Faculty & Leadership

We are a group of judges and practicing attorneys who work together to provide education and training to build skilled and ethical trial attorneys.

2024 Officers and Directors

Deborah Dixon

Deborah Dixon

President

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Joshua Brisbane

Joshua Brisbane

Vice President

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William Miller headshot

William A. Miller

Treasurer

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Amy Martel headshot

Amy Martel

Secretary

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Patricia Hollenbeck

Patricia P. Hollenbeck

Immediate Past President

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Darin Boles

Darin Boles

Director

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Hon. Mark T. Cumba

Hon. Mark T. Cumba

Director

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Hon . Francis Devaney

Hon. Francis M. Devaney

Director

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Cherie Enge headshot

Cherie Enge

Director

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Judge Enright headshot

Hon. Kevin Enright

Director

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David Gallo headshot

David J. Gallo

Director

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John Gomez

John H. Gomez

Director

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Max Halpern headshot

Max Halpern

Director

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Judge William Q. Hayes Headshot

Hon. William Q. Hayes

Director

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Valerie Garcia Hong headshot

Valerie Garcia Hong

Director

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Rhonda Mallory

Rhonda L. Mallory

Director

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Judge Lilys McCoy headshot

Hon. Lilys McCoy

Director

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Brian A. Rawers Headshot

Brian A. Rawers

Director

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Catherine Richardson headshot

Catherine A. Richardson

Director

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Judge Trentacosta headshot

Hon. Robert Trentacosta

Director

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James Wallace

James Wallace

Director

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Featured Lecturer

The Honorable Robert Trentacosta

Judge Robert J. Trentacosta completed his term as the Presiding Judge of the San Diego Superior Court in December 2013. Formerly, he held multiple leadership positions within the court including: Assistant Presiding Judge, Supervising Criminal Judge and Supervising Judge of the South County Division. He is presently presiding over Juvenile Justice matters.

Judge Trentacosta is currently a member of the California Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions (CJEO) providing ethics advice to all judicial officers in the State of California. He previously served as the Chairperson for all Judicial Leadership Education in the State of California. Judge Trentacosta is an Adjunct Professor of law at California Western School of Law teaching “Trial Practice.”

When he was a practicing trial lawyer, Judge Trentacosta was the President of the Plaintiff’s Trial Bar (2000) and the President of the San Diego Inn of Court, College of Advocacy (1997). He has been honored as “Outstanding Jurist of the Year” several times by various trial lawyer and bar organizations.

Robert J. Trentacosta, judge for the Superior Court of San Diego County

Program Volunteers - Attorneys

Steve Amundson
Edward “Skip” Babbitt
Micaela Banach
Tim Blood
Darin Boles
Sarah Brand
Joshua Brisbane
Brian Burchett
Jessica Coronado
John Culver
Thom Diachenko
Deborah Dixon
Cherie Enge
Robert Francavilla
John Freni

David Gallo
Anton Gerschler
John Gomez
Melanie Guillen
Max Halpern
Sarah Havens
Lucas Hirsty
Patricia Hollenbeck
Valerie Hong
Clark Hudson
Chris Hulburt
Robert Juskie
Price Kent
Brandon Kimura
Rebecca Lack

Chris Lawson
Paul Leeds
Alexandra Lorens
Jeremiah Low
Rhonda Mallory
Amy Rose Martel
Domenic Martini
Will Miller
David Munoz
Carree Nahama
Kim Oberrecht
Patrick Ojeil
John Philpott
Jim Pokorny
Roger Popeney

Catherine Richardson
Dwight Ritter
Neal Rockwood
Brett Schreiber
Sean Simpson
Paul Starita
Kimberly Swierenga
Chris Todd
Jon Vanderpool
Steve Vosseller
Jim Wallace
Chris Welsh
Ian Williamson
Allison Worden
Julia Yoo

Program Volunteers - Judges

Hon. Olga Alvarez
Hon. Wendy Behan
Hon. Daniel Belsky
Hon. Frank Birchak
Hon. Laura Birkmeyer
Hon. Matthew Braner
Hon. Jill Burkhardt
Hon. Anthony Campagna
Hon. Rebecca Church
Hon. Karen S. Crawford
Hon. Debbie Cumba

Hon. Mark Cumba
Hon. Cindy Davis
Hon. Frank Devaney
Hon. Kevin Enright
Hon. Eugenia Eyherabide
Hon. Ron Frazier
Hon. Loren Freestone
Hon. David Gill
Hon. Allison Goddard
Hon. Ernie Gross
Hon. Maureen Hallahan

Hon. William Q. Hayes
Hon. Rebecca Kanter
Hon. Keri Katz
Hon. Daniel Lamborn
Hon. James Mangione
Hon. Lilys McCoy
Hon. Marcella McLaughlin
Hon. Pennie McLaughlin
Hon. Kenneth Medel
Hon. Michael Orfield (Ret.)
Hon. Pamela Parker

Hon. Victor Pippins
Hon. Linda Quinn (Ret.)
Hon. Chandra Reid
Hon. Terrie Roberts
Hon. David Rubin
Hon. Ken So (Ret.)
Hon. Sherry Thompson-Taylor
Hon. Robert Trentacosta
Hon. Leonard Trinh
Hon. Joel Wohlfeil
Hon. Rohanee Zapanta

"Taking this type of a course is really a great refresher, and even though it’s outside of my comfort zone, the staff and the instructors, and the other people in our group are really great at just being encouraging and making us feel comfortable so that we can really just get down to practicing."

Carree Nahama Esq.

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