Effective Fee Requests – A Judicial Perspective

Judge Julia Kelety grew up in Tempe, Arizona, and graduated from the University of Arizona in 1982.   In 1985, she graduated magna cum laude from Cornell Law School, where she served as Articles Editor for the Cornell Law Review.  She clerked for the Honorable Mary M. Schroeder of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and then joined the litigation department of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher as an Associate Attorney in the firm’s New York office from 1986 to 1990.

In 1990, Judge Kelety moved to San Diego and became a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.   As an AUSA, she received the Department of Justice’s Directors Award for her prosecutions of fraudulent telemarketers.   In 1997, Judge Kelety joined the Law Office of Howard Wiggins, where she later became partner.

In 2003, Judge Kelety was appointed to the Superior Court bench by Governor Gray Davis.  She has served as bench officer in Juvenile Dependency; Criminal; and Probate Divisions.   She is a Board member for the Board of Trustees of the San Diego County Public Law Library and is a past President of the Board.  She frequently teaches probate-related subjects to judges statewide for the Judicial Council’s Center for Judiciary Education and Research (CJER).

In 2013, the San Diego Superior Court presented Judge Kelety with the Hon. George “Woody” Clarke Award for professionalism, collegiality, and judicial excellence.

In 2014, the San Diego Law Library Justice Foundation presented Judge Kelety with the Bernard E. Witkin Esq. Award for Excellence in the Adjudication of the Law.

In 2016, the Judicial Council of California, the California Judges Association, and the State Bar of California presented Judge Kelety with the Benjamin Aranda Access to Justice Award for a long-term commitment to improving access to the courts.

The Honorable David L. Belz is a Judge for the Superior Court of Orange County in California. He was appointed in March 2009 by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Shortly after his appointment Judge Belz was assigned to a Family Law courtroom. He served 5 years as a family law judge. During those 5 years he served on the Center for Judicial Education and Research (CJER) where he taught the overview course for judges newly assigned to family law.  He also helped produced online video webinar presentations for family law judges. In 2015, Judge Belz was assigned to a probate court. Judge Belz’ current assignment is to handle long cause/complex probate trials.

Roger L. Lund is a judge for the Superior Court of Ventura County in California. He was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) in December 2009. Lund was elected to a full term in 2010 and ran again unopposed in 2016, winning re-election automatically.