User:Paisavassul/sandbox

Tricia A. Bigelow is the former Associate Justice and Presiding Justice of the California Second District Court of Appeal, Division Eight having been appointed to the post by the California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008. Bigelow retired from the post on June 30, 2021.

Early life and education
Tricia Ann Bigelow was born in Long Beach, California, a daughter of Ross Bigelow, a scholar and judge for the Los Angeles Superior Court, and Janet Bigelow, a kindergarten teacher. Bigelow received a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from California State University, Fullerton in 1982 and a Juris Doctor from the Pepperdine University School of Law in 1986. She was admitted to the State Bar of California in December 1986.

Academic career
From 2006-2008, Bigelow served as Dean of the annual Bernard E. Witkin Judicial College for newly appointed judges and subordinate judicial officers, where she was in a position of Lecturer and Advisor. As the Dean of the Bernard Witkin Judicial College, Bigelow was responsible for the education of all new judges in the state of California.

Bigelow also co-authored a number of publications and books in the domain of law, including three legal publications for the Rutter Group. Her academic and judiciary memberships include Board of Advisors at Pepperdine School of Law and the Commission on the Future of California's Court System.

Academic career
From 2006-2008, Bigelow served as Dean of the annual Bernard E. Witkin Judicial College for newly appointed judges and subordinate judicial officers, where she was in a position of Lecturer and Advisor. As the Dean of the Bernard Witkin Judicial College, Bigelow was responsible for the education of all new judges in the state of California.

Bigelow also co-authored a number of publications and books in the domain of law, including three legal publications for the Rutter Group. Her academic and judiciary memberships include Board of Advisors at Pepperdine School of Law and the Commission on the Future of California's Court System.

Judicial service
Upon graduation from the Pepperdine University School of Law, Bigelow joined the criminal division of the California Attorney General’s Office in Los Angeles, where she served as Deputy Attorney General from 1986-1989, and Supervising Deputy Attorney General from 1989-1995. As Deputy Attorney General, she was cross designated as a Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney and as an Assistant United States Attorney. In a position of Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Bigelow was responsible for the oversight of a team of Deputy Attorneys General. She was also a trial coordinator for the Los Angeles Office, overseeing criminal trials in the office. Later, Bigelow was promoted to the Special Prosecutions Unit, where she prosecuted county, state, and federal criminal activity. Having joined the Special Prosecution Unit in a position of a Special Assistant United States Attorney, Bigelow presided over several multi-jurisdictional and complex cases of fraud and organized crime, including Mark R. Weinberg, a commodity broker charge with fraud by the US government.

Appointed by the California Governor Pete Wilson, Bigelow served as a judge at the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1995-1998, where she was on the Executive Committee, also serving as Supervising Judge of Hollywood Municipal Court. In 1998, Bigelow was elevated by the Governor Pete Wilson to the Los Angeles County Superior Court, where she handled high profile, complex criminal and civil cases. She was a member of the CACI jury instruction committee responsible for creating the standardized instructions for civil cases in the state. During her tenure, she was also the chair of the civil education committee for Los Angeles Superior Court, responsible for creating educational conferences for LASC. In 2008, Bigelow was appointed by the California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Second District Court of Appeal for the State of California as an Associate Justice, and, in 2010, she was elevated to the Presiding Justice by the same Governor, replacing retired Presiding Justice Candace Cooper. She was retained at the California judicial elections in 2010 (with 70.9% of the vote) and at the California intermediate appellate court elections on November 6 in 2018 (with 73.1% of the vote).

In 2015, Bigelow traveled to Uganda to help the local government organize a plea bargaining system for those detained in dilapidated prisons for exorbitant time periods without the benefit of legal counsel. Tricia Bigelow retired on June 30, 2021.

Honors

 * Ronald M. George Award for Judicial Excellence, California Judicial Council (2014)


 * Bernard S. Jefferson Judicial Education Award, California Judges Association (2015)