Our Team

Harvey Rosenfield

As Consumer Watchdog's founder, Harvey Rosenfield is one of the nation's foremost consumer advocates. Trained as a public interest lawyer, Rosenfield authored Proposition 103 and organized the campaign that led to its passage by California voters in 1988 despite over $80 million spent in opposition (still a record).

He has co-authored groundbreaking initiatives on HMO reform and utility rate deregulation (Proposition 9, 1998). Rosenfield is the author of the book, Silent Violence, Silent Death: The Hidden Epidemic of Medical Malpractice.

Rosenfield, who established Consumer Watchdog in 1985, has worked for the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Congress, in private practice, as a staff attorney for Ralph Nader's Public Citizen Congress Watch and as the Program Director for the California Public Interest Research Group (CalPIRG).

Rosenfield graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College and obtained a joint Law and Masters degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.

Jamie Court, President

Consumer Watchdog's President is an award-winning and nationally recognized consumer advocate. His latest book, The Progressive's Guide To Raising Hell: How To Win Grassroots Campaigns, Pass Ballot Box Laws And Get The Change You Voted For, was published by Chelsea Green in September 2010. "Americans angry about the state of their government or the fallout from the BP oil disaster might find in Court's persuasive manifesto a cause for action," Publishers Weekly writes. "With great accessibility and a fired-up attitude, Court brings his lessons in empowerment to the people."

Court is also the author of Corporateering: How Corporate Power Steals Your Freedom And What You Can Do About It (Tarcher Putnam, 2003) and co-author of Making A Killing: HMOs and the Threat To Your Health (Common Courage Press, 1999).

The Los Angeles Times calls Court "a tireless consumer advocate." The Wall Street Journal writes, "He's notorious for his dramatic, sharp-tongued attacks on the health- and auto-insurance industries, and on any politician who takes their campaign cash."

Court helped to pioneer the HMO patients' rights movement in the United States, sponsoring successful laws in California and aiding them elsewhere. He has also led major corporate campaigns to reform insurers, banks, oil companies, utilities and political practices. Court is a regular commentator on National Public Radio's "Marketplace" program and on the Los Angeles Times op-ed page.

Court has also worked as an advocate for the homeless and as a community organizer. He has a degree in history from Pomona College.

Douglas Heller, Executive Director

Consumer Watchdog’s Executive Director Douglas Heller is one of the nation’s leading experts on, and critics of, the insurance industry. Heller is also recognized as a vocal critic of political corruption and corporate influence in government. He has led legislative, regulatory and public education campaigns related to insurance and energy issues, healthcare reform whistleblower protections and political accountability and is a frequent media commentator on these issues.

Heller has authored numerous reports on issues such as energy deregulation, medical malpractice and insurance industry low-balling. He has served on several consumer- and social justice-oriented boards and has testified before Congress and several state legislatures.

In 2010, Heller led the coalition that defeated the anti-consumer Proposition 17, sponsored by Mercury insurance, despite being outspent by more than 12 to one.  Heller also led the 2001 lobbying effort that blocked the proposed bailout of California’s electric utilities in the wake of the state’s deregulation debacle. Through both advocacy work and community outreach, Heller has been California’s consumer leader in the effort to implement and expand the nation’s first low-cost auto insurance program for low-income motorists.

Prior to advocacy work, Heller was a community organizer, training and managing volunteers. After receiving his B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, Heller spent two years as a Teach For America teacher in rural Louisiana, where he was awarded his school district’s highest teaching honor, the Crystal Apple.

Pamela Pressley, Litigation Director

Consumer Watchdog's Litigation Director, Pamela Pressley has headed up Consumer Watchdog's legal advocacy and regulatory efforts since 1999. Pressley has served as lead counsel in challenges to insurance industry rate hike proposals resulting in savings to California policyholders of $1.7 billion since 2003.

Additionally, Pressley has led Consumer Watchdog's efforts to enforce Proposition 103's mandates to protect California insurance policyholders against discriminatory practices and premium overcharges, including through rulemaking proceedings before the California Department of Insurance and court actions. Pressley has also authored numerous appellate briefs and presented oral argument in cases seeking to enforce Proposition 103 and California’s consumer protection laws. Currently, she is prosecuting an enforcement action against Mercury Insurance for its practice of charging illegal brokers fees and is leading a court action against the Department of Managed Health Care seeking an order requiring the agency to order health care plans to cover medically necessary treatment for autism.

In May, 2010, Pressley was named as one of the top women litigators in California by the Daily Journal.

Pressley received her B.A. in Sociology from UCLA and her J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law. Before joining Consumer Watchdog, Pressley worked for CALPIRG as its Consumer Attorney and as a staff attorney for the Center for Law in the Public Interest, a non-profit, public interest law firm specializing in consumer, environmental, and civil rights advocacy and litigation.

Jerry Flanagan, Staff Attorney

Jerry Flanagan is a staff attorney at Consumer Watchdog focusing on health care litigation. He is recognized as one of the nation's leading public interest health law analysts. Flanagan has helped lead Consumer Watchdog’s litigation efforts in the areas of heath insurance coverage and access to treatments for autism.

Flanagan exposed the illegal practice of health insurers retroactively canceling coverage and authored a law journal article underscoring the need for reform in health insurance rescission law, Healthy State of Mind: The Role of Intent in Health Plan Rescissions, 43 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 291 (2009).

Flanagan designed and successfully advocated for key new consumer legal rights in national health reform legislation such as “guarantee issue” of health coverage, medical loss ratio caps, review and justification of health insurance rates, bars on annual and lifetime policy caps, and an “intentional misrepresentation” standard for coverage rescissions.

Flanagan led a successful national campaign to stop federal legislation to expand "junk insurance" that does not provide real protections when patients get sick.

Prior to joining Consumer Watchdog, Flanagan drafted and won passage of one of the nation’s strongest HMO accountability measures, which was signed into law in New Jersey in 2001. Flanagan received a B.A. in Social/Cultural Anthropology and Rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley and his law degree from Loyola Law School. At Loyola Flanagan was a Note and Comment editor on the Loyola Law Review, and he graduated Magna Cum Laude and is a member of the Order of the Coif.

Carmen Balber, Washington, D.C. Director

Carmen Balber is the director of Consumer Watchdog's new Washington, D.C. office, and its eyes, ears and voice on national public policy. She is also point person for research and advocacy that exposes the corrupting influence of cash and corporation on politicians. She coordinates Consumer Watchdog's public education efforts on medical malpractice and is a legislative advocate on issues ranging from financial system and healthcare reform to protecting the civil justice system and corporate accountability.

Balber is a recognized political reform expert and a consistent critic of special interest political influence and attempts by politicians to skirt campaign and ethics laws. Her exposure of corporate funding for exotic overseas junkets have led to new rules on politicians' travel and luxury spending Through media outreach, citizen organizing and public education, Balber ran the campaigns to pass the nation's strongest conflict of interest protection, the Oaks Project's Taxpayer Protection Acts, in five cities across California. Balber coordinated citizen organizing efforts in Consumer Watchdog's successful grassroots campaign to block a legislative utility bailout in 2001, including leading a three-week volunteer lobbying effort in Sacramento at the end of the 2001 legislative session.

Before joining the Oaks Project and Consumer Watchdog, Balber served as Assistant Canvass Director for the Colorado Public Interest Research Group (COPIRG). She holds a B.A. in Politics from Pomona College.

Todd M. Foreman, Staff Attorney

As part of Consumer Watchdog's Legal Project, Foreman's work focuses primarily on challenging property and casualty insurance rates at the California Department of Insurance, and he assists in Consumer Watchdog's efforts to protect consumers through public interest lawsuits.

Prior to attending law school, Foreman worked for the State PIRGs as a campus organizer, citizen outreach director and lead organizer; directed a grassroots environmental political action committee; and served as the lead consumer lobbyist against electric deregulation in Arkansas.

While at the UCLA School of Law, Foreman served as the Chief Managing Editor of both the UCLA Law Review and the UCLA Journal of Environmental Law and Policy. After law school and before joining Consumer Watchdog, Foreman worked in private practice as a civil litigator.

Foreman received his B.S. in Interdisciplinary Social Science from Florida State University and his J.D. from UCLA School of Law, with concentrations in Critical Race Studies and Public Interest Law and Policy.

Kent A. McInnis, Jr., Director of Online Advocacy

Kent McInnis comes to Consumer Watchdog after spending 8 years as a designer and art director in the world of commercial advertising. He has worked for industries such as entertainment, automotive, banking, computer technology, recruitment and corporate communications. Prior to that, Kent spent several years working in both the education and mental health fields for children as well as the elderly.

Kent has volunteered his time and skills to various issues, including fundraising efforts for a nationally recognized battered women's shelter, and movement & art therapy for abused children. Kent has a bachelor's degree in Fine Art from the University of Illinois, and continues that practice in a range of digital mediums including experimental photography, collage and video performance.

John M. Simpson, Consumer Advocate

John M. Simpson is a veteran journalist who held top editing positions at international, national and community newspapers. Most recently he was executive editor of Tribune Media Services International, a syndication company. He was previously deputy editor of USA Today and editor of its international edition.

Simpson taught journalism at Dublin City University in Ireland, and consulted for The Irish Times and The Gleaner in Jamaica. He served as president of the World Editors Forum. Recently he wrote Consumer Watchdog's report, "Affordability, Accessibility & Accountability in California Stem Cell Research." His op-ed articles have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury News, the Sacramento Bee, and the Wisconsin State Journal.

Simpson holds a B.A. in philosophy from Harpur College of SUNY Binghamton and was a Gannett Fellow at the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies at the University of Hawaii. He has an M.A. in Communication Management from the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication.

Judy Dugan, Research Director

Judy Dugan concentrates as an advocate on health care reforms, oil industry issues and telecommunications. She also writes and edits foundation publications and conducts media outreach.

A former Deputy Editorial Page Editor for the Los Angeles Times, Dugan was the editor of a Pulitzer Prize-winning series on California government in 2004. She earlier held positions with the Times including Assistant Op-Ed Editor and Voices Editor.

Before joining the Los Angeles Times, Dugan was an editor and reporter for United Press International in Washington D.C. and Chicago from 1977 to 1988.

Dugan was also a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines and a small-business owner in North Conway, New Hampshire, but now she's sticking with California, and Consumer Watchdog.

Mark Reback, Advocate/Researcher/Manager

Mark Reback has been with Consumer Watchdog for ten years, providing the advocacy and legal departments with research support, following money trails from special interests to politicians, as well as being the primary contact with members of the media, in addition to also handling the day to day administrative work. Reback also helps maintain the organization's various websites, is a frequent blogger on those sites, and is responsible for supervising Consumer Watchdog's consumer complaint program, helping members of the public looking for consumer assistance.

In his life outside Consumer Watchdog, Reback has been a long-time volunteer with TreePeople, an environmental non-profit based in Los Angeles, and was honored in 2009 with TreePeople's Volunteer Leader Award at their annual gala. Reback is also an accomplished drummer/musician, who has recorded/performed/toured with a variety of bands & artists, and his music has been featured on several television shows & independent films. His current musical project is the indie-rock band Black Hi-Lighter.  Reback holds a B.A. in Business - Marketing from Colorado State University.

Carmen Aguado, Legal Assistant

Carmen Aguado provides research and administrative support to Consumer Watchdog's legal team. She works with patients and consumers who have brought their complaints to Consumer Watchdog and coordinates Consumer Watchdog’s review of California insurance company rate hike requests. In addition to her work at Consumer Watchdog, Aguado studies law at the University of Loyola School of Law.

Prior to joining Consumer Watchdog, Aguado worked as an advocate for children in the foster care system as a law clerk intern with the Children's Law Center. While attending a program at London School of Economics, she served as a research assistant to a Member of Parliament, preparing him for meetings with the Prime Minister and developing policy positions on issues related to children and education. Aguado received a B.A. in Political Science from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Laura Antonini, Staff Attorney

As the newest addition to Consumer Watchdog's team, Laura Antonini is an attorney providing research support to the litigation team in all focus areas.  Antonini is a dedicated consumer advocate.  She previously volunteered as an intern for Consumer Watchdog during her undergraduate education in 2004, helping organize the Rx Express, a campaign calling attention to the high cost of prescription drugs for senior citizens.  She decided to return to Consumer Watchdog as a volunteer attorney in early 2011, and recently joined the team full time.

During law school, Antonini conducted legal and scientific research on several projects, including the development of carbon dioxide quantification software for businesses and municipalities, and water quality and environmental compliance assessments of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Point Reyes National Seashore.  Prior to joining Consumer Watchdog, Antonini tutored and mentored law school students and recent law school graduates for the California Bar Exam, and also co-authored a “How To” book for law students, focused on legal writing.

Antonini received a B.S. in Environmental Biology and Management from University of California, Davis, and a J.D. from Pace University School of Law, with a specialization in Environmental Law.

Our Board

Ellen Snortland

Ellen Snortland is Consumer Watchdog’s longest serving Board Member, a Director since the group’s inception in 1985.

Ellen has her Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. A regular columnist for the Pasadena Weekly, frequent contributor to Ms. Magazine and www.theWIP.net, she’s a tireless advocate for women and girls and physical safety for all. Snortland has attended United Nations world conferences and annual UN meetings as an NGO delegate and journalist. Her book, “Beauty Bites Beast,” was featured on Dateline NBC and is the basis for the documentary she is directing by the same name. Her acclaimed one woman show, “Now That She’s Gone” is a comic and poignant memoir about growing up Norwegian American in South Dakota.  The show has been selected for the New York Fringe Festival in August 2008.

Ellen and her fiancé Ken Gruberman live in Altadena, California. To keep up with Ellen visit www.snortland.com.

Kathy Olsen

Consumer Watchdog Director Kathy Olsen has traveled the country advocating for increased patient protections and fighting to stop efforts to limit the rights of people and families harmed by medical malpractice. Kathy and her husband Scott founded the Steven Andrew Olsen Coalition for Patients’ Rights, after their wonderful son Steven was injured as a result of medical negligence. Kathy and Steven have been featured on The Today Show and in numerous television and newspaper stories.

Kathy has been a Board Member of the San Diego Brain Injury Foundation.  In addition to being a patient rights activist, Kathy has been a driving force for educational access for disabled children.

Kathy lives with her husband Scott, daughter Stephanie and son Steven in Chula Vista, California.

Chic Wolk

 In 1988, Chic Wolk was the first person to call Harvey Rosenfield and say “I am glad you are fighting for consumers and I’d like to give you some money to help the cause.”

In addition to being a Director of Consumer Watchdog, Chic is the Treasurer of the Board of the ACLU Foundation of Southern California. He is Honorary Counsel General for the Kyrgyz Republic, Chairman of the Friends of Vilnius Yiddish Institute, the Founder of the Survivor Mitzvah Project, and he has served as President of the Board of the Inner City Law Center.

Chic was the CEO and Founder of Five Star Parking, a nationwide service company. He attended Loyola School of Law in Chicago. Chic lives with his partner Kristin Zethren in Los Angeles.

Jeremy Tarcher

Since the late seventies, as the head of J.P. Tarcher, Inc., Jeremy Tarcher has published books in the field of human potential and leading edge ideas in science, psychology, consciousness, spiritual development, and social change.

Contact us at: admin@consumerwatchdog.org.