¡Viva La Fiesta! - Santa Barbara County Bar Association

A Seasoned Litigator
Takes the Bench
By Melissa Fassett
The latest appointment to the bench in Santa Barbara
is Donna Geck, a seasoned litigator whose
appointment was announced by Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger on June 30, 2010. Ms. Geck will fill a
vacancy on the Santa Barbara County Superior Court created
by the conversion of a court commissioner position
on November 4, 2009. Upon taking
the bench, Ms. Geck will sit in Department
8 and will handle criminal
cases.
Ms. Geck has spent her legal career
handling litigation since she began
practicing law in 1976. During her
first year of practice, she handled
criminal defense, and thereafter she
has practiced civil litigation. At the
time of her appointment to the bench,
Ms. Geck was a partner with the
law firm of Hager & Dowling, and
has served as an attorney in its Santa
Barbara office since 1995, specializing
in civil trial practice. In that position,
she has handled a large variety of civil
cases, with extensive experience in
insurance defense, bad faith, product
liability, personal injury and wrongful
death. She has also served as a settlement
master for the Santa Barbara
County Superior Court. Ms. Geck is
a member of the American Board of
Trial Advocates (“ABOTA”) and is a
past president of the California Coast
Chapter of ABOTA.
Previously, Ms. Geck was employed
as an attorney at Arthur, Chapman,
Kettering, Smetak & Pikala from 1985
to 1995, as a partner at McDonough, Geck & Cronan from
1982 to 1985, and at Austin, Roth, Sunde, McDonough &
August 2010 7
Legal News
Tierney from 1977 to 1981. Ms. Geck began her legal career
as an assistant public defender for the St. Paul, Minnesota
Public Defender’s Office from 1976 to 1977.
Ms. Geck became a lawyer “by accident”. Initially a
broadcast journalist, she went to law school with the goal
of going into legal broadcast journalism. After completing
law school, however, she decided that she wanted to
practice law. Ms. Geck received her J. D., with distinction,
from the University of North Dakota School of Law, and a
Bachelor of Arts degree from Marquette University. She is
admitted to practice before the Federal and State Courts in
California, in North Dakota, and in Minnesota.
Asked about her role models, Ms. Geck identified the
Honorable Denise de Bellefeuille, a judge of the Santa Barbara
County Superior Court since 1994. Ms. Geck observed
that Judge de Bellefeuille conducts herself beautifully while
on the bench and sets an example for judicial conduct.
Ms. Geck would advise attorneys
considering applying for a judgeship
to retain records about all of the cases
they handle. The application for a
judgeship is daunting and requires
extensive historical information about
cases handled, the parties involved,
the opposing counsel and the court in
which the cases were tried.
Commenting about gender bias, Ms.
Geck observed that while it is not as
overt as it was, it is still there. As an
example of the progress which has
been made, Ms. Geck noted that she
was the first female member of the
California Coast Chapter of the American
Board of Trial Advocates, and was
also its first female president.
Donna Geck
Ms. Geck will fill a vacancy
on the Santa Barbara County
Superior Court created by
the conversion of a court
commissioner position on
November 4, 2009.
While Ms. Geck has devoted herself
to the legal profession, her passions off
the bench are many. She is devoted
to her four children and also loves to
travel, ski and sail.
After her extensive experience as a
litigator, Ms. Geck looks forward to
serving on the other side of the bench.
Ms. Geck anticipates that her years
as a trial lawyer will provide valuable
experience on the bench and will
benefit the lawyers who will appear
before her. Her advice for lawyers appearing before her is
that civility rules!