Judges with Civil Experience

By Cheryl Mills

THE CONTRA COSTA COUNTY COURT NEEDS JUDGES WITH CIVIL TRIAL EXPERIENCE

The richness of our court is that it has traditionally drawn from a talented pool which has included the best from both the public and private sector and from the criminal and civil bar. Over the past months, we have had several new judges appointed to the bench with impressive criminal backgrounds, but we still need judges with broad civil experience. I believe my qualifications fill that need on this court.

I served for many years as managing partner in the San Francisco law firm, Pillsbury, Levinson & Mills and currently manage my own Walnut Creek firm, Mills & Larson.

I have the highest published rating for an attorney, AV, for both Legal Ability and Ethical Standards - a rating which is determined by members of the State Bar and the Judiciary. I have extensive trial experience. For over two decades, I have litigated hundreds of cases representing both California physicians in medical/legal matters and policyholders in the area of insurance coverage law. I manage multi-million dollar complex civil litigation nationally, including 30,000 product liability cases pending in twenty-five states, and also Superfund (environmental) litigation. I handle contractual matters and litigate a wide array of business related cases.

I know how to work with people and how to get great results from good management. I have a proven record as a successful attorney on both sides of a case - plaintiff and defendant. As a result, I bring to the position a level of credibility with attorneys that is critical to a judge's ability to effectively resolve difficult cases.

I see the role of the judge as ensuring that trials are fair to everyone involved and that the "record" is complete and supportive of the verdict. Similarly, it is the judge's responsibility to sentence appropriately based on the totality of the circumstances.

Effective and competent management of the civil docket is a top priority. The majority of cases filed are civil, yet the majority of cases that go to trial are criminal. To keep courtrooms available for conducting criminal cases, the civil docket must be kept under control and efficiently moving cases toward resolution. This takes a judge with (1) good management skills; (2) the ability to work with counsel and parties to reach an early and fair resolution; (3) a broad knowledge of the civil law; and (4) the respect of the legal community.

I will work hard to competently fulfill all of these roles. I ask you to place your trust in me and I thank those who have encouraged and supported my candidacy.