Intellectual Property Lawyer Emphasizes Communication
by Ken Malovos

At her home in Granite Bay, Joanna Mendoza is just "Mommy" to her two sons Joey, age 6, and Joshua, age 3. "They really don't care that I need to be in court early or that a brief needs to be completed. There are no excuses that'll make the cut if they want my attention." Sometimes she wonders how she has made it through the last few years while at the same time raising two young children. She has survived the closing of the Sacramento office of a national law firm and two lengthy and acrimonious trials of the same case within a year of each other, all while maintaining her involvement on the SCBA Bar Council, the Intellectual Property Section of the SCBA and the Sacramento Law Foundation.

Joanna, now a principal at Livingston & Mattesich Law Corporation, focuses on intellectual property law. When asked how she does it all, she says that it comes down to balance. "I have a wonderful husband who, together with my sons, keeps me focused on what's important in life while providing me with the foundation and support I need. It only helps that I have landed on my feet at a wonderful firm that supports my endeavors on both the professional and home fronts. But it is my own challenge to keep everything in balance."

She is a Sacramento area native, having grown up in Citrus Heights. She knew at the age of five that she wanted to be a lawyer. She spent most of her time growing up in government housing with her mother and two sisters after her parents divorced. She feels she gained a lot from those early years, as her mother struggled to support them. They were required on occasion to seek assistance from the government, but as soon as the situation improved even slightly her mother would refuse to take more help. The values instilled in those early years have left quite an impression. And the fact that she could go on to succeed in a professional career proves to her that anybody, with enough determination and desire, can achieve success.

At Mesa Verde High School, Joanna was class president for three years and valedictorian. She also began to blossom as a student, obtaining outstanding grades in all of her classes and participating in numerous school activities. She brought energy and enthusiasm to everything she did. It was clear to all that she was going to be leader in whatever she did.

She was the only one in her family to acquire an undergraduate degree. So, it was no small deal in her family when she went on to graduate from Boalt Hall in 1990. While attending Boalt, Joanna worked as a law clerk for two years in San Francisco to gain a more practical perspective on the law. When the Loma Prieta earthquake shook the Bay Area during her third year in law school, she
decided it was time to return to Sacramento where she started her practice at an insurance defense firm.

Joanna's bar activities began early in her career, when she co-founded the Environmental Law Section of the Sacramento County Bar Association. Shortly thereafter, her practice became more focused on intellectual property litigation and licensing. It was a niche that circumstances led her into, and she hasn't looked back since. "I love working with inventors and companies that are developing new high technology and biotechnology products. They think differently then most lawyers do, and I love the challenge."

She has been active in the Intellectual Property Section of bar, having been on its Board of Directors now for the past four years and having served as its chair in 1999. In that same year, Joanna was elected a member-at-large of the Bar Council. As a leader and participant in bar sections, her hope was to bring better communications between the sections and the governing body. She immediately set to work in a committee designed to identify existing problems between the sections and the Bar Council and what measures could be taken to correct past problems.

She is still inspired by her initial reasons for joining the Bar Council: "It seems that communications between the Bar Council on the one hand, and the sections and affiliates on the other, have improved over the past couple of years. Certainly, the Bar Council recognizes the key role that the sections and affiliates play as the main contact point that most members have with the County Bar. We need to continue to instill the feeling of a 'legal community' within our structure by continuing to have the support of the sections and affiliates for the mission statement of the Bar Council."

In addition to fostering cooperation between the bar and the sections, Joanna recognizes the need for lawyers to get along better with each other. She intends to do all that she can to improve the climate among lawyers, especially in litigation.

For the last two years, in addition to serving as an at-large member on the council, she has focused time on the charitable arm of the bar - the Sacramento Law Foundation. As a Board Member of that organization, she is able to more actively participate in the one aspect of the Sacramento County Bar Association that many people (herself included) often forget - providing a positive impression of the legal profession on the community by giving something back to that community. "Prior to my participation in the Foundation, I had a difficult time understanding exactly what role the SCBA played beyond being the governing body for the sections. The opportunity to participate in the Foundation has provided me with a greater appreciation of the need for the SCBA in the community. It is a chance for me to give something back after having been the beneficiary of similar programs while I was a student in the Sacramento area." Not surprisingly, it is helping to raise funds for support of programs like the high school moot court competitions that she enjoys most about sitting on the Foundation board.

Joanna has enjoyed the three years she has served on the Bar Council. "I have met wonderful lawyers from a cross-section of the Sacramento legal community, an experience more people would benefit from and should consider." Even with her term coming to a close at the end of this year, she wants to continue to be a leader in the bar. She will continue her work with the Intellectual Property Section and Law Foundation while she expands her practice and enjoys the experience of just being "Mommy."