NAAG Roles

Faculty, Center for Legal Advocacy and Faculty Development

Before joining the California Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of the Attorney General (OAG), Janie worked in private practice, and then as Staff Counsel for the California Department of Social Services. In 1988 she joined the California OAG as a Deputy Attorney General in the Health, Education and Welfare Section of the Civil Division, handling many high-profile and politically sensitive cases in the areas of healthcare, education, and social services, and adoptions. Her litigation practice included trials, writs, administrative hearings, and appellate work. Janie also acted as second-chair on a welfare reform case that was litigated before the U.S. Supreme Court. Janie was also chosen to act as in-house counsel for various state commissions, advising on issues such as conflicts of interest, open meetings law, and public records requests. In 2007, she was promoted to Deputy Attorney General IV and was appointed Legal Training Coordinator for the California OAG. In this capacity, Janie was responsible for creating, scheduling, facilitating, and teaching classes for Department of Justice’s in-house Continuing Legal Education Program, which provided legal training classes for approximately 1200 attorneys and paralegals at the various office locations of the OAG located throughout the State of California. Janie also served as the Coordinator for DOJ’s Basic Supervision Training for eight years; this 6-day management and leadership training was required for all new supervisors and managers at the California DOJ. Janie retired from the California Department of Justice in October 2018.

Before attending law school, Janie taught English/American Literature and Writing for two years at the high school level. She then spent the next 10 years as a sales representative and trainer for a major pharmaceutical company and attended night school to receive an M.B.A. While at the California OAG, she was an active member of the NAGTRI National Advisory Board and a member of the NAGTRI national faculty. Janie was also certified as a National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) instructor in 2008. She received her J.D. with Distinction from McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific, a B.A. from the University of Oklahoma, and an M.B.A. from California State University, Sacramento.

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