Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Page 1
Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Torres to Retire
By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner William R. Torres is retiring, the jurist told the MetNews yesterday.
Torres, 77, said he would officially step down July 31 and will begin using accrued leave sometime around the middle of June.
After 17 years as a referee and commissioner, mostly in juvenile court, he said he had no personal or professional plans, other than to “enjoy retirement.” He will do “a little traveling,” he said, but “right now I just want to kind of rest.”
Torres grew up in central Los Angeles and studied accounting at USC, graduating in 1960. He was hired as an IRS agent, auditing local businesses, and attend Southwestern Law School at night.
He graduated from Southwestern in 1966, but kept his IRS job for a few years before being hired as a deputy district attorney. He opened his own office in 1974 and handled tax and criminal defense matters, in addition to family law, bankruptcy, personal injury, and general civil work.
He became a referee in 1994, hearing delinquency matters at Los Padrinos juvenile court. He was named a commissioner in January 1997 and assigned initially to the Edelman Children’s Court in Monterey Park.
He currently sits in Inglewood, as he has for the past decade.
In 1998, he ran for Superior Court judge, hoping to succeed his brother, Ricardo Torres, a former presiding judge of the court. He received 47 percent of the vote, losing to then-Los Angeles Municipal Court Judge John Harris, who outspent him and obtained the lion’s share of organizational endorsements, although both candidates were rated “well qualified’ by the County Bar.
Copyright 2011, Metropolitan News Company