Judges and Judiciary
Jun. 25, 2002
Judging Just the Latest Way Ichikawa Helps Community
FAIRFIELD - In 1969, Garry Ichikawa got bored sitting around Fort Carson, Colo., waiting for something to do in a U.S. Army company overstocked with 25 young combat medics just like him.
Garry T. Ichikawa
Solano County Superior Court judge
Fairfield
Career highlights: Appointed by Gov. Gray Davis, April 10, 2000; private practice 1979-2000; Fairfield City Council, 1986-93; Deputy Public Defender, Solano County 1977-79.
Law school: UC-Davis, 1976
Age: 54
So he said, "Sure why not?" when the head medic asked if he was interested in working at the base mental health clinic, a kind of transit station for overseas duty in Vietnam.
It turned out to be a propitious move. It not only kept him out of harm's way in the war but it also led to law school and eventually to his current job as a Solano County Superior Court judge, supervising the court's family law and probate departments, and as the court's mental health court judge.
"I like the sense of helping people through difficult periods of their lives," Ichikawa said.
That's easy to see. Ichikawa has an extensive history of serving Solano County. He has served two terms on the Fairfield City Council. He has volunteered his legal services for nearly two decades at the Fairfield Senior Center. He has served on planning boards, housing and water authorities, juvenile justice commissions and family law advisory commissions.
In 1988, Ichikawa accepted a certificate from the State Bar in recognition of his pro bono services. Ten years later he received a certificate from Solano County Superior Court for his services as judge pro tem.
He is praised by family law practitioners for his ability to maintain courtroom decorum in an emotionally-charged area of law.
"He has a very calming influence, which is unique in family law," said Bob Schroth, of Winters, Schroth & King in Fairfield. "He's a very patient individual."
"He's very quiet and reserved," said Bill McPherson, a sole practitioner in Fairfield. "He runs his court in a very scholarly and conservative manner without evoking lots of shouting and arguing, as happens in many family law cases."
Ichikawa was born July 29, 1947, and raised in Fairfield. His parents were farmers, though they had other occupations as well: His father was a mail carrier and his mother was a teacher.
Ichikawa went to Berkeley, a school his parents chose for him, and he graduated in 1969 with a degree in psychology after starting out as a chemistry major.
While some students were protesting U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, Ichikawa was hitting the books or working in the campus bowling alley. When the tear gas thrown by riot police drifted into the alley, the business would close early and he would head home, he said.
After graduation he was drafted, and he landed at Fort Carson. The Army helped shape his career goals, and he decided when he got out that he would go to law school.
"I thought I'd do better as a lawyer than as a psychologist," Ichikawa said. "The role is more defined as a lawyer. You take more responsibility for [people's] legal needs and less responsibility for their overall happiness."
Once he arrived at UC-Davis, he found business and corporate law to his liking. But after he earned his law degree in 1976, he discovered he really wanted to return home to Fairfield. There wasn't much need for corporate law expertise in town, so he took a job with the public defender.
The position gave him valuable experience in trial practices and procedures, which he later found applicable to family law, he said.
People who have trial experience "recognize how evidence is put out there makes a difference in the outcome," Ichikawa said.
In 1979, after two years as a Solano County deputy public defender, Ichikawa went into private practice in his hometown emphasizing criminal defense work. Later, when he hooked up with a couple of attorneys interested in criminal and business law, he decided to take a stab at family law and discovered he had a knack for it. In 1988, he became a certified family law specialist.
"Family law is more of a service than a court that adjudicates," Ichikawa said.
In 1986, he ran for Fairfield City Council and won. He won a second term, serving until 1993. At the time, the most pressing issues were growth, the general plan, water, open space and schools, he said.
Gary Falati, school board trustee for the Fairfield Suisun Unified School District, was mayor - an office he held for 17 years.
"I selected him twice to be vice mayor because of his analytical ability. He has a keen sensitivity that you don't find a lot of times," Falati said. "He doesn't pretend what he's not. He's very shy, very quiet. I think a lot of people mistake that for being stand-offish, but he's very approachable."
Ichikawa also ran for a seat on the county board of supervisors but lost the race to a retired 16-year county assessor.
"He was somewhat shocked," said John DeRonde, a family law practitioner at DeRonde & DeRonde of Fairfield. "It really set him back, but he rebounded."
"My God, if he had won that, he probably wouldn't have become a judge," Falati said. "Fifteen years ago we talked about how he would make a great judge. He was meant to become a judge."
In 2000, Gov. Gray Davis appointed Ichikawa to the bench. His transition to judge was smoother than for some of his colleagues, he said, because he already knew the area of law.
"My biggest surprise as a judge was how hard judges work off the bench," Ichikawa said. "There's a relentless amount of paperwork you have to deal with every day."
In his dual positions as supervising judge of the family law and probate departments and mental health judge, Ichikawa has a full caseload of family law and puts in about 10 hours a week in the fledgling mental health court. He has responsibility for two full-time judges and two commissioners, clerks, mediators, court facilitators and investigators.
"It's a very busy department," Schroth said. "Over the years the filings have increased and the number of pro pers has multiplied. So the show cause calendar is fairly jammed. He has worked to stagger the calendar to cut down on the amount of waiting time people have been subjected to in the past."
"Rather than ruling from the bench he takes things under submission and tries to craft something that will work," DeRonde said.
"If [Ichikawa] has any detractors, they would say he's a minimalist," DeRonde said. "He decides only the barest motion in front of him. He doesn't try to solve everybody's problems in one fell swoop at one hearing. But if you do your homework and lay out everything that needs to be decided, you'll get a good, thoughtful decision."
Attorneys can expect thorough, detailed explanations of Ichikawa's decisions, especially cases in which a pertinent issue may have been missed, DeRonde said.
"On cases I thought were fairly simplistic, he'd write three or four pages explaining why he did what he did. I think he's very thorough."
In his spare time, Ichikawa likes to cook, read, listen to a wide range of music and go camping with his wife, Patricia, a registered nurse. The couple has three children: Elizabeth, 22, a UC-Davis student; Michael, 20, a retail manager; and Seth, 18, who is graduating from high school.
Ichikawa said his most memorable case was one he worked on as a volunteer attorney at the senior center. A mother and daughter came in, both elderly, and the daughter said her mother was going to die and she wanted to obtain durable power of attorney for health care.
A couple months later, "she came to see me again and she had tears in her eyes," Ichikawa said. "She said, 'It worked. I couldn't believe it, but they actually did what I said.' Her mom had passed away, in her mind, with peace and dignity.'"
"That was very touching," Ichikawa said.
Here are some of Ichikawa's recent cases and the lawyers involved:
In re Marriage of Arabian, F44440
Petitioner: Jeanette A. Bleckley, Sacramento
Respondent: Joan M. Maredyth, Carmichael
In re Marriage of Windham, F56571
Petitioner: John D. Hodson, Hodson & Mullin, Vacaville
Respondent: Noel M. Edson, Sacramento
In re Marriage of Horvath, F029286
Petitioner: Michele M. Poteracke, Fairfield
Respondent: Deanna S. Myhre, Vacaville
In re Marriage of Hebert, F040473
Petitioner: Pieter Williams, Walnut Creek
Respondent: Tim McKenna, Office of the District Attorney, Suisun City
In re Marriage of Shouse, F21434
Petitioner: Deanna S. Myhre, Vacaville
Respondent: John DeRonde, Fairfield
Linda Rapattoni
For reprint rights or to order a copy of your photo:
Email
Jeremy_Ellis@dailyjournal.com
for prices.
Direct dial: 213-229-5424
Send a letter to the editor:
Email: letters@dailyjournal.com