Family Law Executive Committee Confers Awards at the State Bar Annual Meeting in San Diego
| Publication year | 2017 |
On September 30, 2016, at the Family Law Section reception during the State Bar Annual Meeting in San Diego, FLEXCOM conferred several awards on very deserving recipients. The setting was gorgeous, the weather was perfect, and the honors were very much appreciated. Judge Alice Vilardi received the Judicial Officer of the Year award, and Stephen Mon-tagna received the Barrister Award. It also conferred its Excellence in Family Law Award on the Association of Family Law Specialists, the first time the award has been given to an organization. In addition, FLEXCOM presented Commissioner Sue Alexander with a Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be described in detail in the next issue.
The Judicial Officer of the Year award is conferred annually, and this year the Family Law Executive Committee was pleased to confer the 2016 Judicial Officer of the Year Award to the Honorable Alice Vilardi from Alameda County. Judge Vilardi's dedication and service to the overall practice of family law over the last decade epitomizes the definition of our ideal family law bench officer. Originally assigned to a criminal courtroom where she spent several years, Judge Vilardi suddenly found herself assigned to family law. Despite the fact she knew nothing about family law, she embraced the assignment, ultimately being appointed presiding family law bench officer, a position she has held for the last four years.
Judge Vilardi has, and continues to teach for CJER, ACFLA, NITA, FLEXCOM, and ACFLS to name a few. She created a program whereby attorneys are welcome to come into her court on a regular basis and ask any question they want, whether legal or procedural. She created a tiered program for volunteer attorneys to assist in the courtroom, as well as help train and give experience to those new to family law or needing specialization credit.
She was one of the first to see the need for some type of case management system, creating and implementing a county-wide system well before it was required. Judge Vilardi was instrumental in reversing the policy that only Judges and not Commissioners could be assigned to family law courtrooms. She has worked tirelessly with administration helping create new policies and procedures for the clerks reducing wait time at the windows and reducing throughput time for paperwork requiring signatures. She tracked...
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