SAN FRANCISCO, CA – July 19, 2026 – Queen’s Bench Bar Association of the San Francisco Bay Area is proud to congratulate the forty members recognized this year by Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers: twenty-five named to the 2026 Northern California Super Lawyers list, fourteen named to the 2026 Northern California Rising Stars list, nine recognized in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®, and four honored in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for 2026, fifty-two recognitions in all.*
*Honorees for the 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America are subject to embargoed publication at the time of this article’s publication and are therefore not published in this article. We look forward to recognizing honorees after publication later this year.
Queen’s Bench leadership among the honorees
This year’s recognition begins at the top of the bar association. Six of thirteen seats on the 2026 Board of Directors are held by honorees:
- Sara Craig, President, named to the 2026 Northern California Super Lawyers list (Products Liability)
- Catherine Reagan, First Vice President, named to the 2026 Northern California Rising Stars list and honored in the 2026 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America in Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
- Alexandra Sepolen, Second Vice President, named to the 2026 Northern California Rising Stars list and honored in the 2026 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America in Family Law
- Linda Anderson, Director, named to the 2026 Northern California Rising Stars list and honored in the 2026 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America in Family Law
- Lacey Estudillo, Director, named to the 2026 Northern California Rising Stars list (Appellate)
- Angel Garrett, Director, named to the 2026 Northern California Super Lawyers list (Employee Benefits) and recognized in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in ERISA Litigation
Four of eight Board members on the 2026 Board of Directors for the Queen’s Bench Foundation were recognized this year:
- Carol Salvagione, 2004 Past President and Director, named to the 2026 Northern California Super Lawyers List (Family Law)
- Jaime Touchstone, 2015 Past President and Director, named to the 2026 Northern California Super Lawyers List (Employment and Labor)
- Clarissa Kang, Director, named to the 2026 Northern California Super Lawyers List (Employee Benefits) and honored in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in both Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law and ERISA Litigation
- Alexandra Sepolen, Director, see accolades set forth above
Eight Past Presidents were named to the 2026 Northern California Super Lawyers list:
- Carol Salvagione, 2024 Past President, Family Law
- Kelly Robbins, 2008 Past President, Family Law; also recognized in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, Family Law
- Barbara Harris Chiang, 2009 Past President, Employment and Labor
- Vanessa Hierbaum, 2014 Past President, Family Law; also recognized in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, Family Law
- Jaime Touchstone, 2015 Past President, Employment and Labor
- Anne Gyemant Paris, 2017 Past President, Family Law
- Holly Schaitberger, 2018 Past President, Family Law
- Alice Anne Shaw, 2021 Past President, Family Law
Counting the sitting President, nine attorneys who served as President appear on this year’s lists, a span of Association leadership reaching from 2004 through 2026.
Recognition by the numbers
The forty honorees represent nearly one in five of Queen’s Bench’s members and more than one in three of the estimated members eligible for consideration, i.e., attorneys in private practice with at least one full calendar year of experience.
The recognitions also reflect where Queen’s Bench members practice. Seventeen of the forty honorees were recognized in family law. Eleven more practice on the employment side: eight in employee benefits and ERISA, and three in employment and labor. Together those two fields account for seven of every ten honorees, with the balance of awards spanning alternative dispute resolution, products liability, business and general litigation, appellate practice, estate planning, and technology transactions.
A tradition of impact in these fields
The depth recognized this year in family law and employment practice is consistent with Queen’s Bench history and tradition. These are fields in which Queen’s Bench has helped shape the law at both the state and national level for decades.
The Association appeared as amicus curiae for seminal family law cases such as In re Marriage of LaMusga (2004) 32 Cal.4th 1072, still the controlling California Supreme Court authority in move-away custody disputes, joining the California Women’s Law Center’s brief together with women’s bar associations and advocacy organizations from across the country. In In re Marriage Cases (2008) 43 Cal.4th 757, Queen’s Bench joined the amicus brief of the California Women’s Law Center in the decision striking down California’s marriage statutes, and the Association stood among the thirty bar associations and legal organizations on the Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom amicus brief in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015). The work continues today: Queen’s Bench is among the amici in Family Violence Appellate Project v. Superior Courts, No. S288176, argued before the California Supreme Court on June 2, 2026, on whether family law litigants, disproportionately survivors of domestic violence, can obtain court transcripts of their own hearings.
The Association’s ties to employment law run just as long. Queen’s Bench joined the Impact Fund and Equal Rights Advocates, together with more than two dozen civil rights and women’s organizations, as amicus in Moussouris v. Microsoft Corporation in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, supporting women in technical roles who challenged companywide pay and promotion practices, and for decades the Association’s committees have sponsored employment surveys and amicus advocacy on the issues women face in the workplace.
This year’s honors in family law, employee benefits, and employment law affirm that Queen’s Bench continues to galvanize leaders in these practice areas to advance the law. We are especially grateful to all of our members for carrying this tradition forward today.
2026 Northern California Super Lawyers
This exclusive honor recognizes the top 5% of outstanding lawyers in Northern California who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Queen’s Bench congratulates our twenty-five members selected to the 2026 Northern California Super Lawyers list:
- Michèle Bissada, Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Karine Cargo, Family Law
- Sara Craig, Products Liability
- Joshua Cutcher, Family Law
- Angel Garrett, Employee Benefits
- Barbara Harris Chiang, Employment & Labor
- Vanessa Hierbaum, Family Law
- Clarissa Kang, Employee Benefits
- Sarah Kanter, Employee Benefits
- Leiann Laiks, Employment & Labor
- Rebecca Levin, Family Law
- Diana Maier, Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Christina Marine, Family Law
- Lorie Nachlis, Family Law
- Rachel Naor, General Litigation
- Anne Gyemant Paris, Family Law
- Mary Powell, Employee Benefits
- Patricia Prince, Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Kelly Robbins, Family Law
- Gretchen Rubel, Family Law
- Carol Salvagione, Family Law
- Holly Schaitberger, Family Law
- Alice Shaw, Family Law
- Jaime Touchstone, Employment & Labor
- Ellen Winick Stross, Family Law
Michèle Bissada was additionally named #2 on the 2026 Top 10 and Top 100: Northern California Super Lawyers lists and the Top 50: Women Northern California Super Lawyers list.
2026 Northern California Rising Stars
This exclusive honor recognizes the top 2.5% of the lawyers in Northern California who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. To be eligible for the Rising Stars list, a candidate must be either 40 years old or younger, or in practice for 10 years or less. Queen’s Bench congratulates our fourteen members selected to the 2026 Northern California Rising Stars list:
- Linda Anderson, Family Law
- Angelina Austin, Civil Litigation
- Sarah Bowen, Employee Benefits
- Rachel Christenson, General Litigation
- Lydia Davenport, Business Litigation
- Nicole Docherty, Technology Transactions
- Avery Dotterer, Estate Planning & Probate
- Lacey Estudillo, Appellate
- Alaina Harwood, Employee Benefits
- Mariah Noah, Business Litigation
- Catherine Reagan, Employee Benefits
- Devon Rose, Family Law
- Alexandra Sepolen, Family Law
- Kate Wittlake, Products Liability
Since 1991, Super Lawyers has been a trusted rating service identifying exceptional attorneys across more than 70 practice areas, helping elevate visibility, credibility, and trust within the legal community and among potential clients seeking legal representation. Selections are made annually using a patented multiphase methodology that combines statewide peer nominations, independent research evaluations, and peer reviews, ensuring a credible listing that elevates attorney visibility and trust within the legal community.
For more information about Super Lawyers, go to SuperLawyers.com.
The Best Lawyers in America, 2026 Edition
Recognition in The Best Lawyers in America is based entirely on peer review and is awarded annually by practice area and metropolitan region. Nine Queen’s Bench members are recognized in the 2026 edition, each in the practice area shown:
- Michèle Bissada, Family Law
- Angel Garrett, ERISA Litigation
- Vanessa Hierbaum, Family Law
- Clarissa Kang, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law and ERISA Litigation
- Elizabeth Lee Loh, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
- Lorie Nachlis, Family Law
- Mary Powell, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
- Kelly Robbins, Family Law
- Ellen Winick Stross, Family Law
Two of this year’s honorees have previously been named Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” in Family Law: Michèle Bissada (San Jose, 2021 and 2024 editions) and Ellen Winick Stross (San Francisco, 2022 edition).
Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America, 2026 Edition
Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America recognizes attorneys who are earlier in their careers for outstanding professional excellence in private practice, and is a distinct recognition from The Best Lawyers in America.
Four Queen’s Bench members are honored in the 2026 edition, each in the practice area shown:
- Linda Anderson, Family Law
- Sarah Bowen, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
- Catherine Reagan, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
- Alexandra Sepolen, Family Law
For more information about Best Lawyers, visit bestlawyers.com.
For more than a century, since a group of Bay Area women lawyers founded Queen’s Bench in 1921, our members have worked to eliminate gender bias in the legal community, support women lawyers in leadership, and advance the interests of women in law and society. These forty honorees, as well as all of our members, carry that legacy forward in their practices, in their service to the Association, and in their communities. Congratulations to each of them.
To share member news for a future announcement, contact admin@queensbench.org.
