Wednesday, October 12, 2011
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Gordon Named to Lead Superior Court Family Law Departments
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott M. Gordon is slated to succeed Marjorie Steinberg as supervising judge of the family law departments upon her retirement at the end of the year, court officials said yesterday.
Also effective Jan. 1, Judge Thomas Trent Lewis is expected to assume the role of assistant supervising judge. Neither Gordon nor Lewis could be reached for comment yesterday.
Gordon joined the bench in 2002 as a commissioner and was tapped for a judgeship last April.
Prior to this, he served for 16 years with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office where he was a founding member of the Stalking and Threat Assessment Team and responsible for policy and legislative issues relating to child abuse, domestic violence and sex crimes.
International Criminal Tribunal
Gordon also served an assignment at The Hague with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in 1997. He attended college at California State University, Dominguez Hills, graduating in 1980, and then spent the early years of his career as a police officer and detective for the Santa Monica Police Department while attending law school.
Gordon graduated from Southwestern and joined the State Bar in 1985.
In 1990, he returned to Southwestern as a member of its adjunct faculty, and the school in 2003 awarded him its Adjunct Professor Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2008, the school also presented him with its Outstanding Judicial Officer Award.
The judge is also a recipient of the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women “Humanitarian of the Year” award, and the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s “Prosecutor of the Year” award, among other commendations.
He is best known as the judge in charge of the contentious divorce proceedings between Frank and Jamie McCourt, who are fighting over ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers along with several homes and other assets. He was assigned to preside over the case while still a commissioner.
Lewis was appointed to the bench in 2006, after having served as a partner in the firm of Rehwald, Rameson, Lewis & Glasner, where he had worked since 1984.
A past president of the San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Lewis had practiced in the Valley since 1978, beginning his career in private practice as a family law attorney and became a certified family law specialist in 1985. Three years later Lewis became a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
Family Law Specialist
Lewis was in one of the first groups of attorneys to be certified by the State Bar as a family law specialist and chaired the Board of Legal Specialization from 1997 to 1999.
The judge is a graduate of UCLA and the University of La Verne San Fernando Valley College of Law.
He has also been a member of the Family & Juvenile Law Advisory Committee for the Judicial Council of California and the vice president of the Association of Family & Conciliation Courts, California Chapter.
His other professional affiliations include membership in the Center for Judicial Education and Research, Family Law Education Committee, Los Angeles Superior Court Access and Fairness Committee, Los Angeles Superior Court Family Law Committee, and the Los Angeles Superior Court Technology Committee.
Last year the Southern California Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers named him its Judicial Officer of the Year.
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