Committee Member Info

The members of the Angeles Chapter Legal Committee are lawyers or other legal professionals who have volunteered their time to help Angeles Chapter committees and task forces with their legal issues. To join the committee, email its chairperson, Ursula Vosylius.

Ursula Vosylius | Tom Mauriello | Vic Otten | Dean Wallraff

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Ursula Vosylius, Chair

Ursula Vosylius has been with Amgen Inc., the largest independent biotech company, collectively for seven years. She is a Senior Alliance Manager and is responsible for leading research and development transition teams as well as managing relationships with partner companies in support of Amgen’s global licensing efforts. She previously served as a contract attorney for Jones Day in Los Angeles and practiced both U.S. and international intellectual property law in a variety of fields for the firms of Ashen & Lippman in Montrose, CA and Tope-McKay & Associates in Malibu, CA.

Ms. Vosylius received her J.D. from Pepperdine University in 2001 and bachelors degree from Rutgers University with an emphasis in Molecular Genetics in 1994. She is also an alumna of the Graduate Science Careers scholarship program at the Robert Wood Johnson University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey. Additionally, she received certificates in Directorship and Corporate Governance from the Anderson School at UCLA as well as in Alternative Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. Prior to practicing law, Ms. Vosylius engaged in over 10 years of research and drug development, including protein chemistry research resulting in two patents and a publication in Protein Science.

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Tom Mauriello, Vice Chair

Tom Mauriello is the principal of the Mauriello Law Firm, APC, a professional law corporation headquartered in San Clemente, with an additional office in San Francisco. Tom's civil litgiation practice includes public interest land use and environmental litigation, administrative law, and appeals.

Tom has litigated environmental and land use cases in state and federal courts throughout California under various California statutes, including the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"), the California Endangered Species Act, and the Planning and Zoning Law, and under various federal statutes such as the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Federal Highways Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act. He has been actively involved in the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Litigation, a Clean Water Act suit against Southern California Edison involving the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, and other significant cases. He has represented, among other groups, the Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Preserve South Bay, Sierra Land Use Group, Spirit of the Sage Council, San Francisco Bay Institute, and North Hills Phoenix Association.

Tom has published articles on environmental law issues and, from 2001 through 2003, he lectured in environmental and land use litigation at California State University, East Bay (formerly Cal State University, Hayward). [top]

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Vic Otten, Vice Chair

Mr. Otten's practice at the firm of Otten and Joyce is primarily focused on the area of environmental law. He has been involved in hazardous waste litigation appearing before all state and federal courts, including claims brought under CERCLA, RCRA, OPA, and other environmental laws. Mr. Otten also has represented clients in toxic mold, mildew, chemical exposure and indoor air contamination litigation in state court civil suits. He is active in environmental compliance counseling and planning concerning local, state and federal regulations, and negotiation with and representation before government agencies (USEPA, DTSC, RWQCB, AQMD et al.) regarding environmental compliance inquiries, notices of violation, directives, clean up and abatement orders and various other compliance orders. Additionally, Mr. Otten handles counseling and analysis of Proposition 65 health risk exposure, notice duties, notice liability risks, product warnings and representation in related litigation. His practice also includes California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) counseling and representation in state superior court proceedings.

Mr. Otten is a Registered Environmental Assessor through the California Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Toxic Substances and Control.

Mr. Otten graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in economics. He graduated from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1992. Mr. Otten has earned a Certificate in Environmental Management from the University of California at Irvine. [top]

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Dean Wallraff, Vice Chair

Mr. Wallraff is Executive Director of Advocates for the Environment, a non-profit law firm and advocacy organization. He is one of the Sierra Club's lawyers in its lawsuit against Orange County to obtain GIS land parcel data under the Public Records Act. His firm represents plaintiffs in CEQA and other environmental lawsuits and is currently representing the Sierra Club in its litigation against the Landmark Village project in Santa Clarita.

Mr. Wallraff graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in Classics, and from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles.

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This page updated 5/25/2010