2020-2021 BOARD
THEO ANGELIS
President
​
Theo is a Partner at K&L Gates and is a first-chair
International Trade Commission and District Court
litigator, and he also serves as one of the leaders
of the IP Litigation Group at K&L Gates. Theo
has extensive experience representing clients in
Greater China, throughout Asia, and in the
United States.
​
Theo has received numerous awards and honors.
He is listed in the Best Lawyers in America and
as a Washington Super Lawyer, and he recently
was recognized by the King County Bar Association as Mentor of the Year. Earlier in his career, the King County Bar Association named him Outstanding Young Lawyer. Theo served as the editor of the Washington Lawyer’s Practice Manual for many years, and while in law school served as articles editor for the Yale Law Journaland managing editor of the Yale Law & Policy Review
MAHA JAFAREY
Vice President
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Maha is an attorney at The Apex Law Group.
Her practice focuses on corporate and
intellectual property law. She currently
serves as the IP Vice-Chair for the King
County Bar Association. Her pro bono
practice includes volunteering with
Communities Rise,
Washington Lawyers for the Arts, and
working in the community on issues and
policies relating to racial equity.
Maha was born and raised in Pakistan, then lived in Singapore before
moving to the U.S. She holds a British law degree and Masters of Laws (LLM) in Intellectual Property and Policy from the University of Washington. When she is not working, she can be found at a park spending time with her six-year-old son or reading a book.
OMAR NUR
Treasurer
Immediate Past President
​
Omar Nur is an Attorney and Managing
Partner at Nur Law PLLC, where him
and his staff represent people with claims
stemming from car crashes,criminal
charges, and traffic tickets. Mr. Nur is very
active in the legal community having
previously served on the Young Lawyers
Committees for the Washington State Bar
Association and Snohomish County Bar
Association, the Washington State
Association for Justice Board of Governors, and the MELAW board (of which he was President in 2014) to name a few. When he is not working or volunteering, Mr. Nur enjoys spending his time outdoors with his wife, daughter, and son.
TALYA WEST
Secretary ​
​
Talya Gonca West was born in
Turkey and studied law there. She
moved to the United States after
earning scholarship to study an LLM.
She studied LLM at the
University of Oregon. In addition,
she attended UW Law School for a
second LLM and to be prepared for
WA Bar. She worked as a public defender in Marysville, Snohomish County. She is a WSBA Civil Rights Committee member. She volunteers as a pro bono counsel in several nonprofit organizations including NWIRP, NWIRP, TURKCHA, WIDEN and KCBA Neighborhood Clinics. Talya manages her own solo criminal defense and immigration practice in Bellevue, WA.
DUA ABUDIAB
Publicity Chair
​
Dua M. Abudiab is the Executive Director at the
King County Bar Association (KCBA) and
previously was a public defender at the King
County Department of Public Defense – The
Defender Association (TDA). Prior to joining
TDA, she worked as a public defender at the
Colorado State Public Defender’s Office.
Ms. Abudiab serves on the Lawyer’s Helping
Hungry Children (LHHC) board to help fight against child hunger. She is
the representative on the Gender and Justice Commission for the Washington Women Lawyers’ Board. She serves on the University of Washington Heart Health Campaign board. She volunteers at Seattle Children’s Hospital in their Child Life division where she gets to play with patients and siblings to minimize the impact of hospitalization. She also volunteers with North East Seattle Together (NEST) to help community members stay independent, active, and connected. She holds a B.S. from Texas A&M University Corpus Christi in Biochemistry and received her J.D. from South Texas College of Law.
TANYA FEKRI
Legal Clinic Co-Chair
​
Tanya Fekri was born in Tehran, Iran and she
and her family immigrated to the United States
in hopes to pursue the American dream.
Tanya personally experienced the immigration
process first-hand and that is why she became
interested in immigration law. She attended
UW as an undergraduate student receiving
a double degree in Political Science and Law,
Societies, and Justice; and a minor in
Diversity studies. She went on to become an
ESL teacher and citizenship instructor for the Refugee Resettlement Office in Seattle. Tanya is the Co-Directing Attorney of the Student Legal
Services at the University of Washington and she manages her own solo immigration practice in Kent.
