Monday, July 3, 2006
Page 3
Hufstedler to Be Honored at Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference
By a METNEWS Staff Writer
Los Angeles attorney Shirley M. Hufstedler, a former Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge who served as the first U.S. secretary of education, will be honored at next week’s Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, a court official said Friday.
Hufstedler is to receive the John P. Frank Award, recognizing an outstanding lawyer practicing in the federal courts within the circuit. The award will be presented next Monday during the opening session of the conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Huntington Beach.
The award was established by the circuit Judicial Council in 2003 and is named in recognition of an Arizona lawyer and law professor who practiced for 62 years and argued more than 500 appeals. The Frank award recognizes a lawyer who has “demonstrated outstanding character and integrity; dedication to the rule of law; proficiency as a trial and appellate lawyer; success in promoting collegiality among members of the bench and bar; and a lifetime of service to the federal courts of the Ninth Circuit.”
The award will be presented by attorney Terry W. Bird, who chairs the Ninth Circuit Advisory Board, a group of experienced attorneys that advises the council on matters of court administration. The court said in release that Presiding Justice Dennis Perluss of Div. Seven of this district’s Court of Appeal will accept the award on behalf of Hufstedler.
Perluss clerked for Hufstedler when she served on the Ninth Circuit and later became one of her law partners.
Hufstedler began her legal career in 1950 as a private practitioner in Los Angeles. She served as special legal consultant to then-Attorney General Stanley Mosk from 1960 to 1961, when then-Gov. Pat Brown appointed her to the Los Angeles Superior Court.
She was elevated by Brown to the Court of Appeal in 1966, appointed the Ninth Circuit by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968, and left the court to accept the cabinet appointment from President Carter following creation of the Department of Education in 1979.
In 1981, she returned to law practice as a partner in the firm Hufstedler & Kaus, which later merged into Morrison & Foerster, where she is currently of counsel. She also served as special counsel to then-Gov. Gray Davis in the settlement of the challenges to Proposition 187, a state initiative designed to deter illegal immigration.
Hufstedler has served on the governing boards of numerous institutions and groups, including the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Institute for Judicial Administration, the American Law Institute, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Institute for Court Management, American Judicature Society, the Constitutional Rights Foundation and on visiting committees of law schools across the country. She has also delivered the Morrison Lecture, a major feature of the State Bar of California’s annual convention.
In addition, she was chair of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. She currently sits on the board of directors for Harman International Industries and is a trustee of the California Institute of Technology.
She has been a visiting professor at UC Irvine, the University of Iowa, the University of Vermont, and Stanford Law School. She also has been a frequent lecturer.
Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Mary M. Schroeder praised the selection.
“Whether it be as a lawyer, judge or presidential cabinet member, Shirley Hufstedler has always displayed a deep commitment to public service,” the chief judge said “Her contributions to the law and legal profession have been enormous and she is truly deserving of this honor.”
Copyright 2006, Metropolitan News Company