BERNARD E. WITKIN AWARD RECIPIENTS - 2004
Alan R. Perry, Esq
Mr. Perry was born in Kelso, Washington, on October 10, 1921. He attended San Diego State College, Pomona College, and the University of Southern California Law School. He received his LLB in 1949 and was admitted to the California bar that same year.
At the University of Southern California, he was assistant editor of the law review and was elected to two honorary academic societies, Order of the Coif and Phi Beta Kappa. He is a member of Lambda Alpha, an international honorary land economics society, of which he is a Fellow and former international general counsel.
In 1950 he began his own firm, and in 1963 the firm became Jenkins & Perry. Mr. Perry built his practice around real estate law which, with land use law, is still his specialty. In January 1990, he and the other members of Jenkins and Perry became partners in the firm of Musick, Peeler & Garrett LLP. Mr. Perry has been named as one of the "Best Lawyers in America" since 1986.
Mr. Perry has been active in the legal community in other ways as well. From 1994 to 1999, he was a trustee of the San Diego County Public Law Library's Law Library Justice Foundation. He served as President of the Board of Trustees from 1995 through 1998. From 1967 to 1983 he was an adjunct professor of law at California Western School of Law, and he has also served as chairperson of several Continuing Education of the Bar programs sponsored by the California State Bar and the University of California.
Mr. Perry has also been active in his community, serving from 1960 to 1970 as a member and chairperson of the La Mesa Planning Commission. He has been director, assistant secretary and general counsel of the YMCA of San Diego County since 1980.
Publications authored by Mr. Perry include "The General Plan of California," University of San Diego Law Review; "Inverse Condemnation," Pepperdine Law Review; and two textbooks, "California Cases and Materials on Secured Land Financing" and "Introduction to Drafting California Legal Instruments."
He and his wife Judy have three children and two grandchildren.
The Honorable Judge James R. Milliken
Born in Washington DC on June 20th, 1943, the Honorable James R. Milliken has been on the bench in San Diego Superior Court for over 16 years. He attended Occidental College in Los Angeles, graduating in 1965 with a B.A. and then heading to law school at California Western School of Law. He received his JD there in 1970 and served as editor of the law review as well as earning several "Outstanding Student" awards.
After graduation, Judge Milliken joined the San Diego City Attorney's office and tried over twenty-five jury trials in 1971. In the fall of 1971, he left to go into private practice at the firm of McInnis, Fitzgerald, Rees, Sharkey & McIntyre as an associate. In that firm, he tried civil cases of all kinds for over 16 years. He was made a partner in 1976 and became managing partner in 1986. During his time at this firm, he also served as a Judge Pro Tempore for the San Diego County Superior Court.
On February 9th, 1988 Milliken was appointed to a judgeship by Governor Deukmejian. In 1992, he was elected to the position of Assistant Presiding Judge and served in that capacity until 1993. From 1994-1995, he served as Presiding Judge of the San Diego Superior Court.
In 1996, he became presiding judge of juvenile court for San Diego County, a position he held for eight years. There he was responsible for instituting many reforms to supervise young people on probation. Some of the reforms were (1) regular drug testing coupled with comprehensive drug treatment programs, (2) literacy programs to teach juvenile offenders to read, and (3) drug treatment and case management programs for parents of children in the Abuse and Neglect System.
Judge Milliken is also a founder of the San Pasqual Academy Boarding School, a high quality high school level boarding school for foster children. It is currently the only one of its kind in the United States. The children decide if they would like to attend, not the court.
Judge Milliken currently works as a private mediator and gives consulting advice on court organization and justice system issues. Judge Milliken is married to Jeanie. He has two grown children and three grandchildren.
Sister Sally Furay
Sister Sally Furay was born June 12, 1926, in Omaha, Nebraska. She entered the Society of the Sacred Heart in June of 1944. Her legal career began when she earned her law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law and was admitted to the California Bar in 1972. In addition to her law degree, Sister Furay holds a doctoral degree in English literature from Stanford University.
From 1967-1972, Sister Furay played the primary role in merging the San Diego College for Women with the University of San Diego College for Men and School of Law to form what is now known as the University of San Diego, including its School of Law. After the merger, Sister Furay continued her involvement with the USD School of Law, teaching a course there in Sex Discrimination and the Law from 1974-1992.
Sister Sally Furay served as Academic Vice President and Provost of University of San Diego for 25 years, following teaching roles in English and in law, and administrative roles as Dean of Arts and Sciences and department chair. She is Provost Emerita of the University of San Diego.
Further contributions to the legal community include membership on the Board of Directors of the San Diego County Bar Association from 1987-1990, with service as Vice President in 1989-1990. She was also a member of the Board of Directors for the San Diego County Bar Foundation from 1988-1994, and participated in judicial evaluation groups for nominees for California state judgeships in the 1980s. In the early 1990s she chaired Senator Barbara Boxer's Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee. Sister Furay currently serves the legal community nationally with her membership on the Legal Services Review Panel of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
Her community interests include serving as Director and chair of the loan and HR committees of the Neighborhood National Bank in San Diego, the first community development bank chartered nationally under federal efforts in the 1990s to bring more financial services to inner city communities. She continues her involvement in higher education through service on the Sacramento-based California Student Aid Commission and the student loan agency EdFund where she serves as Finance Chair.
Among her honors are the California Governor's Awards of Merit for achievement in education and women's rights, the first Community Achievement Award from the Lawyers Club of San Diego, the Hesburgh Award from the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, the 1993 honoree of Women Together- a coalition which raises funds for battered and abused women and their children, and the first Volunteer Service Award from the University of San Diego.