10 <strong>San</strong> <strong>Bernardino</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Bar</strong> <strong>Association</strong> <strong>April</strong> <strong>2009</strong>Judge Margaret Powers... (from page 1)“She is always willing to help thosewho are willing to help themselves,”she said. The result of such an approach,Morris opined, is that the drug recidivismrate drops, broken families are reunitedand children who see their parentssucceeding are less likely to continueaddiction or violence patterns.“Her influence definitely extends farbeyond the courtroom,” she pointedout.Before entering the legal field, Powersworked first as a car hop, and later inretail and clerical jobs. She spent 10years working in the cable televisionindustry, and enrolled in night school totake business classes to help advance hercareer in that industry.“Married to a cop, I always thought Ishould be able to take care of myself andthe kids if anything happened to him,”she reflected. She earned an Associate’sDegree from Chaffey College andeventually rose from a clerk to generalmanager with Group W Cable. One ofher favorite classes was a business lawclass.“I loved reading cases,” she said.“An attorney taught the class, and hisapproach was like it is in law school. Ijust loved the process. When I realizedthat’s what I would do in law school, Idecided that’s what I would do.”Although she planned to work inher company’s legal department afterearning a law degree, Powers discovereddoing so would require relocation toNew York. Instead, she went to work forthe Orange <strong>County</strong> District Attorney’sOffice to obtain trial experience.“Six months in, I realized I loved it,”she recalled. “I had never thought that Iwanted to do that, but I found I loved it.I said, ‘This is what I want to do.’ And Iforgot all about cable.”After working as a trial attorney,Powers decided to seek a judgeship.“I liked the idea of solving theproblems,” she explained. Then-Gov.Pete Wilson appointed her to theMunicipal Court Bench in 1992 andthree years later, she was elevated to theSuperior Court. Except for temporaryassignments, Powers has spent heryears on the bench in the VictorvilleDistrict. She currently handles felonytrials there.Powers said she was “surprised andthrilled” to learn her work has earnedher the Kaufman-Campbell Award.“The two justices were amazingpeople,” she opined. “It’s such an honorto get an award named for them - and tobe in the company of the other judgeswho have received this award.”Scafiddi said notifying a judge of theirselection for the award is “by far the bestthing we get to do” as a bar president.“Every judge always acts the same- they’re overwhelmed with honor,”he said. “Judge Powers was literallyspeechless.”“The award is named after twowonderful leaders of our legalcommunity,” he added. “There’sa significance to that. It really is awonderful award to receive if you’re abench officer.”Past recipients include Judges MichaelDest in 2008; Brian McCarville, 2007; A.Rex Victor, 2006; Christopher Warner,2005; Bob Krug, 2004; Patrick Morris,2003; Michael Smith, Jules Fleuret andDennis Cole, 2002; LeRoy Simmons,Betty Richli and Joseph Johnston, 2001and Rufus Yent, Frederick Mandabachand John Ingro in 2000.Powers will receive her award at theKaufman-Campbell dinner May 28 atthe Hilton Hotel in <strong>San</strong> <strong>Bernardino</strong>.J’Amy Pacheco is Editor of the <strong>San</strong><strong>Bernardino</strong> Bulletin, a MetropolitanNews publication.SBCBA Mentoring ProgramThe <strong>San</strong> <strong>Bernardino</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Bar</strong><strong>Association</strong>’s Mentoring Programwas designed to allow new lawyersan opportunity to learn and utilizevaluable practice tips related to thepractice of a specific area of law fromseasoned, experienced local lawyers.The following lawyers have agreed tobe on the mentoring program:Bradley White (Employment Law)Eric R. Hunt(SSD Law)David Call (Criminal Defense)William D. Shapiro (Personal Injury)Nicole Anderson (Dep. Law 00 WIC)Michael A. Scafiddi (DUI/DMV H’rgs)Janet Stouder-Brandon (Family Law)Tom Dominick(Probate)Emile Mullick (Federal Civil Rights)John Belton(Bankruptcy)C L Farrell (Probate, E/P and Trusts)Greg Zumbrunn (Family Law, E/P)Help is now a phone call away. To learnmore about this new program, or addyour name to the list, please contact our<strong>Bar</strong> <strong>Association</strong> Staff at (909) 885-1986.
<strong>April</strong> <strong>2009</strong>“The oldest continuously active bar association in California”11 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■■■■■■
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