Board of Directors

Greg Daniels, President

An experienced attorney, Gregory P. Daniels spent a number of years as a Deputy District Attorney in Riverside County. During his tenure with the District Attorney’s Office, he tried nearly forty cases to jury verdict. In addition to his trial work, Mr. Daniels engaged in extensive motion practice. He wrote and argued responses to motions in the area of Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment issues, as well as various types of motions related to an individual’s rights in the State of California pursuant to California statutory law.

Mr. Daniels is currently an associate at Hooper, Lundy & Bookman, the largest full service law practice in the country dedicated solely to the representation of health care providers. A Boston native, Mr. Daniels attended the prestigious Boston Latin School before receiving his undergraduate degree from Boston College. He went on to earn his Juris Doctorate from the University of San Diego School of Law. He continues to remain active with USD's School of Law, volunteering as an interviewer for the Mock Interview Workshop Program.

Bernadette Hilgeman, Vice-President

Bernadette C. Hilgeman is the principal of the Law Offices of Bernadette C. Hilgeman, a general practice law firm with an emphasis on Probate and Trust litigation, located in La Mesa, California. Ms. Hilgeman was born in Staten Island, New York. She received her B.S in Law concurrently with her J.D. from Thomas Jefferson School of Law. While in law school, Ms. Hilgeman clerked with the San Diego District Attorney’s Special Operations unit, the San Diego City Attorney’s, Criminal Division and the San Diego Office of the Attorney General for the State of California in the Criminal Appeals Division. She has been practicing in San Diego since 1997. Ms. Hilgeman volunteers many hours to assist various nonprofit groups including serving on the board of Irish Outreach San Diego, where she was Secretary for 2003-2008 and is currently serving as a general board member. She obtained her Irish citizenship in 2004. Ms. Hilgeman was one of the founding members of the Irish American Bar Association of San Diego.

Patrick O'Toole, Outgoing President

Patrick O' Toole graduated magna cum laude and phi beta kappa from USC in 1975, and from UCLA School of Law in 1978. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney from 1982 until 2005, and tried approximately 100 felony cases, primarily involving corruption, drug and alien smuggling, violent crime, and fraud. Mr. O'Toole has argued approximately 70 cases in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and has over 40 published Ninth Circuit opinions. From 2000 to 2001, Mr. O' Toole served as First Assistant United States Attorney, and was the United States Attorney from 2001 to 2002. Since 2005, he has been working at the San Diego District Attorney's Office, where he has investigated and handled public corruption cases, and created a criminal investigative grand jury system. Mr. O'Toole is a Master in the Enright Inn of Court and is a founding member of the Irish American Bar Association of San Diego. Mr. O'Toole served as President of the Irish American Bar Association in 2010.

Seana Scholtemeyer, Secretary

Seana Scholtemeyer is an associate with Sampson & Associates where her work is focused on creditor remedies, business collections, receiverships and appeals. Ms. Scholtemeyer obtained a B.S. in Management Systems with a minor in French from the University of Arizona, and her J.D. from California Western School of Law. She studied abroad at the American University of Paris, and has had the privilege of interning for Senator John McCain in Washington D.C., and Judge Ronald Prager of the San Diego Superior Court. Ms. Scholtemeyer also holds a real estate broker license.

Christopher Cooke, Treasurer

Chris Cooke is an attorney focused on taxation, estate planning, corporate formation, and transactional business issues. His practice includes negotiating with federal and state tax authorities clarify and minimize tax liabilities. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME), Chris attended flight training and was designated a Navy Pilot.  After arriving in San Diego, Chris flew Navy helicopters from NAS North Island and various surface ships in the Pacific Fleet.  While on active duty, Chris earned an MBA degree from the University of San Diego and later a JD degree from the USD School of Law.  After active duty and prior to practicing law, Chris worked as an executive for several defense and technology companies including Cubic Corporation, Seimens, General Atomics, and General Dynamics.

Chris is an active member of several defense-related organizations including the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association (AFCEA), and the San Diego Military Advisory Council (SDMAC).  As an attorney, he is active in the American Bar Association (ABA), California Bar Association, and San Diego County Bar Association.  He is a member of the Taxation Section of the ABA and the Trusts and Estates Section of the San Diego County Bar. Chris volunteers his time as a local and national board member of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association.  He is a Naval Academy Information Officer and counsels high school students on admission.  In 2000, Chris started a boy scout troop and continues to serve as scoutmaster.  As avid cyclist, runner, and swimmer, Chris participates in several Olympic-distance triathlon events annually.

William Concidine, Director of Membership  

William M. Concidine was born and raised in Southern California. He attended California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science. Following several great years in San Luis Obispo, Mr. Concidine was drawn to the wonderful city of San Diego where he attended California Western School of Law. He was officially sworn in as an attorney in December 2006. Following his swearing in, Mr. Concidine decided to pursue a career in criminal defense work. Since that time he has been developing his practice in Southern California with an office centrally located in the Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego. Prior to opening his own office, Mr. Concidine spent several years as an associate attorney under one of the city's best criminal defense attorneys. Prior to that experience, Mr. Concidine learned the day to day procedures of the misdemeanor courts while interning at the Public Defender of San Diego. This experience lead to a positive and solid working relationship with City Attorneys and District Attorneys throughout San Diego County. In addition to his time at the Public Defender, Mr. Concidine spent a few years interning at the Alternate Public Defender where he worked on serious felony offenses.

In addition, Mr. Concidine is an active member of the legal community and a member of several criminal defense organizations including the San Diego County Bar Association, San Diego Criminal Defense Bar Association, California DUI Lawyers Association, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Charles Fanning, Board Member

Jackie Ní Mháirtín, Board Member

Jackie was born in Dublin, Ireland, and received her Law Degree from the University College Dublin, School of Law. She is a member in good standing of the State bars of California and New York. She has lived in San Diego since 2004 and works as an attorney with the law firm of Neil Dymott. Her practice areas include the defense of professional liability and medical malpractice matters. Before joining Neil Dymott in 2007, Jackie was an associate at the Law Firm of Don Detish, where her practice focused on the litigation of eminent domain, real estate and ADA matters.

Jackie is a member of the San Diego County Bar Association, Young and New Lawyers Division, and the Enright Inn of Court. She was one of the founding members of the Irish American Bar Association and served as President from 2008-2009. Jackie is also the holder of two Irish Dancing National Titles.

Angela Mullins, Board Member

Angela Mullins represents private and public employers in all aspects of labor and employment litigation, including defense of claims involving wage and hour disputes, discrimination, wrongful termination, retaliation, defamation and sexual harassment. In addition, she provides counseling to employers on a variety of day-to-day employment matters including wage and hour laws, wrongful discharge, misappropriation of trade secrets and/or confidential information, discrimination, employee discipline issues, leaves of absence, terminations and layoffs.

After graduating from University of San Diego, School of Law, Ms. Mullins served in the United States Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps, where she defended federal crimes in bench and jury trials and provided expert advice and negotiations on criminal defense matters. Ms. Mullins also served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of California and general counsel to a local military command. Prior to joining Paul, Plevin, Sullivan & Connaughton LLP, Ms. Mullins defended professional liability claims, as well as business and employment litigation matters.