Beverly Hills Bar Association Hosts 60th Annual CA Supreme Court Luncheon

The Beverly Hills Bar Association
(BHBA), in association with the Beverly Hills Bar Foundation, hosts the 60th
Annual Supreme Court Luncheon honoring the justices of the California Supreme
Court on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, 11:30 a.m., at Montage Beverly Hills.  All of the justices are slated to attend:
Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who will make extended remarks about the
current state of the judiciary, and Associate Justices Marvin R. Baxter,
Kathryn Mickle Werdegar, Ming W. Chin, Carol A. Corrigan and Goodwin Liu.  This is Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye’s fourth
appearance at the BHBA’s perennial luncheon since becoming Chief Justice in
2011.  The BHBA also fetes recently
retired Associate Justice Joyce L. Kennard, the guest speaker, who stepped down
from the California Supreme Court on April 5, 2014, after 25 years of
service.  The longest-serving justice
sitting on the court, she was also second female and first Asian American to
serve as Associate Justice. 

More than 50 other California judicial
officers and dignitaries will be in attendance. 
The Beverly Hills Bar
Association’s annual Supreme Court Luncheon, a tradition that began in 1954,
provides Southern California lawyers and jurists an opportunity to get together
outside of the courtroom.  In addition,
scholarships are being presented to seven economically
disadvantaged, academically qualified, local law students, who have demonstrated
prior public service and an intent to contribute to the community after law
school.

 “We are delighted to once again have all of
the California Supreme Court Justices attend the Beverly Hills Bar
Association’s annual luncheon, especially on the 60th anniversary of
the event,” says BHBA President Diane Karpman. 
She noted that last year only Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye attended
since, due to fiscal constraints caused by the state’s budget cuts, the Court
did not hold its usual June oral argument session in Los Angeles, around which
the BHBA Supreme Court Luncheon has always been slated, but, instead, remained
in San Francisco, where the court normally convenes.

“We also extend our deepest gratitude
to newly retired Associate Justice Kennard for her two-and-a-half decades of
exemplary service and dedication to the State of California,” she adds.  “A keen, insightful and outstanding jurist,
she has made an immeasurable impact on our state.”

Proceeds from the event benefit the
Beverly Hills Bar Foundation scholarship program.  This year, scholarships are being presented
to seven local law school students: Ryann Gray of Loyola Law School; Nicole Banister and
Stephanie Brown of Pepperdine University
School of Law; Karina Goday from
Southwestern Law School; Lisette Reynoso and Jesse Martin of UCLA School of Law; and Nadine Dorsht from USC Gould School of Law.

In
addition, the BHBA recognizes Jordana Kleinau from the Southwestern Law School,
who won the Grand Prize in the BHBA’s “Rule of Law Writing Competition” for her
paper titled “Civil Unrest Turns Deadly: Ukrainian Protestors Seeking
Restoration of Rule of Law?”  Tommy
Huynh, of the UCLA School of Law, was awarded Honorable Mention for his entry
titled “U.S. Rule of Law Promotion Efforts in Vietnam: Judicial Independence.”

Scholarship Donors
($6,000) are Bird, Marella,
Boxer, Wolpert, Nessim, Drooks, Lincenberg & Rhow,
P.C.; Girardi Keese; Shernoff Bidart Echeverria Bentley LLP; and the USC Gould
School of Law-Beverly Hills Bar Association Institute on Entertainment Law and
Business.  Champions of Justice
Donors ($3,500) include Fox Entertainment Group; Gibson, Dunn &
Crutcher LLP; Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland LLP; Oldman, Cooley,
Sallus, Birnberg & Coleman LLP; and Valensi Rose, PLC.  The “Rule of Law Writing
Competition” is underwritten by Goodson Wachtel & Petrulis APC.  Supreme
Court Luncheon Affinity Partner Sponsors are Matloff Life and Health
Insurance; LexisNexis; and Elkins Jones Insurance Agency, Inc.

The Beverly Hills Bar Association, founded
in 1931, is the fifth largest bar association in California, with nearly 6,000
members.  Its mission is to serve its
members, to lead the legal profession and to advocate for justice in the
community.

Tickets to the
Beverly Hills Bar Association’s Supreme Court Luncheon are $150 per person
($175 after May 23).  Montage Beverly Hills is
located at 225 North Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210.  For tickets and information, please call
(310) 601-2422 or visit www.bhba.org.