Meet Our Team:
Chief Campus Counsel:
Email: ererubin@ucsc.edu
Eréndira Rubin has been Chief Campus Counsel for UCSC since 2023. Eréndira joined the UCSC Office of Campus Counsel in 2019 as Principal Campus Counsel. She provides legal advice and counsel to University leadership on a broad range of legal issues affecting the University.
Eréndira has represented institutions of higher education for well over a decade. Prior to joining UC Legal, she was a university attorney at Santa Clara University. Eréndira’s legal career began at O’Melveny & Myers in their New York, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley offices. Eréndira earned her B.A. in History from the University of California, Berkeley, and her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Principal Campus Counsel:
Email: jeclespi@ucsc.edu
Jessica Espinoza joined the UCSC Office of Campus Counsel in 2019. Jessica advises on a wide array of legal matters including risk, student affairs and conduct, disability services and access, finance and investments, public information requests and FERPA.
Prior to joining UC Legal, Jessica worked as an Assistant County Counsel with the County of Santa Cruz for 13 years. At Santa Cruz County, Jessica handled a variety of litigation including general civil litigation, civil rights claims, tort liability and financial litigation involving tax and bankruptcy matters. She also advised numerous county clients, including the Sheriff-Coroner, the Risk Management Department, the Office of the Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector and advised on all CPRA matters. Jessica earned her BA from Wellesley College and her JD from Duke University School of Law. Jessica is also a member of the State Bar of Nevada.
Principal Campus Counsel:
Email: anevitt@ucsc.edu
Ali Hinga Nevitt joined UC Legal in 2023 as Principal Campus Counsel for UC Santa Cruz. Ali advises on a wide variety of legal matters, including intellectual property, privacy and data security, global engagement, research development, employment, and labor relations. Prior to joining UC Legal, Ali served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Public Advocacy Division of the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia where her practice focused on workers’ rights and federal affirmative civil litigation of constitutional and administrative law issues. Ali has worked as a litigator at Jackson Lewis in Philadelphia and as in-house counsel. She began her legal career as a federal law clerk to the Honorable John A. Mendez of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.
Ali received her B.A. from University of San Diego, and her J.D. from University of California, Davis.
Ali is a member of the State Bars of California, District Columbia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Special Advisor & Legal Operations Manager:
Gennevie Herbranson
Email: gherbran@ucsc.edu
Gennevie was originally hired as the Executive Assistant to the inaugural Chief Campus Counsel in 2007. She completed a paralegal certification in 2011 and began working as the Office Manager/Paralegal that same year. Between 2021 and 2022 she began supervision of the paralegal, the legal support specialist and the Privacy and Information Practices unit. In 2022 she became the Special Assistant/Strategic Legal Operations Manager.
Prior to her time at the University she worked as an Operations Coordinator for a local mental health services company, Front Street Administrative Services. She also previously worked at the University Student Health Services from 2001-2004 as the Assistant to the Executive Director.
Gennevie has a B.A. In Psychology and Religious Studies from California State University, Chico and an M.A. in Women’s Spirituality from New College of California.
Executive Assistant:
Evette Rose
Email: evrose@ucsc.edu
Evette began her career with the University in 2015 as the Administrative Specialist in the Office of the Campus Provost/Executive Vice Chancellor. She joined the Office of Campus Counsel in August 2018 as the Executive Assistant to the Chief Campus Counsel. Her contributions to the position and the department lead to her position being elevated from an EA 3 to an EA 4, reporting to the Chief Campus Counsel, in 2022. She previously worked as an Office Manager to a Watsonville based records management company, Miller’s Transfer and Storage Co.
Paralegal:
Ross Tollick
Email: rtollick@ucsc.edu
Ross joined our team as the new, full time Paralegal in January 2021, supporting the three attorneys and reporting to Special Advisor & Strategic Legal Operations Manager Gennevie Herbranson. Ross is a Banana Slug alumni with a double B.A. in Legal Studies and Political Science and an M.A. in Education Policy. He has been working as a Paralegal since 2018, most recently with Nijmeh & LaMotte PC in San Jose.
Legal Support Specialist:
Cheryl deDiego-Carlson
Email: cdediego@ucsc.edu
Cheryl joined the team mid-October 2022 as the Legal Support Specialist supporting our two Principal Counsels with back-up support to the Chief Counsel, as needed. The Legal Support Specialist position reports to Special Advisor & Strategic Legal Operations Manager Gennevie Herbranson. Cheryl has been working as a legal secretary and office manager since 2004, most recently with MacIntyre & White, LLP and Witzig, Hannah, Sanders & Reagan, LLP.