Education:

  • Yale Law School, J.D., 2015

  • University of Wisconsin, Ph.D. (Neuroscience), 2012

  • University of Wisconsin, M.P.A. (Environmental Policy), 2012 

  • University of Illinois, B.S. (Neuropsychology) & B.A. (Political Science), 4.0 G.P.A., 2009

Art Awards:

  • 2024 A.R.T. Space Artist in Residence, Dorado 806 Projects, Santa Monica, CA

Solo Exhibitions:

  • Dorado 806 Projects, “Rapid Evolution,” Santa Monica, CA, June 15 - July 17, 2024 

  • Hwy 62 Open Studio Art Tours, Studio #71, “Desert Parallax,” Yucca Valley, CA, October 2023 

  • OMe Haus Gallery, “Subversion,” Yucca Valley, CA, (with Mona Nunez) July 21 - August 11, 2023 

Selected Group Shows:

  • Dorado 806 Projects, “Two Turtle Doves,” Santa Monica, CA, December 2024  

  • Dorado 806, “Forage: Ocean,” Santa Monica, CA, September 2024

  • Torrance Art Museum TRYST, “Mother,” Santa Monica, CA, August 2024

  • Space Truckin’ Gallery, “PsychedelArt,” Yucca Valley, CA, April 2024

  • Dorado 806, “California Dreaming,” Santa Monica, CA, February 2024

  • 29 Palms Art Gallery, Annual Juried Exhibition, 29 Palms, CA, February 2024

  • Dorado 806, “Over Drinks!” Santa Monica, CA, December 2023

  • Torrance Art Museum TRYST, “Lunacy,” Torrance, CA, November 2023

  • Hwy 62 Open Studio Art Tours, Studio #71, Yucca Valley, CA, October 2023

  • OMe Haus Gallery, “Subversion,” Yucca Valley, CA, August 2023

  • OMe Haus Gallery, “Winding Desert Summer,” Yucca Valley, CA, June 2023

  • Space Truckin’ Gallery, “Put a Joshua Tree On It!” Yucca Valley, CA, May 2023

  • Joshua Tree Art Gallery, “Super Bloom,” Joshua Tree, CA, April 2023

  • 29 Palms Art Gallery, Annual Juried Exhibition, 29 Palms, CA, February 2023

Work Experience:

Dorado 806 Projects, Santa Monica, California, Artist in Residence (2024)

  • Year-long residency awarded to one artist through a competitive proposal process. 

  • Maintain on-site studio practice for full calendar year in shared studio/gallery space. 

  • Conceptualize, plan, create, and manage a month-long solo exhibition. 

  • Create work for and show in all Dorado group shows, both on-site and off-site. 

  • Co-curate select group shows, including “Mother” at Torrance Art Museum’s annual TRYST fair. 

  • Assist with press, collector, and artist relations; help with install and de-install of shows (painting, building, intake, hanging, lighting); host gallery open hours; act as community ambassador. 

Farbota Legal, Los Angeles, California, Sole Practitioner (2021 - Present)

  • Represent eco-conscious and science-based start-ups in the electric transit, green energy, biopharmaceutical, and artificial intelligence sectors as “outside general counsel.” 

  • Manage and execute all aspects of solo legal practice across the gamut of corporate needs. 

  • Maintain pro bono practice through Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles helping undocumented victims of violence, assault, trafficking and torture secure legal immigration status. 

EcoBids Platform, Inc., Remote Office, Board Member (2022 - 2024)

Provide legal counsel, approve budgets, lead government relations efforts, and attend Board meetings for a non-profit company pioneering the use of environmental prediction markets as a mechanism of charitable giving. 

Monti Lab: University of California, Los Angeles, Neuroscience Lab Member (2021)

Assisted with multi-modal MRI fusion projects using neuroimaging data to predict post-acute neurological outcomes in traumatic brain injury patients. Consulted on questions involving altered states of consciousness, including sensory deprivation, anesthesia, and psychoactive drug states (ketamine, LSD, DMT). 

Voice Trust, Remote Office, Global Giving Manager & Legal Advisor (2021)

Manage charitable giving campaigns and advise on legal schema for a non-profit focused on empowering disenfranchised and indigenous communities through self-contained, sustainable farming practices. 

Latham & Watkins, LLP, Los Angeles, California, Associate (2015 - 2019)

  • Advocated to secure approvals for groundbreaking green projects, including solar farms, electrification of the port of Long Beach, and the first greenhouse-gas-neutral community in the Western Hemisphere. 

  • Managed 20+ junior associates, paralegals, and support staff, including training and mentoring, assigning tasks and providing feedback, and conducting bi-annual performance reviews. 

  • Received California State Bar Wiley W. Manuel award for pro bono legal services, awarded in connection with 1,000+ pro bono hours spent representing child sex trafficking victims in visa proceedings. 

Sidley Austin, LLP, Chicago, Illinois, Summer Associate (2014)

Performed due diligence for corporate transactions; crafted argument that enabled client to collect on insurance policy after initial denial; drafted successful ANDA application for FDA approval of a generic drug.  

MacArthur Foundation, Law & Neuroscience Summer Fellow (2013)

Conceptualized and developed a prisoner rehabilitation program informed by neuroscience; co-authored a textbook chapter addressing the legal admissibility of neuroimaging evidence. 

Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Immunization Program Extern (2012)

Interviewed personnel from 107 local health departments and 28 private health insurance providers; devised and implemented a strategy to coordinate vaccination efforts, saving the state $6.1 million. 

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Consultant (2011)

Developed an initiative to sustain conservation funding and garnered bi-partisan support from state legislature for same; helped manage the development of a WDNR hunting and fishing mobile app. 

Selected Publications:

Art & Literature 

  • Farbota, K.D. (May 2023). Psilocybin Trees. Wild Roof Journal. Iss. 20, Gal. 3. 

  • Farbota, K.D. (April 2023). Desert Parallax. Fatal Flaw Lit. Vol. 9: Agency. 

  • Farbota, K.D. (October 21, 2021). Hallowed Ground. Hobart Pulp Fiction. 

  • Farbota, K.D. (March 15, 2016). Photo copyright: Oscar Wilde, Richard Prince, and your Instagram content. The Huffington Post. 

Advocacy 

  • Farbota, K.D. (September 2, 2015). Black crime rates: What happens when numbers aren’t neutral.  The Huffington Post. (Originally titled “Your Statistics Are Racist,” and re-titled by HuffPo without author’s consent following public backlash.) 

  • Farbota, K.D. Brain-Based Lie Detection: Out of the Courtroom, But for How Long? Yale Journal of Law & Technology, Vol. 14 (2012). 

Neuroscience 

  • Farbota, K.D., & Roskies, A.L. (2018). Neuroimaging: Legal & Scientific Issues, In D.L. Faigman (Ed.) Modern Scientific Evidence. Thompson West. 

  • Farbota, K.D., Sodhi, A., Bendlin, B.B., McLaren, D.G., Xu, G., Rowley, H.A., & Johnson, S.C. (2012). Longitudinal volumetric changes following traumatic brain injury: a tensor-based morphometry study. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, Vol. 18(6), 1006-1018. 

  • Farbota, K.D., Bendlin, B.B., Alexander, A.L., Rowley, H.A., Dempsey, R.J., & Johnson, S.C. (2012). Longitudinal diffusion tensor imaging and neuropsychological correlates in traumatic brain injury patients. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Vol. 6, 160-173. 

Law 

  • Bledsoe, J.T. & Farbota, K.D. (April 3, 2019). Dismissal of Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Case AppealedAmidst Program Extension. Clean Energy Law Report.  

  • Bledsoe, J.T., & Farbota, K.D. (2019). Seven takeaways from California’s extension of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Pratt Energy Law Report, Vol. 19(1), 3-10. 

  • Bledsoe, J.T., & Farbota, K.D. (2017). California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard drama continues. Orange County Business Journal, Vol. 40, 42. 

  • Viscounty, P.J., Troutman, D.D., & Farbota, K.D. (2016). New Game Plan: Federal Circuit Decision May Revive “Redskins” Trademarks. Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal, Vol. 28, 14-18. 

  • Cass, R.E., & Farbota, K.D. (June 28, 2014). The fee-shifting climate after Octane and Highmark. Law360.