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2011 Beacon of Justice Award
Ronald L. Olson
Partner - Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP
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Ronald L. Olson is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson
LLP. He has practiced law with the firm since 1968. Ron Olson is a director of Berkshire
Hathaway, Edison International, City National Corporation, The Washington Post Company,
and Western Asset Trusts. He serves as a director of several non-profits, including
the RAND Corporation (formerly chair), the Mayo Clinic, the California Institute
of Technology, and Nuclear Threat Initiative. He was Chairman of the Board of Trustees
of Claremont University Center and Graduate School from 1984 to 1994, Founding Chairman
of the Board of Trustees of Southern California Public Radio from 1999 to 2004 and
a director of the Council on Foreign Relations from 2002 to 2010. Ron Olson has
been the lead partner in numerous high-profile cases.
Ron Olson received his B.S. degree from Drake University in 1963, his J.D. degree
from the University of Michigan in 1966, and a Diploma in Law from Oxford University,
England, in 1967, at which time he was the recipient of a Ford Foundation fellowship.
In 1967, Mr. Olson was an attorney for the Civil Rights Division of the Department
of Justice and in 1968 clerked for Chief Judge David L. Bazelon, United States Court
of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Mr. Olson was formerly Chairman of the Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary (1991-92),
Chairman of the Litigation Section (1981-82), and Chairman of the Alternative Dispute
Resolution Committee (1976-86) of the American Bar Association, and was Vice President
of the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California (1986-87). He is a fellow
of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Law Institute. Mr. Olson
has received a number of awards for public service and pro bono activities
2010 Beacon of Justice Award
Justice Miriam A. Vogel (Ret.) and Justice Charles S. Vogel (Ret.)
Los Angeles County Superior Court
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Charles S. Vogel has spent the last 50 years lawyering, judging, lawyering again,
judging again, and now arbitrating and mediating with JAMS. After nine years in
private practice in Pomona, Chuck was appointed to the Municipal Court in 1969,
then elevated to the Superior Court in 1971, where he served as Supervising Judge
of the Law Departments. In 1977, he returned to private practice first at Nossaman,
Krueger & Marsh, then at Sidley & Austin, and during the ensuing years served as
president of the State Bar of California, the Los Angeles County Bar Association,
and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers. In 1993, he returned to the bench,
this time the Court of Appeal where he served for 11 years, including stints as
Presiding Justice of Division Four and as Administrative Presiding Justice of the
Second Appellate District. In 2004, he retired from the Court of Appeal to join
JAMS, where he now serves as an arbitrator and mediator. One of his most defining
characteristics is the ease with which he has been able to move between the bar
and the bench with a perspective few can match.
Miriam A. Vogel got a slower start, graduating from law school at 35 but then she
too alternated between lawyering and judging, practicing law for 10 years, judging
for more than 22 years, and now practicing law again at Morrison & Foerster LLP.
After a year in a prestigious clerkship with the late Justice Robert S. Thompson
in Division One of the Second Appellate District, Miriam practiced civil and appellate
law with Maiden, Rosenbloom, Wintroub, Vogel & Fridkis. She was appointed to the
Superior Court in 1986, where she too served as Supervising Judge of the Law Departments.
In 1990, she was elevated to the Court of Appeal, to the same division where she
had clerked in 1975. During her 18 years on the Court of Appeal, she authored more
than 2,700 opinions, including many with far-reaching effects. In 2008, she returned
to private practice as Senior of Counsel with Morrison & Foerster where she is a
member of the firms appellate group, writing briefs in the same crisp style in which
she wrote so many memorable opinions.
2009 Beacon of Justice Award
Chief Justice Ronald M. George
California Supreme Court
Chief Justice Ronald M George was recognized for his unprecedented commitment to
access to justice for all the citizens of California particularly those lower income
Californians. He is renowned for working tirelessly to modernize Californias court
system and make it more service-oriented. Throughout his career as a lawyer and
on the Bench, the Chief Justice has frequently authored publications and lectured
at educational programs. He has won praise for his dedication to the rule of law.
Chief Justice George has promoted the availability of legal representation to those
who cannot afford it. He has encouraged law firms to devote hours to pro bono activities
and helped to launch the Californias legal self-help website. His tremendous ongoing
efforts to improve our legal system and make its benefits available to all exemplify
the ideals behind the Beacon of Justice Award.
2008 Beacon of Justice Award
Justice Arthur Gilbert
California Court of Appeal
Second District
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Justice Arthur Gilbert was recognized for his exemplary service and significant
contributions to the quality of justice, legal scholarship and legal education.
The quality of his writing earned him the title of the Court of Appeal’s “poet laureate.”
For over two decades Justice Gilbert has taught justices and judges the philosophy
of judging, the art of crafting opinions and the effective performance of their
jobs. He has served as faculty, speaker and panelist for numerous educational and
judicial conferences and received the Bernard S Jefferson Award for his many contributions
to legal education. He created the Legal Philosophy Curricula for California’s Continuing
Judicial Studies Program and the California Judges College. Justice Gilbert has
taught Anglo American Jurisprudence to judges throughout the world, including Hungary,
Russia and Serbia.
2007 Beacon of Justice Award
Shirley and Seth Hufstedler
Morrison & Foerster
Los Angeles
Shirley and Seth Hufstedler were recognized for their lifelong commitment to justice
and the distinction with which they served. Throughout their lives, they set the
standard for service whether on the bench or within the bar. They served the community
at the highest levels of public service and as champions for women and minorities
in the legal profession. They are consistent and caring nuturers of the numerous
lawyers who lives they touched. They are known as risk takers and trailblazers in
all they have accomplished.
2006 Beacon of Justice Award
Justice Earl Johnson
California Court of Appeal
Second District
Justice Earl Johnson was recognized for his distinguished record as an appellate
court justice, having served the California Court of Appeal, Second District for
24 years. His more than 600 published and nearly 3000 unpublished opinions have
led to numerous awards and earned praise from California’s leading scholar, the
late Bernard Witkin. As a scholar and teacher, Justice Johnson co-authored 17 books
and over 50 articles, including landmark books on legal services for the poor, Justice
and Reform, and, Toward Equal Justice. He has been an innovative leader for over
four decades in bringing justice to the poor, from heading the country’s Legal Services
Program in the 1960’s to chairing the California Commission on Access to Justice
in 2002. He established the National Equal Justice Library now housed at Georgetown
University Law Center. Justice Johnson is respected and admired by the legal community
and epitomizes all that the Award represents. He has inspired and mentored many
within the legal community; he has opened the doors of justice to many more.
2005 Beacon of Justice Award
Presiding Justice Norman L. Epstein
California Court of Appeal
Second District
Justice Norman L Epstein’s commitment to excellence, his generosity and collegiality
are legendary. For nearly 30 years, Justice Epstein served the bench with distinction
and the legal community with honor. First appointed to the Municipal Court in 1975
by Governor Reagan, he was elevated to the Superior Court in 1980 by Governor Brown,
and subsequently appointed to the California Court of Appeal, Second District, by
Governor George Deukmejian. In 2005 he was appointed Presiding Justice of Division
Four by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Justice Epstein is also highly regarded
as a scholar, author, teacher, mentor and community leader. He is respected for
his knowledge and application of civil and criminal law. He served as Dean of the
California Judicial College and Chair of the Litigation Section of the Los Angeles
County Bar Association.
2003 - 50th Anniversary of the Main Library Building
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In 2003, the first Friends event celebrated the 50th anniversary of the LA Law Library's
Main Library Building by naming it in honor of Presiding Justice Mildred L Lillie.
Justice Lillie had an extraordinary career that spanned 55 years and included many
“firsts.” In 1942, she became one of the first women to serve as an assistant US
attorney in Los Angeles. In 1947, she was appointed the Municipal Court and two
years later was elevated to the Superior Court. She was the youngest judge and the
first woman ever assigned to sit in criminal court in Los Angeles County. In 1958
she became the first woman appointed to the California Court of Appeal, Second District
and served with distinction for 44 years until her death in 2002. Justice Lillie
was a legal scholar, skilled at writing, decisive, determined, and indefatigable;
she was dedicated to fairness and to the law.
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