An Interview with ACBA Board Member Pamela Ross, Jr.

ACBA Past-President Michael Johnson sat down with four of our board members to introduce them to our membership and show their journey to leadership. Fourth in our series is Pamela Ross, Jr.

About Pamela

Pamela J. Ross, Jr., is the founder and CEO of the All for the Family Legal Clinic, Inc., a public benefit corporation dedicated to providing low cost legal assistance to the San Francisco Bay Area. She primarily handles family law cases, but also works in the areas of estate planning and landlord-tenant law. Pamela has served on the ACBA Family Law Section’s Executive Committee since 2012, and as its Chair since 2014. Pamela was the 2015 recipient of Legal Alameda’s (formerly VLSC) award for Volunteer of the Year.

The Interview

Please describe your experience coming up through the ranks of ACBA, e.g., how did you become involved with ACBA, what was your experience in your first ACBA leadership role, how have progressed to the ACBA Board of Directors?  

I joined ACBA to network and fulfill my MCLE requirement.  When I signed up I also joined the Family Law Section and Family Law Excomm. I served as the Vice Chair, Co-Chair, and then Chair of the Excomm. I also volunteer a lot with VLSC family law day of court and clinics. At that point, Tiela reached out to me to join the board and I have a hard time telling the ACBA no for some reason

What impact (if any) has your participation in ACBA leadership had on your professional development?

I went to law school in Texas and I did not know attorneys in California. I was able to get the word out about my nonprofit through my membership in ACBA. Further, since I was a new attorney, the MCLEs and the Executive Committees gave me people to ask questions.

Have you used what you’ve learned as an ACBA Board Member in other aspects of your career?  

My nonprofit has a board as well, so sometimes there is crossover in the types of decisions that are needing to be made. Our board is significantly smaller, so the additional feedback from various board members on ACBA and their perspective has been helpful.

Do you feel that you have become a better lawyer and leader because of your participation on the ACBA board? 

I think it allows me to see perspectives of attorneys that practice other types of law and that being able to view issues from different perspectives is helpful to both your law practice and your leadership skills.

How has your view of the Bar Association evolved from when you first engaged the ACBA until now as a Board Member?

When I first joined I didn’t really go to events other than MCLEs since I am not a very social person. However, the more I have been involved the more other attorneys that are equally involved and the ACBA staff has become like a little family and made it easier to attend social events.

Interested in getting more involved with the ACBA?

Thank you for your service Pamela! If you are interested in learning more about the ACBA Board of Directors, please reach out to Tiela Chalmers at tiela@acbanet.org.