Meet the Officers
Long Beach Bar Association Officers serve a one-year term which begins January 1st and are sworn in at the annual Installation Dinner.
Mercedes Rezai
President
Rudie Baldwin
President Elect
Tarren Torres
Vice President
Ms. Rezai graduated summa cum laude from Loyola Marymount University in 2010 obtaining a bachelor’s degree in both political science and classical civilizations. In 2013, Ms. Rezai received a Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School, where she was Editor-in-Chief of Production of the Los Angeles Public Interest Law Journal.
Ms. Rezai is admitted to practice in the state of California and the United States District Court for the Central District of California. She is on the Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach Advisory Board and has volunteered with the Christian Legal Aid of Los Angeles. She has been on the leadership boards of Women Lawyers of Long Beach (‘19-‘20 President), California Women Lawyers and Long Beach Bar Association. She is also a member of ASCDC, WLALA and SCAHRM.
In 2017, Ms. Rezai was honored with the Emerging Leadership Award for her leadership, service and passion in empowering women and advocating for her community at the annual Long Beach Leadership Prayer Breakfast. From 2019-2022, Ms. Rezai has been recognized as one of Super Lawyers’ Rising Stars. The Rising Stars list recognizes no more than 2.5 percent of attorneys in each state who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Ms. Rezai has also been asked to speak on various occasions, including for Continuing Legal Education, on topics pertaining to young attorneys, including issues involving bias and ethics.
In her free time, she enjoys yoga, playing the ukulele and going to Disneyland with her family.
Rudie D. Baldwin is a founding partner of Amaro Baldwin LLP. He has earned the reputation of being a hard-working litigator and a winning trial attorney.
Mr. Baldwin is a sincere and effective advocate who primarily represents clients in the amusement, entertainment, action-sport, retail and restaurant industries. During his career, Mr. Baldwin has represented a wide range of clients in products defect, personal injury, breach of contract, workers' compensation, employment, and construction defect matters. Mr. Baldwin has represented clients ranging from Six Flags Magic Mountain, Raging Waters, Boomers, SpeedZone, The Observatory, LSI Road Striping, Harbor Distributing, Flow Snowboards, PetSmart, and Sprouts.
Prior to attending law school, Mr. Baldwin received his undergraduate degree from California State University, Fullerton in 2004, where he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Political Science. He graduated first in his class from the Department of Philosophy.
Mr. Baldwin received his Juris Doctorate degree from Southwestern University School of Law in 2006, completing his degree in two years by participating in the rigorous SCALE program. Thereafter, he became a member of the California State Bar and has also been admitted to practice in all of the Districts of the U.S. District Courts of California. The first 9 years of his practice was spent as a Senior Associate of Prindle, Amaro, Goetz, Hillyard, Barnes & Reinholtz LLP.
In his spare time Mr. Baldwin is an avid surfer and musician.
Tarren Alicia Torres is an Attorney with Egoscue Law Group, Inc. Ms. Torres specializes in environmental law and provides counseling and advice on complex environmental regulatory compliance and enforcement matters as well as litigation under federal and state statutes. Ms. Torres is passionate about environmental matters and is honored to celebrate ten years as part of the firm’s practice of environmental and natural resources law.
Ms. Torres’ California family heritage can be traced back many generations, including to the founding of Los Angeles, and she believes deeply in the importance of responsible development, regulation, and protection of California’s natural resources and
environment. Ms. Torres has volunteered at organizations throughout Southern California, including serving as a Volunteer Attorney for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, the El Monte Workers’ Rights Clinic, and the Inner City Law Center.
Ms. Torres received a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Los Angeles, and a Juris Doctorate degree from California Western School of Law in San Diego.
Ms. Torres loves to travel and is always seeking the next good book or movie to enjoy. She also enjoys volunteering with her children’s sports teams.
Carley Ryckman
Secretary Treasurer
Carley Ryckman received her Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of California Santa Barbara, where she was also named a UCSB legacy rower and captain of the varsity women’s rowing team. She went on to receive her Juris Doctorate from the University of West Los Angeles School of Law. In law school, she was a summer law clerk at Public Counsel’s Guardianship Clinic in the downtown Los Angeles Stanley Mosk Courthouse, where she assisted pro per litigants with various guardianship proceedings. In 2015, Ms. Ryckman was named “California’s Miracle Maker” for her fundraising efforts in support of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Ms. Ryckman is an associate attorney at Carroll, Kelly, Trotter & Franzen. She is licensed to practice law before all courts of the State of California, the United Stated District Courts for the Central and Southern Districts of California, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is President of Women Lawyers of Long Beach (’23-’24) and a member of the Ball/Hunt/Schooley American Inn of Court.
Vanessa Haberbush
Immediate Past President
Vanessa M. Haberbush is a Long Beach native and graduated summa cum laude from Biola University. Graduating as valedictorian of her class at Whittier Law School in 2012, Vanessa has been practicing law in Long Beach ever since. Her practice is focused on bankruptcy, insolvency, and debtor/creditor relationships and litigation. She has successfully represented a broad spectrum of debtors and creditors in reorganization and liquidation proceedings, including the successful confirmation of several Chapter 11 plans of reorganization. She also appears before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal.
In 2020, Vanessa became a partner of Haberbush, LLP, where she works with her father, David Haberbush. She was also named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers.
In addition, she is actively involved with the Long Beach legal community. She has been a member of the Ball/Hunt/Schooley American Inn of Court since 2012 and served in various leadership roles within it throughout her time in the organization. She volunteers her time as a judge of local moot court competitions. She has also served on the LBBA Board of Governors from 2017-2019 and routinely volunteers with the LBBA Legal Clinic. Since 2021, Vanessa has been serving on the board of trustees for St. Mary Medical Foundation, which provides valuable medical services to Long Beach’s diverse community. Finally, Vanessa has been working with the Lex Rex Institute, a non-profit constitutional advocacy organization.
Suzie Smith
Executive Director
Suzie Smith, a native of Long Beach, is the new Executive Director of the Long Beach Bar Association. Suzie grew up in Naples and attended Long Beach Wilson High School, and then went to USC where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. She has traveled abroad and has worked for Senator and Governor Pete Wilson, ARCO, Town Hall Los Angeles and the Long Beach City College Foundation. Suzie also returned to her alma mater and served as Executive Director for the USC Architectural Guild. After her marriage in 2000, Suzie became a stay-at-home mom, devoting her time to raising her two children, and volunteering and serving on boards for their school, philanthropies and for the National Charity League. As her children are now in college, Suzie has re-entered the work force where her expertise in administration and event planning will surely benefit the Long Beach Bar Association.
The Board of Governors
Paul Bent
Reba Birmingham
Lane Bogard
Paul Carter
Monte Cole
Daniel Cooper
Johan Deprez
Stephanie Dixon
Randall C. Fudge
David Haberbush
Martha Iturrioz
Chris Lahera
Daniel McDonald
Robin Perry
Sindee Smolowitz
President of the Barristers
Aastha Madaan
President-Elect of the Barristers
Kamilah Holmes
President LGBTQ Attorneys and Allies
Roy Jimenez