Tuesday, August 5, 2003
Page 1
Judge Eric Taylor to Head California Judges Association
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eric Taylor has been elected president of the California Judges Association for the 2003-2004 term, the group’s current president said yesterday.
Taylor was chosen at a Friday meeting of the organization’s board, President—and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge—Gregory O’Brien said. Other officers were chosen at that time, O’Brien explained, including Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michelle Rosenblatt, who will serve as one of two vice presidents.
O’Brien also said the organization had extended an offer to Stanley Bissey, currently assistant executive director of the San Francisco Medical Society, to succeed longtime CJA Executive Director Constance Dove, who retired after 20 years. Bissey said later in the day he had accepted the offer and would start work Sept. 15.
Taylor, 41, has been active in CJA virtually from the time of his appointment to the bench five years ago. He said he “liked the fact that the organization was supporting and nurturing of its members” and agreed to serve as a committee chair and then, for the past two years, as a board member.
Several of his role models as a judge, he added, have been past CJA presidents. He mentioned, among others, Chief Justice Ronald M. George, Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Candace Cooper, and the late Supreme Court Justice Allen Broussard, for whom Taylor worked as an extern before completing his law degree at the University of Virginia.
He said he had no specific personal agenda as president—operating CJA is “a collective effort,” he said—but expected the organization to continue “working to improve our justice system and attract qualified judicial candidates.”
He added that he looks forward to working with Bissey. The organization’s new head of day-to-day operations, he said, was “very prepared during interviews [and] has a lot of fantastic ideas on how CJA can be viable.”
Taylor, Rosenblatt, and the other new officers—Contra Costa Superior Court Commissioner Robert Broughton as vice president and Sacramento Superior Court Judge James Mize as secretary-treasurer—will be sworn in Nov. 2 at the group’s annual meeting in San Francisco.
Bissey, 39, has worked for the San Francisco Medical Society since October 2000. The Charleston, S.C. native and Idaho State University graduate has also worked for the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association and National Employment Lawyers Association and was a newspaper advertising executive before becoming involved in association management.
He said he foresees his role at CJA as “helping the members achieve what they want to accomplish” and “helping them build relationships.”
Copyright 2003, Metropolitan News Company