REGULARS

Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, by President Carter.

A graduate of UCLA and its law school, Nelson received an LL.M. from USC law school as well. She was appointed to a variety of federal boards and panels by four presidents, Republican and Democrat alike, including the President’s Commission on Pension Policy, the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Air Force Academy and the Board of Trustees of the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, and she co-chaired the White House Conference on Children in 1970.

Nelson’s distinguished resume also lists numerous professional and community activities, both national and international, ranging from judges organizations to a women refugees advisory board.

She also has written prolifically, authoring numerous judicial opinions, books and articles, as well as advancing women’s and children’s issues.

The Witkin Medal was created by the State Bar in 1993 and the first was given to Professor Witkin himself. In subsequent years, the medal was awarded to Justice Raymond Sullivan, Professor Gerald Gunther, William A. Rutter, Justice Bernard S. Jefferson, Justice Stanley Mosk and Joseph A. Ball. It is conferred on an attorney, judge or academic and recognizes a particularly distinguished body of service to the law.

Elwood Lui

The California legislature paid tribute to retired appellate Justice Elwood Lui for his work as special master overseeing an assessment fund to support the State Bar’s discipline operation.

Gene Wong, chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, presented a resolution at the State Bar’s annual meeting, written by Sens. Adam Schiff and John Burton, thanking Lui for “his extraordinary contributions to the legal profession, the administration of justice and the people of California.”

The Assembly also passed a resolution honoring Lui, written by Speaker Bob Hertzberg, Minority Leader Scott Baugh and Dick Ackerman, vice chair of the Judiciary Committee.

It lauded Lui for his “exemplary performance” as special master, noting that he “was instrumental in helping the State Bar re-establish an attorney discipline system that is more streamlined, effective, and technologically advanced than ever before.”

Lui, a partner in Jones, Day, Reavis and Pogue in Los Angeles, was named special master by the Supreme Court in 1998 and spent 18 months working with bar executives to keep the discipline operation afloat following the 1997 veto of the dues bill.

Ann Hardin Rutherford

Butte County Superior Court Judge Ann Hardin Rutherford received the State Bar Family Law Section’s Judicial Officer of the Year award at the Annual Meeting.

Rutherford, appointed to the municipal bench in 1976 by Gov. Jerry Brown and elected to the superior court bench in 1988, was honored for her efforts to develop a dedicated family law department in Butte County and for her tireless activism in helping litigants and children in the county.

The award is presented annually to a judicial officer who best exemplifies commitment and dedication to the field of family law and who has made extraordinary efforts to improve the judicial process of California families in transition.

Prudence Kay Poppink

Prudence Kay Poppink, a specialist in employment and housing law for 25 years, was honored as the Public Attorney of the Year by the State Bar’s Public Law Section.

Before retiring, Poppink worked for the past 16 years with the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission, serving as commission counsel, as a hearing officer, and handling complex and lengthy hearings involving alleged employment and housing discrimination, the recognition of HIV-status as a disability and a university’s liability for a professor’s sexual harassment of a student.

Poppink, 56, also helped shepherd bills relating to the Fair Employment and Housing Act through the legislature and worked closely with former Assemblywoman Gwen Moore on the 1993 Moore-Brown-Roberti Act, known as the California Family Rights Act.

In presenting the award, Chief Justice Ronald George praised Pop-pink for dedicating “herself not to the bottom line, but to the public good.”

Legal specialists

More than 470 attorneys were honored for their long-term participation in the State Bar’s legal specialization program at a first-time recognition reception at the Annual Meeting. Each had been certified for more than 20 years in the areas of criminal, family, taxation or workers’ compensation law.

California’s certification program, now in its 28th year, was the first in the country. It now certifies more than 3,500 attorneys in eight areas. An attorney can be certified in appellate, estate planning, trust and probate, immigration and nationality and personal and small business bankruptcy law as well as the areas listed above.

To be certified as a specialist, an attorney must be an active bar member, pass a written examination, demonstrate a high level of experience in a particular area of law, fulfill ongoing education requirements and receive favorable evaluations from other attorneys and judges familiar with the attorney’s legal work.