Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Page 3
Turner, Schiavelli, Cerrell to Be Feted as ‘Persons of the Year’
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Paul Arthur Turner, U.S. District Court Judge George Schiavelli, and political consultant Joseph Cerrell have been designated as the Metropolitan News-Enterprise’s “Persons of the Year” for 2006, it was announced yesterday.
This year marks 15 years since Turner was awarded the top spot on this district’s Div. Five, after serving as an associate justice for two years. He previously served on the Los Angeles Municipal Court (1983-85) and Los Angeles Superior Court (1985-89).
Schiavelli, 58, gained a judgeship on the Los Angeles Superior Court in 1994, resigned in 2000, and was appointed to his present post, as a federal judge in the Central District of California, two years ago.
Cerrell this year celebrates his firm’s 40th anniversary. He has handled judicial campaigns since 1978.
MetNews Co-Publisher Jo-Ann W. Grace commented that Turner is known for “incisive opinions, reflecting clear thinking.” She made note of his practice of backing up any propositions of law that he puts forth with at least two citations to authority.
Schiavelli, she remarked, “is one of the most respected jurists in the region.” Respected for “reasonableness and legal knowledge,” Grace said, he has gained “heightened admiration this year based on his fortitude and commitment in continuing his judicial service despite severe pain” as the result of injuries in an accident.
She hailed Turner and Schiavelli as “as brilliant and able jurists.”
Cerrell, she observed, is the “king of the consultants,” responsible for guiding the campaigns of “more successful judicial candidates than all of his rivals combined.”
Grace said that the honorees will be profiled in a special section of the MetNews in late December, and will be honored at a black tie dinner on Jan. 26 at a downtown private club.
Former persons of the year include the late Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Mildred Lillie, 1983; the late California Supreme Court Justice Stanley Mosk, 1984; the late Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Lester Wm. Roth, 1985; the late Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathleen Parker, 1986; then-Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Billy G. Mills (since retired), 1987; then-Los Angeles Superior Court Executive Officer Frank Zolin, 1988 (now retired); then-Court of Appeal Justice Lynn “Buck” Compton (since retired), 1989; Court of Appeal Justice Miriam Vogel and then-State Bar President Charles Vogel, 1990; Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Vaino Spencer, 1991; and Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Joan Dempsey Klein, 1992.
Other honored were then-Los Angeles Superior Court Presiding Judge (now Court of Appeal Justice) Robert Mallano, 1993; Court of Appeal Justice Norman Epstein (now presiding justice), 1994; then-California Attorney General (now Congressman) Dan Lungren, 1995; California Chief Justice Ronald George, 1996; Los Angeles Superior Court Judge (then serving as assistant presiding judge)Victor E. Chavez, 1997; U.S. District Court Judge Ronald S.W. Lew, 1998; Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca, 1999; then-Judicial Appointments Secretary (now Los Angeles Superior Court Judge) Burt Pines, 2000; then-State Bar President Karen Nobumoto, 2001; Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, 2002, and Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke, 2003, and then-State Bar President John Van de Kamp and then-Los Angeles County Bar Assn. President John Collins, 2004, and Los Angeles Superior Court Presiding Judge William MacLaughlin and Assistant Presiding Judge (now Presiding Judge-Elect) J. Stephen Czuleger, 2005.
Copyright 2006, Metropolitan News Company