BERNARD E. WITKIN AWARD RECIPIENTS - 2006
Excellence in the Adjudication of Law:
Hon. William J. Howatt, Jr.,
San Diego Superior Court
Supervising Judge William J. Howatt, Jr. was appointed to the Superior Court in 1987 by Governor Deukmejian. Prior to his appointment to the Superior Court, Judge Howatt was a Municipal Court Judge in the El Cajon Judicial District, appointed in 1979 by Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., He was elected Presiding Judge of the San Diego Superior Court for the years 1996 and 19997, and Assistant Presiding Judge of the Court for the years 1994 and 1995. While on the Municipal Court, he served as Presiding Judge and Assistant Presiding Judge of that court as well.
He currently serves on the California Judges Association,
San Diego County, Response to Unfair Criticism of Judges and Courts Committee, and has served three years on the California Judges Association Ethics Committee. Judge Howatt has served as a member of the Trial Court Coordination Advisory Committee to the California Judicial Council, as well as the Presiding Judges Advisory Committee to the Council. He has also served as the President of the Board of Trustees of the San Diego County Public Law Library for 2005, and previously was a member of the Board of Trustees.
Judge Howatt was honored by the San Diego County Bar Association, Certified Family Law Specialists with the 2004 Family Law Judicial Officer Award and by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Southern California Chapter, with the 2004 Distinguished Jurist Award. He also recently received Judicial Officer of the Year from the Family Law Section of the Bar Association of the State of California.
Judge Howatt received a J.D. degree in 1968 from the University of San Diego Law School and a B.A. degree in Political Science in 1965 from the University of California, Berkeley. He began his career as a Deputy District Attorney for the County of San Diego, where he served for over ten years before being appointed to the bench.
Excellence in the Teaching of Law:
Prof. Allen C. Snyder,
University of San Diego School of Law
Professor Allen C. Snyder practiced commercial law with a private law firm and poverty law with the San Diego Legal Aid Society before joining the faculty in 1978. He has worked extensively with the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and the San Diego Mediation Center, and serves on numerous boards of non-profit organizations. Most of his teaching is in the legal clinics, including the areas of negotiations, interviewing and counseling, trial practice, and live -client clinics. In addition, he co-teaches classes in law and medicine, and law and mental disorder. He has published articles in the field of patient competency and co-authored A Practical Guide to California Evidence (National Institute for Trial Advocacy) and (with Professor Grant H. Morris), Mental Disorder in the Criminal Process (Greenwood Press).
Professor Snyder received his JD degree from Northwestern University in 1974, and his B.A. from Washington and Jefferson College in 1968.
Excellence in the Practice of Law:
Susanne J. Stanford, Esq.,
Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP
Attorney Susanne J. Stanford is a retired partner and currently of counsel at Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP, practicing out of its San Diego office. She practiced family law for several years, and is now a member of the firm's Business / Complex Litigation practice group.
Ms. Stanford is a Master and Member of the Executive Committee, American Inns of Court. She is a member of the Board of Trustees, Museum of Photographic Arts, and is on the Board of Directors, University of San Diego Law School. She is a past member of various committees of San Diego County Bar Association, including the committee to draft a code of ethics/conduct for civil attorneys; judicial evaluation commissions; delegate to bar conventions. She is a past president of the Lawyers Club of San Diego, as well as a past member of the Board of Governors, California Women Lawyers. Finally, Ms. Stanford is a lecturer for Continuing Education of the Bar Courses.
Ms. Stanford received her J.D. at the University of San Diego, magna cum laude, in 1975. She received her M.A. in Speech from the University of Arizona in 1964, and her BA from the University of Arizona, where she graduated magna cum laude in 1963.
