Friday, September 12, 1997

Page 3

Chavez Named Metropolitan News-Enterprise 'Person of the Year'

Los Angeles Superior Court Assistant Presiding Judge Victor Chavez will be feted by the Metropolitan News-Enterprise as 1997 "Person of the Year," it was announced yesterday by MetNews Co-Publisher Jo-Ann W. Grace.

He will be saluted at a Jan. 16 dinner in his honor at the Regal Biltmore Hotel and will be spotlighted in the Dec. 31 issue of the MetNews, Grace said. She said of the jurist:

"Judge Chavez was highly regarded as a lawyer. Membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates is obtainable only by attorneys of the highest standing in the profession, and Chavez was not only a member of that group, but its Los Angeles Chapter president.

"As a judge, he is equally well regarded. As testimony to that, he won election as assistant presiding judge over two opponents without a run-off.

"Victor Chavez is knowledgeable, judicious, and industrious. Besides that, he is a warm person with humility and a sense of humor."

In a departure from previous years, the Person of the Year Dinner will not be a black-tie affair. Instead, guests will be asked to wear Western attire, in keeping with the theme of honoring Chavez, an avid horseman and founder of the Cowboy Lawyers Association.

The dinner, to be emceed by former District Attorney Robert Philibosian, will also feature a tribute to Los Angeles Superior Court Presiding Judge Robert Parkin. He will be honored for his 40 years of public service in Los Angeles County, which began as a Long Beach police officer in April 1957, Grace said.

She commented:

"Gentlemanly and soft-spoken, Judge Parkin leads the Los Angeles Superior Court skillfully and effectively. He has the respect of the members of his court and those outside the court who have dealings with it.

"His background as a law enforcement officer, city prosecutor in Long Beach, and Long Beach city attorney has given him perspective. His leadership of the court has been truly outstanding."

Chavez was appointed to the Los Angeles Superior Court by then-Gov. George Deukmejian in 1990 following 31 years in private practice. He was president of the Los Angeles Chapter of ABOTA in 1979, vice president of the State Bar's Committee of Bar Examiners in 1975, and was president of the Mexican American Bar Assn. in 1971.

He is the father of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victoria Chavez.

Parkin worked in the Long Beach Police Department Crime Laboratory from 1957 to 1961, graduating from law school in the interim. He was deputy city prosecutor for Long Beach from 1961 to 1965, deputy city attorney from 1965 to 1974, city prosecutor from 1974 to 1978, and city attorney from 1978 until Deukmejian appointed him to the Superior Court in 1985. He was the assistant presiding judge in 1995 and 1996.

Former persons of the year are Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Mildred Lillie, 1983; California Supreme Court Justice Stanley Mosk, 1984; the late Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Lester Wm. Roth, 1985; the late Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathleen Parker, 1986; then-Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Billy G. Mills (since retired), 1987; then-Los Angeles Superior Court Executive Officer Frank Zolin, 1988; then-Court of Appeal Justice Lynn "Buck" Compton (since retired), 1989; Court of Appeal Justice Miriam Vogel and then-State Bar President Charles Vogel, 1990. Also Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Vaino Spencer, 1991; Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Joan Dempsey Klein, 1992; Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Mallano, 1993; Court of Appeal Justice Norman Epstein, 1994; California Attorney General Dan Lungren, 1995, and California Chief Justice Ronald George, 1996.