Past Events
Ventura County Unity Bar Inaugural Event
July 12, 2024 at Ventura City Hall
On July 12, 2024, the Ventura County Unity Bar held its Inaugural Event at the historic Ventura City Hall. Attended by judges, justices, lawyers, and community members from all over the state, diverse legal minds met in unity to celebrate the efforts to increase the number of diverse judges statewide and in Ventura County.
Jill Friedman, former chair of the Ventura County Diversity Bar Alliance and member of the Ventura County Unity Bar reminded the audience that the Governor cannot appoint diverse judges to the bench if diverse applicants do not apply.
Deputy Judicial Appointments Secretary, Adam Hofmann, put on a panel of judges to discuss the application process to become a judge in California. The panel featured recently appointed Ventura County Superior Court judges including the Honorable Ethel Hernandez and the Honorable Dana Caudill, along with Presiding Judge Kevin DeNoce and Judicial Appointments Secretary Luis Céspedes.
Takeaways: Join the local judicial mentoring programs to be assigned a judge to help you with your application process and apply before August 2025 to get your application in the pipeline for Governor Newsom’s team to review.
Gov. Code, § 12011.5, subds. (d) & (o)
(d) In determining the qualifications of a candidate for judicial office, the State Bar shall consider, among other appropriate factors, the candidate's industry, judicial temperament, honesty, objectivity, community respect, integrity, health, ability, and legal experience. The State Bar shall consider legal experience broadly, including, but not limited to, litigation and nonlitigation experience, legal work for a business or nonprofit entity, experience as a law professor or other academic position, legal work in any of the three branches of government, and legal work in dispute resolution.
(o) The Governor and members of judicial selection advisory committees are encouraged to give particular consideration to candidates from diverse backgrounds and cultures reflecting the demographics of California, including candidates with demographic characteristics underrepresented among existing judges and justices.
Thank you to the event sponsors!
