Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Page 3
Pasadena Bar Association to Honor Commissioner Serio
By a MetNews Staff Writer
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COLLETE SERIO Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner |
Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Collete Serio will be honored tonight as Judge of the Year by the Pasadena Bar Association.
In a release, the association said it was honoring Serio for work that includes co-founding of her district’s domestic violence court, which she has presided over since 1996.
Serio also has “participated in graduation programs at recovery groups, presided over trials with the Teen Court program at Taft High School in Woodland Hills, and worked with the Museum of Tolerance as an instructor in the SHADES (Stopping Hate and Delinquency by Empowering Students) program,” the association said.
She has been a commissioner at the courthouse since 1989, when the judges of the now-defunct Pasadena Municipal Court appointed her as one that court’s two commissioners. She became a Superior Court bench officer as a result of unification in 2000.
The association’s president described the honor.
“Commissioner Collette N. Serio is an important dignitary in the Pasadena and Los Angeles area, whose work in the court and the community should be recognized,” Don Schweitzer was quoted in the release. “Commissioner Serio is a superior bench officer who has not let budgetary restrictions or extremely difficult case loads deter her from maintaining the utmost level of professionalism and thought in the court room. She’s extremely courteous to all litigants and attorneys, and suffers no fools as her knowledge on domestic violence and substance abuse is outstanding. Because of these reasons and her activity within the community, the Pasadena Bar Association chose her as Judge of the Year.”
Previous to her appointment as a commissioner she worked as a Pasadena deputy city prosecutor for 10 years. She also had her own law practice in Los Angeles, which included civil, criminal, juvenile and family law cases.
After graduating from local public schools, she attended UCLA as an undergraduate before earning her law degree from what was then the University of San Fernando Valley College of Law. She is married to Beverly Hills attorney Gary Gole.
In addition to honoring Serio, tonight’s dinner at Brookside Country Club marks the swearing in of association officers for next year, including:
President, Oliver Bajracharya, Christie Parker & Hale, LLP
President-Elect, Kevin Callahan, Thon Beck Vanni Callahan & Powell
Vice President, Kimberly Frasca-Delaney, Russakow Greene & Tan
Treasurer, Karl Swaidan, Hahn & Hahn, LLP
Secretary, Laura Lloyd, Sheldon Mak & Anderson, P.C.
Advisor, Don Schweitzer, Law Offices of Donald P. Schweitzer
Trustees: Heidi Bitterman, Law Officers of Donald P. Schweitzer; Eric Brown, Collins, Collins, Muir & Stewart; Brandon Carroll, Fierstadt & Mans, LLP; Gloria Medel, Larson & Gaston, LLP; Gloria Pitzer, Palermo, Barbaro, Chinen, & Pitzer, LLP; and Deborah Schwarz, Law Offices of Deborah Ballins Schwarz
Copyright 2013, Metropolitan News Company