December 2011 - Riverside Lawyer Magazine - Riverside County ...

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Richard T. Fields BarAssociationJudge David Bristow, Judge Sheri Pym,U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte, District Attorney Michael Ramosand Dennis WagnerPresiding Judge Audrey Collins addressed a luncheon we hadon their behalf to honor them for their courageous work.The Inland Empire Chapter exists for the sole purposeof providing support to practitioners who appear in federalcourt and a liaison between our attorney members and thefederal bench. The board of directors meets monthly andcurrently consists of the following board members: DennisWagner (President), Dan Roberts (Secretary), Robert Stacy(Treasurer), Jacqueline Carey-Wilson, Charles S. Doskow,John Holcomb, Ken MacVey, Mark Schnitzer, Richard Scott,Emile Mullick, and Jeb Brown, along with the followinghonorary members: Antoine Raphael, Jesus Bernal, JudgeDavid Bristow, Judge Oswald Parada, Judge Virginia Phillips,Sheri Pym (President Elect), and Kiry Gray.Our chapter will be in excellent hands for the 2012 calendaryear, with Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym taking on theresponsibilities of our chapter president.Dennis Wagner is the current President of the Inland EmpireChapter of the Federal Bar Association. He is a partner with thefirm of Wagner & Pelayes, LLP.Photographs courtesy of Jacqueline Carey-Wilson.Stephen Larson, District Attorney Paul Zellerbach,and Magistrate Judge Oswald ParadaFounded: 2010.Location: Inland Empire, serving Riverside and SanBernardino Counties.Background: The Richard T. Fields Bar Association representsthe interests of African-American attorneys in the InlandEmpire. As the local affiliate of the National Bar Associationand the California Association of Black Lawyers, it seeks topromote pipeline initiatives to increase the number of youthof color in the area who pursue careers in law and to promotejustice for communities of color in the Inland Empire. Theorganization was preceded by the African American AttorneysAssociation of the Inland Empire, which operated in the1990s and shared many of the goals of the current organization.On July 11, 2010, the RTF Bar Association held its InauguralEvent and Reception, which was the first official event of thenew organization. Judge Fields was honored and the newmembers of the board took oaths administered by JusticeCandice Cooper. Nearly 100 persons were in attendance forthis event, which was hosted at the University of La VerneCollege of Law.Current Association Leadership:President: Willie W. Williams, Law Offices of Willie W.Williams, Rancho Cucamonga; employment, real estate andbusiness disputes.President-Elect: Eric V. Isaac, Supervising Attorney, Officeof the Public Defender, Riverside.Secretary: Jennifer Small, Office of the Public Defender,Riverside.Treasurer: Kamola Gray, the Law Office of Kamola Gray,Riverside; bankruptcy and family law.Board Member: Gary Polk, Office of the District Attorney,Riverside.Contact Information: Richard T. Fields Bar Assoc., P.O. Box3716, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91729; rtfieldsba@gmail.com.About the Association’s namesake: The bar associationbears the name of the Honorable Richard T. Fields, who wasthe first African-American judge in Riverside County. JudgeFields has presided in the courts of Riverside County for thepast 20 years. In 2007 and 2008, Judge Fields served as thePresiding Judge of the entire Riverside County court system.Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Fields servedas a Reginald Heber Smith National Poverty Law Fellow withthe Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. He was associatedwith the Law Offices of Susan R. Wasserman, and he alsoserved for several years as a Riverside County deputy publicdefender. Judge Fields was also associated with the law firmof Reynolds, Bawden & Lawson.Riverside Lawyer, December 2011 13
Historic Riverside:The 1921 State Bar Comes to the River CityMost everyone in Riverside is aware ofour historic Mission Inn. Many may not know,however, that one of the earliest annual conventionsof the California Bar Association washeld at the venerable hostelry.The 12th Annual Meeting was hosted atthe Mission Inn on October 20-22, 1921. Atthat time, Jefferson P. Chandler, of Los Angeles,was the in-coming president of the CaliforniaBar Association. Other members included Vice-Presidents William B. Bosley (San Francisco),Frank James (Los Angeles), J.M.S. Butler(Sacramento), Treasurer Delger Trowbridge(San Francisco) and Secretary T.W. Robinson(Los Angeles).Local attorney Hugh Craig was a memberof the Laws Relative to Trusts and CorporationsSection and Loyal C. Kelley, the then-president of the RiversideBar Association, was part of the Law Reporting Committee. H.L.Thompson, the founder of Thompson & Colegate, and RaymondBest, of Best Best & Krieger fame, were also two of the attendeesat this convention. Others in attendance from Riverside wereC.W. Benshoof, Walter C. Davison, W.H. Ellis, Lyman Evans,W.G. Irving, C.L. McFarland, Thomas F. Porteous, James L.Richardson, George A. Sarau and Kenneth Evans Schwinn.Attorneys from San Bernardino included the Honorable J.W.Curtis, Henry Goodcell, A.S. Maloney, Ralph E. Swing and BryonWaters.The meeting was called to order at 2 p.m. on October 20,1921 by H.C. Wyckoff (Watsonville), who was serving as the 12thState Bar President. Wyckoff then introduced Dr. Horace Porter,who was in his fourth year at the mayor of Riverside. It was Porterwho delivered the opening address to those in attendance.Like any good political salesman, the mayor commenced hisaddress by praising the many benefits of his fine city. He notedthat Riverside had already hosted numerous national, state andlocal conventions. He complimented the Mission Inn by statingthat “this hotel is a convention hotel.” He commented that conventionscan be held in “this beautiful musical cloister, or in theSpanish Arts room.”Dr. Porter was also quick to note that his fair city could hosteven larger conventions. Specifically, he said pointed out thatthe Polytechnic High School Auditorium could seat up to 1,500people. He expressed his hope that Riverside would one day havewhat every town hopes to have – a municipal auditorium. Helamented that “we haven’t got it yet.”by Bruce E. ToddLoyal C. Kelley,RCBA President, 1921 and 1926The mayor acknowledged that he himselfwas not a lawyer, and yet he expressed his interestin the law. “I do not know anything morefascinating, more instructive and inspiringthan the pages of Blackstone,” said Dr. Porter.Porter then complimented the founder ofthe Mission Inn. He said that “you lawyers area good deal like the master of the inn here.”Specifically, he spoke of Frank Miller, whomhe described in glowing terms as a “peaceidealist.”The mayor continued his address by statingthat he had high hopes that the CaliforniaState Bar is a “progressive body.” He opinedthat there were two great conservative thingsin the world which need to be reformed andmade progressive – theology and the law. Hecommented that they seemed to compete with each other to be“more conservative or medieval.”Dr. Porter then praised City Attorney Miguel Estudillo forguiding him for the past four years through difficult legal issuesinvolving electric lights, water and power, street building andtraffic, and police and police methods. Estudillo was admitted tothe bar in 1896 and held bar number 1,617.Riverside’s mayor closed his address by praising the legal professionwith the comment that “when you get down to the heartof it, lawyers stand for law and right and justice and truth.”Following Dr. Porter’s welcome address, Charles S. Cushing,San Francisco, provided a response to it.He thanked his legal brethren from Southern California forhosting the convention. He said that “when we come to SouthernCalifornia we can expect to be heartily welcomed; indeed, thename ‘Southern California’ is itself a term that indicates hospitality.”Cushing said that he expected to have a “royal good time”in coming to the “site of this beautiful city.” He noted that themayor’s address provided “assurance that our welcome here is asgenial and as warm as is the sun upon the sides of its beautifulstreets.”Before closing his remarks, Cushing poked fun at the mayor’scomments about theology and the law being reactionary. Hequipped that “this is the first time in the history of the CaliforniaBar Association that we have held our meeting in a chapel. I feelsure that this combining of the law and the gospel that has takenplace here will tend to make us more progressive, if we are notalready so.”14 Riverside Lawyer, December 2011
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December 2011 - Riverside Lawyer Magazine - Riverside County ...

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