OUR PEOPLE

Since 1993, Mark N. Todzo has devoted his practice of law to the representation of plaintiffs in consumer and environmental protection litigation. In that time, he has represented aggrieved individuals, nonprofit organizations and public entities in litigation that has curbed abusive and illegal corporate practices. Mr. Todzo’s varied work has, among other things, helped to remove toxic chemicals from the environment, increased staffing in nursing homes, reformed deceptive advertising practices and recovered millions of dollars for the benefit of consumers. Mr. Todzo has argued cases in state and federal trial courts as well as courts of appeal and the California Supreme Court.

Mr. Todzo has focused much of his legal practice on eliminating and reducing the emission of toxic chemicals and individuals’ exposure to such chemicals. He has been a tireless advocate in cases seeking to remove lead from a host of children’s products and the environment and served as lead counsel in a case that resulted in the removal of over 500,000 pounds of lead per year from California roadways.

Mr. Todzo has served as class counsel in numerous class action lawsuits as well as liaison counsel in complex coordinated actions. He and has represented classes of individuals in a variety of different cases including a class of purchasers of fake organic products sold by Hain Celestial, a class of Comcast subscribers who were blocked from using peer-to-peer file sharing programs in breach of their contracts and classes of nursing home residents who were denied access to sufficient nursing staff.

Mr. Todzo is presently currently working on cases seeking to reduce emissions of hexavalent chromium in Paramount, California and styrene from factories throughout southern California. He is also playing a leadership role in the litigation against Southern California Gas Company relating to the 2015 methane gas blowout in Aliso Canyon.

Mr. Todzo joined the Lexington Law Group, LLP in 1998 and is a principal of the firm. Mr. Todzo received his law degree from Hastings College of the Law in 1993 and received an A.B. from Duke University in 1986. In addition to the practice of law, Mark enjoys running, biking and participating and coaching team sports.

Mark can be reached at

Patrick Carey began his work with Lexington Law Group as a part-time file clerk and office assistant while he was in undergrad. He later jumped at the opportunity to return to LLG after completing his undergraduate degree and began his fulltime career at LLG after graduation as a products investigator and “jack of all trades” handling numerous other tasks around the office. He quickly gained additional responsibilities, becoming a legal assistant and office manager, and he held the head legal assistant and, at times, office manager position until leaving for law school.

Patrick rejoined LLG as a partner in January 2023. Prior to rejoining LLG, he gained invaluable legal experience externing for the Honorable Joseph C. Spero in the Northern District of California and as a summer associate and later as an associate at Covington and Burling. At Covington, Patrick represented clients in the technology, sports and entertainment, financial services, and consumer products sectors, among others in government investigations and complex commercial litigation and class action matters spanning a variety of subject areas such as contract, privacy, consumer protection, fraud, unfair competition, antitrust, and intellectual property. Patrick also briefly worked at Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, and Pittman handling a wide variety of matters before he was presented with the opportunity to return to LLG.

Patrick earned his J.D. from the University of California Berkley School of Law, and a B.A. in English from the University of California Berkeley. While in law school, Patrick was an Articles Editor with the California Law Review and received awards for his work in multiple classes. When not practicing law, Patrick enjoys surfing, riding motorcycles, and tackling never-ending home improvement projects.

Lucas Williams is a partner at Lexington Law Group. Lucas specializes in litigation concerning environmental justice, toxic exposures, and corporate greenwashing. Lucas has been litigating public interest environmental cases since he graduated from Golden Gate University School of Law in 2008. Lucas began his career at GGU’s Environmental Law and Justice Clinic as a fellow, where he represented communities of color in cases addressing pollution. On completion of his fellowship, Lucas joined the Lexington Law Group as an associate in 2012. Lucas returned to Golden Gate University School of Law as a Professor and Staff Attorney at the Environmental Law and Justice Clinic in 2020. At ELJC, Lucas represented communities of color in cases enforcing environmental laws including CEQA and the Clean Air Act. During this time, Lucas also founded his own environmental justice and consumer protection firm, Williams Environmental Law. In 2023, Lucas rejoined Lexington Law Group as a partner. Lucas spends his free time cycling, running, and reading.

Joe Mann joined the Lexington Law Group in September 2012 and is currently Senior of Counsel at the firm. His practice includes representing plaintiffs in public interest litigation involving consumer rights, corporate accountability, and removing toxic chemicals from consumer products. Prior to joining the Lexington Law Group, Mr. Mann worked as a litigation attorney for the National Environmental Law Center (“NELC”), a non-profit organization specializing in the enforcement of federal environmental laws against the nation’s most egregious polluters. His practice focused on citizen enforcement suits under the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Endangered Species Act. He also brought several successful challenges against the federal government itself, striking down insufficiently protective rules promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Before joining NELC, Mr. Mann spent a year as the Law Clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Irma E. Gonzalez in the Southern District of California. Mr. Mann earned his J.D. degree from New York University School of Law in 1999, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the NYU Environmental Law Journal. He received his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University in 1991. When not practicing law, Joe enjoys hosting dinner parties, playing guitar, and being outdoors.

Joe can be reached at

Meredyth Merrow joined the Lexington Law Group as an associate in October 2019.  Ms. Merrow earned her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (Hastings) in 2019, with a concentration in Environmental Law, and received her B.A. from Gettysburg College in 2011.  While at Hastings, Ms. Merrow was an executive editor of the Hastings Environmental Law Journal, participated in the Hastings Environmental Law Clinic, and received awards for her work in Legal Research and Writing, International Human Rights Law, International Environmental Law, and Biodiversity Law.  Ms. Merrow published two law review articles on the topics of environmental justice and biodiversity offsetting, in May 2018 and November 2019, respectively.  Prior to joining Lexington Law Group, Ms. Merrow worked as a summer law clerk for the Hon. Teri Jackson, at a San Francisco land use firm, and as a spring fellow at San Francisco Baykeeper.  Ms. Merrow is passionate about, and dedicated to, the protection of the environment, with a focus on environmental justice.  When she is not practicing law, Ms. Merrow enjoys spending time outdoors, traveling, and reading science fiction and fantasy. 

Meredyth can be reached at

Mary-Haley Ousley joined the Lexington Law Group as an associate in May 2022. Ms. Ousley earned her J.D. from UC Hastings College of the Law (Hastings) in 2020, with a concentration in environmental law, and received her B.A. from UC Santa Cruz in 2014. While at Hastings, Ms. Ousley was an executive production editor of the Hastings Environmental Law Journal and published a law review article on the judiciary’s response to climate change in April 2019. Ms. Ousley also participated in the Hastings Environmental Law Clinic as a legal extern for Save the Redwoods League. Prior to joining Lexington Law Group, Ms. Ousley was an associate at Atchison, Barisone & Condotti, where she served as a Deputy City Attorney for the City of Santa Cruz and advised other public agency clients on a variety of matters. When Ms. Ousley is not practicing law, she enjoys hiking, camping, and crafting.

Ms. Ousley can be reached at

Jacob (“Jake”) Janzen is the most recent associate attorney to join the Lexington Law Group. Jake graduated from DePaul University College of Law in 2015 and earned a master’s degree in business from Claremont Graduate University in 2016. Prior to joining the Lexington Law Group, Jake owned and operated a business and intellectual property law practice for five years. In 2021 Jake joined a small environmental justice law firm where his professional focus turned to enforcing state and federal environmental and consumer protection laws on behalf of nonprofit and grassroots groups. While there, Jake litigated numerous California Organic Food & Farming Act, Clean Air Act, California Environmental Quality Act, Proposition 65, and other environmental and consumer protection matters. He was thrilled to continue this work by joining the Lexington Law Group in 2023. When he’s not practicing law, Jake is most likely on his bike in the Oakland hills or trying to convince his kids to join him for a bike ride.

Jake can be reached at