Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Feb. 16, 1996

Chavez to Run for Assistant Presiding Judge Post

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victor Chavez said Friday he will compete for the post of 1997 assistant presiding judge of his court.

Chavez, a judge known for his affability and high attainment as a trial lawyer, becomes the second jurist to enter the contest. Judge Richard Montes, who has broad administrative experience, declared his candidacy the week before.

There is also a widespread expectation that some judge will make a bid to become the first woman to head the 238-judge court. There is reportedly an effort under way by members of the court to persuade Judge Candace Cooper to run, though a prospect is also seen of Judge Judith Ashmann or Judge Judith Chirlin entering the race.

Cooper, who was named by the County Bar in 1992 as "Outstanding Trial Judge of the Year," would not only be the first woman at the helm, but also the first black.

Whoever is elected would, if tradition is followed, be elected to a second one-year term as assistant presiding judge, then get the nod from colleagues to serve two one-year terms as the court's presiding judge. Chavez told the METNEWS he had put out "feelers" among colleagues and found a "very, very warm" response to the prospect of his running.

The jurist said the ability he has to offer is that of being able "to communicate not only with my colleagues, but with others." Among the "others," he mentioned "the Board of Supervisors, legislators, and judges of other courts."

It was that ability he spotlighted in a letter to colleagues, dispatched on Thursday, a copy of which was obtained by the METNEWS.

Chavez wrote:

"Of primary concern is the County budget crisis and its impact on our court. Never before have we had to face such a serious threat to the operation of the Superior Court. This situation has led to the need for increased contact and interaction with the State Legislature, the Board of Supervisors as well as other judges throughout the state.

"Our position on various topics must be presented in an atmosphere of mutual respect with our goal always to serve the people of our jurisdiction by providing justice in all of our courts. We must preserve and enhance the status of judges as independent constitutional officers. I pledge to resist any effort to allow judges to become mere managers or cogs in a judicial bureaucracy."

Chavez was appointed to the Superior Court in 1990 following 31 years in private practice. He was president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates 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. An avid horseman, he is a founder of the Cowboy Lawyers. Chavez, 65, is the father of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victoria Chavez.