November, December, 1996

Judge Nancy Brown Becomes Lifetime Member

Is the Second Sitting Judge to Join the Organization, and the First to Come Aboard at the $1,000 Level

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Nancy Brown has become the first sitting judge to join the Italian American Lawyers Assn. as a member for life.

Brown has been a member of the Superior Court since 1984, previously serving for eight years as a judge of the Los Angeles Municipal Court. Last Friday marked 20 years since she became a judge.

Her judicial career stretches back farther, however. In the period from 1969 to 1976, she served as a judge pro tem and commissioner of the Alhambra Municipal Court, then as a commissioner of the Los Angeles Municipal Court.

IALA President Jo-Ann W. Grace commented:

"Judge Brown is one of the most able and respected members of the Superior Court. She also is one of the most thoughtful and humanitarian members of our legal community.

"We are proud to have her as a member of our organization, and are delighted that she thinks so highly of the IALA as to join as a life member."

Brown is the second judge to join the IALA since the policy against admitting judges was lifted in August. That policy had been predicated on an admonishment in 1977 by the late Mario Clinco, an IALA founder, that judges were ethically precluded from joining.

The Board of Governors changed the policy after Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Bruce Sottile, the group’s judicial advisor, pointed out that the canons were changed several years ago, removing any ethical impediment to judges becoming members of bar groups.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge-Elect Karl Jaeger became the first sitting judge to join.

Even before the policy-change, the IALA did have one member who was a judge. George Schiavelli of the Superior Court had become a life member while an attorney and being paid up, he did not relinquish his membership.

The charge for a life membership is $1,000.

Other life members are founders Paul Caruso, Gene Carloni and Tony Capozzola; Grace; past presidents Diana Carloni, Schiavelli, and George West Sr.; George West Jr. and Maristina Galasso Johnson.

Under the new policy, members of the judiciary who do not wish to join may continue to be listed in the directory as honorary members.