Justice Judith Haller was nominated to the Fourth District California Court of Appeal in 1994, found to be "exceptionally well qualified" for the position, and unanimously confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments on August 9, 1994.  The voters confirmed Justice Haller in two former retention elections.  She previously served as a San Diego Superior Court Judge for five years.

Justice Haller was born and raised in Los Angeles and graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA.  After graduation, she moved to San Diego, where she earned a Master of Arts degree, with honors, from San Diego State University.  She also worked for the university as an administrator in the Dean of Student Activities Office.  Following a lifelong dream, she attended law school and, in 1975, graduated with honors from California Western School of Law.

After admission to the Bar, Justice Haller worked as a deputy district attorney for the San Diego District Attorney's Office for three years prosecuting criminal cases and litigating dependency matters.  Over the next 10 years she worked at Higgs Fletcher and Mack, where she represented clients involved in civil litigation disputes.  She was a partner at the firm when she was appointed to the superior court.

During her tenure at the appellate court, Justice Haller has been actively involved in a leadership role in organizations and committees devoted to improving the judicial system; maintaining the highest standards of ethical conduct; and educating members of the legal community.  Among her work in this area, she was appointed by the Chief Justice to the Executive Committee of the Commission on the Future of California's Court System, where she served as chair of the Civil Working subgroup, and in 2017 made several recommendations to increase and improve assistance for self-represented litigants and streamline and reduce the cost of litigation in all civil cases.

Justice Haller is currently a member of the Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions; a former chair of the California Judges Association Ethics Committee; and has served as a Special Master to preside over disciplinary hearings brought by the Commission on Judicial Performance.  She is also a Master and member of the Executive Committee of the American Inns of Court, Enright Chapter; a Master of the San Diego Appellate Inn of Court; and a longtime member of Lawyers Club of San Diego and the Board of Trustees of California Western School of Law.  For the past 10 years, she has served as the chair of the Appellate Court Legacy Project and has been a frequent lecturer at continuing education programs.

Justice Haller has been honored to be recognized by the legal community as a recipient of the Bernard E. Witkin, Esq. Award (presented annually for civic leadership and excellence in the teaching, practice, enactment or adjudication of the law); the Joan Dempsey Klein Distinguished Jurist Award (presented by California Women Lawyers for excellence as a jurist and commitment to gender equity); and a 2012 Professionalism Award (presented by the American Inns of Court Foundation).

Justice Haller and her husband have two children and three grandchildren.

As an appellate court justice, I apply and interpret the law as set forth in the United States Constitiution, the Constitution of the State of California and in state statutes as relevant to the facts of the dispute before me to reach a fair and just conclusion.  I believe it is critical to provide an independent forum where disputes can be resolved without bias or prejudice. I also believe it is important to mentor young attorneys and participate actively in the legal community.  

Governor George Deukmejian appointed Patricia Benke to the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One in May of 1987. She was confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments and took her oath of office on June 3, 1987. The California State Bar Association Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation rated her at its highest level, "exceptionally well qualified" for appointment to the Court of Appeal. The Clerk of the Court confirms that at the time of her appointment Justice Benke had the distinction of being the youngest person ever appointed to any Court of Appeal in California. She was the first woman appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One. She was twice a candidate for the California Supreme Court.

Judicial and Professional History

Justice Benke began her legal career as a Deputy Attorney General for the State of California (1974-1983). She drafted briefs and represented the State of California in cases before the United States Supreme Court, California Supreme Court and in the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Divisions One (San Diego), Two (San Bernardino) and Three (Orange County). Justice Benke served as a trial attorney on special assignment to the San Diego District Attorney's Office and Imperial County District Attorney's Office. She also served as a member of the Attorney General’s Legislative Task Force, reviewing all proposed legislation affecting appellate procedure, probation and parole. She was the Attorney General’s Representative to the State Conference on the Judiciary, Blue Ribbon Task Force on Probation and Parole and served as the Attorney General’s representative to district attorney regional conferences. Justice Benke co-compiled the Peace Officers’ Penal Code, a reference book used statewide by law enforcement officers in the field. She is a former state president of the California Association of Deputy Attorneys General.

In July of 1983 Governor George Deukmejian appointed Justice Benke to the San Diego Municipal Court where she presided over special departments, felony preliminary hearings, and criminal and civil trials. In June of 1985 Governor Deukmejian appointed her to the San Diego Superior Court. As a superior court judge, she heard criminal and civil trials and presided in the departments of family law and motion, and civil law and motion. Voters elected her to the Superior Court position in 1986. For both municipal and superior court appointments Justice Benke was rated "exceptionally well qualified" by the California Bar Association's Commission on Judicial Nominees.

In May of 1987 Governor Deukmejian appointed Justice Benke to her current position as an Associate Justice. On November 6, 1990, voters confirmed Justice Benke as an associate justice. She was reconfirmed by voters on November 8, 1994, and in November of 2006.

Professional Activities

Justice Benke's judicial activities include appointment to the California Judicial Council, a statewide body charged with improving the administration of justice in California. She served on judicial advisory committees including those examining the future of appellate courts and the adequacy of payment to attorneys representing the indigent. She is a member of the Appellate Indigent Defense Oversight Committee which audits the state's appellate indigent defense budget and advises on policy. Justice Benke served on the Advisory Committee on Rules for Publication of Court of Appeal Opinions.

Justice Benke is an advocate of adult and second career education. She currently serves as a core adjunct professor in National University’s Department of Criminal Justice Administration. She has also taught in the university's Leadership and Business Ethics tracks.

Recognition

Selected as one of five members of the San Diego County Bar Association's "Legends of the Bar, 2018" project.

Among her recognitions, Justice Benke in 2007 received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of San Diego School of Law. She was the first recipient of the Napoleon A. Jones, Jr. Award for Judicial Excellence for "Distinguished Service to Justice and Commitment to Diversity and Community Service" presented by the Earl Gilliam Bar Association.

Community Involvement

Justice Benke is a sponsor and volunteer at one of San Diego’s therapeutic riding programs.

She is an award-winning novelist.

Before her appointments to the bench Justice Benke was a member of San Diego’s Park and Recreation Board, which advises the San Diego City Council and mayor on development and maintenance of the parks and recreation facilities in the city. She served as the Board's Chairperson for Balboa Park.

Education and Admission to Practice

Justice Benke received her law degree from The University of San Diego School of Law where she served as the managing editor of the San Diego Law Review.

She was admitted to practice before the California Bar, the Federal District Court for the Southern District of California, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Justice Benke is married and has two children

Justice Cynthia Aaron was appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal in January, 2003 and was retained by the voters in her last election.  She was rated "exceptionally well qualified" for appointment to the Court of Appeal by the California State Bar's Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation.  Prior to her appointment to the Court of Appeal, Justice Aaron served as a United States Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court of the Southern District of California, in San Diego.

Justice Aaron was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  She left Minnesota to attend college at Stanford University where she graduated with a BA in Psychologyin 1979, with distinction and departmental honors and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.  After working in the Bay Area for two years, she was admitted to Harvard Law School where she received her Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, in 1984.

Justice Aaron began her legal career as a trial attorney at Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. and later formed a law firm with one of her colleagues, where she handled criminal and civil cases in both state and federal court.  Justice Aaron left her law firm in 1994 when she was appointed to the position of Unites States Magistrate Judge.  She served in that position until her appointment to the California Court of Appeal.

Justice Aaron has served on the State-Federal Judicial Council and on the Appellate Advisory Committee, by appointment of the Chief Justice of California.

Justice Aaron is a recipient of the AJC Judge Learned Hand Award, in recognition of her leadership and commitment to equity, justice and excellence in the application of the law.

Justice Aaron has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at both the University of San Diego School of Law and California Western School of Law, and has taught at numerous other legal events.  She is a former president of the San Diego County Judges Association and was a member of the Board of Directors of that organization for several years.  She has also served as a board member of the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program, an organization dedicated to providing equal access to the justice system.

Justice Aaron is married.  She and her husband have three grown children.

I am committed to ensuring justice, fairness, impartiality and excellence in the application of the law.

Patricia Guerrero has been serving as an Associate Justice for the Fourth Appellate District since December 2017.  She was appointed to serve in November 2017, she was found to be "exceptionally well qualified" for the position by the California State Bar Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission, and she was unanimously confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments on December 14, 2017.  She previously served as a judge of the San Diego Superior Court. 

Justice Guerrero grew up in the Imperial Valley, where her family and friends still reside.  She was born in Brawley and graduated from Imperial High School in 1990.  She attended college at the University of California at Berkeley.  She majored in Legal Studies and graduated magna cum laude in 1994, receiving the Julie Ann Ginsbach Scholarship (awarded to the two most distinguished students in the Legal Studies program).  She graduated from Stanford Law School in 1997, and received the Hilmer Oehlmann, Jr. Award for Excellence in Legal Writing. 

Following law school, Justice Guerrero joined the law firm of Latham & Watkins where she worked from 1997-2002 and 2003-2013 (in both the San Diego and San Francisco offices).  She was a member of the Environment, Land and Natural Resources Department and was elevated to partner in 2006.  She served on the firm's Associates Committee and was the firm-wide Chair of the Training and Career Enhancement Committee.  She also worked as a federal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California from April 2002 to July 2003. 

As a superior court judge, she handled criminal and family law matters.  Prior to her appointment to the Court of Appeal, she served as Supervising Judge for the Family Law Division.  She was recognized as the Judicial Officer of the Year by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers in January 2017, and by the San Diego Family Law Bar Association in November 2017. 

Justice Guerrero is actively involved in the legal community.  She is a Master of the San Diego Appellate Inn of Court.  She speaks at legal education seminars as well as civics education programs for elementary school students. 

Justice Guerrero and her husband have two sons in elementary and middle school. 

Joan Kathleen Irion took the oath of office of Associate Justice in 2003, after being found exceptionally well qualified for the position by California State Bar Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission. The voters confirmed Justice Irion in the last general election.  She previously served as a judge of the San Diego County Superior Court.

Justice Irion’s father was a doctor in the military and, when growing up, the Justice lived in many parts of the United States. Her father retired from the military service, and the family settled in California.  Justice Irion attended the University of California at Davis where she received her undergraduate degree, graduating with high honors.  At San Diego State University she earned a master’s degree in Public Administration, graduating with highest honors. She returned to Davis, where she obtained her law degree from U.C. Davis School of Law. There, she was managing editor of the Law Review.

Following law school, Justice Irion entered the private practice of law as a civil litigator with the law firms of Bronson, Bronson and McKinnon and Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe. She was the managing shareholder of Heller’s San Diego office until her judicial appointment.  

Throughout her legal career, Justice Irion taught and was a lecturer at several universities.  She is a frequent teacher at judicial education seminars.

Justice Irion devotes substantial time to the improvement of the courts, better access for self-represented individuals within the California judicial system, judicial education and civic education for kids.  She is the Court of Appeal liaison to the Civil Appellate Self-Help workshop and appeared in an introductory explanatory video that is shown to all attending the self-help workshop. The video is available on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO6EPVGoCeg. ­­­­­­

As a member of the National Association of Women Judges, Justice Irion developed the organization’s Informed Voters Fair Judges non-partisan education project to increase public awareness about the judicial system and to give voters the tools needed to insure judges are appointed and elected based on their character and abilities.  The project produced an Emmy-Award winning public service announcement “Fair and Free,” featuring United States Supreme Court Justice (Retired) Sandra Day O’Connor, which is available on YouTube.  Justice Irion accepted the Emmy Award on behalf of the Judges Association.

You can learn more about Justice Joan Irion on the California courts’ website, http://www.courts.ca.gov/2870.htm.

            As an appellate justice, I strive to apply the Constitution and laws with fairness, integrity and in an even-handed manner.

Justice Richard Huffman was appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal for the State of California by Governor George Deukmejian in October of 1988 following his tenure as a Judge of the Superior Court for San Diego County since April of 1985.

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Justice Huffman served as Chief Deputy District Attorney for over 10 years and as Assistant District Attorney for the remainder of his 14 years of service with the San Diego County District Attorney's Office. In those positions he was responsible for the overall supervision of a staff of 450, while at the same time personally taking to trial a number of complex and sensitive cases. His contributions to the administration of justice and his trial skills brought him four singular honors: "Outstanding Prosecutor of the Year" by the California District Attorneys Association, "Outstanding Public Lawyer" by the San Diego County Bar Association, "Prosecutor of the Year" by Citizens for Law and Order, and selection for membership in the American College of Trial Lawyers. He was also the recipient in 1988 of the San Diego Trial Lawyers Association's "Trial Judge of the Year Award." In 2012 Justice Huffman was presented with the Ronald M. George Award for Judicial Excellence by the Judicial Council of California.

Justice Huffman was admitted to the State Bar of California in January of 1966 following his graduation with a J.D. degree from the University of Southern California. He began his legal career with the State Attorney General's Office. For three of his five years there, Justice Huffman headed the Attorney General's Special Prosecutions and Organized 2 Crime Unit for Southern California, also serving in a cross-designated capacity as Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern and Central Districts, as well as being a member of the Federal Strike Force on Organized Crime in Los Angeles.

Additionally, Justice Huffman is a former Vice President of the San Diego County Bar Association, served two terms on the State Bar of California's commission evaluating judicial nominees, served as a law professor for many years, and is a regular lecturer at programs for judges and attorneys. He was a member of the adjunct faculty of the University of San Diego law school from 1972 to 2017, and has served as a faculty member and as director of the University's International and Comparative Law programs in Guadalajara, Mexico, Oxford, England and Dublin, Ireland. He is a Judicial Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, an honorary diplomate of the American Board of Trial Advocates, a member of the Judicial Advisory Board for the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, a founding director of the San Diego Inn of Court and a Master of the American Inns of Court.

Justice Huffman was a member of the California Judicial Council from 1997 to 2011, and served as chair of its Executive and Planning Committee. He was chair of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care, and chair of the Financial Accountability and Efficiency Committee for the Judicial Council. He has also served as co-chair of the Tribal Court/State Court Forum, chair of the Riverside Criminal Backlog Reduction Task Force, chair of the Criminal Law Advisory Committee, a member of the 3 Appellate Advisory Committee, a member of the Governing Committee of the Center for Judicial Education and Research, and chair of the Task Force on Photography, Broadcasting & Recording in the Courtroom (Rule 980 Task Force).

Justice Huffman is also a member of the Judicial Leadership Council of the National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association.

A native Californian, Justice Huffman and his wife Caroline have resided in San Diego since 1971. They have one son, Richard.

Justice William Dato was confirmed to the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One in February 2017. Previously he was a judge of the San Diego Superior Court for 13 years, serving as supervising judge of the North County branch, presiding judge of the court’s appellate division, and in a variety of substantive assignments.  By appointment of the Supreme Court, Justice Dato currently serves as a member of the California Commission on Judicial Performance.

Before his appointment to the bench, Justice Dato was a certified appellate law specialist in private practice and worked as an appellate court staff attorney with the California Supreme Court and California Court of Appeal. He has also been an adjunct professor at both the University of San Diego School of Law and California Western School of Law, teaching appellate practice and products liability.

Married and the father of four children, Justice Dato is a native San Diegan. He received his law degree from University of California, Los Angeles in 1980 and his bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University in 1977.