Professor of Clinical Law at George Washington University Law School until 1992, specializing in administrative law and general civil practice. She relocated to Sacramento in 1992 and clerked for the Honorable David Russell, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District. She subsequently served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law until she joined Olson Hagel & Fishburn in 1998.
She is a member of the Federal Bar Association, the California Political
Attorneys Association, the Sacramento County Bar, and the Board of Directors
of Legal Services of Northern California.
N. Eugene Hill
N. Eugene Hill is a member of the litigation section of Olson, Hagel & Fishburn, LLP. He joined the firm in 1995, after 33 years in the Office of the State Attorney General, where he served as Deputy Attorney General, Senior Assistant Attorney General and Chief Assistant Attorney General. He was Senior Assistant in charge of the Government Section for about 10 years, and has participated in issues involving ballot measures on virtually every statewide election since 1983, including litigation involving such measures as Propositions 13, 68/73 (Campaign Finance), 99 (Tobacco Tax), 140 (Term Limits), 209 (Affirmative Action) and 218 (Taxation), representing both government and non-government parties.
Mr. Hill has considerable litigation experience representing public entities in mandate, declaratory relief and injunction proceedings. During his tenure with the Attorney General -- and particularly during his 12 years in the Attorney General's Government Law Section -- he represented public agencies on a wide range of issues. He acted as the statewide chief of that section for over ten years.
Mr. Hill has analyzed and prepared titles and summaries for proposed initiatives and ballot measures for every election since 1983. His expertise in state election law, constitutional and fiscal matters developed over the 33 years he practiced with the Attorney General.
Mr. Hill, as a member of the litigation section of the firm, has represented both public and private entities on matters involving application of state law to particular circumstances and advised them on the steps needed to comply with statutory criteria. His advice and representation has covered many issues concerning the application of state and local government provisions of the California Constitution and statutes implementing such provisions. In public and private practice, he has participated in over 100 appellate cases construing application of California constitutional and statutory provisions. Many include inter-governmental relationships and state fiscal policies. He also has considerable experience advising public and private entities on the application of the state Administrative Procedure Act, Public Records Act, open meeting requirements of the Brown and Bagley-Keene Acts, conflict of interest provisions, such as Government Code section 1090, and the application of the reimbursement requirements for state mandated local programs set forth in California Constitution Article XIII B. In addition, he has provided advice and representation to public and private entities concerning implementation of newly enacted initiative measures, and he has represented both public and private entities in constitutional challenges to such provisions.
Mr. Hill received the Attorney General's Award for Outstanding Achievement in 1992. He was also named "Public Lawyer of the Year" by the State Bar of California in 1994. Mr. Hill earned his law degree from Hastings College of the Law (L.L.B. 1961).
Richard C. Miadich
Richard C. Miadich, an associate with Olson, Hagel & Fishburn, LLP, is a member of the firm's litigation unit. Mr. Miadich's practice focuses on litigation matters involving election, campaign finance, government, and constitutional law. His litigation experience includes law and motion, written discovery, depositions, and development of case strategy. He also has experience with civil writs and appeals.
Mr. Miadich served as a law clerk at Olson Hagel during the summer of 2001 and during his third-year of law school. Prior to re-joining Olson Hagel in February 2005, Mr. Miadich worked as a litigation associate for a San Francisco law firm, where he represented Fortune 500 companies in complex products liability litigation.
He is a member of the State Bar of California and is admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of California. His other professional memberships include: the Litigation section the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the Sacramento County Bar Association and the California Political Attorneys Association.
Mr. Miadich received his law degree from the University of California at Davis in 2002. While there, he served as a member of the U.C. Davis Law Review, externed with the California State Assembly Committee on Judiciary, and participated in the trial practice program. In 1998, he received A.B. in both political science and history from the University of California at Los Angeles, where he was nominated for the Melville-Elliot Research Writing Award.
Mr. Miadich has been appointed to the Executive Committee of the Public Law Section of the State Bar. His term commences October 8, 2006 and runs for three years.
Richard R. Rios
Richard R. Rios is an associate with Olson Hagel & Fishburn's political compliance unit, which assists clients in conforming with local, state, and federal campaign and election laws.
Mr. Rios has substantial experience in statutory research and public policy development. Most recently, he served as a consultant to Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, and was responsible for providing strategic, legislative, and political advice on a wide range of issues including elections-related legislation and Indian gaming policy. As Director of Labor Affairs for Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson, he provided direction and assistance to legislators, staff, lobbyists, and other interested parties on significant labor and pension legislation.
Mr. Rios served as a law clerk for two prestigious political and election law firms. His work included advising clients on lobbyist and campaign reporting. Mr. Rios has worked as a campaign director in state and congressional elections, and helped coordinate member-to-member communications and outreach for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor's 2000 General Election effort.
Mr. Rios earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Redlands where he majored in Political Science and Philosophy. He received his law degree from the University of California at Davis.
Rebecca
J. Olson
Rebecca J. Olson, an associate with Olson, Hagel and Fishburn, LLP, is a member of the firm’s political counseling unit. Ms. Olson counsels clients on compliance with state and federal campaign and election laws.
Ms. Olson served as a law clerk during the summer of 2004 and throughout her third year of law school. During law school, Ms. Olson authored an article entitled Proposition 62: Voters Choice Open Primary Act for the California Initiative Review, a non-partisan, objective Internet publication which provides independent analyses of California ballot initiatives.
Prior to attending law school, Ms. Olson was a paralegal at a Bay Area law firm where she prepared both federal and state campaign reports for political action committees, candidates and major donors. She also served in the finance department for a congressional campaign in California’s 10th congressional district.
Ms. Olson earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana where she majored in Political Science with an emphasis on American Political Processes & Institutions. She received her law degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. While at McGeorge, Ms. Olson received a certificate in International Legal Studies from Salzburg University in Austria where she studied under Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.
She is admitted to practice in California and is a member of the California
Political Attorneys Association and Women Lawyers of Sacramento.
William B.
Tunick
William B. Tunick, an associate with Olson, Hagel and Fishburn, LLP, is a member of the firm's litigation unit. Mr. Tunick's practice focuses on constitutional and government law litigation.
Mr. Tunick served as a law clerk during the summer of 2005 and throughout his third year of law school. Previously, he interned at the California Commission on State Mandates and California Attorney General's office.
Mr. Tunick received his law degree from the University of California, Davis at 2006. While there, he served as a managing editor for Environs: Environmental Law Journal and participated in the school's moot court program. In 2003, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from University of California at San Diego where he majored in Political Science and Urban Studies & Planning.
He is admitted to practice in California and is a member of the California
Political Attorneys Association.
Administration
Vicki A. Gordon
Vicki A. Gordon, PHR-CA is Director of Administration at Olson, Hagel & Fishburn, LLP. Ms. Gordon joined Olson, Hagel & Fishburn in May 2006 after relocating from the Bay Area and is responsible for managing all employee benefits and human resource matters for the firm. She has over twenty-five years experience working in law firms.
Training
PHR-CA certification from the Society for Human Resources Management
in April 2007
PHR certification from the Society for Human Resources Management in 2005
Human Resources Generalist Program through San Jose State University
Memberships
Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) for several years,
including previous service as Secretary on the Board.
National member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Member of Sacramento Area Human Resource Association (SAHRA).
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