Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Page 4
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kenneth Black Sets Retirement Date
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kenneth Black confirmed that he will step down after over 20 years on the bench.
Black said that his last day presiding will be Oct. 17, after which he said he will use his accrued vacation, estimating that he last official day will be in early Nov., shortly before his 59th birthday. He said he will be doing private judging on his own, providing mediation, trial, and discovery services state wide.
Black told the MetNews that his motto will be “have gavel, will travel,” and predicted “it’s going to be interesting.” The veteran jurist claimed that he is “number 16 on the seniority list of the court,” and said “it was time to move on to new challenges.”
After serving as a commissioner for five years, Black was appointed to the bench by then-Gov. George Deukmejian in 1987. Before being elected commissioner, he served as a juvenile court referee on an as-needed basis.
The Brooklyn native earned a degree in economics from New York State University in 1971, and his law degree from UCLA in 1974.
He spent two years clerking for Judge Richard A. Gadbois, then-supervising judge of the juvenile courts before joining Montgomery, Bottum, Regal & McNally as a civil litigation associate.
Black hung up his own shingle three years later, concentrating on family law cases until 1982, when he became a commissioner.
The Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Family Law Section presented Black with the Brandies Award in 1993.
Copyright 2008, Metropolitan News Company