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this pageEmployee of the Month Archive
The employees listed below were recognized by their coworkers for their outstanding abilities and achievements, and received Employee of the Month (EOM) awards in 2006. For a list of recent EOMs and some background about the award, see our section entitled Employee of the Month.
May
2006: Carol Ho
Carol Ho has worked in the Data Processing Department since March of 2003. She handles case management work, which includes updating settlement conference results, client contact information, pretrial and trial dates, and other information pertaining to client matters. Carol also updates paralegal and post–deposition notes.
Prior to her employment with Brayton Purcell, Carol attended the University of California at Davis, majoring in Nutrition. She has also recently earned a Wed Design certificate, and spends her free time volunteering as an intern with the County of Sonoma under the Workgroup Support division, revising county web sites.
When not busy with work and volunteer duties, Carol enjoys staying at home, playing with her nephews, and doing outdoor activities. She likes hiking, biking, rollerblading, and river rafting, a particular favorite.
March
2006: Shareen Page
In April of 2003, Shareen Page began working as an Administrative Assistant for the Settlement Department at Brayton Purcell. She later transferred to the Paralegal Department as a Pre–Trial Paralegal. In December 2004, Shareen was promoted to a Trial Paralegal.
Shareen organizes the necessary materials needed for the settlement conferences in her cases, and prepares each client’s case for trial. She also works with the deposition coordinators to confirm that the appropriate experts provide a deposition testimony prior to each trial date.
Shareen enjoys spending her spare time with her friends and family, hiking, visiting her home town in Africa, and going to the beach during the summer.
January
2006: Gina Laico
With a year of experience from an asbestos law firm in Chicago, Gina Laico joined Brayton Purcell as a Legal Secretary in January of 2004. Within two years, her hard work and determination brought Gina to her current position of the Breach of Contract Paralegal. Her main duty involves collections, which includes filing and tracking breach of contract actions against defendants who neglect their financial obligations to our clients.
Gina is an exceptionally caring individual who is always willing to lend a helping hand. Even in her spare time, she is constantly volunteering to fund–raise for nonprofit organizations to help those in need.
When she feels it is time for a break, Gina finds herself exploring the East Bay area near San Francisco, playing soccer, reading, scrapbooking, walking, hiking, and spending time with her friends and loved ones.
December
2005: Joy Horn
Joy Horn joined our Deposition Department as a Plaintiff Deposition Coordinator in June 2003. Her duties include scheduling and tracking depositions for our clients.
Before coming to Brayton Purcell, Joy attended Dominican College, where she majored in Liberal Studies. After earning her teaching credential, she worked as a substitute teacher for various elementary schools, and taught at a local pre–school, Good Shepard, as well.
Scheduling seems to be a theme in Joy’s life, as she fills her own and her husband’s free time with several activities—camping, hiking, biking, cheering at A’s games, visiting New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, and vacationing in Cancun.
November
2005: Victor Rosario
Prior to working for Brayton Purcell, Victor Rosario was employed at a web hosting company in Petaluma, CA, where he gained the necessary experience for his current position—Computer Help Assistant. Victor joined the firm as a permanent employee in September of 2004, after working on a temporary basis for nine months. His general objective as a member of the Information Services Department is to provide technical assistance and support to the firm’s staff.
Victor is extremely welcoming and comforting, which makes him easy to work with, and a pleasure to be around. What Victor enjoys most, when not at work, is spending time with his friends, visiting his family in the Phillippines, watching movies, and hiking.
October
2005: Steve Ford
Since August of 1999, Steve has been an inspiration in our Facilities department. With a tri–major of music, psychology and business management from Sonoma State University, Steve is a perfect fit for his position. He is a very well–rounded individual, who is dedicated and organized, works very well with others, and brings a positive outlook to every task that is asked of him, no matter how hectic and challenging. His general objective is to provide safety, comfort, material and transportation support for the firm’s staff and he excels in every category. His expertise and hard work has brought him to the position he is in now—Lead Facilities Assistant.
Steve dedicates his off–time to taking care of his 12–year–old daughter, participating in extreme sports consisting of mainly motocross and mountain biking, playing and listening to music, reading, and watching his favorite movies and TV shows.
August
2005: Debra Forsythe
Debra started out with the firm on July 23, 2001, as a Receptionist. In September of 2004 Debra transferred to the facilities department and just recently was promoted to lead receptionist.
Debra is an avid reader, loves baking, and enjoys gardening all of which she finds relaxing and therapeutic. Her Philosophy in life is to generate good karma, learn something new everyday and grow old with grace. She prays for world peace and world health and an end to world hunger. She enjoys her family including, but not limited to, four grown children, ten grandchildren, and many wonderful friends.
July
2005: Shawna Mahoney
Shawna is currently a Legal Secretary for our general civil litigation department. Shawna was a student at Empire College where she earned a Specialized Associate’s Degree in Legal Office Administration before coming to Brayton Purcell. She also worked at TravelSmith Outfitters and Nautilus of Marin here in Novato.
In her spare time, Shawna spends time with her family and friends. She likes all kinds of music and enjoys eating Mexican food when she is in the mood for her favorite comfort food.
June
2005: Ollie Adams
Ollie was a high school English teacher before coming to Brayton Purcell. She has always had an interest in the legal field and when her husband told her about the paralegal position, she knew she had to apply. She has been with the firm for two years and is starting a Paralegal Certificate program this month so she can learn more about her chosen profession.
In her spare time, Ollie goes cycling with her husband, John. She also reads a lot of magazines on fitness and healthy lifestyles and she enjoys hanging out with friends on the weekend.
April
2005: Tobin Ballinger
Toby has been with the firm since October of 2003. He started out in the Scanning department and is now an active member of our Investigations team.
Before coming to Brayton, Toby was a carpenter with Franci Construction building custom homes. He was prompted to look for work when the weather slowed down business and luckily for us, he’s been here ever since.
In his spare time, Toby enjoys reading, writing, going to Giants games and hanging out with his lovely fiancé, Christina. In addition to being an avid golfer, Toby also mountain bikes, snowboards and wakeboards.
March
2005: Christina Clark
Christina has been a Brayton Purcell employee for the past four years. She is currently a valuable member of the Settlement department. Before coming to Brayton, Christina worked at Redwood Credit Union in Novato.
In what little spare time she has, she likes to shop, hang out with friends, collect Britney Spears memorabilia and watching her favorite TV show “Alias.”
February
2005: Montie Derby
Montie has been here for just over one year and has been a welcome addition to the Paralegal department. He started at Brayton Purcell after he and his wife moved back to the Bay Area from Omaha, Nebraska.
In his spare time, Montie enjoys cooking. He and his wife met at the California Culinary Academy and they’ve been cooking together ever since. They also enjoy hiking in the Marin Headlands with their three year old black lab puppy.
January
2005: Claudia Cabral
Claudia came on board almost five years ago, after she saw a posting on Sonoma–jobs.com for a File Clerk for the Paralegal department and she really enjoys her job. Her current position has inspired her to take classes so she may one day become a Legal Secretary.
In her spare time, Claudia enjoys going to the movies, A’s baseball games, country concerts & comedy shows, reading, shopping and hanging out with her family and friends.