Chief Justice Names San Diego Jurist to Key Post

Monday, January 23, 2012

Page 3

Chief Justice Names San Diego Jurist to Key Post

By a MetNews Staff Writer

Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye Friday named San Diego Superior Court Presiding Judge Robert J. Trentacosta as vice-chair of the Judicial Council’s Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee for a one-year term effective Feb. 1.

The chief justice named Yolo Superior Court Presiding Judge David Rosenberg chair of the committee last year.

Designed to enhance trial court judges’ participation in the Judicial Council decision-making process, the presiding judges committee reviews rules of court, court forms, studies, and recommendations that are proposed to the council, and identifies issues of concern to the courts, including legislative issues, that might be addressed by the council or its advisory committees or task forces.

Trentacosta was elected presiding judge of his court last year. He has also served as the court’s assistant presiding judge and as supervising judge of the Central Criminal and South County divisions.

He chaired the California Judges Association’s Judicial Ethics Committee last year. He is currently a member of the Judicial Council’s Court Facilities Working Group and the Curriculum Committee for the annual Supervising Judges Institute, where he also serves as an instructor.

Trentacosta is a past president of the Plaintiffs’ Trial Bar, the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, and president of the San Diego Inn of Court, College of Advocacy. He is a master in the Louis Welsh Inn of Court and adjunct professor of “trial practice” law at California Western School of Law, the Administrative Office of the Courts noted in a release.

He has taught trial and deposition techniques for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Continuing Education of the Bar, and other organizations. He was an instructor of advanced traffic collision investigation at the San Diego Police Academy from 1985 to 2000. He is a frequent guest lecturer for both state and local trial lawyer organizations.