News

Sac Child Advocates Wine and Dine Benefit - May 17

Sacramento Child Advocates, Inc. (SCA), a non-profit organization providing legal representation to the approximately 5,000 children in foster care in Sacramento County, is having its annual “A Wine and Dine Benefit for Children” on Saturday, May 17, 2008 at the CSU Sacramento Grand Ballroom.  Tickets are $75/per person.  SCA is also still seeking sponsors and donations for the live and silent auction.   For more information, contact Sonia Fernandes at SFernandes@dmhc.ca.gov. 

THE HON. EMILY E. VASQUEZ TO RECEIVE AWARD

California Women Lawyers is pleased to announce that The Honorable Emily E. Vasquez, Judge, Sacramento County Superior Court, will be the eighth recipient of CWL’s Rose Bird Memorial Award. The award will be bestowed on Judge Vasquez at CWL’s Northern California Judicial Reception, to be held Friday, March 28, 2008, in Sacramento. California Women Lawyers is the statewide women’s bar association dedicated to improving the status of women in law.

The Rose Bird Memorial Award, which honors judges for judicial excellence, groundbreaking public service, and inspiration to California’s women lawyers, is named in memory of former Chief Justice Rose Bird, the first female Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. Chief Justice Bird was appointed by then Governor Jerry Brown who recently took office as Attorney General. Among her many accomplishments, Justice Bird was the first woman appointed to the California cabinet and was one of the founders of CWL.

Judge Vasquez is often described as a woman with strong attributes of courage, compassion, great intellect, integrity, excellence, strong work ethic, and public service. She was appointed in October 2001 and serves with distinction on the Superior Court bench. She is widely known as a jurist who inspires large numbers of people through her motivational activities in organizations and institutions, such as Women Lawyers of Sacramento, LaRaza Lawyers Association, the Health Education Council, the Unity Bar, an association composed of the local specialty bars, and Operation Protect & Defend, a joint bench-bar high school civics enrichment project designed to educate students about the importance of civil rights and civil liberties and better inform them as citizens, prospective voters and jurors. She has served as a mentor to countless students and young lawyers in the region. Judge Vasquez has made significant contributions to the legal profession and the community at large throughout her legal and judicial career. In 2002, Judge Vasquez was appointed to the Judicial Council Court Technology Advisory Committee by Chief Justice Ron George. As a member of that committee and chair of the Sacramento Court Technology Committee, she has been instrumental in implementing technology in every area of court operations to improve access to our courts and to assist in the administration of justice.

Her personal story is one of courage and inspiration. As early as the third grade, when she was living in a farm labor camp with her parents, who had emigrated from Mexico, she decided she was going to college.  Judge Vasquez observed how hard her family worked in the fields to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads, and determined that college was a way for her to escape the poverty and hardship her parents had endured.  She obtained a prestigious, four-year Regents Scholarship at the University of California, Davis, and attended UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall for her Juris Doctor degree.  She had a remarkable 24-year legal career as a litigator representing a myriad of clients, from farm workers and criminal defendants to public agencies and private businesses, including major corporations.  She has lived a series of firsts:  first Latina lawyer and later partner at a major Sacramento law firm and first Latina Judge of the Sacramento Superior Court.  Judge Vasquez is a highly respected jurist who is dedicated to upholding the rule of law and odes it with fairness, justice, wisdom, and wit.

Despite a busy calendar on the Bench and in the community, Judge Vasquez is a devoted mother.  She and her husband, Ralph Lightstone, have two teenage children who are a source of pride, joy and happiness for her.

This career achievement award will be presented at The Sterling Hotel, 1300 H Street, Sacramento, CA on March 28, 2008, from 5:30-7:30 pm.  Please call the CWL Executive Office at (916) 646-3114, or e-mail info@cwl.org for more information.

California Women Lawyers Membership