Litigation
Aug. 13, 2002
'Evenhanded' Judge Retires After 18 Years on L.A. Superior Court
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Theodore D. Piatt, known for running an evenhanded court, retired July 31 after 18 years on the bench. Piatt's last assignment was in the Pomona courthouse. Before that, he sat in downtown Los Angeles, hearing juvenile dependency cases.
Piatt's last assignment was in the Pomona courthouse. Before that, he sat in downtown Los Angeles, hearing juvenile dependency cases.
He was unable to be reached for this story.
A Los Angeles native who grew up in Pomona, Piatt, 65, is a graduate of Pomona College and received his law degree in 1966 from Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.
In 1966, he clerked in the Los Angeles County public defender's office, and the following year, he became a deputy public defender there. In 1968, Piatt started a private law practice with his brother, retired Judge James H. Piatt.
But he missed being in the courtroom and joined the Los Angeles County district attorney's office in 1969.
After five years as a prosecutor, Piatt started his own criminal law practice, first in Claremont, then in Pomona.
Piatt shifted gears again in 1981, when he was appointed a Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner. Three-and-a-half years later, he was appointed a Municipal Court judge and later was elevated to the Superior Court by Gov. George Deukmejian.
He ran for judge unopposed in 1988 and was re-elected in 1994.
In 1987, Piatt moved from presiding over juvenile dependency cases to presiding over civil cases in the Pomona courthouse, where his courtroom was one floor below his brother's.
Just after his transfer to Pomona, Piatt said that even with his background in criminal cases, he was "naive" about some of the juvenile dependency cases he heard.
His decisions ranged from returning children to their parents to putting them in foster homes or referring them to adoption, and some cases would nag him on his drive home.
"You are disposing of children," he said. "It's not like you're disposing of widgets or ball bearings. In every single case, these are children involved. And you just have to do the best you can."
Lawyers noted in a California Courts and Judges biography that Piatt was, among other things, always prepared, patient and good with a jury.
Piatt's departure brings to 18 the number of bench vacancies in the county.
Leslie Simmons
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