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Robert H. Philibosian
Leader, Servant, Mentor, Friend; A Man of Vision and Action
By Lance Ito
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The remarks below were delivered by retired Los Angeles
Superior Court Judge Lance Ito on Thursday at the Clara Shortridge Foltz
Criminal Justice Center at a ceremony inducting five persons, all deceased, to
the Criminal Justice Wall of Fame. Plaques honoring them are placed on a wall
outside the building. Also honored were Joan Dempsey Klein, the first woman to
serve as a presiding justice of the California Court of Appeal, heading this
district’s Div. Three; Curt Livesay, the longest serving chief deputy district
attorney in the office’s history; Harry Sondheim, the principal architect of
California’s Rules of Professional Conduct and primary author of the CALJIC
jury instructions; Howard Weitzman, a trial attorney who represented Hollywood
luminaries; and Jay Jaffe, who represented several high-profile murder
defendants. Remarks on Klein will appear tomorrow.
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California boy, Bob was born in San Diego and grew up in the San Joaquin Valley farming town of Selma just down the road from Fresno. After finishing his undergraduate degree at Stanford, Bob decided to attend law school at Southwestern here in Los Angeles because he could work and go to law school at the same time.
He joined the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in 1968 where he started on what was known as The County Run and served in a variety of assignments, quickly rising thru the ranks, becoming the head deputy at the Van Nuys office. Bob was thoroughly well regarded as a trial lawyer and for his sound judgment as evidenced by his selection by District Attorney Joe Busch to lead the investigations into a traffic ticket fixing scandal involving the L.A. County Marshal’s Office and a test rigging scandal involving Richard Capen, the president of the L.A. County Civil Service Commission who was ultimately indicted, convicted and dismissed from office.
In 1979, Bob joined the administration of California Attorney General George Deukmejian as the chief assistant attorney general of the Criminal Division. Deukmejian said he selected Bob because of his skills as a trial lawyer, his administrative experience and his calm wisdom. Deukmejian later promoted Bob to the position of chief deputy attorney general in 1982.
After District Attorney John Van de
Kamp was elected attorney general, Bob was appointed by the L.A. County Board
of Supervisors to fill out the remainder of Van de Kamp’s term of office. Bob
served as Los Angeles County’s 38th District Attorney from December 1982 to
December 1984. And while he was the district attorney for just two short years,
Bob left an impression on that office that remains to this day, especially in
the areas of toxic pollution cases, consumer protection, major narcotics
prosecutions, sex crimes, victims’ rights, legislative advocacy and child
support collections. Contemporaneous newspaper articles note child support
collections rose almost 700% during Bob’s tenure.
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ob was a man of action. When he learned of radical groups deliberately trying to stampede police horses used for crowd control at L.A. Raiders games at the Coliseum and further learned the only charge available was misdemeanor cruelty to animals and looking forward to the 1984 Olympics, he directed his staff to, “Fix this.” After a hearing in Sacramento where he arranged for representatives of the Washington D.C. Park Police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the L.A. County Sheriffs K9 unit to speak in support, the result was today’s Penal Code §600. It was a true Dog and Pony Show.
When he learned gun packing gang members caught on the 3rd floor of the CCB could only be charged with misdemeanor carrying a concealed weapon, he directed his legislative unit: “Fix this.” With the support of Assembly Speaker Willie Brown the result was today’s Penal Code §171b.
Bob had two parallel goals: Good governance and good people to make it happen. Bob wanted the laws and the government to work for the common good of the people. Even after he left the District Attorney’s Office to work in major law firms mostly in the area of governmental relations and regulations, he continued his efforts.
Bob was appointed as a volunteer member of the Los Angeles County Citizens’ Economy & Efficiency Commission 1990, served as chairman from 2000 to 2006 and was appointed chairman emeritus in 2006. During that time span the commission issued dozens and dozens of reports and opinion letters on a wide variety of topics ranging from improving the management of trial juries in our courts, establishing a Retired Peace Officers Corps within L.A. County for emergencies and establishing an executive management succession program. A visit to the commission’s website will amaze you.
In his spare time Bob served as a
commissioner on the California State World Trade Commission from 1990 to 1999,
an organization designed to promote and facilitate California’s exports to the
world, now by itself the fourth largest economy in the world.
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lose to the hearts of many here was Bob’s service as the chair of the California Council on Criminal Justice from 1983 to 1991 which operated under the auspices of the Governor’s Office of Criminal Justice Planning. In 1986, after conducting statewide hearings, the council issued a comprehensive report on Youth Gang Violence in California which included several recommendations for action, many of which have since been enacted or adopted.
In 1988, the council issued a report on victim’s rights which further expanded on the desperately needed attention to the rights of crime victims brought into focus by Proposition 8 in 1982.
In 1989, the council issued a report
on gangs and drugs which produced a number of recommendations ranging from drug
abuse prevention programs in our schools to improved drug abuse treatment
programs in our Department of Corrections.
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ut Bob also recognized a key ingredient is having good folks in the trenches doing the work. To describe Bob as a mentor does not begin to describe his positive and life changing impact upon the lives of so very many connected with our criminal justice system here in Los Angeles.
I recollect a count towards the end of Governor Deukmejian’s second term of office that he had appointed to the bench 88 Grade IV deputy district attorneys from Los Angeles County. And needless to say, Bob’s imprimatur was the pivotal element in each of those appointments, and many more. Many of the judges Bob coached and encouraged are still on the bench or still contributing in other ways in their retirements. His legacy is a generation of judges all up and down California from the trial courts to our State Supreme Court and our local federal bench. Bob was rightfully recognized by his alma mater Southwestern with their mentorship prize.
And last but not least, Bob was a fun guy. He enjoyed a good party and was often involved in the planning of events. He belonged to a number of organizations whose goal was to promote collegiality amongst the bench and the bar.
The name of Bob Philibosian is truly worthy of inclusion on our Wall of Fame. Thank you, Bob.
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