The OCBA is pleased to share that OCBA Board Member M.C. Sungaila, a Partner at Haynes and Boone, has been appointed to a three-year term on the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the American Judicial System’s Subcommittee on Federal Courts.

The 21-member standing committee acts as the clearinghouse for ABA activities aimed at preserving and improving the judicial system, judicial independence, preservation of fair and impartial courts, preservation of the American jury system, and methods of judicial selection and retention. The Subcommittee on Federal Courts focuses on supporting and improving the fair and effective administration of justice in the federal judicial system, including studying, monitoring and making recommendations on issues including appropriate compensation for federal judges, the number of federal judgeships, and the adequacy of funding for the federal judicial system. The subcommittee includes federal judges, practicing attorneys and academics with a broad range of experience and perspectives.

An appellate litigator, Sungaila has briefed and argued appeals raising cutting-edge and core business issues, and helped secure important rights for women and girls nationally and internationally. She also has served on amicus committees of the ABA, National Association of Women Lawyers and International Association of Defense Counsel; as a commissioner for the ABA’s Center for Racial and Ethnic Diversity; and as an Orange County Bar Association director at large. In 2017, she was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, whose recipients include seven U.S. Presidents, Nobel Prize winners, athletes, leaders of industry, artists and others whose work has made a lasting impact on humanity, for her combined professional achievements and humanitarian and pro bono work.