On September 1, 2013, I became the 94th president of the Riverside County Bar Association (RCBA). I am truly honored to be president of this incredible organization. I was first introduced to the RCBA in the spring of 1995, when I externed for Justice Art McKinster at the Court of Appeal. At that time, the Court of Appeal was in San Bernardino. Nevertheless, some of the research attorneys, including Craig Riemer, Jody Isenberg, and Lisa Visingardi, were very active in the RCBA, and they invited me to join them at meetings. I will always be grateful for the kindness they showed to me and for their leadership and encouragement. Later, Craig (now Judge Riemer) served as president of the RCBA and was very involved with every aspect of the bar. Jody continues to be active with the bar and has served for many years on the RCBA’s Judicial Evaluation Committee. Lisa served as Barristers president, on the RCBA Board of Directors, and on the Publications Committee. I try to follow the example they set, especially of working in San Bernardino County and yet being active with the RCBA. I have resided in Riverside for the past 25
years.
I became a member of the RCBA shortly after attending the Bridging the Gap program in what is now known as the Gabbert Gallery on the third floor of the RCBA building. The only person I can remember from that program is Daniel Hantman. Dan spoke about representing individuals seeking benefits from the Social Security Administration. Before law school, I had worked as a field representative for Congressman George E. Brown, Jr. in Colton, where I assisted individuals much like Dan’s clients. Working in Congressman Brown’s office is where I began to feel deeply compelled to obtain a law degree. In a congressional office, the staff assists many constituents who have run into roadblocks with the federal government. Some individuals you are able to help, but there are so many that you recommend seek guidance from an attorney. I knew that those were the people I wanted to represent. I approached Dan after he spoke and introduced myself. Dan took me under his wing and allowed me to work in his office to better understand Social Security disability law. After meeting Dan, I never walked into an RCBA general membership meeting without receiving a friendly greeting from him, as have so many other members.
In 1997, I joined the Publications Committee, which publishes the Riverside Lawyer. I wrote many profiles on attorneys and judges in the community. When you sit down to interview an individual for an article, you really get to know the person. In 2004, the Publications Committee spearheaded the establishment of the RCBA website. We thought it was exceptional at the time. By 2012, the website needed an upgrade, so the RCBA funded a reconstruction of the website. I strongly encourage you go to riversidecountybar.com and see the new RCBA website. On the website, you can sign up and pay for the many continuing legal education opportunities, check the calendar for upcoming programs, review the sections, and scan the photos from past bar events. As a membership benefit, the website also has a members-only forum. In the forum, you can communicate with members in the same practice area to problemsolve or just chat. The RCBA is continually improving the website, so I encourage you to check on the developments from time to time.
The RCBA is the bar association for all of Riverside County. We have members from all parts of the county and many out-of-county members. For members who are employed some distance from the RCBA building, it is not easy to attend the monthly general membership meeting. To connect the members, from Indio to Los Angeles and from San Bernardino to Temecula, the RCBA Board plans to stream the monthly meeting on the website. In addition, the RCBA plans to offer continuing legal education credit to remote viewers of the monthly meetings. Our goal is to stream the October meeting. We will keep you posted on our progress.
I am also committed to continue the good work that was begun by immediate past presidents Robyn Lewis and Christopher Harmon to lobby for an increase in court funding for the Inland Empire. The state and federal courts in the Inland Empire are in crisis. The Riverside and San Bernardino Superior Courts are two of the most underfunded in the state. Both courts have the largest deficit of judicial positions, and each lacks the necessary staff to address current caseloads. Riverside County has 76 judicial positions, including judges and commissioners, but a recent workload assessment report by the state Judicial Council said it should have 150. San Bernardino has 86 judges and commissioners combined, and likewise needs 150. The two courts have the highest caseloads per judge for large-population counties in the state.
In the Inland Empire, we also have a hard-working and underfunded appellate court. The Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division Two, which serves Riverside, San Bernardino, and Inyo Counties, is estimated to have 615,708 residents per appellate justice, the highest number in the state. The next highest district is Second District, Division Six, with 382,930 residents per justice.
The federal court is also severely underfunded in the Inland Empire. The George E. Brown, Jr., Federal Courthouse in Riverside is the home of the Eastern Division of the Central District of California. The Eastern Division, which serves approximately 4.2 million residents, has two judges. The State of Kentucky has a little over 4.3 million residents and has ten active district judges and seven senior judges. As a consequence of the lack of judicial resources, approximately 40 percent of the cases filed in the Eastern Division are transferred to Los Angeles. This means that litigants, along with witnesses, have to travel a distance to obtain their day in court.
The RCBA is working with the Desert Bar, the San Bernardino County Bar Association, the High Desert Bar Association, the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association, and the Federal Bar Association to lobby for an increase in funding for our state and federal courts in the Inland Empire. In the late 1980s, I cut out a political cartoon that reads, “If you are not angry, you are not paying attention.” This cartoon was not attached to any cause or concern; it was just a general statement. We could be angry about the underfunding, but anger is not useful. Action is useful, and so the RCBA is committed to fight for a larger share of the state and federal budgets for the courts in the Inland Empire.
I want to take this opportunity to thank Chris Harmon as he completes his term as president. The RCBA has grown and improved under Chris’s leadership. Due to his lobbying efforts with the Judicial Council, court funding for the five traditionally underfunded counties, including Riverside and San Bernardino, will see an increase over the next five years, and all new funding will be allocated by population, instead of under an antiquated formula from 1996. The relationship between the courts and the RCBA strengthened during Chris’s term, a trend I plan to continue. The membership meetings ran smoothly and saw an increase in attendance, especially among the judiciary. I am grateful that Chris will continue on with the RCBA board as the immediate past president.
In closing, I want to acknowledge the outstanding contributions that Robyn Lewis has made to the RCBA. Robyn is remarkable. She was president of the RCBA Board in 2012 and is now leaving the board as the immediate past president. She became the president of the RCBA Board shortly after her triplets, Henry, Hayden, and Noah, turned one, so her precious free time was given to the RCBA. In the past, Robyn was president of the Barristers Board of Directors and president of the Board of Directors of the Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court, and she was instrumental in organizing the RCBA’s annual Bridging the Gap program. In addition, Robyn has been in the forefront of lobbying the Judicial Council and the legislature to increase court funding for the Inland Empire. Many past presidents step off the board and are no longer involved. However, Robyn has committed to chairing a past presidents’ advisory committee that was recently established by the RCBA Board. If her other endeavors with the RCBA are anything to go by, she will chair this new committee with enthusiasm, and I have no doubt it will be successful.
Please join me at the installation of the new 2013-2014 RCBA Board on September 19, when Judge Virginia Phillips will swear in the following: me as president; Chad Firetag as president-elect; Kira Klatchko as vice-president; Jean-Simon Serrano as chief financial officer; Alexandra Fong as secretary; Jack Clarke, Neil Okazaki, Diana Renteria, and Jeffrey Van Wagenen as directors at large; and Kelly Moran as Barristers president. In addition, the RCBA Board has selected Associate Justice Thomas E. Hollenhorst to receive the E. Aurora Hughes Award for his outstanding contributions to the RCBA. Presiding Justice Manuel A. Ramirez will be presenting the award. The evening promises to be memorable.
