OUR 9TH ANNUAL CAMPAIGN RUNS
JUNE 1 – 30, 2025
THANK YOU TO OUR 2025 ADVISORY BOARD
VAR FOX
Executive Vice President
Judicate West
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Var Fox is a principal of Judicate West and a member of the executive committee. In addition to helping grow and run the company, Var oversees legal matters, risk management and ethics for Judicate West. Var was one of Judicate West’s first Case Managers and continues to serve as a very effective trainer and mentor to the case management team. He is an expert on ADR rules and processes and uses this knowledge and experience to quickly assess the needs of clients; this is the reason so many JW clients seek his case consulting expertise in helping to select the right neutrals for their cases.
Var began his career in the ADR industry in 1990 with Judicate, Inc., The National Private Court System, located in New York. In 1993, he and his partner bought out the company’s West Coast interests and formed Judicate West. Since then, Var has been a guiding force in the outstanding growth and success of the firm. On the personal side, Var is active in many charitable endeavors, always looking to help those in need. Var holds a second-degree black belt in Kung Fu (which he earned in 2000), enjoys fitness daily and watching sports, his favorites being baseball and boxing.
MELISSA GORIN
Director of Marketing
Judicate West
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Melissa Gorin is a returning Food From The Bar advisory board member and the Director of Marketing at Judicate West, where she leads strategic initiatives to elevate the organization’s presence in the legal community. With more than 15 years of experience in the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) industry, Melissa also focuses on business development and neutral practice management. Outside of the office, she has a passion for travel and enjoys exploring new destinations.
MARK MINYARD
Founding & Managing Partner
Minyard Morris
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Mark E. Minyard is the founding and managing partner of Minyard Morris, a 20-lawyer firm limiting its practice to family law matters filed in Orange County, which was establish in 1977. Mr. Minyard received the 2022 Franklin G. West award from the Orange County Bar Association. This is the OCBA’s highest honor and is presented to outstanding attorneys and judges whose lifetime achievements have advanced justice and the law. Mark has been recognized as one of the top 100 lawyers in Southern California and one of the 50 top lawyers in Orange County by Super lawyers for many years. He is also listed in Best Lawyers in America by Best Lawyers. In 2025, The Daily Journal listed Mark, for the second year in a row, as the only Orange County Family law attorney on their list of top family law attorneys in the State of California. Mark is a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
BILL SCHAAL
Partner
Rutan & Tucker, LLP
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Rutan & Tucker’s IP Partner, Bill Schaal, brings a wealth of experience in securing patent protection for his clients’ technological advancements. With over 30 years of legal expertise and an electrical engineering background, Bill has helped a wide range of companies, from startups to multinational corporations, build strong patent portfolios. These patent portfolios have included patents directed to a high-technology sector such as computer electronics, mechanical and medical devices, networking architectures, software, and data security.
Bill is actively involved in the community and has been a longstanding board member for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County. His dedication to improving the lives of others in our community is consistent with the core values of Rutan, one of the largest full-service law firms in Orange County committed to serving our community through pro bono legal work and supporting over 200 charitable programs and philanthropic initiatives in California.
THANK YOU TO OUR 2025 SPONSORS!
TITLE SPONSORS:
MAJOR SPONSORS:
CONGRATULATIONS AND OUR THANKS TO THE 2025 AWARD RECIPIENTS
Pro Bono Publico Award “For the Public Good” – Minyard Morris
Rockstar Rainmaker (large) – Orange County Trial Lawyers Association
Rockstar Rainmaker (medium) – Judicate West
Rockstar Rainmaker (small) – Houser LLP
Rockstar “Rangler” – Mark Minyard, Minyard Morris
Rockstar Rookie – Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth LP
Raising the Bar – Var Fox, Judicate West
Rockstar Voluntarius – Edwards Lifesciences General Counsel
The team from overall winner Minyard Morris - L-R: Alexander Payne, Mark Minyard, Jennifer Corona, Scott Savage & Rafael Serrano
L-R: Award winners Nico Houser with Houser LLP; Puja LaQuay & Katie Haught with Judicate West; and Mark Minyard with Minyard Morris; with Second Harvest Chief Development Officer Wayne Stickney.
L-R: Winner Var Fox with Judicate West with FFTB committee member Bill Schaal with Rutan & Tucker
L-R: Winner Melissa Hoffman with Edwards Lifesciences and Second Harvest Corporate Partnerships Manager Megan Hunker.
L-R: Second Harvest Chief Development Officer Wayne Stickney & winner Sean Lobb with Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth LLP.
Guests at the FFTB Awards Reception.
Jill Wilson decided to volunteer with Second Harvest in 2008 when she was in between jobs and looking for a way to apply her talents that could benefit the community. She arrived one day at Second Harvest’s former distribution center in Orange, ready to serve, and felt immediately connected to the mission.
Like Jill and Ian, other friends of the food bank may be looking for ways to connect meaningfully with Second Harvest to help those experiencing hunger in Orange County for years to come. One simple way to make a significant impact, while achieving peace of mind, is by creating a will or revocable living trust with our partner, FreeWill.
March is National Nutrition Month, an annual awareness campaign that encourages us to learn about nutrition, develop healthy eating habits and discover the fun of being physically active. At Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, we strive to provide everyone in Orange County with the nutrition they need to grow and excel in life.
Last spring, here at Second Harvest we completely revamped our focus to proactively purchase fresh nutrition for those in need, ensuring a steady pipeline of protein, dairy, eggs, fruits and vegetables to our approximately 300 partner and program sites. As a next step, we recently unveiled our new, 6,200-square-foot cold storage facility and two additional cold docks that establish a “cold chain” at our distribution center in Irvine. This gives us a total of 14,550 square feet of cold storage, which greatly enhances our ability to source and distribute more nutritious food.
Second Harvest continues to fight increasing food insecurity through our Pop-Up Drive Thru food distributions with the help of many amazing volunteers and it is no surprise that many of them are mothers. Jacqueline is one such volunteer and I wanted to learn more of her story.
here to volunteer representing other mothers…to give back to the community, to be a role model to my children. As a mother, as a woman, as a friend, as a wife…you have so many hats you have to put on and one of them is giving. When I go home my daughter asks me, “Mom what did you do today?” And I say, “I got to give back to people, people that really don’t have as much as we do.” Hopefully she sees me doing this and then as she gets older, she’ll want to give back just the same way.”
Pantry. Their style traditionally has always been very welcoming and focused on building relationships with those they serve. They would put out coffee and pastries and spend time talking with the families who would come early just to socialize.
One of Nancy’s key volunteers, Mary Kaye, also shared insights. Mary Kaye is an emergency room doctor who has been spending much of her spare time serving at the Saint Timothy pantry. She began volunteering pre-COVID by taking blood pressures on pantry days and translating for Spanish-speaking clients.. All the changes have her missing conversations and connecting with the families they serve.
can take your blood pressure soon,” and encouraging them.”
Whatever the situation that keeps students on campus and struggling to feed themselves, the Fresh Basic Needs Hub at UCI remains open to serve them, supported by food from Second Harvest. Student hunger is a serious challenge, made even worse by the pandemic, but Fresh, as it’s called, has the mission to provide for the basic needs of UCI students, allowing them to focus on academics.
Last week did not feel hopeful. Seeing the injustice of the past few days makes me cringe. It causes me to grieve when I see people treated unfairly or worse. But I’m choosing to move forward with hope. How can I have hope this week? Because I know Andrea and I see how she treats people who sometimes feel trapped. The team at Fresh, and all the other college pantries in Orange County serve as a lifeline for their students, providing for basic needs and offering a dignified experience for everyone who comes to them for help. Their service is a beacon of hope in the darkness.
redirected those emotions toward survival and humility. While it was a very difficult decision, Stephen and Kristina decided that in order to make it through this crisis, they would need to receive assistance the first time in their lives. This is what it means to be newly vulnerable.