Meet Our Trustees
Janna Annest
Trustee
Janna is an attorney and partner at Lirhus Keckemet Annest PLLC in Seattle, 
Washington. Janna began building her family formation practice after adopting her daughter in 2008, became a Fellow of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys in 2015, and joined the experienced adoption and estate planning team of Albert Lirhus and John Keckemet in 2019. Her practice includes all types of adoption, including complex situations involving ICWA and ICPC, step-, second-, and third-parent adoptions, contested adoptions, and birth parent representation. Janna chairs the AAAA Independent Adoption Committee. Surrogacy and gamete donation contracts represent a growing portion of Janna’s work, as revisions to Washington’s Uniform Parentage Act in 2019 opened new possibilities for families pursuing assisted reproductive technologies.
A Seattle native, Janna graduated cum laude and with high honors from Dartmouth College in 2000, where she captained the women’s volleyball team and was a visiting student at Oxford University. She received her J.D. with honors from the University of Washington School of Law in 2003 and served as a Notes and Comments Editor of the Washington Law Review. In her pre-parenting years, Janna served as President of the Western Washington chapter of the Dartmouth Alumni Association, competed in volleyball tournaments with her USAV team, and enjoyed gardening, home improvement projects, and theater. She hopes to resume some of these activities once her children no longer require her services as their personal Uber driver.
Rob Kirsh
Trustee
Robert B. Kirsh has been practicing law for 19 years, 13 of which in adoption law, beginning while he lived in Memphis, Tennessee. At Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., Rob practices with his brothers Steve (AAAA Past President) and Joel (AAAA Past Networking Chair), and his nephew Grant. Over nearly 40 years, their firm has handled nearly 4,000 infant adoptions.
In addition to his Indiana-based practice, Rob is also admitted in Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, and Tennessee, working with expectant moms, adoptive parents, attorneys, and adoption agencies on Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, and Tennessee interstate/ICPC and intrastate adoptions. He travels to the Bluegrass State, Great Lakes State, Magnolia State, and Volunteer State regularly.
Rob earned his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology degree from Indiana University, his Juris Doctor degree from The University of Tulsa College of Law, and his Master of Science in Management (MBA) degree from the Purdue University Krannert Graduate School of Management.
Rob and his wife Amy live in Carmel, Indiana. Their daughter Campbell, and son Hudson, are high-schoolers. Their goldendoodle Wilson loves belly rubs, car rides, and going to the office with Rob. Rob is an avid cyclist (indoor and outdoor). Rob is also an instrument-rated Private Pilot, and flies the firm’s Columbia 350 airplane for adoptions in his five states, from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
To Rob, there is no more fulfilling type of work. He loves helping expectant moms turn challenging situations into positive ones, creating loving adoptive families, and working with other adoption professionals to do the same!
Josie Redwine
Trustee
Josie Redwine has been a Fellow in AAAA since 2001 and a Trustee since 2020. She is a founding Fellow and President-Elect of the Georgia Council of Adoption Lawyers. She has been in private practice since 1997. She is the co-founder of Swift School, served as Swift School President from 1998 until 2002, and has served as a Trustee for the school since 2018. Josie has represented adoptive parents, agencies, and birth parents in 4,000+ adoption proceedings, including intrastate, interstate and international proceedings. Josie holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Georgia and earned her Juris Doctor degree from Georgia State University. Josie and her husband, Reza, are parents of two adult children, Sophia and Cyrus.
Lance Rich
Trustee
Lance D. Rich, JD, is a shareholder at the law firm of Kirton McConkie in Salt Lake City, Utah and is licensed to practice law in Utah and Wyoming. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School where he was a Bergstrom Scholar who received specialized training in child welfare cases. Lance handles mainly adoption cases for adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoption agencies. He also represents intended parents and gestational carriers in surrogacy cases. Having adopted three children, Lance has a personal as well as a professional perspective on the adoption process. He is an active proponent of adoption and serves on the board of directors for Utah Foster Care and on the board of directors and as the vice chair for United for Adoption. He has previously served on the board of directors and served as president of the Utah Adoption Council. He has been an active member of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys since 2010 and serves as the chair of the Academy’s agency committee. Lance has been a frequent presenter on a variety of adoption topics for conferences and seminars sponsored by organizations such as the Utah State Bar, the Utah Adoption Council, the National Business Institute, the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys, United for Adoption, and the International Society of Family Law.
Meryl Rosenberg
Trustee
Meryl B. Rosenberg Esq. is an attorney specializing in the field of assisted reproductive technology (ART). For more than 27 years she has helped intended parents build their families through surrogacy, gamete donation, embryo donation, second-parent adoption, and stepparent adoption. Among the many local and international non-profit organizations she actively participates in, Ms. Rosenberg is a Fellow of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA) and past member of the ART executive committee and chair of its ART membership committee for the same, is past chair and member of the executive board of the Legal Professional Group of ASRM, is past co-chair of the Legal Advisory Committee of Path2Parenthood (now part of Family Equality), is a professional member of RESOLVE, is a member of the ABA Reproductive Technology Committee, and is a member of Family Law Institute of the LGBTQ Bar. Ms. Rosenberg has worked collaboratively with fellow attorneys in DC and Maryland to spearhead positive change in legislation affecting those who build their families through ART, with the new DC law passed in April 2017. Ms. Rosenberg has been a guest lecturer for the University of Maryland School of Law and the American University Washington College of Law. She is also a frequent lecturer for the ABA Family Law Section, AAAA, ASRM, Rainbow Families DC, P2P/Family Equality, Men Having Babies, and other local organizations on relevant topics surrounding ART and family building.
Kim Surratt
Trustee
Kim Surratt began her legal career in 2002 and opened her firm in 2007. She holds a license to practice law in both Nevada and California. She continues her role as principal of Surratt Law Practice, a full-service family formation (reproduction, adoption, and parentage law), family and estate planning law firm. Kim began her ART law career in 2004 with her first surrogacy case. She is a Fellow with the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproductive Technology Attorneys (AAAA), sits on the Executive Council as the Past-Chair for the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Nevada, is a member of the National Family Law Advisory Council for the National Center of Lesbian Rights, and Vice President of the Nevada Justice Association. Kim is the chair of the domestic lobbying committee for the Nevada Justice Association and assists the Family Law Section of the State Bar with their lobbying efforts. Kim drafted and lobbied the passage of all of the current reproductive family law statutes in Nevada and has assisted with many of the adoption changes in Nevada.
