Monday, January 14, 2008
Page 3
Commissioner Harvey A. Silberman to Run for Judgeship
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Harvey A. Silberman said Friday he will run for Los Angeles Superior Court judge in the June 3 primary.
Silberman, 51, told the MetNews that he expected to make a formal announcement of his candidacy for an open seat later this week. A former attorney with the San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services in Pacoima, Silberman was elected as a commissioner in balloting by the Superior Court’s judges in 2004.
He attended college at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., and graduated from law school at USC in 1992. He was admitted to the State Bar of California later that year.
Prior to becoming a commissioner, Silberman also served as the first staff attorney and later acting director at Aids Project Los Angles, worked for the Glendora family law firm of Stettner, Eisenberg & Morris, and taught family law at USC Law School.
Evelyn Jerome Alexander of SJA Strategies, who will be Silberman’s consultant, said that Silberman’s desire to become a judge arose from his commitment to protect children who were placed in difficult legal situations through no fault of their own
She said that Silberman’s actions last week in the recent high-profile divorce between actors Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards—where he sealed part of the record in order to protect the welfare of the couple’s two minor children—showed that protecting children is his “passion and his priority.”
“He has spent a lot of time providing legal services to those who have a great need,” Alexander said, “which has brought him to the position he’s in today.”
Alexander predicted that Silverman’s current status as a bench officer would make him a strong judicial candidate. Referring to his election as commissioner, she said that “people who do the job everyday confirmed that he has the skills to do it as well.”
She said that Silberman had already secured the endorsements of three supervising judges on the Superior Court—Lee S. Edmon of the court’s Civil Law department, Margorie Steinberg of the court’s Family Law department, and Steven Van Sicklen of the court’s Criminal Law department—and that he would be working to gain the support of the law enforcement and legal communities.
Superior Court Commissioner James Bianco and state Deputy Attorney General Lance Winters earlier said they intend to run for open seats, and Redondo Beach attorney Sydnee Singer has taken out papers to solicit signatures in lieu of a filing fee. There will be at least three open seats on the ballot, as Judges Alan Kalkin, Daniel Pratt, and Dzintra Janavs are not seeking re-election and will retire after the declaration-of-intention period, which ends in February.
Copyright 2008, Metropolitan News Company