Candidate for
Judge-Superior Court; County of Los Angeles; Office 95

Susan L. Lopez-Giss is the Assistant General Counsel for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the first woman to attain the second-in-command position at DWP.

Lopez-Giss was recognized in 2005 as one of the "Seventy Five Top Women Litigators in the State" by the Los Angeles Daily Journal, and has also received recognition from the Mayor and the Los Angeles City Council for her legal expertise. She has prosecuted hundreds of criminal cases and tried more than 100 before juries.

Lopez-Giss has spent the last 30 years working as a criminal prosecutor and a civil attorney in the Los Angeles City Attorney's office, drafting and implementing the first statewide domestic violence diversion/counseling program, drafting the first domestic violence prosecution manual, and training law enforcement officials from across the nation.

Currently, Ms. Lopez-Giss supervises over 85 attorneys and staff at the DWP's Legal division, overseeing all issues including employment, contracts, regulatory and water issues, tort, worker's compensation and environmental litigation. She is also responsible for providing advice to the Board of Water and Power Commissioners, interpreting the State Constitution and City Charter, representing the commercial interests of the DWP, serving as bond counsel for over $1 billion dollars in bonds and litigating all fraud actions on behalf of the DWP.

Lopez-Giss investigated and sued public relations giant Fleishman-Hillard for overbilling DWP, forcing them to repay $5.7 million to the City of Los Angeles. She also investigates and brings suit against slumlords who refuse to pay their utility bills, putting thousands of apartment renters in jeopardy of losing their water and power services. Lopez-Giss is the taxpayers' advocate at DWP, bringing millions of dollars of delinquent payments through pro-active litigation.

Lopez-Giss has dedicated herself to charitable causes. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center. She is actively involved in the 1939 Club and the American Friends of the Hebrew University, and is a lifetime member of the California Women's Lawyers Association.

A Los Angeles native, Lopez-Giss received her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and her law degree from Loyola Law School. She is married to Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Harvey Giss and has three grown children.

Awards and Honors:

• Spring 2006 - Rated "Exceptionally Well-Qualified" by the John M. Langston Bar Association and "Well-Qualified" by the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

• October 2005 - Recognized by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as One of the Seventy Five Top Women Litigators in the State - with special recognition for litigation in the Fleishman-Hillard Case.

• July 2004 - Recognized by the Los Angeles City Council for "Outstanding Efforts and Preventing the Displacement of Over 100 Families at 729 S. Union." In her capacity as an Assistant City Attorney at DWP, Lopez-Giss helped to develop a solution that provided for the payment by a scofflaw landlord of past due utility bills and thereby prevented the termination of utility service to the apartment building housing over 100 families.

• 1994 - Honorary Service Award Certificate from California Congress of Parents, Teachers and Students for special recognition of outstanding service to children and youth.

• 1991 - Commendation by Ventura County Superintendent of Schools and the Constitutional Rights Foundation for participation in 1990-1991 Mock Trial Competition

• 1981 - Presented with a Resolution by the Mayor and Los Angeles City Council in recognition for efforts in the development of the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office Domestic Violence Program

• Board of Directors - UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center - 2004
• Special Events Committee, UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center - 2003 to present.
• Supporter, American Friends of the Hebrew University
• Member of the 1939 Club, an organization the sponsors Holocaust educational programs.
• United States Selective Service Board -1997-present
• Attorney coach for the Westlake High School Mock Trial Team from 1990-1994. The Mock Trial Competition is an annual statewide event sponsored by the Constitutional Rights Foundation and local school districts. I also served as an assistant coach in 1988 for the Simi Valley High School Mock Trial Team.

• Women Lawyers of Ventura County (1990) + Domestic Violence
• University of Alaska Program for Alcohol Control (1984)
• ABA Conference - Dallas (1979) and San Francisco (1982)