Thursday, July 19, 2018
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Board of Supervisors Issues Posthumous Tribute To Former Public Defender Michael P. Judge
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has issued a tribute to Michael P. Judge, public defender from 1994-2010, who died Tuesday.
The board late Tuesday declared:
“Mike Judge was a remarkable leader of the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office for 17 years. He was a transformative force in diversifying the office and creating a more inclusive management structure. He established the office’s first Public Integrity Assurance Section and ably managed the challenges of California’s Three Strikes law, working tirelessly to make sure all Public Defender clients were effectively represented.
This wasn’t just a job for him. His legacy lives on in his many policy achievements and in the many attorneys he coached and mentored throughout his career. His lifetime of public service was a rare gift to the people of Los Angeles County. We will not forget him.”
Burke Comments
Former Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke said yesterday:
“Michael Judge was a dedicated protector of the rights of children. He made a tremendous contribution to the field of children services over his years of service. He will be greatly missed. It was my honor to have worked with him.”
Former County Counsel Andrea Sheridan Ordin of Strumwasser & Woocher LLP remarked:
“Michael Judge’s life-long fierce commitment to justice, his clients and the men and women of the Public Defender’s Office was the stuff of legend. He loved being a trial lawyer, and was great at it, but he showed an uncommon gift for building an office of lawyers. When first stationed in branch and area offices, and then supervising felony trials and finally as the public defender, he was committed to training, innovation and recruiting the best lawyers available, and ensuring that they reflected the diversity the community they served.”
Sense of Humor
She added:
“He was justly honored by state and national organizations for his serious accomplishments, but those who walked the floors of the Hall of Justice with him will remember best his sense of humor, often turned on himself, and his ever ready smile.”
Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Norman Epstein of this district’s Div. Four termed Judge “a very well respected attorney and administrator.” The jurist recounted:
“He was at a national meeting of a legal organization in Washington, D.C. A number of judges were in attendance, and a group photograph was about to be taken. The person in charge was looking for the person in the group who had been a judge for the longest time, and asked that person to stand in front for the picture. Since Mike had been a Judge since birth he received that honor.”
Copyright 2018, Metropolitan News Company